1. Mutual funds panic: Time to buy ETFs?

The ETF business still has a long way to go if it's going to overtake the mutual fund industry, which if you include money market funds has more than $15 trillion in assets. Numbers tell the story: $15 trillion vs. $2 trillion seems like a vast difference, but don't kid yourself. The growth is on the side of ETFs. ETFs and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) had twice the inflows of mutual funds last year.

Money is going out of mutual funds and into ETFs due to a lower cost structure and the inability of almost all active funds to outperform indexes. That means less money for mutual fund companies.

Read MoreETFs about to pass $2 trillion in assets

Here's a bigger problem: The ETF business is dominated by four players (BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and Invesco PowerShares) who control 90 percent of all the assets under management.

That poses a real problem for those asset managers and mutual funds who see the ETF train leaving the station without them on it. They need to get in, and I predict many will likely seek to buy an existing manager rather than start from scratch. It started last year, when New York Life purchased IndexIQ and Janus purchased Velocity Shares.

Read More10 rookie ETFs that raked in the 2014 cash

Who is a potential buyer of ETFs? My guess would be Franklin Templeton or Fidelity. You may even see non-U.S. companies, like Skandia or HSBC or Societe Generale, jump in.

And don't be surprised if a big famous asset manager like Mario Gabelli or John Calamos does something.