Comments on: Looking for countries that have their financial acts together? Look to emerging markets like Peru and Indonesia

By: bruttiumlv

bruttiumlv — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:32:14 +0000

Wrong post

By: bruttiumlv

bruttiumlv — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:30:12 +0000

Jim I am only trying to understand your way of thinking , so that I might learn something . You put your own money on Mrvl , but not on Intc. Is that right ?

By: tostoryteller

tostoryteller — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:25:20 +0000

Thanks for your thought provoking view as always. However, I have noticed something missing in your underlying analysis of emerging market countries like Indonesia. I picked that one because I am familiar with it, having run a warehousing operation there that supported my factory in Singapore. In essence my question is how do you weigh upgrades in credit worthiness against corruption, which is built into the fundamental economic fabric of a lot of emerging market countries? Arguably, developed countries like the US are not lily white when it comes to distortion of financial data, but laws do exist and enforcement is an option. Transparency is not the only issue in countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, but bribery and corruption are the norm, not the exception. Do you advise pinching your nose and stepping into these investments knowing the backdrop and lack of legal infrastructure?
I believe countries like Brazil, Singapore, and Australia do offer legitimate opportunities at the right price, but I’m having a hard time with countries in East Europe, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Africa…. to name a few. Over ten years, which is not long – as the global economy cycles – I think a down draft would blitz investments in many of these assets. Is there a way to play your idea by investing in specific companies within or closely connected to these countries?
And you are right, many investors, like me, place little or no faith in US credit ratings agencies in the aftermath of what has happened.

By: swilson60

swilson60 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:12:48 +0000

I’ve been looking at PCY for 2 weeks and took another hard look today. Looks like it targets the right countries and I like the dividend

By: cgegax

cgegax — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:05:28 +0000

I bought PCY (PowerShares Emerging Market Sovereign Debt) a few months ago trying to catch some of the return on Brazil’s debt. Aside from a slightly different allocation in the underlying indices, are there any significant differences between PCY and EMB? Is “sovereign debt” just a fancy name for foreign government bonds?