The newly introduced Dow Jones GCC Titans 40 Index now has a Van Eck ETF to track its performance. The ETF, known as Market Vectors-Gulf States Index ETF (MES), is designed to follow the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, according to Business Wire. MES is set to trade on the NYSE Arca exchange and is made up of 40 components that trade in five out of the six GCC member states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a recent Market Watch article Jan van Eck, head of Van Eck Global, talks of the popularity of this region by saying, “The Gulf region is one of the world’s fastest growing and most sought after markets. The countries are seeking to diversify away from energy and to develop their financial markets.” To be eligible for the index, stocks must have at least $1 million of average daily trading volume. In an effort to maintain diversity, Market Watch points out that the weight of any stock is capped at 8% and there is a limit of 15 companies per country.

Investors now have a vehicle to track the performance of the Middle East region. WisdomTree has just debuted its newest ETF on the Nasdaq Stock Market, known as WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund (GULF). Business Wire reports that GULF will provide exposure to about 70 dividend-paying companies located in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. President of WisdomTree, Bruce Lavine, discusses his view of the new fund in the following Business Wire quote, "The growing economies of the Middle East region, while driven by increasing revenues from oil exports, are becoming more diversified. We estimate that equities trading in the Middle East region now make up nearly 2% of the world’s total market capitalization. Further, the equity returns in the Middle East have historically demonstrated a low correlation to the U.S., developed, and even Emerging Markets, and may be a source of portfolio diversification.”

The Dow Jones GCC Titans 40 Index has now been introduced, and Van Eck Global will issue the first ETF to follow the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. Market Watch reports that the new index is made up of 40 components that trade in five out of the six GCC member states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Jan van Eck, head of Van Eck Global, talks of the popularity of this region by saying, "The Gulf region is one of the world’s fastest growing and most sought after markets. The countries are seeking to diversify away from energy and to develop their financial markets.” To be eligible for the index, stocks must have at least $1 million of average daily trading volume. In an effort to maintain diversity, Market Watch points out that the weight of any stock is capped at 8% and there is a limit of 15 companies per country.

By June of 2009, a handful of countries could have a new MSCI market classification. MSCI Barra has begun discussions on the potential upgrade of South Korea and Israel. Polya Lesova of Market Watch writes that the two countries, currently listed as emerging markets, may be raised to developed market status. South Koreas currency convertibility could be a major obstacle; however, as international investors have shown concern with the won. Other possible upgrades include the transition of Kuwait, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates from frontier markets to emerging markets as they continue to make progress. The emerging market performances are tracked by iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM).

While some countries have shown signs of growth and have a chance at improving their MSCI status, other markets have slowed down. The Market Watch article explains that each of these reclassifications will be reviewed for months before making a final decision. However, MSCI has already decided on the downgrade of Jordan to a frontier market from its prior emerging market classification. The decision came primarily in response to its size and lack of liquidity. Other markets in danger of similar downgrades are Colombia and Argentina. Market Watch claims that these two markets have until December to make some "significant improvements of capital flow restrictions. A Citigroup Global Markets analyst shared insight into the magnitude of these discussions saying, "MSCI is taking an important step towards making some of the most significant changes to the composition of the emerging markets indices since the reclassification of Portugal (1997) and Greece (2000) as developed markets several years ago.”