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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ray M. who wrote (30052)	7/21/1998 11:05:00 AM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (9) \| Respond to of 132070

Ray, There are lots of ways to play the cheap prices in Asia. My opinion is that the risk is low and opportunity great in most Asian markets right now. Also, the bloated prices of US and European stocks cannot hold unless Asia recovers, so Asian investments make sense on a relative basis. Here is how I am playing the breakdown. Closed end funds (CEF) are my favorites, as they often sell at discounts. When I can buy a good closed end fund at a deep discount in an area I like, I do so. If the CEF is selling at a premium, I look at the Webs on the Amex. And, last but not least, there are 3 interesting plays in the options markets, but here, you have to use a disciplined approach such as my 90/10 system, because options are wasting assets. In Cefs, for modest-sized portfolios, I currently like the following area funds (discounts in parentheses-stock symbol): Asia Pacific (7 pct.-apb), Asia Tigers (12 pct.-GRR), Fidelity Emerging Asia (9 pct.-FAE), and Scudder New Asia (SAF-11 pct), Morgan Stanley Asia-Pacific (10 pct.-APF). These are all decent funds. APF and SAF are the only ones with Japanese exposure. If you have enough money to diversify to individual countries, I like ROC Taiwan (20 pct.-ROC), Taiwan Equity (22 pct.-TYW), India Fund (IFN-22 pct), and First Philippines (11 pct.-FPF). Sadly, the funds with some of the worst disaster countries, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Korea, are all selling at premiums. You can participate in them, to some degree, in the area funds and to some degree, in Webs. In Webs, I like Japan (EWJ), Singapore (EWS), and Malaysia (EWM). The options on Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong are probably best left until you gain some experience with these safer types of investments. BTW, Asia is not the only area of opportunity. Africa and Latin America also offer lots of shell-shocked economies. MB