One of the biggest stories in the investing world over the past few years as been the rise of emerging markets. These countries continue to grow at an impressive clip and are in a much better position from a fiscal perspective than their developed market counterparts. Furthermore, the countries often have more favorable demographics than fully-industrialized nations, suggesting that more gains could be had in the future as well. Unfortunately, many of these trends have become painfully obvious to pretty much every investor, causing many to pile into funds such as EEM or VWO for broad based exposure. Beyond these two funds, another popular choice has been to take a closer look at the BRIC bloc of countries which represents four large emerging markets, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. [click to continue…]
The last week was a busy one for investors; the combination of several major earnings reports and advancements in debt discussions on both sides of the Atlantic gave traders plenty to digest. Apple was once again the highlight; the company blew way past analyst expectations, pushing AAPL higher and giving a boost to many tech [...]
Wall Street started the week in red territory as investors ran from equity markets after sky-high yields on Greek bonds sent waves of panic across all corners of the market. As expected, gold opened higher to start the week and the precious metal continued its upward march past $1,600 an ounce in the days following. [...]
Wall Street continued its wild ride last week as equity indexes sank lower after a discouraging downgrade of Ireland to junk status and ongoing worries about the debt ceiling on the home front. Alcoa started the week with upbeat results and Google left investors smiling on Friday as shares soared upwards of 10% after the [...]
Investors have become familiar with the term “contagion” in recent years, but most are accustomed to hearing the phenomenon discussed in relation to sovereign debt defaults in Europe or across U.S. municipalities. But in recent days the Middle East has seen a wave of revolutionary protests and rallies spread across the region, as what began [...]
Harvard University is perhaps the most prestigious college in the U.S. As the oldest institution of higher learning in the country, Harvard was also the first corporation chartered in the country. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the university is home to roughly 14,500 students who hail from all over the world. But aside from the obvious [...]
As the term ‘BRIC’ has entered the average American’s lexicon over the past two decades, many investors have seen the promise and peril of exposure to these rising superpowers. As more have invested and globalization has occurred, the correlation between these markets and industrialized nations has risen substantially; the once untapped markets see billions of [...]
For investors looking to establish emerging market exposure, the economies of the BRIC nations are generally the default option. As growth has ground to a halt in the world’s developed economies, interest in emerging markets has surged and investors have begun digging deeper to uncover promising growth opportunities in the developing world. For those with [...]
Equity markets trended higher in choppy trading last week, as a brutal Wednesday was erased by a 3% surge in major indexes on Thursday. This upswing led to a 2.3% gain on the week for the S&P 500. Oil markets also trended higher on bullish demand data and worries about diminishing supplies; crude closed around [...]
With the developed markets of the world crippled by mounting debt, stagnant growth, and suddenly severe political risk, investors have undeniably begun allocating a larger portion of their portfolios to emerging markets. Boosted by ongoing urbanization, flexible and cheap manufacturing, and an abundance of natural resources, the developing economies have emerged as the leaders of [...]
One of the greatest spectacles in sports kicks off in South Africa over the weekend, with 32 countries gathering to compete in the final stages of the World Cup. Even the economists of the world have taken an interest in the upcoming matches; ABN Amro recently released a note predicting that the world economy would [...]
