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Strategies & Market Trends : Thai Funds -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: peter michaelson who wrote (101)	5/19/1998 8:17:00 PM
From: Polartee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 107

Sorry I haven't kept this thread more up to date...very busy with everything else. I sold out my Siam Selective Fund at 43p a couple weeks back and sold the Canadian AIM Korea Fund in April at 2.82. I felt the upward run had gotten ahead of itself on these Asian funds. SSG had gotten higher than 43p since I bought it but started to weaken before I sold it... and I was slow in selling it too. A small profit on the 38p purchase price and event smaller after the high commissions. The fund went from a 5-7% discount when I purchased to a 20% discount when I sold so that didn't help either. However, the Korea Fund gave me a tidy 33% profit in three months. I'm still hanging onto the MF long - EWM short position waiting for the premium to decline on MF from the current 39% level. It's been a waste of time/ capital so far since the premium never seems to budge these days. Anyway I'll keep the position for the foreseeable future. My greatest regret was having covered my TTF short too early (late January I believe it was) at just over $10. Now, it's down around $7. The following is from a recent WSJ article (April 30). It mentions something about tax consequences to SSG - you may still own some - but I don't know the nature tax problem involved: "Hiroshi Funaki, London-based country funds analyst at Robert Fleming & Co., recommends selling any Asian closed-end funds whose shares still trade at premiums. He predicts the premiums will decline further over the next few months. For investors determined to stay in Asian closed-end funds, analysts suggest switching over from single-country funds to closed-end Asian regional funds, which are trading at hefty discounts. One caveat: U.S. investors should beware of the U.K.-listed closed-end funds. While the sector is at a wider average discount to NAV and is thus cheaper to get into than U.S.-listed regional Asian funds, U.S. investors who buy the U.K.-listed products will be subject to stiff tax penalties." Regards, John