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.
"The India Fund (NYSE: IFN) is our top speculative idea for 2008," says Carla Pasternak, editor of High Yield Investing. "As investors fret that a downturn in the US housing sector could cool global growth, the world's second-fastest growing major economy after China is forging ahead.
"India's economy is expanding at a rapid +9% clip, nearly double the latest growth rate put in by the US economy. It's no wonder India's benchmark Bombay Sensex Index is up 44% this year.
"And the future looks equally strong. Thanks in part to US firms outsourcing their customer service and data-processing jobs, India is seeing the rise of a new middle class. Estimated at some 300 million of the billion-plus population, India's middle class is mushrooming at a rate of about 20% a year.
"A growing consumer class with an insatiable appetite for everything from houses to TV sets, and the money to buy them -- the world's fastest-growing democracy appears to be in the early stages of a major bull market.
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