TY - JOUR T1 - Diversification Snapshot: <em>Frontier Markets in a Troubled World</em> JF - The Journal of Investing SP - 7 LP - 10 DO - 10.3905/JOI.2008.17.4.007 VL - 17 IS - 4 AU - Lawrence S Speidell Y1 - 2008/11/30 UR - https://pm-research.com/content/17/4/7.abstract N2 - These days diversification is increasingly sought yet hard to find. This article examines the behavior of markets over the past year, since the Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 14,000 on July 19, 2007. Over the period, home prices are down, the dollar is down, oil is up and the DJIA closed at 11,026 on Friday, July 11, 2008, down 21.2%. Meanwhile, the S&amp;P 500 is down 20.6%, and the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australia, and Far East) has dropped 19.5% in dollar terms. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has been quite volatile but is down only 8.8%. Finally, our average of 28 frontier stock markets has fared better with a gain of 12.1%. Some theorize that decoupling may be occurring between the developed world and the emerging/frontier world, based on the emergence of a middle class in many countries and increases in the level of trade across borders within the emerging/frontier universe. Thus far, it appears that there has been some degree of decoupling, although conditions could change given the possibility that the world’s economic headwinds may be prolonged.TOPICS: Frontier markets, emerging markets, financial crises and financial market history ER -