The Fearless Portfolio

As bad as the economy, corporate earnings and the market have been, there's ample reason to expect things to get worse -- much worse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading at levels last seen a decade ago, and as we noted recently, some of Wall Street's biggest investment houses put the odds of an honest-to-goodness depression at one in five.

Naturally that's got folks looking for ways to play defense, where just maintaining principal and maybe collecting a smidgen of dividends counts as a great victory. That's a perfectly rational response to this truly uncertain and often terrifying investing landscape.

But what if you could cast fear aside and wager some idle cash on seemingly crazy plays? These investments would be very high risk -- and very high reward -- so don't bet your 401(k), college savings or any money you might need in the next five years on them.

If you're lucky enough to have cash you can afford to lose, here are five ideas for a truly Fearless Portfolio. Three of the five are exchange-traded funds, which in addition to low fees and liquidity offer a layer of diversification.