Invest in Kazakhstan now –
It is quite astonishing: despite the increase in geopolitical and monetary risks, some markets such as the stock markets, Bitcoin and gold are rushing from one all-time high to the next, whereby Bitcoin and gold can at least still be categorised as “fear and anti-crisis investments”, but the new all-time high on the stock markets does give pause for thought. Investors also seem to have quickly forgotten the banking crisis in the US exactly two years ago. Now, however, a new banking crisis is looming due to the slump in commercial property in the USA. At the moment, however, investors are just as unconcerned about this as they are about the great potential for escalation in the war in Israel and Ukraine.
Few realise that some banks from Eastern Europe not only have outperformance opportunities, but may even be more crisis-resistant than some Western banks. The CECE Bank Index has already risen by 8 per cent this year and by 52 per cent in 1 year – far better than Western banks on average. In addition to OPT Bank in Hungary, this also includes banks from Georgia and Kazakhstan. Now that Russian banks such as Sberbank are no longer tradable due to the sanctions, banks from Kazakhstan that are performing very well are now available as an alternative.
The KTX index for shares from Kazakhstan even closed up 13 per cent on 8 March (previous week: 11 per cent), having already gained 40 per cent last year. Risk-averse investors can buy Kazakhstani shares directly online via the broker Freedom Finance (Freedom Broker) from Cyprus if they first open an account there, which is easy to do at the following link:
https://freedom24.com/invite_from/2952896 . Although Russian ADR or original shares are still not tradable due to the sanctions, new opportunities may now arise again with some Russian ADR/GDR, which you can now buy at discount prices on the OTC market via the brokers Zerich Securities Ltd or Freedom Finance from Cyprus. Interesting stocks on the OTC market are above all the Russian discounter Fix Price, which has now also gone public on the stock exchange in Kazakhstan, and the IT stocks VKontakte and Yandex (more on this in the stock market letter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eastststok.de). However, you also need to open an account beforehand, which is easy to do at this link: https://trade.mind-money.eu
Andreas Männicke also gives his assessment of the new opportunities in Eastern Europe in his stock market letter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eaststock.de) and in his new EastStockTV video, episode 227 at www.YouTube.com.
Stock and crypto markets rejoicing – rightly so?
Are the stock markets going crazy now? Despite a weak economic outlook, persistently high interest rates and ever-increasing geopolitical dangers from the war in Israel and Ukraine, the DAX rose to a new all-time high of 17,880 index points on 7 March, representing an increase of over 6 per cent since the beginning of the year. Bitcoin also reached a new all-time high of almost 70,000 BTC/USD due to the upcoming halving in April.
Western politicians go crazy and continuously cross “red lines”
Western politicians are now preparing for a third world war, but the population doesn’t seem to have realised this yet. But aren’t Western politicians such as Macron, Strack-Zimmermann, Hofreiter, Merz and Kiesewetter being too carefree by only ever demanding that Putin must not win the war? They are now even calling for Taurus medium-range missiles to be sent, which would be capable of destroying the Crimean bridge. But how would Putin react if German Taurus missiles were used to destroy the Crimean Bridge, regardless of who programmed them?
Would there then be a threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike by Russia and should such a thing be risked at all? Chancellor Scholz does not want that, but he is almost alone in the Western political camp. At the moment, the West is constantly crossing so-called “red lines” in the Ukraine war and the people are not taking to the streets to finally demand a ceasefire and peace from the politicians who are ready for war, as the Pope is now doing once again.
On 11 March, the Duma will discuss the wiretapping affair in Germany and how to proceed if Germany really does send Taurus missiles to Ukraine and the Crimean bridge is destroyed in the process. It may well be that this would be a reason for Russia to use nuclear missiles for the first time as a preventive defence measure. But that would mean another World War 3, which is now within the realms of possibility, which is total madness. It is incomprehensible that millions are not now taking to the streets and shouting: “We don’t want war here!”
Irrational exaggerations on the world’s stock markets
However, it is fair to ask whether these enormous price jumps on the global stock markets, especially since February, are justified in purely economic terms in addition to the geopolitical risks, or whether it was only AI shares such as Nvidia and Microsoft that drove the overall market upwards. Nvidia already has a market capitalisation on the NASDAQ of USD 2.18 trillion with sales of USD 27 billion. USD with a turnover of USD 27 billion (P/E ratio 36) and Microsoft even has a market capitalisation of USD 3.0 trillion with a turnover of USD 212 billion in 2023 (P/E ratio 35). Both companies fit in with the zeitgeist, but must now also show that the bold expectations for the future in the AI sector will also become reality, which remains to be seen.
The NASDAQ. Composite Index also rose to a new all-time high of 16,449 index points, which represents an increase of almost 9 per cent this year and over 38 per cent in 1 year. Only Japanese equities performed even better this year and last year. The Nikkei 225 Index has already risen by 19.2 per cent this year to 39,688 index points and thus by 39.5 per cent in 1 year
Gold and silver with catch-up potential
Despite persistently high interest rates, gold also rose to a new all-time high of USD 2195 per troy ounce, which in turn also benefited some gold stocks that have not performed particularly well to date but have catch-up potential. However, the gold price only rose by 16.8 per cent in 1 year and remained a clear underperformer compared to share indices and, above all, Bitcoin, as did the silver price, which has only been trending sideways for 1 year at USD 24.32 per troy ounce, although it now has a lot of catch-up potential.
