Research & Insight

Amongst the coverage of Hurricane Gustav, the Democrat and Republican Party Conventions and trouble in the Caucasus, Rexiter’s clients may have seen that political events in Thailand have taken another turn for the worse, but they would be forgiven if they find the picture rather hard to interpret. Having just returned from a series of company visits in Bangkok and therefore having gained a sense of what has been going on first hand, here are some impressions about the stand-off between the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) – currently encamped outside Government House – and coalition government led by the People’s Power Party (PPP).

President Medvedev, 26th August 2008: “We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War”. President Bush, 26th August 2008: "We expect Russia to live up to its international commitments, reconsider this irresponsible decision, and follow the approach set out (in the cease-fire deal)".

It may not be the best time to write about the positive outlook on the Korean equity market (or equity market overall) from an economic point of view, however, I would like to remind you that in the long run, structurally, Korea is moving into a more favourable and stable environment for equity investment in terms of fund flows.

American comedy writer Robert Orben once wrote that “inflation is bringing us true democracy. For the first time in history luxuries and necessities are selling at the same price.” This quote very accurately describes the feelings of rioters in over twenty countries worldwide this year. Food prices have increased so dramatically that millions are currently unable to feed their families with even the most basic of goods. However, the moving scenes of desperate Filipino’s raiding food warehouses in Manila and Egyptian textile workers fighting toe to toe with riot police in Cairo, contrast starkly with the dramatic fall in bond yields within emerging markets this month.

Having covered developed market equities for most of my professional life, when I joined Rexiter three years ago, I encountered a significant amount of scepticism among the ‘veterans’ (outside Rexiter’s team, of course) for my enthusiasm for Latin America’s attractive growth prospects. I rapidly grew accustomed to Brazil’s reputation as the ‘country of tomorrow’, as well as the notion that if there’s one constant in Latam, it would be that for every step forward a country makes – politically and economically – there will be, at some point, an equivalent step backward. How else could one otherwise explain the never ending roller coaster many Latin American countries have taken so far? Bursts of freedom, progress and energy followed by periods of inexplicable resentment and regression.