How to Profit from Creeping Emerging-Market Contagion

The soaring stock market, sizzling economy, and still historically low interest rates in the United States make it all too easy to forget about the wider world beyond these shores. But the world is out there... and right now, it's not pretty. The emerging markets, the single investment darlings that used to boast two and three times the growth of North America and Western Europe, have hit the skids. It's no exaggeration to use the word "crisis." You can really take your pick here, but Venezuela, Argentina, Turkey, Iran, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia are the easy ones to point out. All have seen their currencies take sharp haircuts over the past several months - quite a few of these currencies are in outright free fall - and the outlook is not promising. One major headwind for them is the relative strength of the U.S. dollar. The greenback has risen by 8% against a basket of the most utilized major world currencies and much more against those of emerging markets. Turkey, for instance, is in the throes of economic turmoil. Argentina has come hat in hand to the IMF's door for a $50 billion loan. During "rough" weeks, savers and shoppers in Iran and Venezuela watch their net worth depreciate by the hour. Anyone who's old enough to remember the late 1990s knows such events in emerging markets have a tendency to spread, and the contagion effect can rapidly spiral outward, engulfing entire regions like wildfire. The easy call: If you're in, it's time to get out. But there's a much more visionary, lucrative call to make in these desperately troubled markets... Tags: Currencies To get full access to all Money Morning content, click here About Money Morning: Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free . Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors. Disclaimer: © 2018 Money Morning and Money Map Press. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning. 16 W. Madison St. Baltimore, MD, 21201. The post How to Profit from Creeping Emerging-Market Contagion appeared first on Money Morning - We Make Investing Profitable .