A Pure Play on the Brazilian Economy

After perusing The Street, I came across an article written by Jonas Elmerraji which discussed ETF investing in South America, as well as Latin America. In the piece, Jonas suggests an ETF tied directly to the Bovespa stock exchange in Sao Paolo, Brazil:

"The ETF mirrors the MSCI Brazil Indes, an index that was designed to measure Brazil's domestic market equity performance. What that means is that EWZ essentially tracks the performance of the hundreds of Brazilian companies that trade on the São Paulo Stock Exchange."

"The ETF is heavily weighted in Brazil's key economic areas -- materials...and energy...as well as quickly emerging service areas, such as financials."

I think the Brazilian ETF, EWZ, is a splendid pick. The fund has gained 88 percent since a year ago. This fact certainly doesn't take away from the fact that the economy is still growing at a breakneck pace; in fact I think it will continue to do so. Jonas explains:

"Brazil has the most powerful economy in Latin America. The country manufactures everything from sophisticated turbine aircraft to orange juice, and it has a well-established professional services sector."

"Of the four BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, Brazil arguably has the most developed economy."

Mr. Elmerraji also notes that Brazil's infrastructure is superior to the other BRIC countries. So if Brazil has the lead in infrastructure and is the most developed economy of the four, why hasn't it seen the kind of growth that the Chinese stock markets has seen over the past five or so years? I think the economy, as well as the Sao Paulo stock market, has a ways to go before its growth slows down; thus my recommendation of the EWZ. The fund closed trading on July 17, 2007 at $68.22.