Hey, Irwin…

Looks like the world is becoming more focused on frontier markets in Africa and the Middle East. Several new ETFs have popped up, making access to these markets so much easier for US investors.

They are Vectors Gulf States ETF (MES:NYSE), the Market Vectors Africa ETF (AFK:NYSE), the PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries ETF (PMNA:Nasdaq) and Claymore’s Frontier Markets ETF (FRN:NYSE). (Note: The FRN includes investments in a number of other frontier markets, including Latin American and Eastern European countries.)

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A new development at the World Trade Organization reveals that emerging markets have won a major food fight — giving investors a shot at cashing in.

An article from today’s Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. was crying about how India and China undermined crucial tariff talks about agriculture. The U.S. said that a sudden reversal by the two Asian giants threatened to shut out the U.S. from those booming emerging markets.

We have a different take on it — one that could serve as an indicator of an emerging-market bounce-back.

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There’s pain, and then there’s pain.

Today marks the worst day for our Taipan Emerging Market Index, with a fall of 59%. I think the only consolation here is that the major U.S. markets took a beating too.

Last week we were up 9.3%. It looks like the world markets have gone completely bi-polar. That’s what happens when sentiment overtakes logic in an electronic web of global markets.

Key
ALL ORDINARIES IDX (ASX: ^AORD) Australia
BSE SENSEX (Bombay: ^BSESN) India
IBOVESPA SAO PAULO (^BVSP) Brazil
EGYPT CMA GENL INDX (Cairo: ^CCSI) Egypt
HANG SENG INDEX (HKSE: ^HSI) Hong Kong
COMPOSITE INDEX (Jakarta: ^JKSE) Jakarta
COMPOSITE INDEX (Kuala Lumpur: ^KLSE) Kuala Lumpar
KOSPI Composite Index (KSE: ^KS11) South Korea
MERVAL BUENOS AIRES (Buenos Aires: ^MERV) Argentina
IPC (Mexico: ^MXX) Mexico
NZX 50 INDEX GROSS (NZSE: ^NZ50) New Zealand
IGBM (Madrid: ^SMSI) Spain
TEL-AV TASE-100 IND (^TA100) Israel
TSEC weighted index (Taiwan: ^TWII) Taiwan
SSE Composite Index (Shanghai: 000001.SS) Shanghai
iShares MSCI South Africa Index (EZA) South Africa
RTSI INDEX (RUS: RTS.RS) Russia
ISHARES MSCI THAILAN (NYSEArca: THD) Thailand
iShares MSCI Turkey Invest Mkt Index (TUR) Turkey
For you true believers, all I can say is that it’s time to double down. For cynics, skeptics and scaredy cats…well you know what you have to do.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that things will get worse before they get better. For how long, I can’t really say. However, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to post a comment. We look forward to hearing from you.

Have yourself a great weekend. I think some grilled burgers and couple of beers sound good right now.

–Irwin Greenstein

The easiest way to pocket gains in emerging markets is to follow the money.

This may sound odd coming from a bunch of contrarians who usually bet against Wall Street. But we’re not talking about Wall Street this time. We’re talking about the REAL BIG MONEY…Sovereign Wealth Funds.

SWFs are usually owned by the central bank of a government that has trillions in surplus. SWFs have grown in power most recently with the commodity boom. Surging prices in oil, natural gas and precious metals have given SWFs in the Persian Gulf and Asia in particular increased clout in how they want to shape the world.

Now we find that SWFs in the Persian Gulf are moving into oil-rich Southest Asia — tipping off investors to stable, long-term growth opportunities.

At the end of last year, the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) signed a deal with the Indonesian government to establish a $1-billion fund aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure. Once a government starts investing in infrastructure, you know that the economy is set for growth.

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