The Vietnam Rocket Ship Has Life

Looking at a chart of the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF VNM, it may look like a long position in the ETF at this point represents coming to the party kind of late. After all, VNM, formerly one of the Professor's favorite plays from the SHORT side, has surged 11% this week. That performance has been helped by a bullish GDP report from the southeast Asian country and the renewal of risk appetite that has bolstered scores of other emerging markets ETFs. Here's why you shouldn't be afraid to stake a small stake in VNM at this point. 1) Old resistance at $27 should become new support. Even if that doesn't work, downside should be limited to $25. 2) Vietnam's economy looks solid in the near- to medium-term and that should help the country avoid pesky currency issues that have plagued it over the past year. 3) Asia-specific ETFs, led by Thailand and Indonesia, have been on fire this year. A rising tide can lift all sales or investors start to look for the next big thing in a related market. In other words, 2011 might be Vietnam's time to shine.