NEW YORK (ETF Digest) –
Excluding Japan, the area formerly known as the Asian Tiger countries have never been more important. These countries are blessed with excellent demographics and natural resources. Some are industrial powers like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea while others offer good commodity plays in addition like Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia.

But, as with most investing schemes from our view, timing is everything.

Japan certainly is in decline. Its debt burdens combined with poor demographics suggest a country that has more long-term problems than the eurozone currently. For them, these issues are becoming better known throughout the investment world. Clearly most know the markets there have been in a bear market since the 1990 peak with the exception of a few impressive bear market rallies. Nevertheless, large and even small Japanese companies have become multinational in scope and highly dependent on exports. Most are diversified and may do well given their global exposure away from domestic bear markets or conditions.

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