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Higher rates can stress property borrowers as well as lead to higher yields for bonds, which some investors see as yield competition for REITs. HOW TO INVEST: Yields average 6% to 7% in the sector, but Lack notes that free-cash-flow yields (free cash flow per share divided by share price) are nearly double that, and he projects that those flows will grow in the mid-single- digit percentages this year. For lending to these riskier businesses, investors are compensated with higher yields than investment-grade bonds offer (the current yield of a widely used high-yield bond index is nearly 9%). Yields are respectable again in Treasury securities and high-grade corporate IOUs and much plumper in riskier high-yield bonds. [Extracted from the article]

Reports on the economic transformation of Asian countries due to offshore private investors. Profiles of several Asian businessmen; Fluctuations in the wealth of Asian entrepreneurs and their willingness to take risks; The role of information technology in India; How the structure of Japanese companies changed with the advent of the Internet and the effect it has on older workers; Distrust of the Japanese media for young entrepreneurs. INSET: Pachinko Warrior.

Highlights `Forbes' magazine's 1995 list of the world's ten richest business people. How two United States citizens top the list for the first time in nine years; The estimated worth of William H. Gates III, Warren Buffett, Hans Rausing, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, Paul Sacher, Tsai Wan-lin, Kenneth R. Thomson, Lee Shau Kee, Chung Ju-yung and Li Ka-shing; Ethnic backgrounds; Reasons for changes in position since 1994's list; How these men made their money. INSETS: The talk of the Bursa Efek Jakarta;Meet the family.

The article focuses on Xiamen, one of China's four Special Economic Zones (SEZ), which is not only reopening its doors to Western capitalists but rolling out the red carpet for them. For three years after Xiamen opened its SEZ in October 1980, the response was embarrassingly feeble. But in recent months the pace has quickened and some pillars of American capitalism, including Eastman Kodak, R.J. Reynolds and Coca-Cola, have signed up. By June foreign investors had signed contracts for 82 projects worth $385 million, 53 of those signed in the first half of 1984 alone. Xiamen, like the other zones, offers foreign capitalists three- to-five-year tax holidays, followed by a flat corporate income tax rate of 15%, less than Hong Kong's 18.5%.

The article offers suggestions for investors on how to choose the right mutual fund to invest in. One is to review the long-term investment objectives and understand asset allocation. Another is to study the fund holdings and to know more about the fund manager. It is also important for investors to consider valuable information on fund returns and performance during bear markets.

The article profiles seven new mutual funds that are run by skilled managers at reputable fund companies. It explains the benefits to investors of investing in newly launched funds. It offers a look at the performance of some new mutual funds in the U.S., including WHG Large Cap Value, Harbor Large Cap Value, Marsico Flexible Capital and Artisan Opportunistic Value. It also advises investors to look for new funds that invest in small-company stocks and which have seasoned managers with good track records. INSET: Dividends from abroad.

The article offers a look at the top 25 mutual funds in the U.S. and elsewhere. It discusses the performance of several large-company stock funds, small- and midsize company funds, and overseas funds such as Marsico 21st Century, T. Rowe Price Growth Stock, Baron Small Cap and Julius Baer International. It also offers some tips to investors on investing in mutual funds.

The article presents some basic facts about mutual funds. It compares the benefits of investing in mutual funds with stock picking. It claims that stock mutual funds can tap double-digit returns. It offers some tips to investors on selecting mutual funds for their investment portfolio and provides advice on selling funds. INSETS: Peace of mind;Beware of fee creep.

This article suggests that investors should focus on quality to cope with the current risk-averse environment of 2006. It makes senses to shift some money from small-company funds to large-company funds, especially those rich in dividend-payers. Robert Millen, co-manager of Jensen Portfolio, claims one way to discern quality is to study a company's return on equity. Although foreign stocks took the brunt of the recent correction, one can still make a case for them. INSETS: HEDGE funds that work;Preparing for ROCKY times.

