Country Stock Market YTD Rankings

Following chart comes via the Bespoke Investment Group. There’s always a bull market somewhere! News of Venezuelan President’s battle with cancer made many investors scramble to pick up assets there as people hope to pick up great companies at bargain prices hoping that there will be a regime change! Venezuela in 2007 was really a candidate for the worst performing market as Hugo Chavez went about nationalising local companies. Companies like Cantv (20% of weightage in local stock market index!). He is concerned that the US may attack Venezuela after Libya and Syria and has taken massive loans from China and Russia. Some of these will be repaid in oil barrels (I like the Chinese!). Also, if you take out the inflation (running at ~25%, the returns in real terms come down sharply. But even then the returns are handsome. Until you remember the ~50% currency devaluation that was done by Chavez at the start of 2010. So, in $ terms, the returns would be even lower.

Good to see Pakistan at no 7. Not for long though, is my guess.

2008 – 2010 country performance pics below. Lets see if Venezuela and Pakistan feature in these…