Emerging Markets

The U.S. now comprises just one-third of the world's market capitalization. And in the past few years, global returns handily outpaced those of U.S. issues. But recently -- in spite of all the talk of decoupling -- international markets have suffered right along with our domestic exchanges.

Emerging market investments have been on a tear for the last few years, easily outpacing the returns of U.S. stocks.

This is a new fund, so there's not a lot to say about its historical performance. That's okay, because investing is about the future--and the future in the Middle East and Africa is going to be interesting.

The buzzword for the last few years has been international investing.

When the U.S. stock market is a mess and the dollar is even worse, investors start looking to alternatives, and this fund combines two of them: investment-grade bonds and international currencies.

Emerging markets, defined by Wikipedia as those countries in transition between developing and developed, have been on a tear for the last few years. The two primary catalysts have been tremendous growth in consumption and rising energy demand.

Emerging market mutual funds were hot in 2005, receiving a record $20.3 billion in inflows. But last year was even better, with inflows rising to $22.4 billion, according to Emerging Portfolio Fund Research. And the love hasn't stopped.

Emerging market funds took a big hit in May, but since then have bounced back. Could more growth be in store? Plus, a look at the state of Web 2.0.

We conclude our series on investing in India with a look at how investors can make direct plays on the country through funds and ADRs.

In this issue we continue our series on investing in India with a look at three companies that are capitalizing on outsourcing. Also, we take a look at some solar energy stocks.

In the first of our series on investing in India, we examine the demographics and economic conditions of the world's second most populous nation. Also, a brief look at the new oil ETF, the United States Oil Fund (AMEX: USO), and a review of first quarter stock performance.