High Hopes
Hop into a time machine, journey to 1999. Much seems familiar. Technology companies are booming, discount brokers attract millions of new customers, and children teach their grandparents about the Internet. Perhaps, some speculate, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will reach 36,000. One thing, however, is quite different: American investors are intrigued by emerging-markets stocks.
The reason for it is their economic prospects. The Asian Tigers of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan have enjoyed remarkable development, to the point where many no longer consider those nations to be emerging. Attention has now turned to their successors: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, later to be nicknamed “the BRICS.” Those countries are expected to grow rapidly.