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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (24502)	7/9/2002 12:23:57 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196545

Art, re: Investing in Korean Techs << Since individual investors outside Korea can't invest directly in companies like KTF, LG, or Samsung, what is the best way for an individual to obtain an interest in stocks like these? >> Good question. One way is mentioned in the article below. I also commented on investing in Samsung in the thread header for "Samsung & Wireless". Subject 52045 Samsung Electronics Ltd. (SSNLF) Profile can be accessed here but it doesn't tell us much: marketwatch.com Bottom line is that it is very difficult to get at financial data for some of these Asian companies not listed on an American exchange. >> Investec's Conlon: Asia On The Cheap By Allen Wan, CBS.MarketWatch.com Hong Kong July 8, 2002 marketwatch.com Robert Conlon has a rather simple philosophy on how to invest in Asia: Go cheap. It's worked well for Investec Asia Focus Fund (IASMX: news, chart, profile), which Conlon co-manages. The $24 million fund doubled the return of the benchmark MSCI ACWI Free Index this year with a 10 percent gain. Over 12 months, it's up 17.3 percent - not bad considering the sorry state of global markets. During the same time period, the index gained 7.1 percent. "We look for cheap stocks, rising EPS (earnings per share) revisions and good strategies," Conlon said "Asia stock markets are much, much cheaper than the U.S. market." Conlon said. "Our portfolio averages 10.5 times current year earnings. Asian markets are so cheap because investors were burned in 1997 and 1998 and have been reluctant to return to Asia. If we continue to do well then I believe that confidence will return." Conlon especially likes Samsung Electronics (SSNLF: news, chart, profile), South Korean retailer Shinsegae and Hong Kong garment manufacturer Texwinca. "Samsung is very cheap at 7.6 times this year's earnings, and is generally a market leader in what it does" -- DRAM chips, consumer electronics and mobile handsets. U.S. chip rival Micron Technology (MU: news, chart, profile) is 39 times earnings for the year ended next August, Sony (SNE: news, chart, profile) in consumer electronics is 38 times earnings for the year ended next March and Nokia (NOK: news, chart, profile) in handsets is 19 times 2002 earnings, "but Samsung is growing market share at a faster rate." he said. Samsung fell 3 cents to $279.89 in U.S. trading Friday. He likes Shinsegae (SDKXF: news, chart, profile) because it's growing rapidly and has strong potential at 13 times earnings this year. Its shares rose $394.58, or 3.26 percent, to $12,503.62 in the U.S. Friday. And Texwinca is gaining share in a very fragmented industry, he said, adding that "orders are very strong with booking now full for 90 days." Colin said he is maintaining a heavy weighting in South Korea, but cut his stakes in Taiwan, where information technology stocks may have a hard time meeting 2002 estimates. He's also mulling upping his stakes in Chinese petrochemicals and smaller companies in Hong Kong. "We select stocks based on the fundamentals for that particular company, rather than as a proxy for a country or for an industry. However, it is always preferable to have both the fundamentals for a country and an industry behind you, as 'paddling upstream' is more difficult." Allen Wan is a news editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York. << - Eric -