Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will Be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share

Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will Be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share

Released February 2012
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118153840

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Book description

Emerging market investment advice from a seasoned pro

Mark Mobius, the man the Wall Street Journal has proclaimed "the King of the Emerging Market Funds," spends eight months of the year traveling the globe in search of hidden market bargains overseas and in Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share, Revised Edition, he shares what he's learned. In a globetrotting tour taking you from the Baltic coast to Brazil, Mobius reveals his own experience-tested guidelines for investing abroad. Analyzing companies and new markets, identifying potential pitfalls and overlooked values, crunching numbers and meeting the local players, he knows where true growth is, and with this book in hand, you will too.

Presenting a straightforward, practical investment philosophy based on one key, indisputable fact: that the rest of the world's economies have far more potential for growth than our own, Passport to Profits shows even the most casual investor how to view investing abroad, how to devise a global investment strategy, and the pros and cons of buying individual stocks or mutual funds. The development of stock market infrastructures in emerging economies has opened up potential for impressive returns, and this book is your guide to cashing in.

  • Illustrates the four keys to determining if a country is investment-friendly and how to gauge political climates for great investment opportunities

  • Analyses the 2008 crisis and its implications for the development of the emerging financial markets

  • Explains the rules for investing abroad that too many investors fail to understand

An adventurous and honest insight into the art of investing in emerging international markets, Passport to Profits provides the hands-on experience you need to balance the risks and reap the rewards of global investing, right from the comfort of your home.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Part I: On the Frontier of Emerging Markets
    1. Chapter 1: Introduction to Emerging Markets
      1. Why Seek New Frontier Markets?
      2. Attractive Investment Opportunities
      3. Do your Research
      4. Where Are These New Markets?
      5. Argentina
      6. Chile
      7. Peru
      8. Cambodia
      9. Vietnam
      10. Bashkortostan Republic
      11. Kazakhstan
      12. Slovenia
      13. Romania
      14. Libya
    2. Chapter 2: Hope, Growth, and the Investing Process
      1. FELT
      2. Putting on My FELT Hat, Puttin’ on the Ritz
      3. The Basket Boom
      4. Some Statistics
      5. So Many Eggs, So Many Baskets
      6. A Note on Fund Types
      7. Closed-End Funds
      8. Open-Ended Funds
      9. A Few Things you Can Do
      10. The Big Five
      11. Taking the Plunge
      12. Risk and Reward
      13. By Way of Background
      14. And Today . . .
      15. The BP
      16. What I Bring to the Party
      17. The Crunch Method
      18. My Mobius Trip
      19. The Mobius Method
      20. Reality Check
      21. Sixth Sense
      22. Investment by Analogy
      23. Risk is Real
      24. ADRs
      25. Volume Discount
      26. Getting De-Fleeced
      27. Trading Risk
      28. Water Water Everywhere, Yet Not a Drop to Drink
      29. And Now for the Good News
      30. In Bob We Trust
      31. Operational Risk
      32. Let’s Look on the Bright Side
      33. Market Risk
      34. Five-Year Plan
      35. The Importance of Being Contrary
      36. Fear and Greed
      37. Templeton’s Law
      38. The Asian Spin Cycle
      39. Ground Zero
      40. Growth
      41. Mass Communications
      42. Leapfrogging Technology
      43. Foreign Aid That’s Not a Band-Aid
      44. The Market Economy
      45. Lower Tariffs, More Competition
      46. Take a Walk on the Cynical Side
      47. Reason Regionally as Well as Rationally
