Categories and Descriptions

StraightStocks.com is structured to assist visitors in finding stock information by either geography (e.g. Russia, Israel) or by market sector (e.g. Gold, Energy).

ALL articles published on StraightStocks.com are placed into one or more categories, as appropriate, by our editorial staff.

To read articles about stocks specific to a foreign market, use the gold colored tabs at the top of every page on this site or click on one of the countries listed below.

Why is StraightStocks.com organized in this manner?

Simple. The site’s growing foreign stock market focus reflects the plain fact that, to be a successful investor, one must seize investment opportunities worldwide. That means going beyond traditional tools like ADR’s and emerging market funds to find truly spectacular investing opportunities. Our content contributors are experts at identifying and analyzing hidden foreign markets and investment sectors.

This is one of the important, distinguishing features of StraightStocks.com

Interesting Facts about Market Capitalization of Developed vs Emerging & Frontier Markets

The pie chart shows the relative market cap size of the US, Canada, and other developed countries within EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) and the emerging market countries. The stock market capitalization of the 19 frontier market countries is essentially negligible in comparison to the other market categories.

Image courtesy of Richard Shaw, www.QVMgroup.com who is a regular contributor to StraightStocks.com

I. Developed Markets Tab

Here you can easily find the latest articles about stocks within the developed markets across the globe. In addition to the United States there are 22 countries that comprise this category. Click on the country name to view the latest on stocks within that developed market.

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

II. Emerging Markets Tab

Here you can easily find the latest articles on stocks within the emerging markets across the globe. There are 28 countries that comprise this category. Click on the country name to view the latest on stocks within that emerging market.

Argentina
Brazil
(Read additional information about Brazilian stocks and Brazilian ETFs)
Chile
China
also see (Read additional information about Chinese stocks and Chinese ETFs)
Columbia
Czech Republic
Egypt
Hungary
India
also see (Read additional information about Indian stocks)
Indonesia
Israel
Jordan
Korea
Malaysia
Mexico
Morocco
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Russia
also see((Read additional information about Russian stocks and Russian ETF’s)
South Africa
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Venezuela
Vietnam

Interesting Facts about Emerging Markets

The following map color codes the location of Canada, EAFE countries, and the emerging and frontier market countries. The US in not color coded.

Image courtesy of Richard Shaw, www.QVMgroup.com who is a regular contributor to StraightStocks.com

Richard Shaw points out in his article that the geographic area of the emerging markets is quite large in comparison to the US, or the EAFE developed non-US markets. That is the opposite of the relative market cap sizes.

China and India, which are within the emerging markets, also hold more than 1/3 of the world’s 6 billion population. The US, Canada, and EAFE combined have about 1/6 of the world’s population.

III. Frontier Markets

Here you can easily find information about stocks within frontier markets. There are 17 countries that comprise this category. Expect to see StraightStocks.com take the clear lead in this area!

Bahrain
Bulgaria
Croatia
Estonia
Kazahkstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Lebanon
Mauritius
Nigeria
Oman
Qatar
Romania
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
Tunisia
Ukraine
ALL Frontier Markets

You can see from the map (above) that most of the frontier market countries are adjacent to emerging countries. It will probably be just a matter of time before they emerge as well. Some experts say that the frontier markets are today where the emerging markets were 15 years ago. If that is true, then there is a quite volatile, but wealth producing opportunity ahead in those markets.

Most of Africa has not yet developed tradeable stock markets, as you can see by the large area without color coding.

Richard Shaw wisely advises us that investors would do well to begin to familiarize themselves with frontier market investment issues. Those markets are quite small, and thinly traded with the potential for extreme volatility and illiquidity when you need it most. However, frontier markets will definitely be appropriate for the more disciplined investor.

Though only recently formalized by the major index companies, the MSCI Frontier Markets Index, during its short life, has outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and China (FXI or GCX), India (IIF or IFN), Brazil (EWZ) and Russia (RSX) individually.

Click to enlarge

Image courtesy of Richard Shaw, www.QVMgroup.com who is a regular contributor to StraightStocks.com

IV. Market Sectors

In addition to geography, articles are structured by market sector. Here are a few examples:

Current Market News - Home to daily updates and financial market news. Updated daily! By far our most popular and largest category. Can be found under the “Today” tab.

Stocks to Watch – Articles featuring information on specific securities, whether on the rise or on the fall. Also, one of our most popular categories. (Also see “Stocks to Watch Videos”). Can be found under the “Sectors” tab.

Investing Lessons – This is a unique category highlighting past losses, gains or predictions that went right or went wrong. It is intended to be a learning resource. Can be found under the “Sectors” tab.

Non-Equities - This is the home for all things that aren’t stocks — everything from Fed Rates to Forex to Commodities can be found here. Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.

Precious Metals - This category is for the discussion of many types of precious metals such as Silver, Platinum, Nickel, Copper, and more (except Gold which has it’s own category) Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.

Gold Markets - This category is for the discussion of all things concerning the markets for that “yellow metal” called Gold. Posts on the topics of gold ETF’s, gold bullion, gold coins, anything related to this revived and dynamic metal. Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.

Commodities - This category is for the discussion of commodities. Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.

Biotech - This category is for the discussion of biotechnology markets and securities. Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.

Energy - This category is for the discussion of energy markets (oil, natural gas, coal, solar, you name it). Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab. A VERY popular category in 2008 and likely to continue.

NanoTechnology (coming soon) - This category is for the discussion of nanotechnology. Can be found as a drop-down selection under the “Sectors” tab.