Stock market 2008 – "hot" five
On the eve of the new year, financial analysts compile traditional investment attractiveness ratings. Fortune magazine has published five companies from the purchase of shares of which the greatest return is expected.
Bank of Ireland. This bank is one of the sufferers who pay for the sins of others. Its shares suffered due to the mortgage crisis, according to Oakmark International stock manager David Hirro. But in the long run, Bank of Ireland's affairs don't look so bad. Largely due to the fact that Irish corporate taxes are so attractive to big business that they cause a constant influx of foreign investment. In addition, the bank was almost untouched by the scandal with CDOs – secured debt obligations, which caused multibillion-dollar losses at Citibank and other major financial institutions.
MTS. A Russian company providing services in the field of wireless communication will be an excellent object for investment. CGM Funds manager Ken Hibner believes that next year it is necessary to bet on two telecommunications companies from Russia at once – Vimpelcom and MTS. Since cellular coverage in our country has already reached almost 100% of the population, Beeline and MTS are expanding their area of influence to the CIS countries (MTS alone acquired about 3.3 million new subscribers in the third quarter of this year, 1.6 million of whom live outside Russia). In total, MTS, part of Sistema Holding, has 79 million subscribers (for comparison, the largest American cellular giant AT&T Wireless has 62 million subscribers).
iShares MSCI Brazil Index, a Brazilian exchange-traded fund trading shares of 56 national companies. The stock market of this country has reached such growth rates that very few states can boast of. Unless only Egypt has been doing better for the last 5 years. True, over the past 12 months, the Brazilian stock market has lost in terms of growth rates to the Chinese and Peruvian, but this does not mean that its affairs have become bad. GMO Emerging Markets Manager Arjun Divecha believes there are many reasons for the continuation of the Brazilian stock boom in 2008. First of all, interest rates should decrease in the country, which, against the background of 4% inflation, encourages investors to invest in stocks and continue pumping up the country's economy, estimated at $ 1.7 trillion. On the other hand, a reduction in interest rates will lead to the fact that investors who previously could make good profits everywhere will invest money in stocks. Arjun Divecha recommends buying shares of the iShares MSCI Brazil Index fund.
GlaxoSmithKline. The world's third largest pharmaceutical company from the UK is under attack by regulators for the release of a drug for diabetics Avandia, which dramatically increases people's risk of a heart attack. Then why does the manager of Oakmark International, David Hirro, recommend that we invest in shares of this company? Because she has diverse interests, including the production of vaccines and the production of consumer goods. Over the past five years, GlaxoSmithKline has demonstrated steady profit growth, which affects the growth of the company's share price.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. The production of mineral fertilizers has been a very promising business lately. The more people on the whole earth move from the category of poor to the category of the middle class, the stronger their need for healthy food. And if we take into account the fact that rapidly developing countries like China are reducing acreage in order to build more plants and factories, then this again affects the profits of fertilizer producers (farmers need to increase yields on shrinking acreage). The Canadian company Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is one of the brightest examples of this trend in the global economy. The manager of Marsico Capital Management, James Gendleman, believes that the growth in the value of the shares of this company will continue, as Potash Corp. it will continue to expand the sales market."
Alexey Muzychuk, www.dp.ruPortal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru