schreef:
Credit Suisse European economist Robert Barrie sounds a more optimistic note, forecasting GDP growth of 2.3% for the country and possibly higher because many leading indicators are already at levels consistent with growth above 3%.
Ireland is also poised to benefit from the weaker euro. More than 50% of its economy is tied to exports outside the eurozone. Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland are also big exporters.
The easiest ways to get exposure to these stronger nations is through country-specific exchange-traded funds such as iShares MSCI Germany Index (EWG, news, msgs), iShares MSCI Belgium Investable Market Index (EWK, news, msgs) and iShares MSCI Netherlands Investable Market Index (EWN, news, msgs). All have been hit hard recently, with the Germany ETF down 18% from its April high, the Belgium index down 23% and the Netherlands down 20%. All would be good buys on signs of stabilization.
Before you dismiss the idea of buying into Europe now, consider some of the technical justifications for it. Continental Europe has become "abnormally cheap," in the words of Credit Suisse strategist Andrew Garthwaite. On the basis of price to earnings and dividend yield -- two common ways to tell if a stock is underpriced -- Europe looks very attractive compared with the United States. Also, 47% of Europe's stocks offer a dividend yield above their respective government bond yield -- the highest figure for any market except Japan. Only 15% of American stocks offer this. This is a sign that European stocks are relatively undervalued compared with government debt, based on the income each asset provides.
Drilling down to individual stocks, Credit Suisse screened for stocks with a high proportion of revenues tied to the United States and Japan that carry attractive valuations. Their list included U.S.-traded stocks such as ING Groep (ING, news, msgs) and Siemens. Other attractive names include UBS (UBS, news, msgs), Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY, news, msgs) and Deutsche Bank (DB, news, msgs), all of which are priced lower than most of the stocks in their industries.
Barclays Capital also screened for attractive European stocks and came up with a slightly different list. Analysts there focused on sectors best positioned to benefit from a weaker euro from a competitive standpoint, including semiconductors and luxury goods. Their list included Luxottica (LUX, news, msgs), STMicroelectronics and ASML (ASML, news, msgs).
articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investi...