Continuing my theme of looking at the diversified ETF's(Exchange Traded Funds) coupled with my belief that we are in the midst of a secular Bull Market for commodities(who am I to argue with Jim Rogers !!) then I wanted to expand on my recent post around China and Taiwan and take a look at Australia.Since 2001 Australia has benefited from the boom in commodities especially the Metals such as Gold,Silver and Copper mined by companies such as BHP Billiton (NYSE : BHP) and the agricultural commodities-which some would argue are only recently starting to catch up with the rest of the booming Natural Resource Mkts-(witness Corn and Wheat over the last few months.)
If you believe as I do that we have a good few years to go before the Natural Resource boom tops out then the Australian Mkt should do very well in the next 5 or so years.Even although the ASX 200 broke out from its all time high in the last few weeks I still believe that we will see it higher in the years to come.It climbed 19% in 2006 topping its 2005 performance of just over 17%.
If that was not reason enough to look more closely at the opportunities in Australia the fact that the Australian Dollar has strengthened against the US dollar is another good reason for any American Investors or those who hold substantial amounts of their portfolio in dollars to consider the Australian Markets.
In order to benefit from the boom "down under|" then we could look at individual companies such as BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP ) or Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) up 220% and 150% respectively over the last five years, but I prefer the diversification of a fund-especially when companies can be as volatile as BHP and Rio Tinto.I would therefore take a close look at iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund (AMEX: EWA).This will give you a broad exposure to Australian companies and also will give you the benefits of some protection against the potential of a falling US dollar.This ETF is up 180% since 2001 and put in a performance of nearly 30% last year-that being said I think there is still some more upside particularly if you take a 3-5 year view. I currently hold some of the EWA but would be looking to add some more on any weakness or pullbacks.
As ever do your research , I would be placing a Stop loss of 20% on my average price and be looking to hold for 3+ years.
Best Wishes
Alan
To read more and follow my stock trading views and analysis visit my blog at http://retirementtrader.blogspot.com
Alan Gillies trades his own Pension fund he is experienced in Trading Stocks, Futures ,Options and Forex to read his blog on his trading tips and ideas go to
http://retirementtrader.blogspot.com
