ETF Trends – How To Play Eastern Europe – iShares Austria (EWO)

Economies are booming in Cental and Eastern Europe, but finding publicly traded companies to buy in a diversified way isn’t easy. The iShares Austria fund (EWO) gives average investors an opportunity to participate:

• Austrian firms derive a substantial portion of their revenue from Eastern Europe
• Vienna has evolved into a hub for Eastern European commerce
• Economic growth in Eastern Europe is projected to continue to
  expand faster than most other regions. The region is expected to grow
  4.5% in 2005.
• Eastern Europe is politically stable and growing at a substantial rate due to admission to the European Union.
• Composition of growth is well balanced, with domestic demand and exports both playing an important role.
• In Eastern Europe, an increasing number of companies are viewed as
  potential acquisition targets, which could have a positive impact on
  their stock performance.
• Inexpensive, highly educated work force
• Low corporate tax rates

Roger Nusbaum at theStreet.com points out "The region’s expansion is focused primarily on offering much cheaper
manufacturing costs than Western Europe. Wages in places like Slovakia
are often 10% what they would be in Germany, for example, and as new
factories are being built and old factories modernized, it is the
Austrian banks that are financing this boom.