Thursday, April 10, 2008

Outside the Box: Searching for Profits in Cuba

Outside the Box: Searching for Profits in Cuba
Wednesday April 9, 2:50 pm ET
By Jeff Neal

Given the recent resignation of the longtime leader of Cuba, Fidel
Castro, many investors are now taking a close look at this country for
future profits. With the reins being handed over to his brother Raul
Castro, there are talks of big changes ahead for Cuba. For instance,
President Raul has indicated much of the bureaucratic red tape will be
eliminated. In addition, he has publicly acknowledged that Cuba's
economy needs structural changes and has called for a nationwide debate
on Cuba's economic future, which includes more private ownership of land.

Analysts who follow Cuba closely assert that when the changes do come,
they will be swift and very impacting, catching most investors off
guard. Consequently the investors will probably miss out on the
opportunities altogether. Also, given that Cuba has a population of only
11 million, it is a relatively small market, which makes small cap
stocks a better play.

One of the key profit areas within Cuba will certainly be the travel
industry. With the likelihood of travel bans being lifted, look for an
abundance of tourists and businesses to flood the island. Companies like
the big cruise liner Royal Caribbean will most definitely add Cuba as
one of its ports of call.

In addition, the shipping business should be huge because the first wave
of trade will certainly be humanitarian supplies and materials to
rebuild the nation. Also, infrastructure companies should profit as
well, given that the country's water distribution and sewer lines have
been severely neglected. For instance just 15 percent of the aqueducts
have been built or repaired since 1959 and 64 percent of the remaining
ones can only be depended on to provide water for a few hours a day.
Given that the average life of such systems is 50 years, not much time
remains

Telecommunications should also see growth, as Cuba is behind all the
other countries in the Caribbean in terms of availability. The country
is in dire need of updating to facilitate today's technologies. Wireless
providers and wire-line services companies should see some very
profitable opportunities. All of these new developments and changes
within Cuba are worth monitoring as some money making opportunities will
certainly be presented. This of course does not even take into account
the tremendous political changes that will more than likely manifest
within Cuba, creating even more opportunities.

Happy Trading.

Jeff Neal
Senior Writer, Options Strategist & Profit Strategies Radio Show Market
Correspondent
Visit Jeff's Forum
Listen to Jeff at www.ProfitStrategiesRadio.com

http://ca.us.biz.yahoo.com/opt/080409/opt_19324.html?.v=1

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