Sorry, but you’ve just run out of excuses…

There is not a single reason left for you avoid emerging-market oil, and here is perhaps the safest way for you to play it.

We’d been watching oil-services giant Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) for a while. When it announced Q2 earnings on July 18th, we knew it was time for our emerging-market investors to get in on the action.

The commodities boom in emerging markets is real. It’s making the rich even richer, but more importantly multitudes of poor people are getting a crack, often for the first time, at an upwardly mobile life that bubbles up through the entire economy. Once this starts to happen in developing countries, you want to get in on it.

Certainly, emerging markets are working quite well for Schlumberger.

Continue Reading »

Can we get a rousing Hallelujah?

Our Taipan Emerging Market Index jumped 9.3% this week as financial institutions come crashing down around us. Our 9.3% gain follows last week’s 5% rise. All I can say is that the numbers have spoken.

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

I won’t regurgitate the bad news on Wall Street, since I don’t want to rub it in. All I can say is that while most investors are crying in their beer, readers of the Taipan Emerging Market Blog are raising a glass of Champaign. (Oops, did I just rub it in?)

Once again the best news comes out of Asia. Our biggest winner this week is India’s Sensex Index (Bombay: ^BSESN) at +3.99%. It barely beat out our long-term gainer, the Shanghai SSE Composite Index (Shanghai: 000001.SS), which rose 3.49%.

The Times of India credits the boost to expectations on inflation.

Data released after market closed on Thursday showed annual inflation at 11.91% in early July, slightly higher than the previous week’s 11.89%, but below market expectations for more than 12%, according to the Times of India.

It also reported that lower crude prices helped interest-sensitive sectors like banks and real estate.

If this trend can continue in India, it’s likely to spread to other emerging markets. Inflation has been hurting just about all of these markets — undermining otherwise thriving economies. Although it’s too soon to tell if this is a long-term trend, I’d suggest you put your broker on speed dial.

Have a great weekend.

–Irwin Greenstein

In today’s posting, Sarah Nunnally, Editor of Taipan Trader, takes on your faithful editor Irwin Greenstein for his rant in the July 2nd issue about InBev’s move on Anheuser Bush. Feel free to ad your comments about the acquisition of a great American brand by a Belgian company.

Done is done, Irwin… No use crying over spilled beer.

Anheuser-Busch (BUD:NYSE) has agreed to the takeover terms by InBev SA (INBVF:PINK)

The deal is worth $52 billion. That’s a steal, if you ask me. Thanks to the dollar’s fresh demise (new lows against the euro), InBev is spending only 32.5 billion euros. A year ago that price tag would have been 37.7 billion euros, and that’s the main reason why InBev can afford to buy BUD now.

Continue Reading »

One of the biggest business stories of the year has literally been buried by the media — and it could cost you a lucrative opportunity.

On July 9, the China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s $200-billion sovereign wealth fund, said it will start investing in global equity markets through its overseas asset managers, according to the China Securities Journal.

CIC said it will allocate $250 million to eight different overseas asset managers.

Why Big Media didn’t play this up more prominently is a real joke. CIC is the world’s sixth biggest sovereign wealth fund (SWF). The decision to start actively investing in emerging market equities is a clear indication that emerging markets cannot be ignored.

Continue Reading »