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For amateur investors, discerning what exactly differentiates developed, emerging, and frontier markets can be challenging. Today, we’ll try to clarify some of these important distinctions for people looking to invest overseas.
One of the most important features for emerging market investors going long is sound management in a company with a respect for the rights of minority shareholders.
The latest round of gyrations in Europe’s credit markets have left the banks seen as most vulnerable to a massive default roughly where they were on Monday — which is to say, not in great shape.
The Great Recession and higher fuel costs have torpedoed many shipping companies, but the Greeks mastered shipping millennia ago, and solid stocks like Tsakos Energy Navigation (TNP, quote) and Capital Product Partners (CPLP, quote) are on the way back up.
Citigroup (C, quote) has initiated coverage of the Bank of Ireland (IRE, quote) with a “Sell” rating, citing the Irish recession and its impact on IRE’s performance. The impact is real, but investors should be buying to accumulate a long term position in the Bank of Ireland and other blue chips.
The Republic of Ireland slipped back into recession during the last quarter of 2011, with the economy shrinking 0.2% between October and December.
It was only a couple of months ago that Greece’s then-prime-minister George Papandreou admitted Greece has been a badly managed country. This is stating the obvious and has been mirrored in the masses since the beginning of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis.
Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to a $170 billion bailout for Greece following 13 hours of late night negotiations in Brussels. Athens has in turn pledged to reduce its debt to 120.5% of its GDP by 2020 and to accept “enhanced and permanent” EU monitoring of its economic reforms.
Sharply rising bond market prices this week are implying a near-70% probability of default for Portugal on a five-year time horizon.
