If there’s anything the financial industry loves, it’s a good acronym. For a long time, the BRICs and their ETFs were the hot acronym in town. Now some wonder if it isn’t time for a new string of pronounceable letters: the CIVETS.
Below we highlight the performance (YTD and since 4/23) of the major equity indices for 80 countries around the world in local currencies. The list is sorted by performance since April 23rd, when US markets hit their bull market peaks. As shown, 14 countries are now up since April 23rd, with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela up more than 10%. India is the only BRIC or G7 country that is up since 4/23. The Ukraine is down the most since 4/23 with a...
In recent weeks, increased international scrutiny over Israel’s blockade of Gaza has overshadowed a rather unique economic accomplishment. Israel was recently reclassified from “emerging” to “developed” market status by index provider MSCI Barra, the firm responsible for creating and maintaining the benchmarks behind many popular exchange-traded products.
The upgrade had been in the works for some time; MSCI first announced that Israeli markets met all the qualifications for developed status last June. Such an announcement is undoubtedly a positive development for a country that has made great strides in improving quality of life indicators and...
Below we highlight the performance of major equity market indices in 81 countries around the world. While most of the world is struggling, there are 8 countries that are within 1.7% of 52-week highs. Sri Lanka, Chile, Bangladesh, and Venezuela are all basically at 52-week highs. Of the G-7 countries, Germany and Canada are closest to their 52-week highs at about -6%. The US ranks third out of seven at -12.74%, followed by Britain (-13.41%), France (-16.41%), Japan (-17.26%), and Italy (-23.63%). ...
Below is a chart highlighting the performance of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries since the 4/23 peak in equity markets. As shown, India (Sensex Index) has held up the best by quite a bit with a decline of just over 5%. Brazil's Bovespa Index is down the second least at -11.2%. China's Shanghai Composite is down 15.8%, while Russia's RTS is down the most at 16.4%. The US' S&P 500 is right in middle with a decline of 12.8%.
Asian stocks fell as China released a bearish manufacturing report Tuesday morning. Added to this bearish news out of China is a spate of negative credit ratings news in Europe (Spanish Bank CAM, Brussels regional government, etc) and a massive downtick in BP shares due to its failure to stem the giant Gulf of Mexico oil leak. These events are weighing on market sentiment and have shares and futures down not only in Asia, but in Europe and the U.S.
I want to concentrate on the Chinese data because of a few comments...
The current equity downturn has been just as hard on emerging market countries as it has on more developed nations. However, given that the downturn has been sparked by fears of seemingly unsustainable levels of public debt, emerging market stocks may be the baby getting thrown out with the bath water.
The table to the right shows the most recent levels of public debt as a percentage of GDP for each of the G-7 countries. As shown in the...
Last year, leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) floated the idea of conducting trade without relying on the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. At the group’s second summit in Brazil last month, BRIC countries voiced the need for big changes that could add to the strength of their economies and related ETFs.
For now, the United States still reigns supreme, with the largest economy of any other single country and a strengthening dollar in the face of an unraveling euro, writes Ivan Martchev for Yahoo! Finance. The BRIC economies combined are larger...
ETFs that track China, other parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and Africa are major destinations for investors. But they aren’t areas you should get into before first understanding the ins and outs.
Foreign markets, such as China and South America, are typical areas that attract waves of foreign investment. Many of these economies are experiencing enormous growth, but with that growth comes great volatility and more than your average risk. Brain Bloch for Investopedia reports on what it is that makes these overseas global funds so risky and how to alleviate this.
The BRIC countries have become powerful on their own. Now they’re teaming up to demand more clout in global financial institutions and wielding their economic prowess for the good of the developing world…and possibly even the ETFs tracking them.
At a recent summit in Brazil, the group of nations collectively known as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) called for reforms of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to give a greater say to developing nations, reports Stuart Grudgings for Reuters. The group is pressuring developed nations to agree to a...
By Chip Brian SmarTrend has detected shares of SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (NYSE:BIK) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $24.68 today and have reached the first resistance level of $24.81. We are ...
By Chip Brian SmarTrend has detected shares of SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (NYSE:BIK) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $23.87 today and have reached the first resistance level of $24.10. We are ...
By Chip Brian SmarTrend has detected shares of SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (NYSE:BIK) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $23.87 today and have reached the first resistance level of $24.04. We are ...
By Chip Brian SmarTrend has detected shares of SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (NYSE:BIK) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $23.56 today and have reached the first resistance level of $23.77. We are ...
Most investors, when looking to emerging markets tend to focus their attention on broad-based funds such as the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE:EEM) or the fast moving BRIC countries ...
By Chip Brian SmarTrend's candlestick pattern scanner has detected a bullish engulfing pattern for shares of SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (NYSE:BIK) since the stock closed above $22.20. Friday, this ...
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