Not sure why you would want to try and "value" an ETF. Why would you value a market index etf like the SPY or DIA? The SPY is an index etf of 500 stocks; pretty much the entire large-cap market. You just hold it and go with the flow of the market.

Other than market index etf's, you can also look at international etf's, sector etf's and commodities etf's to round out total diversification.

How To Pick The Best ETF

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/exc...

Building An All-ETF Portfolio

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/exc...

Affordable ETF Alternatives

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/inv...

I trade company stocks where I can do I lot of research on a specific company before I buy the stock, but how can I do research for an ETF?

What are are the best ways to value an ETF without looking through all the companies that it contains?

What are some key areas to look at?

Thanks!