为什么新兴市场的股票值得买入(1)

For a chorus of the leading voices in investing, it was the monster rally whose time had come. For about five years, a group of sages, including value-investing boldface names Jeremy Grantham, Mark Mobius, and Rob Arnott,

kept pronouncing that shares of companies in emerging markets offered the world's rarest blend of attractions: deep-discount prices compared with U. S. equities, cheap currencies,

and the prospect of robust growth driven by a burgeoning population of youthful middle-class workers and consumers- all factors that long promised a powerful comeback in the beaten-down sector.

Two years ago, their prophecies came true. Valuations in emerging markets- a group of some 25 countries defined by low but growing per capita incomes, rapid industrialization, and zigzagging currencies-took flight.

In the 24 months beginning in late January 2016, shares in the benchmark MSCI emerging markets index surged 85%, beating the S&P 500 by 31 percentage points.

Despite the sprint, emerging markets looked as if they had plenty of room to run. Not only did they still boast a lot more earnings per dollars paid for equities in the developed world,

they also now benefited from what they had long lacked: surging optimism and powerful momentum. Then the revival suddenly collapsed. After peaking on Jan. 26, the MSCI dropped 22%, seven times the fall in the S&P 500,

crushed by negative news about a looming U. S. trade war with China and debt crises in Turkey and Argentina. But for investors rummaging for bargains, the drop is a gift.

It has sent the gap in valuations between stocks in developed and developing countries back to near-record levels, making the always-speculative index particularly attractive. As Arnott, chief of Research Affiliates,

a firm that designs and manages indexes for mutual funds and ETFs, told Fortune: "Emerging markets are the buy of the decade." In a letter to clients, Grantham, cofounder of asset-management giant GMO, said he was putting half his family's retirement funds into the sector.