The article focuses on several successful investors. Brett Platt is a computer engineer whose investing focus is on undervalued small-company stocks. To avoid overload, he limits his portfolio to nine to 11 stocks. He realized annualized gains of 30% plus since 1999. Deirdre Brazil, an employee at Prudential Financial, has started investing in 2003. She chose Vanguard 500 Index fund which tracks Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

The article profiles several U.S.-based investors. Some of the investors featured include Lebanon-born Rudolph-Riad Younes, Gotham Capital founder Joel Greenblatt, Chelsea, Massachusetts-raised Bruce Berkowitz, value investor John Buckingham, AMG Essex Small/Micro Cap Growth manager Nancy Prial and stock expert Ken Heebner.

The article presents information on Yizheng Chemical Fiber Co. Ltd., China's largest maker of polyester. Yizheng's plant is relatively modern, its oldest factory entering production in 1984. The newness is a significant advantage in a nation where most state enterprises must make do with ancient Chinese equipment; Yizheng's plant and technology came from the West. The government in Beijing owns 60% of the equity, private Chinese investors own 5%, with the remaining 35% trading actively in Hong Kong.

The article focuses on Robin Hall, a onetime London investment banker in his experience as an investor. Hall was the who founded the Taiwan Fund, the first foreign fund that was permitted to invest in Taiwan. Hall stresses that for 20 years he was able to manage an investment in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. However, he had encountered problems with the Taiwan's financial jungle. Hall describes Taipei market has a riddle with stock manipulation in which standard financial market does not exist.

The article discusses the advantages of investing in municipal bonds. According to the author, default rates in the municipal bond market have been exceptionally low. The author adds that investors have several options to own municipal bonds. These include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds. The author stresses that mutual funds offer diversification and professional management.

The article offers tips to investors on avoiding or postponing taxation on capital gains in the U.S. Lipper estimates that in 2007, funds distributed a record $150 billion in capital gains, on which investors paid a record $34 billion in taxes. If an investor reinvests his distribution, he increases his tax basis which determine gains or losses when shares are sold later. By buying and holding funds that never pay out capital gains, one avoids paying capital-gains taxes. INSET: THE SCOOP ON FUND DISTRIBUTIONS.

The article looks at the investment style of four mutual fund managers. Rob Gensler of T. Rowe Price Global Stock is partial to growth stocks, preferring companies that increase earnings on the order of 20% a year. David Winters of Wintergreen has been hedging the key risks of inflation and a weak dollar by buying stocks in strong-currency countries and loading up on hard-asset producers. Meanwhile, Don Hodges of Hodges migrates from tiny companies to huge ones, from value to growth, or to wherever he discerns a bargain. INSET: How these funds roam the markets.

The article offers suggestions on effective investments, based on strategies used by investors such as Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett and John Templeton. When he ran Fidelity Magellan at generation ago, Lynch bought shares of everything from behemoths, such as Fannie Mae, to small local banks. Buffett also invests in companies of all sizes, Coca-Cola, Moody's Investors Service and See's Candies, to name a few of varying, sizes. Templeton roamed the globe and did not care if a stock was labeled growth or value as long as it was a good buy. INSET: KEY NUMBERS.

The article describes how Charles Zhang, an entrepreneur and the founder of Chinese-language search engine and directory Sohu.com, manages to operate a Web portal in China, where active Web users are jailed. Figures presented show the revenues generated by Sohu and the amount of capital raise from investors since 1996. Topics covered include the relaunch of Sohu with the addition of content, and the shift of Internet users from academics and so-called black guests to young urban professionals.

The article discusses the different business investments of Robert Theleen, a Vietnamese veterinarian and president of Orange Nassau Asia Ltd., in China. According to the author, Theleen invested three capital funds in companies manage by Chinese entrepreneurs. Theleen states that despite the economic and political turmoil faced by the country, it is still business as usual on the industrial zones and they never perceive any signs on the effect of the situation in their business operations.

