Forget BRIC, It's Time For CIVETS

Wall Street loves sound bites and handy acronyms. Whether it is ROE, NPV or NAV, there is no shortage of handy terms. For growth-oriented investors, BRIC has been one of the most important acronyms of the past ten years. Encompassing the dynamic economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRIC was a guidepost for many investors and there is no questioning the strong stock performance of this group (particularly China and Brazil). (Historically, international investing has worked out well for investors, but this may no longer be the case.

Things change, though, and it may be time for investors to pay more attention to a new name. A civet may be an odd-looking creature (imagine a cross between a raccoon and a cheetah), but the CIVETS could be the next major destination for international investing.

Meet the CIVETS
CIVETS is an acronym, reportedly coined by Michael Geoghegan at HSBC (NYSE:HBC), for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. Investors may think of this as a second-generation of emerging economies, as these countries generally have fast-rising (and young) populations, relatively well-established financial infrastructure, internal stability and a pathway towards significant economic growth and potential co-leadership in their economic spheres.


Please click the link for the full text:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1010/Forget-BRIC-Its-Time-For-CIVETS.aspx

Please note - I ordinarily also would have mentioned Turkcell (NYSE: TKC) as part of this group, but I own Turkcell in my own accounts, and therefore cannot mention it within Investopedia articles.

Phone Stocks: The New Treasurys?

You do not need to search far to find prophets of doom warning you away from one asset class or another. Normally, I pay no particular attention to this - it is the ongoing differences of opinion between investors that give us a vibrant market, and there is certainly money to be made in finding creative ways to shout "we're all doomed!" on financial TV. 

Still, I cannot help but wonder about certain investment opportunities. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the return potential in U.S. Treasury securities, and I wonder if investors can do better for themselves with other instruments. Specifically, I am interested in comparing the investment prospects of government bonds to those of major telecommunications companies.  

To read the complete piece, please go to: 
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Phone-Stocks-The-New-Treasuries-VZ-T-PHI-TLK-FTE0707.aspx 

NB - in the fixed income world, the plural form of a Treasury bill is typically "Treasurys", not "Treasuries". I'm trying to convince my editors at Investopedia of this detail...