"For the 24th year running that the Economist magazine has published its famed Big Mac Index; this index is a tongue-and-cheek way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) -- that is, the relative overvaluation and undervaluation of the world's currencies," notes Nicholas Vardy.

The editor of The Global Stock Investor explains, "What does the Big Mac now say about the relative value of global currencies?

"According to the theory of purchasing power parity, a dollar should buy the same amount of the same good across all countries. By comparing the cost of Big Macs -- a good that is produced in about 120 countries -- the Big Mac Index calculates the exchange rate (the Big Mac PPP) that would result in hamburgers costing the same in America as they do abroad.

Continue reading Big Mac Index: What Burgers Say About Currency Valuations

Big Mac Index: What Burgers Say About Currency Valuations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a 12-article feature that can be read here: Today's best income ideas.

"You may be surprised to learn that we are in the midst of one of the greatest financial bubbles in history," explains Nick Vardy, referring to long-term government bonds.

In his Global Bull Market Alert, the advisor suggests, "This bubble isn't motivated by greed, but by fear." Here, he looks at the Rydex Inverse Government Long Bond Strategy Inverse (RYJUX), which he says, has the potential to become "the biggest trade of the year."

Continue reading Government bonds: An 'inverse' strategy

Government bonds: An 'inverse' strategy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

International investing expert Nicholas Vardy looks to the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (AMEX: EEM) as his favorite investment idea for 2009.

In his Global Stock Investor, he explains, "The exchange-traded fund is a bet that the initiatives of policy makers across the globe will be sufficient to trigger a sustained bounce in emerging markets stocks between now and the end of 2009.

"The policy responses to the global economic crisis have been both massive and coordinated. The European Central Bank has entered into foreign currency swaps with Iceland and Switzerland, even though they are outside the eurozone.

"The European Union joined forces with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to provide loan facilities totaling $25 billion to Hungary.

"Recently, the U.S. Federal Reserve opened swap lines of $30 billion each to Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Singapore. All of these efforts combined will ease the shortage of dollars that has ravaged emerging markets.

Continue reading Top Stock Picks '09: iShares Emerging Markets (EEM)

Top Stock Picks '09: iShares Emerging Markets (EEM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Two leading global experts have both turned bullish on France's Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE). Vivian Lewis, in her Global Investing, notes, "Veolia is the way to play the 'water works square' on the monopoly board."

Nicholas Vardy, editor of Global Stock Investor suggests, "The smart money is betting that water may be the 'oil of the 21st century.' And Veolia is my number one way to profit from this global megatrend."

Vivan Lewis says, "We recommend buying French water and sewage conglomerate Veolia at current prices; the stock has been brought down by niggling Euro-concern about its levels of debt. The company is also being penalized for acquisitions.

"Veolia is the former Générale des Eaux, a municipal service firm. This history creates an image problem for VE which is seen as a utility.

"Our main reason for the buy, apart from price, is that this is a fast growing company with good earnings in a hot sector. In 2007, VE had revneues of euros 32.6 bn, up 14% on which its recurring net profit fost 22.5% to euros 933.2 mn. Earnings per share were euros 2.16, up 13.7%.

"Another reason for liking VE is that it is moving into China big-time, with waterworks in Tianshin and Shibai and environmental service in Juijiang. All in all, France still represents 44% of sales and the rest of Europe 36%. VE does about 10% of its business in the U.S. and the Chinese are part of the remainder.

Continue reading Veolia (VE): Global experts invest in water

Veolia (VE): Global experts invest in water originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative investment idea for 2008 is Millicom International Cellular S.A. (NASDAQ: MICC)," says Nick Vardy, editor of The Global Stock Investor.

"The explosion in cell phone usage is one of my favorite 'top down' themes in global investing. No technology has spread wider and more quickly than cell phones. While it took TV 30 years to penetrate households across the globe, cell phones managed to achieve this in less than a single decade.

"My top pick to profit from this theme is Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular S.A., the 'Indiana Jones' of the cell phone industry. The company is one of a handful of global players that are profiting from expansion in cell phone markets where others fear to tread.

"Millicom's strategy has been unique and daring. It has cobbled together a patchwork empire that consists of 16 countries in Central America, South America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Today Millicom has 20 million subscribers.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Millicom (MICC) is the 'Indiana Jones' of telecom

Best Stocks for 2008: Millicom (MICC) is the 'Indiana Jones' of telecom originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite speculation for 2008 is Indian retail banking giant ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN), my top play on India's booming market," says Nick Vardy, editor of The Global Stock Investor.

"With 614 branches and 2,200 ATMs across India, ICICI's doing an impressive job at bringing modern retail banking to India. ICICI has a diverse portfolio of high-quality, high-margin mortgage, consumer and auto loans. And it is busy adding new financial products such as life and general insurance to sell to this customer base.

"ICICI is also turning into a true global bank. The bank already operates in 14 countries through branches, representative offices and subsidiaries. Indeed, you now see ICICI's bank featured as the mortgage lender of choice in personal finance pages in London newspapers.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Global expert banks on India's ICICI Bank (IBN)

Best Stocks for 2008: Global expert banks on India's ICICI Bank (IBN) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The world's richest university just got richer," says Nick Vardy, noting that Harvard saw its endowment grow 23% to $34.9 billion in the 12 months that ended June 30.

The editor of The Global Stock Investor explains, "This growth represents some of the strongest in Harvard's history and is its best investment performance since 2000, when the endowment swelled by an astonishing 32.2%."

Harvard's gain this year, he contends, far outstripped the average fiscal 2007 performance of 17.7% turned in by 151 large institutional (non-university) funds tracked by the Trust Universe Comparison Service -- as well as the 20.6% gain of the S&P 500 over the same period.

