iShares MSCI South Africa Index (EZA)

All Comments on EZA

  • commenter
    Mr. T
    Apr 28 09:58 PM
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Hello Mr. Shaw

    I have been following your recommendation of TRAMX and it seems its growing at a reasonable click ($1 since your last piece) my question is why is this fund focused heavily in the financial sector and industrial materials sector and not much else, could this be a future problem for the fund if the financials are in a situation similar to the one US is experiencing. Also do you think there will be more funds launching for the middle east area?

    Thanks

    P.S. Sorry if I was rude in my last post to your "Leaving in the Dust" article     Reply
  • commenter
    Richard Shaw
    Apr 28 11:48 AM
    My Website
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Football Geek,

    Yes, Canada is important.

    Not only is it energy rich, but the energy reserves and energy production and distribution are not subject to the geopolitical risks of so much of the oil in the rest of the world, which is subject to nationalization, effective nationalization by huge increases in royalties, war, sabotage, terrorism, political manipulation of supply, and in worst cases end user need to defend maritime transport of oil.

    Canada was about 3% of world market cap as of mid-2007.     Reply
  • commenter
    Richard Shaw
    Apr 28 11:37 AM
    My Website
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Aly-Khan Satchu:

    Good question.

    I used the term "tradable" and perhaps should have used the word "investable"... which is the term used by MSCI in constructing their indices.

    Your home country of Kenya is included in the MSCI "investable" frontier markets index (and South Africa is in the emerging category), but most of the non-Gulf region Africa countries are not. MSCI has criteria which they broadly describe this way:

    "The MSCI Frontier Markets Indices are designed to track the performance of a range of equity markets that are now more accessible to global investors. The MSCI Frontier Markets Indices Methodology follows similar principles to the methodology of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indices (GIMI), but takes into account the specific market capitalization structure and liquidity constraints that characterize these markets."

    A good place to start looking at how MSCI defines investable is on their December 2007 release about their Frontier Indices found at:

    mscibarra.com/products...

    We are not making any determination as to investablity in this article, but are following the lead of MSCI in stating what is and is not investable. Their determination is similar to, but not exactly the same as, that of Standard and Poor's.

    I chose the word "tradable" versus "investable" partially to avoid confusion between direct investment opportunities which cannot be "traded" (such as a company building a factory or setting up a distribution system) and buying and selling stocks or bonds on a exchange with certain characteristics which is the "investability&qu... idea MSCI is referencing.

    By the way, you have a handsome website.

    Thanks for commenting

    Richard     Reply
  • commenter
    Richard Shaw
    Apr 28 11:12 AM
    My Website
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    John from Osaka,

    Thank you for the complement and also for the note of our proofing error. It has been corrected on my blog and SA will be making an image substitution shortly.

    Richard     Reply
  • commenter
    Aly-Khan
    Satchu
    Apr 28 10:27 AM
    My Website
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Dear Richard,

    What is your definition of tradeable stock markets in relation to Africa and particularly in SSA?

    There is a whole lot going on which appears not to be captured by your map?

    Aly-Khan Satchu
    rich.co.ke



     Reply
  • commenter
    ikkyu
    Apr 28 09:45 AM
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Greetings. I always enjoy your posts.

    The world map appears to have an incorrect key. It seems the emerging and developed non-U.S. markets are switched.

    Cheers from Osaka,
    john     Reply
  • commenter
    Football
    Geek
    Apr 28 08:57 AM
    Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
    Interesting note to this is that Canada is close to the US, but their
    economy is different in many ways. Canada has the second most oil
    reserves in the world, jobless rate is at a twenty five year low, currently enjoys a government surplus, exports more goods than it
    imports, stable government in power, and has a skilled workforce.
    Has some great companies like POT, RIM, MFC, TD, CN, etc.
    Because we are so close to the US, sometimes we are forgotten.
    With the price of oil looking to stay high, and the demand to continue Canada could do very well in the next decade
    Reply
  • commenter
    Ames
    Tiedeman
    Apr 27 05:20 PM
    My Website
    ETF Fund Revenues: A View from the Bottom [view article]
    Nice data! Thanks! Reply
  • commenter
    ecru
    Apr 25 04:09 AM
    Investing in Platinum: Profit from South Africa's Energy Squeeze [view article]
    Informative. I own Eastern Platinum(ELR,T) units and think it is a very interesting story. Any thoughts? Reply
  • commenter
    Paulo
    Apr 14 08:00 PM
    Global Stock Market Performance [view article]
    And current P/E's may not accurately reflect country P/E's six months or a year from now. At best, reasonable people might conclude that Shanghai and the U.S. look expensive at the moment, despite differences on the other measures. Reply
  • commenter
    europeaninve
    st
    Apr 14 06:19 PM
    My Website
    Global Stock Market Performance [view article]
    so how do we decide which of these goes up the most or down the least? Reply
  • commenter
    Fred S
    Apr 14 03:22 PM
    Top 5 Country ETFs from the Motley Fool CAPS Survey [view article]
    Picking a starting point for comparison makes all the difference. If you plot comparisons for the last three months, EEB comes in at the BOTTOM, about 15% below EWD. Reply
  • commenter
    SeekingAlpha
    Editors
    Apr 06 05:17 AM
    My Website
    General Discussion on EZA
    Is this a buy or a sell? Reply
  • commenter
    David Fry
    Apr 02 09:56 PM
    Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [view article]
    Thanks everyone! Reply
  • commenter
    jjc7477
    Apr 02 05:03 PM
    Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [view article]
    I'm new to looking at this column and quickly becoming addicted also. I'm unfamiliar with the author Murphy listed here and would like to pick up a copy of the book Greg in Al and salad1bar mention. Can someone share the name with me please? Thanks for the help!

    JJC     Reply
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