The Indian government announced Monday that the country's economy was expected to expand by 7.2% during the fiscal year that ends next month.
Agriculture - which had been expected to be a major drag on the economy because of a poor monsoon season - contracted a mere 0.2%. That is a truly stellar performance, showing that India - like China - has emerged almost unscathed from the global economic meltdown. It would pretty well justify the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd.'s rich Price/Earnings multiple of 20 and would make Indian stocks a "Buy" even at these levels.
Unfortunately, when looked at closely, the picture is not quite so rosy.
Is India a "Buy" now -- or later? Read on to find out...
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Despite India's Optimism, There May Be a Better Time to Buy
Is India a "Buy" now -- or later? Read on to find out...
How to Profit From the "Next" Dubai
The Dubai World default is a matter of only $60 billion - mere peanuts when compared to other elements of the global financial crisis. It's thus of concern only to those silly enough to invest in real estate there (and the European banks foolish enough to finance it.) For the rest of us, it is a useful reminder that sudden collapses don't really come out of nowhere - they can be foreseen, and smart investors can plan for them.
You see, I did foresee this one, for Money Morning readers - 16 months ago, before the global banking crash. Back in July 2008, I wrote that Dubai's economy was "more bubble than boom," that it had "a construction bubble worse than the Florida market and a monetary policy looser than Ben Bernanke's" and that "its return to earth will be painful and probably not long delayed."
You see, I did foresee this one, for Money Morning readers - 16 months ago, before the global banking crash. Back in July 2008, I wrote that Dubai's economy was "more bubble than boom," that it had "a construction bubble worse than the Florida market and a monetary policy looser than Ben Bernanke's" and that "its return to earth will be painful and probably not long delayed."
As Problems in India and Russia Escalate, Let's Drop the BRIC
By Martin HutchinsonContributing EditorMoney Morning When Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) coined the term “BRICs” in 2003 to cover Brazil, Russia, India and China. This group of four countries was supposed to represent the enormous potential of the emerging markets, and their populations would provide most of the world’s growth in the decades ahead. For […]