Europe Winning the Battle for BRIC Business, Stocks Outperform

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Europe Surpasses U.S., Japan in Reaping Gains From World Trade [Bloomberg]

Summary: Economists at Goldman Sachs say Europe is leading Japan and the U.S. in trade with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets. Also, Merrill Lynch's monthly survey of institutional investors shows Europe has been the most popular investment target for the past six months. These findings however, contrast with a not insignificant portion of European labor and politicians' sentiment -- globalization is often viewed as a threat, inducing protectionist thinking. Still, European equities have outperformed U.S. and Japanese rivals with the Bloomberg European 500 index gaining 15% year-to-date, versus 12% for the S&P500 and -2% for the Nikkei 225. Amidst the global M&A boom, Europe has made up nearly 50% of the deals.
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Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Companies mentioned in the article: Carrefour, SAP (SAP), Siemens (SI), ThyssenKrupp, Nokia (NOK), Gucci, Mariella Burani Fashion Group, Alcatel (ALA) • ETFs: iShares S&P Europe 350 Index (IEV), Vanguard European Stock (VGK), BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index (ADRU), streetTRACKS Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 (FEZ), Europe 2001 HOLDRs (EKH), WisdomTree Europe High-Yielding Equity (DEW), WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend (DFE), WisdomTree Europe Total Dividend (DEB) • CEF: European Equity Fund (EEA)

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