      48. Regional Benchmarks
      49. Interest Rates
      50. A Privatization Primer
      51. Getting In on the Ground Floor
  8. Part II: The Boom—Eastern Europe
    1. Chapter 3: Baltic Boom
      1. The Name is Mobius. Mark Mobius.
      2. So Why the Baltics?
      3. Mobius Map
      4. Preliminary Assessment
      5. Boom Towns
      6. Gateway Countries
      7. On the Ground
      8. Radio, Radio
      9. Cultural Characteristics
      10. Beachhead to Russia
      11. Hotel as Metaphor
      12. Signs of the Times
      13. The Healthy Heart
      14. Surveying the Territory
      15. The Phone Company
      16. Strategic Partners
      17. Strategic Investors
      18. E.T. Call Home
      19. Sizing Up Management
      20. The Vision Thing
      21. From a Bureaucracy into a Company
      22. An Excellent Connection
      23. NAV
      24. Playing Privatization Monopoly
      25. Politics, Schmolitics
      26. Future Shock
      27. Company Assessment
      28. Going Mobile
      29. The Energy Company
      30. Numbers Racket
      31. Women’s Lib?
      32. Candid Assessment
      33. The Stock Exchange
      34. The Bank
      35. Company Assessment
      36. Regional Assessment
      37. Market Metaphors
    2. Chapter 4: All the Riches in Russia
      1. Riddle/Enigma/Mystery
      2. Tax Surrealism
      3. Privatization, Russian Style
      4. Contract Killing
      5. The Oligarchy
      6. Oneximbank
      7. Confidence Games
      8. Oligarch
      9. A New Leaf?
      10. Prefer the Preferred?
      11. Profit from the Spread
      12. Share Dilution?
      13. A New New Leaf
      14. Cheaper by the Dozen
      15. Ground Zero
      16. A Fair Exchange
      17. A Central National Depository Registry
      18. So Boom or Bust?
      19. Some Good News
      20. Cultural Uplift
      21. And Now for Some Bad News
      22. The Second Tier
      23. Small is Not Always Beautiful
      24. Russia’s Pacific Rim
      25. A Haven for the Culturally Confused
      26. The TV Producer
      27. Back to the Map
      28. Public-Private Partnerships
      29. Corporate Culture
      30. Survival Instinct
      31. The Car Company
      32. A New Leaf
      33. Site Inspection
      34. Making Money
      35. Awesome Social Burden
      36. Company Assessment
      37. The Money Tree
      38. Share Dilution
      39. Arkhangelsk
      40. Dostoyevskian Despair
      41. Siberia
      42. KrAZ
      43. A House Deeply Divided
      44. KrAZ Update
      45. Fireworks
  9. Part III: The Bust—Asia
    1. Chapter 5: Hong Kong
      1. The Happy Handover
      2. Until, That is, the Fur Flew
      3. Forex Forever
      4. Selling yourself Short
      5. The Global Game
      6. Sticky Thai Rice
      7. Zooming In
      8. Let’s Get Technical
      9. There’s Got to Be a Better Way
      10. Currency Risk
      11. PPP
      12. Inside George Soros’ Head
      13. Current Account Balances
      14. Politics
      15. The Right Stuff
      16. The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself
      17. The Down-and-Dirty Details
      18. When Bad News is Good News
      19. Bottoms Up
      20. A Symbol Soiled
      21. Finger-Pointing
      22. Ominous Atmospherics
      23. The Russian Typhoon
      24. Hunting for Black October
      25. Peg o’ My Heart
      26. War of Words
      27. A Debate Finally Joined
      28. Moral Hazard
      29. For Richer, for Poorer, in Sickness and in Health
      30. The Great Man Speaks
    2. Chapter 6: Hong Kong, Part II: “Catching a Falling Knife”
      1. Head and Shoulders
      2. Curtains
      3. Risk Analysis
      4. Mobius Inc.
      5. Upside
      6. Downside
      7. The Year of the Rat
      8. What They Don’t Teach you at Harvard Business School
      9. Bargain-Hunting
      10. Handover Hangover
      11. Numbers Racket
      12. Snoopy Dog Dog
      13. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
      14. Aftermath
      15. High Finance
      16. Déjà Flu All Over Again
      17. The Patron Saint of Hong Kong
      18. Boning Up on your Fundamentals
      19. The China Connection
      20. Hong Kong’s Burden
      21. Red Chip Fever
      22. For All the Money in China
