Commodity HQ: A Deeper Look At South Africa's Commodity Industry

South Africa is the largest economy of Africa, and it accounts for almost one-quarter of the continent’s GDP. The path to this status has not been an easy one, however, as the country languished under sanctions in the 1980s tied to the government’s apartheid policies. While South Africa has a relatively well-developed manufacturing sector by the standards of African economies (and developing economies in general), a meaningful percentage of the country’s economy still revolves around commodities.

Click here to read more:
http://commodityhq.com/2012/a-deeper-look-at-south-africas-commodity-industry/

Commodity HQ: A Deeper Look At South Africa's Commodity Industry

South Africa is the largest economy of Africa, and it accounts for almost one-quarter of the continent’s GDP. The path to this status has not been an easy one, however, as the country languished under sanctions in the 1980s tied to the government’s apartheid policies. While South Africa has a relatively well-developed manufacturing sector by the standards of African economies (and developing economies in general), a meaningful percentage of the country’s economy still revolves around commodities.

Please follow this link to read more:
http://commodityhq.com/2012/a-deeper-look-at-south-africas-commodity-industry/

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.