Egypt Growth Outlook Rosy, Time To Trade Egypt ETF?

As the price action in many emerging markets ETFs has been less than inspiring to conclude 2010, it is worth noting that the Market Vectors Egypt ETF

has not experienced a nasty tumble as so many other emerging markets funds have. Then again, EGPT, a new, light-volume name, has been locked in a tight trading range between $19-$20 for more than a month, but a catalyst may have arrived to help EGPT breakout to the upside. Egypt's gross domestic product is expected to grow by about 5.8 to 6.0 percent in the fiscal year to end-June 2011, the ruling National Democratic Party said in a statement on Saturday, Reuters reported. The government was predicting growth of 6 percent while economists were forecasting 5.4 percent, so the number announced on Christmas is slightly bullish. Egypt's economy is seen growing faster than all other Gulf Arab states save for Qatar, according to Reuters, and that may be enough to put EGPT in play for 2011. While emerging markets have been hot, investors haven't thrown cash at Africa and the Middle East the way they have Asia and Latin America. Maybe 2011 will be the year frontier markets such as Egypt garner investor favor. If that trend does in fact emerge, bullish sentiment toward investing in the Middle East would be huge for EGPT, an ETF that has attracted just $9.8 million in assets under management since its February debut. iShares is also planning an Egypt-specific ETF, but stick with EGPT for now if you plan to invest in Egypt.