I keep hammering away at this theme – that ETF's are risky. Many people are investing in them whithout due diligence. If you are one of them, read your official documentation and especially the section dedicated to 'Risks'. Paul  Mladjenovic points out the risks clearly in this article. Here is an excerpt: "Diversify away from paper assets. As I have written before, paper assets have “counter-party risk”. Any “paper”investment that you have (such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, cash accounts, etc.) have counter-party risk. In other words, that investment’s value is tied to someone else’s promise or performance. A stock can go worthless if that company ceases to perform well (or just ceases to perform!). Bonds can become worthless if the borrower can’t or won’t pay. What should you consider? Add some gold or silver physical bullion to your asset portfolio. Gold and silver bullion are among the very few investments that do not have counter-party risk. They have their own, unique intrinsic value and that has been true for thousands of years. It will continue to be true for years to come." Read more here: Commodity Online