The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at its all-time high, of 14164, on Oct. 9, 2007. Not a year and a half later, the index had dropped 53% to a 10-year low of 6547. Despite a meteoric bull market since March 2009, the index remains more than 25% off its all-time high.

Yet that’s not the case the around the world, where several indexes are actually at or near all-time-highs, despite the continuing global economic malaise.

Retracement From All-Time Highs

MSCI Barra Indices, USD Terms


Source: Bloomberg, Rosewood Research

It’s a point likely missed by those investors who still mistakenly believe the United States holds a monopoly on opportunity and growth. Regular readers know we’ve searched the world for investment opportunities for nearly a decade.

At the top of the list is Israel, which we wrote about last fall and has continued to tear higher on the strength of names such as Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) (at an all-time high) or Elbit Systems (ESLT) (not far from it).

Stocks in Columbia, Latin America’s third largest economy behind Brazil and Argentina, are also at an all-time-high, despite Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s ban on Colombian imports. BanColombia (CIB), profiled in this space in 2002 when it was $1.75 a share, now trades at $48, an all-time-high. Investors can now also opt for Global X InterBolsa Columbia ETF (GXG), which holds CIB as well as other major Colombian names.

It’s tough to buy an index at its all-time-high, I know. Yet as we often point out, markets tend to move in trends that persist over time. Too often we fool ourselves into thinking that “a” high is “the” high.

Conversely, those markets sharply off their records aren’t always the value they might first appear. Stocks in New Zealand peaked in September 1987, nearly 23 years ago, and despite plenty of bull and bear cycles in between, remain 51% off their all-time-highs.

That’s a long time to be in it for the “long term.” 

The Long Term: MSCI New Zealand Stock Index (USD)

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC.

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