Put another way, Vardy says, "The $5.7 billion gain in Harvard's endowment last year exceeded the total endowment of all of Oxford's 36 colleges -- accumulated since teaching began in Oxford in 1096."

Continue reading Invest like Harvard: At the top of the class

Invest like Harvard: At the top of the class originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last December, over 100 stocks were featured in our Top Picks for 2007 report. Now, at mid-year, we turn to the 20 advisors whose picks showed the strongest gains to get an update on their previous picks, as well as a new favorite stock for the second half of the year.

Nick Vardy, editor of the Global Stock Investor, chose América Móvil (NYSE: AMX) as his favorite stock for 2007. It rose 39% as of 6/1/07. Here is Nick's original recommendation for AMX and his new favorite stock for the second half of 2007.

Updating his outlook on AMX, the advisor says, "Mexico-based América Móvil has been my #1 blue chip play on the global cell phone megatrend. The Latin American markets have been the strongest performing region globally. But even in that context, América Móvil has been a strong relative performer, handily outperforming the broader Mexican market, itself up 18%.

"And América Móvil has done more than make money for investors. It's also propelled controlling shareholder Carlos Slim ahead of Warren Buffett as the #2 wealthiest man in the world. If América Móvil's stock price continues its torrid pace, Slim will dethrone Bill Gates as the world's #1 by the end of the year.

"Should you still buy América Móvil? Absolutely! The stock remains a favorite of some of the world's top hedge funds. With Latin American cell phone penetration rates still hovering around 40%, América Móvil still only has one way to go -- and that's up.

"The stock is still a very good value based on a PEG ( price earnings to growth) of .58. Thanks to América Móvil's fast growth, this number has barely budged since I first recommended the stock in December."

Top 20 advisors: Nick Vardy calls on América Móvil originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last December, over 100 stocks were featured in our Top Picks for 2007 report. Now, at mid-year, we turn to the 20 advisors whose picks showed the strongest gains to get an update on their previous picks, as well as a new favorite stock for the second half of the year.

Nick Vardy, editor of the Global Stock Investor, chose América Móvil (NYSE: AMX) as his favorite stock for 2007, which rose 38% as of 6/1/07. Here is his original recommendation for AMX and his current opinion on the stock.

For his new favorite idea for the second half of 2007, the advisor looks to Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ: MICC), which he calls, the "Indiana Jones" of the global cell phone industry. He explains, "Luxembourg-based Millicom is one of a handful of global players that are profiting by expanding in cell phone markets where others fear to tread.

"Its strategy has been unique and daring. While the Vodafones and América Móvils of the world slug it out in big cell phone telecommunications markets such as Brazil and India, Millicom has cobbled together a patchwork empire that consists of 16 countries in Central America, South America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.

"In total, Millicom's cellular operations are licensed to serve a combined population of approximately 278 million people -- roughly the population of the United States. Millicom has focused on offering prepaid cell phone services in countries where landlines are inadequate.

"Although most of Millicom's sales growth occurs in traditional Latin American markets, more than half of Millicom's customers are in Africa and Asia. And that's where much of Millicom's future growth lies. Given the relatively low cell penetration rates, Africa is the fastest-growing region of the world for cell phone use.

Continue reading Top 20 advisors: Nick Vardy mulls over Millicom

Top 20 advisors: Nick Vardy mulls over Millicom originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"India is a country of the future," observes Nick Vardy in The Global Stock Investor. And his current favorite play on this market is ICICI (NYSE: IBN). He notes, "ICICI can be considered India's 'Citibank' -- and it is angling to profit from India's growth in many ways."

The advisor points out that the Delhi Master Plan 2021 -- a government plan to transform New Delhi from a "chaotic city into a clean, organized and world-class metropolis" -- proposes making land available to build 2.4 million housing units in Delhi.

He notes that ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. -- a joint venture with Tishman Speyer, a U.S. real-estate company -- is already actively looking at funding a large chunk of the project. The prospects look strong.

Meanwhile, he adds, ICICI Bank's international aspirations continue to bear fruit. Recently, he states, ICICI received a license to set up a branch in the Qatar Financial Centre, Doha, Qatar. According to Vardy, ICICI Bank is the first Indian bank to receive a license from Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA).

He explains, "Perhaps no other stock in our portfolio demonstrates better that it is important to stick with strong-growth megatrends, no matter how volatile the ride can be. I continue to be very bullish on the long-term prospects of ICICI bank and the stock remains a long-term buy and my #1 pick on the global financial-services megatrend."

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

ICICI: Bank on India originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Although taking different approaches to investing, Dan Sullivan and Nick Vardy are both recommending the same stock -- Cognizant Technology (NASDAQ: CTSH).

The company provides IT consulting and technology services -- and is best known for its leading role in outsourcing.

Sullivan, editor of The Chartist, points out that for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, the company earned $69.5 million, up 21% while sales rose 65%, to $424.4 million. For the full year, earnings rose 40% sales were up 61%.

The advisor notes, "Despite recent selling pressure over the past few weeks, Cognizant holds the #1 spot in our relative strength ratings."

Nick Vardy, editor of The Global Stock Investor, calls the stock the "best in class." He explains, "The Indian outsourcing play continues to garner accolades. Congnizant was just recently named one of Business Week's 50 Best Performing Companies, ranking 12th overall and second in the Information Technology sector."

He points out that the rankings are meaningful, since Business Week selects the 'best in class' from each of the 10 sectors that make up the S&P 500. Companies were chosen based on sales growth, average return on capital, total return, profitability and rank within industry sector.

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

Cognizant: 'Best in class' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.