Last summer, Sean and I toured Southeast Asia and gave presentations at CMT events in seven different countries.
I was lucky enough to learn firsthand about the local companies, the nuances of their financial markets, and the compelling growth stories that are playing out in this exciting region of the world.
I fell in love with some of the places I visited.
In countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines… you could literally see it. You could feel it in the air. You could hear it in the voices of the people we met and had conversations with. It was an exhilarating experience.
The runways for these countries to keep growing and eventually play a larger role in the world economy was obvious. The investment opportunity seemed massive.
I was all in on emerging Asia. It was a no-brainer.
But, there was one big problem…
The charts were not telling this story of growth and prosperity. These countries were all trading around new lows.
I was telling the same joke at every new CMT meeting when I got to the segment about local markets. I only had good news for our friends in Japan.
Everywhere else, I would spend 30 minutes talking about how it is a new bull market around the globe… and then disappoint them with the news that their countries were not participating.
But that was then, and this is now.
Southeast Asia is joining the bull market party in a big way as we speak.
Here’s a look at the iShares MSCI Malaysia Index $EWM to give you an idea of what’s happening out there:
EWM is hitting its highest level since the summer of 2021 and is up over 20% over the past 3 months.
I have marked the chart for where EWM was last July when I was in Kuala Lumpur.
What a difference, right!?
But, it’s not just Malaysia.
The MSCI Philippines Index $EPHE is at its highest level since April of 2022. This is a new uptrend.
Even Indonesia $EIDO and Thailand $THD are making fresh 52-week highs.
And of course, there is China. It’s all the buzz right now.
For me, the price action from China this week is merely confirming our belief that this is a new bull market for Southeast Asia.
China is the engine that drives this whole region. We need them to be on board. And now we got them. Everything else was already in place.
I hope I get another chance to tour all these countries again soon.
I can’t wait to tell them I have good news this time. I’m sure they are all loving their portfolios lately due to heavy local market exposure.
As for the rest of us here in the United States, the question we should be asking ourselves is simple: “Do I own enough of Asia?”
Now that the charts are confirming my fundamental views about this booming region, I plan to add more exposure in both my long and short-term accounts in the coming weeks and months.
I already have large positions in Sea Limited $SE, Grab Holdings $GRAB, Coupang $CPNG, Alibaba $BABA, and Tencent $TCEHY in the IRA. I plan to own a lot more in the future.
We’re working on a deep dive now, where we will outline the best ETFs and individual names to play this theme.
Shoot me a note and tell me what your favorite emerging Asia growth stock is. Maybe we’ll include it in the report.
The bottom line is that Asia has arrived. I’m excited. And I think you should be too.
