According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 is a year of danger. And although superstition isn’t good company for an investor, last year was quite rewarding, just as the Chinese Zodiac forecast.

Investors are starting to panic. But if the market deterioration accelerates, the opportunity to buy into Asia will be comparable to that of 2001. Back then, I recommended Asian stocks to only a handful of investors who cared to listen. Luckily, the recommendations played out quite well, and I’m expecting the same outcome this time around.

The largest oil exporters are the Middle East, the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Africa. The Middle East alone accounts for nearly 36 percent of global oil exports; the FSU and Africa each account for roughly 15 percent. These three regions taken together are responsible for two-thirds of global oil trade.

June has traditionally been a weak month for Asian investment. On the other hand, staying away from the market from May until the end of August--as the old adage suggests--hasn’t been very rewarding either. During the summer months, bargains arise and portfolios can be positioned for the customarily stronger periods in Asian markets, namely late September through late January.

As the death toll mounted to more than 40,000 and an estimated 5 million were left homeless from the Sichuan province earthquake, Chinese companies began totaling the natural disaster’s financial price tag.

Ahead of the vote for Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin set forth plans for a robust macroeconomic financial policy, reigniting the stock market to 2,280--a 3 percent gain--crossing the 2,200 mark for the first time since January as investor confidence swelled. Putin’s primary goal: Reduce the tax burden on the oil sector to stimulate production and crude oil refining and lower inflation to single digits within the next few years.

The most powerful stories in fiction, as well as in investing, have always been simple: love, hate and war for the former; demand, supply and basic needs for the latter. And no story fits the bill better than food and agriculture, for which demand is ever present.

Investor sentiment continues on a downward spiral while the US economy gradually enters a recession and the labor market rolls over. Provided that the financial crisis can be effectively controlled and the repercussions translate into a relatively shallow recession, an equally weak economic recovery can be expected thereafter.

The US is struggling to find the right approach to remedy its economic problems and rapidly deteriorating growth rates. So far, there hasn’t been much success. But other economies, particularly in the developing world, face a different kind of problem: too much growth.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Jack Chang, manager of The Taiwan Fund (NYSE: TWN), to discuss how it's using Asia's emerging markets to its advantage. Asia's long-term growth story has been a favorite of ours for quite some time now and is set to continue well into 2008 and beyond.