[quote author="PANDA" date=1219402499]I know that the international equities have been taking a beating lately, but the valuations are starting to look more and more attractive these days, especially Asia. Just like Irvine Real Estate, you've got quality products at discounted prices.
The Asian economies have all the ingredients of fertile investment soil: high growth rates, low taxes, a pro-business regulatory environment, a high savings rate, and educated populance, and a huge appetitite for consumption that will soon surpass the U.S. I believe that Asia will talk off in the years ahead, leaving the U.S. stock market in the dust.
Here are some of my favorite mutual funds:
Matthews Asian Tiger - used to be closed to new investors, but recently reopened.
T.Rowe Price New Asia
Matthews China
Matthews India
Janus Overseas
Dodge and Cox International Stock
Here are some of my favorite international ETFs
IFN - India Fund
FXI - China ETF
EEM - Emerging Markets
GRR - Asian Tigers
In North America, I like Canada (ETF symbol: EWC), which, suprisingly, now has one of the best positioned economies in the world. Canada happens to be part of the natural resource block, which includes Australia and New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, South Africa and the Scandinavian countries, like Norway. Canadian Oil Stocks, in my opinion are also a great play as they consistently pay high dividends.
These are my favorite Asian equities i like to invest in order:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Japan
4. S. Korea
5. Taiwan
6. China
7. India
Asians equities have been seriously beaten down, which is why you want to buy them while they are cheap. Panda loves 40% off sales.
So when is the 40% off SALE EVENT happening at Villa Rosa in Woodbury????
Panda</blockquote>
I dunno about a 40% off SALE EVENT in Irvine, but the funds Panda picked are on sale for more than 40% off. Here are the charts for his wonderful ideas with the red line being the S&P 500 to compare it too.
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandawifn816.jpg
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandawfxi405.jpg
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandaweem871.jpg
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandawgrr872.jpg
I don't need to look at his fund picks, as I am sure they are just as bad, if not worse.
Even his Canadian ETF, in which he proclaimed has such a better economy that US.
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandawewc533.jpg
Now, lets take a look at his currency picks. In bold is how much the dollar is UP or if negative DOWN compared to the currency YTD as of today's WSJ.
[quote author="PANDA" date=1219442549]Also, I would like to add that these are the Asian currencies i like to hold over the EURO and USD long term. My preference for the Asian currencies are in the following order.
1. Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY <strong>-6.6%</strong>
2. Singapore Dollar SGD <strong>4.2%</strong>
3. Japanese Yen JPY <strong>-12.3%</strong>
4. Taiwan New Dollar TWD <strong>1.2%</strong>
5. Hong Kong Dollar HKD <strong>-0.6%</strong>
6. Korean Won KRW <strong>42.3%</strong>
7. Indian Rupee INR <strong>20.9%</strong>
8. Malaysian Ringgit MYR <strong>7.2%</strong>
9. Indonesian Rupiah IDR <strong>16.0%</strong>
10. Thailand Baht THB <strong>16.4%</strong>
11. Philippines Peso PHP <strong>17.5%</strong>
Panda</blockquote>
Now, aside from the Yen carry trade unwind, and the currencies that peg themselves to the dollar, that is some serious whackage. If you converted those currencies back to dollars to buy gold, would you be able to buy more or less gold?
Actually, here is a chart of the dollar index DXY vs. gold GLD. It looks like if you invested in DXY back then, then you could buy a lot more gold today!
http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08455/pandawdxy707.jpg
Of course Panda will whine that I am picking on him, but as I have said before, I am trying to make sure IHBers do not make the same mistakes as Panda. I have tried to get him to listen, IR has tried to get him to listen, but instead he just wants to believe the dollar is trash, even after we both said to not bet against the dollar. I think the more appropriate term should be don't bet against IR and Graph, because they seem to have a pretty good track record when it comes to assets.