Eagle Eye Opener: Emerging Market Funds Draw $13 Billion in January; Markets Shine this Morning; China Passes United States as Trade Titan

Emerging Market Investments Still the Play in 2013 (CNBC)

CNBC reported this morning that investors have been returning back to the equities markets in waves. As proof, CNBC points to the $27.1 billion in new investments put into emerging market exchange-traded products (ETPs) — which only slightly trailed the $30 billion put in developed market ETPs for Q4 2012. And 2013 got off to an even better start for the emerging markets with $13 billion invested in the first month of the year alone — compared to just $7 billion for their more developed markets.At this rate, the clear winner on the global stage for 2013 will be investors playing emerging markets.  Perhaps we’ll see a whole new generation of emerging millionaires and billionaires, as well.

The Week Ahead: Will January’s Investor Exuberance Give Way to a Steadier Outlook? (YahooFinance)

Just last week, investors watched in glee as the Dow broke through the 14,000 barrier, marking its highest point since 2007. Well, last week’s rally has transformed into this week’s “wait-n-see,” as U.S. markets seem to have become indecisive on where to turn next. But you certainly wouldn’t know that judging by the U.S. futures market this morning: At the time of this writing, the numbers reflected a sea of green with Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures all up. Looking across the pond, we see virtually the same performance in Europe with the EURO STOXX 50, FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX showing gains, as well. Let’s hope that green is the color for the week.

China Passes United States as World’s Trade Titan (Bloomberg)

Figures from the U.S. Commerce Department finally are beginning to confirm what analysts and investors have known for some time now — China’s ascent to the top of the world’s financial heap is already a done deal. For 2012, China’s $3.87 trillion in total trade bested America’s $3.82 trillion. And right on cue, Asian markets continued to beat their chests in pride this morning, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai’s Composite Index both ending the session up slightly. Japan’s Nikkei 225, however, took a good beating today, losing 1.22 percent, mainly due to the country’s government re-asserting its commitment to devaluing the yen. Will 2013 follow the trade pattern of 2012? We’ll know soon enough…