Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Vietnam

Five Hot New International ETFs To Consider

Money and Markets — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:31:12 +0000

Today, much of the world's economic growth is outside of the U.S. So for now at least, many (and maybe most) of the compelling investment opportunities are outside the U.S., too. But for years, Americans had a hard time gaining access to the smaller international markets. Try to ...

FT frontier-related quickies from Wednesday

Jason G. Wulterkens — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:33:58 +0000

Behold the “negative basis trade,” per John Dizard: “You can own a corporate bond, or emerging market sovereign bond, buy default protection on the paper with CDS, and collect interest payments for taking no risk. That’s right: because CDS prices are depressed, relative to the comparable bonds, you can collect money for taking no risk.” Per [...]

Vietnam responding to ‘aggressive government stimulus’

Jason G. Wulterkens — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:42:31 +0000

The Ho Chi Minh Exchange, which lost two-thirds of its value in 2008 and hit a low this past February, has risen 2% overall since the beginning of the year and 36.6% since late February. Thus, while the market has underperformed Malaysia, which is up 5.3%, it outperformed Thailand, down 2.8%. The government forecasts 5-5.5% [...]

Dong losing its ding against the dollar

Jason G. Wulterkens — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:56:40 +0000

Vietnam’s central bank will gradually widen the band in which the country’s currency is allowed to trade against the U.S. dollar, Pham Huu Phuong, head of the central bank’s representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, told a state run newspaper on Thursday. The dong is presently allowed to trade against the dollar within [...]

S&P Launches Focused Vietnam Equities Index

IndexUniverse Staff — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:47:15 +0000

The narrow-based index covers just the 10 largest and most liquid stocks trading in Vietnam.

Standard & Poor's has launched the S&P Vietnam 10 Index, covering the largest and most liquid companies in Vietnam.

The index adds to S&P's existing set of Asian equity indexes targeting some of the biggest names and biggest markets. S&P offers an index on the 50 largest stocks on the National Stock Exchange of India, the S&P NCX Nifty; the S&P HKex LargeCap, which targets the 25 largest Hong Kong-traded stocks; and indexes for Chinese stocks based outside mainland China through its S&P/CITIC China 30 and S&P/CITIC China 50 indexes.

Vietnam has previously only been covered by S&P in broad-based Asia indexes. FTSE already offers two indexes covering stocks that trade on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange; the FTSE Vietnam All-Share Index, covering 90% of the stock universe; and the more narrow FTSE Vietnam Index.

The top five holdings in the S&P Vietnam 10 Index are FPT Corp., Petroleum Technical Services Corporation, PetroVietnam Drilling & Well, PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals, and PetroVietnam Insurance JSC. Sectors covered include Consumer Discretionary, Energy, Financials, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials and Utilities.

Companies to be included in the index must have a float-adjusted market capitalization above $50 million and a three-month average daily trading value above $250,000, and must trade on local Vietnam exchanges. Weights are liquidity-based, with no single stock having a weight of more than 15% in the index at reconstitution. The index will be rebalanced quarterly.

S&P has launched similar 10-stock indexes covering China and India's markets as well.

Vietnam is currently classified as a frontier market by the major index providers, and it has garnered a lot of attention from investors seeking to diversify their portfolios and take advantage of the outsized returns the country's market has achieved in recent years - although it is down sharply year-to-date. However, many believe that Vietnam represents a compelling long-term story.

There is a Vietnam index-based ETF trading overseas, offered by Deutsche Bank's x-trackers family, the DB FTSE Vietnam ETF (LSE: XFVT) tracking an index provided by FTSE. In the U.S. EFT market, the Market Vectors family recently filed for a Vietnam fund.

Are the Most Business-Friendly Markets the Most Friendly to Investor Portfolios?

Martin Hutchinson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:10:19 +0000

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Forbes Magazine has come out with its list of "Best Countries for Business" - and Denmark ranks as the world’s most business-friendly... Money Morning is here to help investors profit han...

Vietnam Stock Exchange Plunges,Investors trading in what little Dongs they have

Raymond Teo — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:00:24 +0000

“I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said…” With those mealy words, America’s Depression-era president ventured from bad luck into treachery. The Executive Order he issued on the 5th of April 1933 confiscated Americans’ private holdings of gold, then [...]

Vietnam halts gold imports

Tony Sagami — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:57:50 +0000

Vietnam is suffering from a 25%-plus inflation rates and in an effort to save its plunging currency, suspended the importation of gold.

Vietnam investors are so intensely buying gold as a hedge against inflation that gold importation has become one of the largest trade deficit contributors.

The government can try to stop investors from buying gold, but it won't work. Inflation is here and gold is the right way for investors to protect themselves.

Multinational Corporations Step up the Search for the “Next China”

Money Morning — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:11:46 +0000

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor As far as foreign direct investment in Asia is concerned, China is still the undisputed leader, drawing approximately $42.78 billion in just the first five months... Money Morning is here to help investors profit h...

Corn Prices Linger at Record Highs but Wheat and Rice Wear Thin

Money Morning — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:55:37 +0000

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Flooding in the Midwest has devastated much of the region’s corn crop, and caused prices to skyrocket. However, major rice and wheat producers are... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsome...

Mid Morning

Roger Nusbaum — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:36:00 +0000

I have been interested in and invested in Vietnam since the fall of 2006. I bought the Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF.L) at $2.48, sold half of it at $4.73 a few months later and still have some shares now trading at $1.99.

The fund hovered along at down a little for the year before starting to swoon about a month ago, consistent with the VN Index which is down 59% YTD.

The GDP has been en fuego, but less than in China, which has proven too hot to handle as now inflation appears to be running at 25-30%.

As I wrote several times along the way about Vietnam, a destination like this is going to have huge booms and huge busts along the way.

The story on the ground, which of course includes the inflation right here right now, is still the same. An average age in the early 20's and a 70 million population in a country that will modernize and become more economically relevant.

I don't discount the luck factor in leaving me with just having the house's money left in the position.

There will soon be frontier market ETFs coming. It can be easy to forget but these things are not one-way trades. When the downturns come they are big and can last for a while.

None this means the asset class lacks viability but it hopefully makes the point for why I favor moderation in this sorts of themes. After selling down the position I was left with about a 1% portfolio weighting. If the fund had doubled again over the rest of 2007 it would have added 100 basis points to the overall portfolio which becomes a meaningful number when your benchmark is up mid single digits.

Obviously the fund did not double again. In dropping by 60% since that sale it has created a very small drag on the portfolio for the literal handful of clients that own it (I own it personally as well).

Vietnam going up a lot did not make the thesis right. Now that it is down a lot the thesis is not wrong. Committing to a frontier destination should be thought of as a very long term proposition that will not be right for everyone.

When the ETFs come out you need to really look in the mirror and know what you can withstand before buying one of them.

Yue Yuen International

Tony Sagami — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:58:46 +0000

I had a very interesting meeting with the largest athletic shoe company in the world, Yue Yuen Industrial (0551.HK). The soles of tennis shoes are made from 'synthetic' rubber, a combination of petroleum-based chemicals as well as rubber. Since the cost of oil is soaring, so is the cost of synthetic rubber. That doesn't mean Yue Yuen International is headed for trouble. It does mean that they'll need to improve productivity and/or raise prices to compensate for the raw materials increase. I did have a fascinating discussion with the CEO about the success of their manufacturing plant in Vietnam.