iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund(ETF) (EWY)

asia strategy: long korea (cheap) + short japan

Korea is a powerhouse in Asia. Smart, hardworking, technologically advanced. I think most people still under estimate the country and its advancements.

Korea is an attractive emerging market. It will benefit from improved relations with NK (reduced perceived risk) and will outperform the S&P500 over the next several years.

The country's political and economic fundamentals are sound. Future appears bright. Companies oeprating in the country are increasingly more innovative.

Korea's economy is small and robust and should recovery more quickly then US or others

korean companies are as profitable and corrupt as ever

Sell Korea short

Korea has arrested a blogger for telling the truth about the country’s economic problems.

“Minerva, a 30-year-old suspect, was detained on suspicion of spreading false information,” a senior prosecutor at the Seoul District Central Prosecutors’ Office told Reuters, identifying the man only by his Internet name but giving no details of the allegations.

In his blog, Minerva — who has never revealed his identity — had said he once worked in the financial field in the United States. The prosecutor said he was currently jobless, and they would not identify unless charges were laid.

He became a household name last year for his predictions of sharp falls in the won and local stock market and the collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. The South Korean currency fell 28 percent last year and the main share index slumped 40 percent.

He later stopped making predictions, saying the authorities had muzzled his blog which attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors (http://agora.media.daum.net/profile/list?&key=yzcyxX5kuoE0&grou p_id=1&page_size=&page_no=1). The manager of one brokerage firm in Seoul, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, said Minerva had become influential enough to deter some investors from buying South Korean shares.

And a leading industry group, the Korea Securities Dealers Association (KSDA), is currently investigating ’sell’ recommendations by foreign brokerages, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch, officials said.

Local economists and analysts said officials from the government and central bank have asked them not to make negative comments to the media on the economy and markets.

“A few months ago, I got a phone call from a senior Bank of Korea official because I expressed worries about the foreign exchange reserves in a local newspaper,” an economist at a local brokerage told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

“The official said that I would be responsible for a (potential) crisis if media keep reporting negative views..”

This is as clear cut a warning signal as you are ever going to get about a country about to head into free fall.

Get your money out of Korea and if you want to make some cash short the hell out of them.

http://slycapital.com/2009/01/10/sell-korea-short/

mm......any ideas??

No longer a "developing" economy

some day...

Unity play.

Foreign.

+

Testing out a portfolio of smallish-cap 5-star stocks found using the CAPS screener. All picks have at least 50 allstars backing them, which should be enough to minimize star rating fluctuations. It's been less than a week, but so far so good!

Tae Kwon Do, Bulgogi, Stylin' Haircuts. 'Nuf said.

I lived in Korea for a few years. It's not an emerging economy -- I was told constantly about how they're set to crack the top ten. Remarkable turnaround story and even Seoul could become a pleasant place in a few years. I'm calling this an underperform because the links with the U.S. Some friends opened local accounts and made serious money on the Kospi in the last couple years and I expected the FTA with the U.S. to boost things. Now, with two protectionists duking it out for the Democratic bid and a recession underway, I'm not so sure. Over the long term, it'll do well -- a lot of world-class companies and science, a generation of very creative kids (not having to lock up all the young men at their most promising ages in the old-man factory of its sad army would be a tremendous boost) -- but for now, it'll head down with the U.S. market. Still too dependent on exports and the Won is appreciating, plus protectionist sentiment is on the rise everywhere. Plan on buying this again in a few months, hope to sell it off before World War III starts.

This market is emerging in the next few years, I think it is out of many radars

Korean Heavy Industry is in demand. Outperforming Japan.

S Korea has been up by a third over the last year, expect more in the next 3 months. target price 80