"Good morning gentlemen. I would be interested in your thoughts please on what may be happening in the Vietnamese market, why has it not gone up like its neighbours? It is one of the few Asian / emerging markets whose index (VNINDEX) and ETF (DB x tracker XFVT - think liquidity) remains at or below it's 200 day moving average and is therefore, for me, a possible contender in the International Beauty contest! Your last comment on this market was in May with some observations from subscribers in June. Thanks for your continued excellent service."

David Fuller's view Thanks for the feedback.

My guess is that Vietnam (weekly, semi-log & daily) is in an extended phase of base formation development, not unlike what we saw in 2004. The controlled currency has been devalued in a series of steps since 2008 - USD/VND - and this may have deterred foreign investors. Nevertheless devaluation has put Vietnam in a very competitive position to gain FDI for assembly and manufacturing. The country should also attract more tourism. Vietnam is a growing exporter of farm, forestry and fisheries products. It is also one of the biggest exporters of Robusta coffee.

Supply in the form of IPOs has probably weighed on the market because we are seeing a move from an entirely state-owned economy to one that more closely resembles China, albeit on a much smaller scale. However Vietnam' stock market is competitive with a historic PER of 10.82 and a yield of 1.97%, according to Bloomberg. The 'Economist' has just raised its growth estimate for Vietnam in 2010 to 6.4% and the World Bank is even more bullish.

Emerging markets at this stage of development have a habit of boring investors for several years before suddenly taking off on a spectacular advance. When the next big advance occurs is anyone's guess but the charts will show us.

A family account of ours holds a very small position in the db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam ETF (XFVT LN) which I am likely to increase at some point. Other investment vehicles are listed in the Chart Library.

I am sure that any further insights on Vietnam from the Collective would be appreciated.