If you're looking for some light at the end of the eurozone tunnel,
look to Poland and its exchange traded fund (
ETF
). Despite the tragic death of their president this month, Poland
has some strong momentum behind its nascent economic growth and
investors would do well to pay attention.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski is rumored to be preparing a run to replace
his twin brother, Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who died in a
plane crash earlier this month. No announcement will be made until
Monday, though. Jaroslaw, however, is not predicted to win and he's
seen as a combative political figure.
While Poland's government is in transition and it's unclear who
will be the country's next leader, the economy still has plenty
worth watching.
Alexandra Zendrian of Intelligent Investing
reports that the
Market Vectors Poland ETF (NYSEArca:
PLND
)
is up 6% year-to-date. Compare that to a 2% loss on the Dow Jones
Germany Index and you can see Poland's relative strength.
- Despite the plane crash, Poles are ultimately pretty happy
with their economy and they've been impressed with how their
country has coped in the wake of the deaths of their president
and senior political figures.
- Behind this year's run is a forecast of 3% GDP growth for
2010, which comes on the back of 1.7% growth in 2009. In
contrast, Germany's GDP shrunk 5% last year.
- Bolstering the forecast is the fact that half of Poland's
population is under the age of 35, which bodes well for
productivity.
- In Q4 of 2009, Poland also saw its fair share of initial
public offerings, reflecting strong investor demand. The Warsaw
Stock Exchange had 16 IPOs, surpassing London's 14 and Euronext's
13, according to PWC.
- On top of that, Poland's construction industry is booming and
they expect to have their first nuclear power plant by 2020.
- Finally, many multinational companies such as Boeing (NYSE:
BA
), Citigroup (NYSE:
C
), Credit Suisse (NYSE:
CS
) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:
GS
) are looking for ways to build a presence in Poland.
All in all, Poland seems to have a lot of momentum behind its
economic growth.
For more stories on Poland, visit our
Poland
category
.
Sumin Kim contributed to this article.