      23. Playing Monopoly
      24. IPO Mania
      25. IPO Primer
      26. Playing the IPO Game
      27. Flying the Concord
      28. Concord First Class
      29. Property Values
      30. Highway to Heaven
      31. Playing the China Card
      32. Bad Beer
      33. Body Heat
    3. Chapter 7: Thailand: Ground Subzero
      1. SOS
      2. Playing Monopoly
      3. Gridlock City Circa 1992
      4. Ghost Towns of Tomorrow
      5. Hills Like White Elephants
      6. What a Difference a Decade Makes
      7. The Royal Road to Recovery
      8. The Broom
      9. Lightening Up, with a Heavy Heart
      10. Macro Mirage
      11. Loss Leaders
      12. Buster Rabbit
      13. Sitting on Top of the World
      14. Chapter 11?
      15. Panning for Gold in the Sewer
      16. High Finance
      17. Goin’ Bottom-Fishing
      18. Twilight Zone
      19. Foreign Influence
      20. You Can’t Take It with you
      21. A Free Market Dispenses
      22. Back to the Land
      23. Political Reform
      24. My Thai Time
      25. Back to Bangkok
      26. Thai Farmers Bank
      27. New Rights Issues
      28. Strategic Investors
      29. Penthouse View
      30. Wham!
      31. Show Me the Money
      32. Why Was This Man Smiling?
      33. Confidence Games
      34. First Bangkok City Bank
      35. Less than Zero
      36. Okay. You Tell Me: Buy, Sell, or Hold?
      37. Follow-Up
      38. Bangkok Bank
      39. Tea and Sympathy
      40. Another Follow-Up
      41. Fleecing the Foreigners, Part II
      42. Pure Export Plays
      43. Chicken Feed
      44. Siam Cement
      45. Do the Right Thing
  10. Part IV: Beating the Odds—Latin America
    1. Chapter 8: Is Brazil the Next Domino?
      1. Flying Down to Rio
      2. Reach Out and Touch Someone
      3. Ticket to Ride
      4. But for the Grace of God . . .
      5. Sausage Links
      6. The Painted Box
      7. Debtor’s Prison
      8. Soccer Star
      9. Bossa Novas
      10. Price Comes Before the Fall
      11. Mumblety-Peg
      12. Big Birds of Paradise
      13. Silence is Golden
      14. Politician’s Paradise
      15. Dismantling the Octopus
      16. Not So Fast, Bub
      17. Truth or Consequences
      18. The Privatization Tango
      19. Untangling the Maze
      20. The Rumor Mill
      21. Size Matters
      22. Eletrobras
      23. NAV
      24. Telebras
      25. Looking Backward
      26. Breaking Up is Hard to Do
      27. Cheaper by the Dozen?
      28. Sweet River Valley, Valley So Low
      29. Sweet River Shares
      30. Oh Cicero!
  11. Part V: The Final Frontier—Africa
    1. Chapter 9: Nigeria
      1. Jewel in the Crown
      2. Hey Guys! Business or Pleasure?
      3. Con Artistry
      4. We Flew by Night
      5. Moral and/or Ethical Investing
      6. Idi Amin No More
      7. Moral and Ethical Quandaries
      8. Continental Drift
      9. Highway from Hell
      10. Multinational Inc.
      11. The Tax Man Cometh
      12. The International Packaged Goods Company
      13. Soap Opera
      14. Do your Duty
      15. The Multinational Packaged Goods Company
      16. Country Assessment
    2. Chapter 10: South Africa
      1. Political Football
      2. The Strong Man of Africa
      3. Reality Check
      4. Risk Premium
      5. Risk Pool
      6. Diamonds Are Forever?
      7. Political Risk Personified
      8. De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd.
      9. The Diamond Club
      10. Trust Busters
      11. Playing Monopoly
      12. Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend
      13. Breaking Away
      14. Russian Roulette
      15. The Glittering Pipeline
      16. Turning Off the Tap
      17. Black Chips
      18. Black Chip, Blue Chip, Red Chip, New Chip
      19. A Black-and-Blue Chip
      20. A Hero’s Welcome
      21. Water into Wine
      22. Eco-Okay
      23. Polifin
      24. Engen
      25. Tongaat-Hulett Group
      26. The Magnificent Seven
      27. Africa the Beautiful
  12. Conclusion
  13. Author’s Note
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will Be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: February 2012
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118153840