Bitcoin and Ethereum as the best investment in the world
Following the launch of BlackRock’s new Bitcoin ETF, Bitcoin has already risen by over 65 per cent in three months and by 240 per cent in one year, once again making it the best investment in the world. Cryptocurrencies have now finally arrived on Wall Street and that is where most of the world’s money gathers. Ethereum was pulled up with Bitcoin and has already risen by 162 per cent in 1 year and by as much as 2810 per cent in 5 years. However, Ethereum has not yet reached the old all-time high of USD 4600/ETH in 2021.
However, listed crypto exchanges such as Coinbase have also doubled in price since the beginning of February, from USD 110 to USD 254, which represents a fourfold increase since June last year. Anyone who has held shares such as Microsoft or even Nvidia for the past year should consider themselves lucky.
Is another US banking crisis coming?
Hardly any investors are taking note of the smouldering crisis at some US regional banks and the imbalance in the US commercial property market. The last US banking crisis was almost exactly two years ago and the whole world was in a tizzy back then in March 2022. Ultimately, it was only the US Federal Reserve that prevented a global banking crisis by injecting liquidity. Now, however, the US regional banks have to repay some 175 billion US dollars and we will see whether they are in a position to do so. In view of the robust US labour market data, a rapid interest rate cut is not on the cards any time soon.
Eastern European banks with great potential
Few investors realise that there are much more profitable banks in Eastern Europe and in some cases even more crisis-resistant banks than in the West, although these would certainly also be negatively affected in the event of a global banking crisis. However, it is worth taking a look at banks such as the Hungarian OTP Bank, the two major banks from Austria such as Erste Bank and Raiffeisen International, as well as banks from “exotic countries” such as Georgia and Kazakhstan. These will also be presented at my talks at the “Invest” trade fair on 26/27 April 2024 at Freedom Broker’s stand 4C38, along with many other stocks from Eastern Europe with outperformance opportunities, as well as in the stock market letter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eaststock.de).
For example, the Bank of Georgia from Georgia recently rose from one all-time high to the next, but the two major banks from Kazakhstan such as Kaspi.kz and Halyk Bank also made investors very happy. These banks have been using digitalisation for years as a means of increasing profitability, but also to expand their range of services via their app. E-commerce via the Kaspi.kz app is also playing an increasingly important role.
Kazakhstan as a good alternative for Russian shares
Banks from Kazakhstan such as the fintech bank Kaspi.kz, which recently went public on the NASDAQ, and Halyk Bank are in high demand following good figures. Shares from Kazakhstan continue to be a good alternative to Russian shares. The KTX index for shares from Kazakhstan has already risen by 13 per cent (previous week +11 per cent) after a plus of 40 per cent in the previous year.
Investors who would like to trade directly in Kazakhstan online should open an account with the broker Freedom Finance (Freedom Broker) from Cyprus at the following link: https://freedom24.com/invite_from/2952896
However, investors can still buy Russian ADRs at discount prices in the OTC market via Freedom Broker. Similar opportunities are also available via the broker Zerich Securities Ltd from Cyprus, if you open an account via the following link: https://trade.mind-money.eu A list of tradable Russian ADR is published in the stock market letter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eaststock.de). Both brokers also offer participation in lucrative IPOs on Wall Street as well as high returns on overnight and fixed-term deposits.
Inform first, then invest
Find out more now about the background and development of the Ukraine/Russia crisis as well as the future recovery potential of undervalued shares from Eastern Europe. There are also new opportunities in the Baltic states, south-eastern Europe and the CIS republics (Kazakhstan, Georgia), with the respective share indices all up in 2023. In 2023, 12 stock exchanges from Eastern Europe were among the 30 best-performing stock markets in the world, with 5 clearly outperforming the DAX. In 2024, 10 stock exchanges from Eastern Europe outperformed again with a strong gain. It is therefore still worth looking beyond the horizon to Eastern Europe.
Order a trial subscription now (3 issues by e-mail for just €15) to the monthly stock market letter EAST STOCK TRENDS (EST) with another Ukraine/Kazakhstan/Russia special and a dividend special as well as lots of background information and new investment suggestions such as the “Share of the Month” and lucrative certificates at www.eaststock.de, under Stock Market Letter. The last EST was published on 23 February 2024.
Lecture note: Andreas Männicke will give a lecture at “Invest” on 26/27 April 2024 at the Freedom Broker stand 4C38 with the topic: “New opportunities in Eastern Europe, especially in Kazakhstan”
TV/radio notes: On 5 February 2024, Andreas Männicke was interviewed by Carola Ferstl on Money Talk about gold, commodities and the new opportunities in Eastern Europe. You can download all radio and TV interviews in the video archive at www.eaststock.de, including the last video in EastStockTV, episode 227. By the way: have you already subscribed to the EastStockTV YouTube channel?
If you are interested in new EastStock seminars “Go East” in Frankfurt/m or other cities, please contact the EST editorial team (www.eaststock.de )
You can also subscribe to Andreas Männicke’s free newsletter with the latest news on the world and eastern stock markets at www.eaststock.de .