World Right Side Up: Investing Across Six Continents

377 Pages·2012·3.78 MB·English

by  Christopher W. Mayer

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword: Sometimes It's Different
Acknowledgments
Preface: Notes before We Go
Chapter 1: The World Right Side Up
Supercycles: Where We Are Today?
World's Economy Is Bigger—and More Open—Than Ever
Before
The Old Silk Road and the New
On Monsoon Seas: A Glimpse of the Future
BRICs . . . Meet MENA
Snapshots on the Way to a World Right Side Up
Chapter 2: Colombia: In Search of El Dorado
A People of the Mountains
Here Lies Oil
The New El Dorado
More Opportunities in Colombia
If I Had to Buy Only One
Colombian Keiretsu
The Colombia Canal
The Best Economy in Latin America?
Chapter 3: Brazil: The Soil Superpower
Brazil's Meat King
Brazil's Rising Affluence
Buy the One Thing Brazil Needs
São Paulo: The Economic Heart of Brazil
Meet Mr. Go-Deeper
Florianopolis: Flip-Flops on the Ground
Brazil's Currency “Do-Overs”
The Caipirinhas Crisis
Chapter 4: Nicaragua: This Side of Paradise
Central America's Rising Star
Granada: Oldest City in the Americas on Another Upswing
León: How to Live Well in the Old Capital on $2,000 a Month
Riches from the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes
Chapter 5: China: Crisis and Opportunity in the Middle
Kingdom
Old Beijing's Last Days Make Way for New
The Rise of the Asian Consumer
Selling Clean Water to the Chinese
One Thing Plagues China's Growth More than Any Other
Meet the Water Queen
Side Trip to Hong Kong . . . and a Cautionary Tale
The Chinese Renminbi
Why Coal Prices Will Soar
The “Chinese Ethanol”
China's Manufacturing Prowess: Geeks with Guts
China Takes the Ruhr
What about the China Bubble?
Visit to the Cai Bai Gold Market
China Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance of Rain
The Adventures of Carl Crow
Chapter 6: India: Don't Drink the Tap Water?
Still, It's Tough to Invest in India
Indian Summer
India's Real Economy—Not What You Think
Rajasthan's Oil Prize and India's Energy Needs
The Malabar Coast
Mega Money Enters India's Housing Market
The View from Hyderabad
Buying Gold in Mumbai
Crop Prices Matter Here
Chapter 7: The Emirates: Penthouse Gypsies
Dubai Circa 2007: Boomtown, Arabia
Dubai 2009: The Bust
Abu Dhabi—One of the Richest Places on Earth
Dubai's Debt Crisis
The Future of Dubai
What the Emirates Need
Why Dubai Still Matters
The Story of Ibn Battuta
Chapter 8: South Africa: Rainbow Capitalism
Johannesburg: The City Built on Gold
The Chinese Beat Me to It
In Search of African Rainbows
Postcard from Cape Town
Cape Town's Biggest Industrial Site
My Favorite Way to Play Africa
Bet on the Inevitable
Chapter 9: Down Under and Beyond: Australia and
New Zealand
The Middle East of Gas
The Case for LNG
Front Line on Ag Investing: Melbourne
On to New Zealand
Investing Advice under a Pohutukawa Tree
New Zealand's Economic Place in the World
Chapter 10: Southeast Asia: Travels Through Thailand,
Cambodia, and Vietnam
Bangkok: From Behind the Floodwaters
The Warren Buffett of Thailand
Cambodia: Kingdom of Wonder
Phnom Penh: The Pearl of Asia
Leopard Capital: Visionary Investors of Frontier Markets
The Ruins of Angkor, Tonle Sap, and the Mekong
Vietnam: A Country, Not a War
Hanoi: City of Lakes
The Adventures of Mr. Shaplen
Chapter 11: Other Places, Other Opportunities:
Mongolia, Argentina, Russia, Turkey, and Central Asia
Argentina: Ruining a Good Thing
Mother Russia: Full of Surprises
Central Asia: History's Geographical Pivot
Turkish Delights
Economic Impressionism in the Dark Corners
Chapter 12: Canada: A Breadbasket's Great Comeback
Double Your Money on Cropland
Canola: Canada's Most Valuable Cash Crop
The Topsoil Crisis
Outpace Inflation with Farmland Investing
The Case for Pulses
Bringing Crops from the Producer to the World
The Toll Road for Grains
Of Course, There's More to Canada than Saskatchewan
Chapter 13: The United States of America: Home Again
The Greatest Resource Shortage You've Never Heard of
Reporting from Bear Lake
Rocky Mountain Coal Meets Steel Demand
Journey to Cook Inlet
Rocky Mountain Speculation: The Bakken
The Shale Gas Revolution
Windfall Profits in American Agriculture
Still a Nation of Builders
American Aviation Taking Off
Top-Secret America
American Homes: Buy
Thrifty Deals
The Best Investments for the Next 50 Years
Chapter 14: An Investor's Guide to the World Right
Side Up
Another Way to Invest in S-Curves
Envoi
About the Author
Index

Copyright © by Christopher Mayer. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under
Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either
the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through
payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center,
Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750–8400, fax (978)
646–8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher
for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748–6011,
fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author
have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no
representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of
the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be
created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The
advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.
You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the
publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other
commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical
support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United
States at (800) 762–2974, outside the United States at (317) 572–3993 or fax
(317) 572–4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some
content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For
more information about Wiley products, visit our website at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Mayer, Christopher
W., 1972-World right side up: investing across six continents / Christopher
W. Mayer.
1 online resource.
Includes index.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by
publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-118-17140-0 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-22679-7 (ebk); ISBN
978-1-118-23978-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26450-8 (ebk) 1. Investments,
Foreign. 2. Investments. 3. International finance. I. Title.
HG4538
332.67 03–dc23
2012006627