World Cup winners and stock market sinners
Investors should not get carried away by World Cup euphoria as short term boosts to consumer spending may not translate into long term gains says financial website The Motley Fool - Fool.co.uk.
New analysis of the stock market performance of all the countries participating in this summer's World Cup since the end of the 2006 World Cup in Germany uncovers the global stock market winners and losers.
Winners
Brazil
Chile
Mexico
Argentina
Korea Republic
Losers
Greece
Japan
Italy
Slovakia
Serbia
Stock market world cup winners
Brazil is the clear winner in the world stock markets. It only made it to the quarter finals of the 2006 world cup, but its stock market - the Bovespa - has sambaed in the last four years - shooting ahead 88%.
Chile's stock market has jumped 78% since 2006, but that has nothing to do with football. It has not qualified for a World Cup since 1982 - proving stock markets of the world go deeper than World Cup score boards.
Stock market world cup sinners
Italy might be a champion in the football arena, winning the World Cup in 2006, but not in the stock market world. The FTSE MIB has plummeted 40% - a classic example that performance on the field does not guarantee a knock-on effect on a country's financial market.
It will come as no surprise that Greece, which didn't qualify for the 2006 cup, but came fourth in the 2002 cup, is the ultimate stock market loser. It has seen its market drop a whopping 44% in the last four years.
David Kuo, Director at The Motley Fool, comments: "It is easy to fall into the trap of getting carried away by World Cup euphoria. It is true that World Cup fever can bring forward sales of fancy televisions and demand for convenience foods as the tournament progresses. However, investing goes much further than cashing in on short-term boosts.
"Savvy investors should look at the hot markets such as Brazil, Chile and Korea and avoid football pundits' favourites such as Italy. Take a long look at China, too. It's a World Cup sinner but it may turn out to be a stock market winner."