The article focuses on why record numbers of foreign companies are spending lots of money to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. To catch the smaller Japanese investor, Japanese institutions tend to buy their U.S. stocks in New York, to avoid Tokyo's high fixed commissions, but individual investors cannot easily do so. Thus individuals account for two-thirds of the trading volume in foreign shares listed on the Tokyo Exchange. For the Japanese investor, foreign stocks have a number of attractions. Not coincidentally, most foreign companies that have listed are aggressively expanding their business in Japan and figure the status of a listing can only help, not only in customer relations but in recruiting as well. Some foreign firms believe their listings will enhance access to Tokyo's capital markets, perhaps meaning lower borrowing costs.

The article discusses which mutual funds can help investors minimize their exposure to capital-gain taxes. It is noted that funds are required to pay taxes even if they have lost money. The author cites several tax-friendly funds which include Vanguard Total Stock Marke Index, iShares S&P 500 Index, Tax-Managed Growth & Income, Fidelity Tax Managed Stock, and Fairholme.

This article explains that making a decision on which mutual funds to abandon is just as important as which mutual funds to buy. It says that investing in mutual funds is somehow like entering into a relationship. Investors should know their mutual funds well. It identifies factors that should warn investors when to consider parting with their mutual funds. It says that a change of portfolio manager and poor performance are just some of the factors that investors should watch out for.

The article discusses the decision of brokerages to leave the U.S. mutual fund business and explains why investors should maintain their shares in mutual funds. Issues of conflict of interest have convinced brokerages to abandon their in-house mutual funds. Most brokers are being pressured by both regulators and clients to address conflict of interest issues. Brokerages such Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and American Express have experienced severe net outflows of money in line with the demand of customers for more choices. In March 2006, Merrill Lynch was required by the National Association for Securities Dealers to pay a fine for holding impermissible sales contests.

The article offers tips on how an average investor can copy endowment investment of Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Yale Universities. According to money manager Mebane Faber it is possible to replicate portfolios of these schools by investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs). Some of these are Vanguard REIT Index, Vanguard Small Cap and iShares Barclays TIPS Bond.

An interview with Bob Millen, co-manager of the Jensen Portfolio fund, is presented. According to Millen, investors are willing to put money in companies with strong financial statements. He asserted that these companies have sustainable competitive advantage. He mentioned that Colgate-Palmolive is a company that has high competitive advantage because of its brands.

The article reports that the role that Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) play in a diversified bond portfolio got a big boost in 2007 in the U.S. With TIPS, the Treasury adjusts the principal value of the bond each month (with a two-month lag time) to keep pace with inflation. TIPS perform well even in periods of rising inflation coupled with stagnant economic growth, known as stagflation, which is a knotty environment for investors.

The article encourages investors to invest in Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) in the U.S. With TIPS, the Treasury adjusts the principal value of a bond each month to keep pace with inflation. As many investors labored to eke out gains amid crumbling credit markets, the inflation-indexed bonds are becoming popular, exemplified with an 11% return in the Lehman Brothers TIPS index. Another choice is Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities, managed by John Hollyer and Kenneth Volpert since its launch in June 2000.

The article discusses the stock value of Microsoft Corp. The company loses money only on its online and entertainment divisions but the rest of the company is profiting. Windows and Office are near-monopolies and Microsoft collects a toll on most PC sales. It launched its new Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007. It is informed that Microsoft will remain immensely profitable and continue to reward investors with growing dividends and extravagant share buybacks.

The article talks about tripling investment gains in the U.S. To triple money in five years, an investor must earn an annualized 24.6 percent return, such as investing in T. Rowe Price Media & Telecom. To compound money by 14.7 percent annualized, invest with a talented fund manager who looks for small and middle-size companies capable of generating growth of that magnitude. By investing in Selected American Shares, investors can triple their money in ten years. INSETS: TRIPLE PLAYS;How LEVERAGE hits home;A bet on COLLEGE costs.