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Banking, finance, and taxes

A Sovereign Credit Rating Upgrade For Turkey (TUR, TKF, TKC)

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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CIA World Factbook
The trend of ratings agencies and sovereign debt ratings has been one of downgrade after downgrade.  So when you see a sovereign rating upgraded right now amidst the global turmoil, it tends to stand out above and beyond the crowd.  Moody’s has raised Turkey’s sovereign debt rating by one notch to Ba1.  While this is still technically ‘junk bond’ status, this is only one grade under investment grade now.  It is also worth noting that outlook remains “Positive.”

Moody’s believes that Turkey can continue to improve its fiscal and macroeconomic situation.  Now it may be no coincidence that Turkey has been one of the best local stock markets in 2012 with double-digit gains. Here are the three vehicles which U.S. investors use to invest in Turkey (one of each as ETF, closed-end fund, and ADR):

iShares MSCI Turkey Invest Market Index (AMEX: TUR) trades at $50.78 against a 52-week range of $39.82 to $60.66 and it has more than $400 million in assets.

Turkish Investment Fund Inc. (NYSE: TKF) trades at $13.53 against a 52-week range of $10.81 to $16.11 and it has more than $111 million in assets.

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (NYSE: TKC) trades at $11.68 against a 52-week range of $10.18 to $14.10 and it has a market cap of more than $25 billion.

Turkey was one of our own list of nations we projected to be upgraded in 2012.

JON C. OGG

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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