Check out my interview with Jay Liebenguth over at Fresh Octane:

You and I fret over how to balance our investment dollars in a SEP or an IRA. Meanwhile, Robert P. Smith has his bags packed for Damascus, Syria to measure that country’s investment potential. That’s why he is portrayed as the “Indiana Jones” of international finance.

“Give me a country that is at war because the last President has been shot and I’ll figure out something to do to make money,” says Smith who is author of RICHES AMONG THE RUINS—Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy.

In this new book, Smith recounts his experiences risking not only his money, but his life, in war zones, dictatorships, and crime-ridden capitals in countries like El Salvador, Nigeria, Turkey, Russia and Iraq.

Listen Here

Farah Stockman wrote a terrific article about Turan, Iraqi bonds, and the way bond prices track political and social stability in conflicted nations like Iraq:

WASHINGTON — Some count the kidnappings. Others count the suicide bombs. Still others count the deaths of US soldiers. But, in the saga of Iraq’s slow struggle toward normalcy, Robert Smith keeps track of something far more obscure: the price of Iraqi governmentissued bonds.

Smith, one of Boston’s most intrepid investors, has made his fortune betting on the world’s most dangerous places. Dubbed the “Indiana Jones of International Finance,’’ Smith buys IOUs from governments so unstable that few others will touch them.

From an office that overlooks Boston Harbor, Smith can recall when Iraq looked like a terrible gamble, as sectarian violence raged and the country slid toward a civil war. But now, a week after Iraq’s historic election, his bets are paying off: The price of Iraqi bonds has doubled in the last year, recently hitting their highest value ever.

“Iraq has the potential to vault past other countries’’ to become a top oil producer, said Smith, a 70-year-old debt merchant whose recent book, “Riches Among the Ruins,’’ details his investment adventures.

Check it out online or in the Sunday Boston Globe.

Latin Finance turned to Turan Corporation’s experience and the Riches Among the Ruins blog for analysis on the struggle between Lulismo and Chavismo in Latin America.

Brazil’s election is looming, with the electorate divided between Lula’s hand-picked successor Dilma Roussef and the Sao Paulo state governor, Jose Serra.

My latest op-ed for the Providence Journal is now available online. I discuss the crisis in Greece and the lessons it holds for the United States.

Read it online at Projo.com, and join the discussion there!

International headlines have recently focused on Greece, one of the 16 countries in the European Union whose currency is the euro.

Greece is in danger of defaulting on its national debt. The reasons are obvious: too much spending and not enough tax collection. The Greek budget deficit reaches 12.7 percent of its gross domestic product and its national debt represents 113 percent of GDP. These numbers are worryingly similar to our own balance sheet, with debt equal to 73 percent of our GDP (but growing fast) and budget deficits at 10.6 percent.

Greece’s potential default has sent shockwaves through global bond and stock markets, which could end up equaling or even dwarfing our subprime housing and banking crisis. As a result, the U.S. dollar has strengthened against the euro and the interest buyers demand on Greek bonds has gone up. A few other E.U. countries, perhaps most notably Spain and Portugal, are also in trouble because of their uncontrolled borrowing and spending.

Read more…

I’m pleased to announce that Audible.com has released Riches Among the Ruins in audiobook form. It’s available for 7.95 with a subscription to Audible, or at the full cover price, and Audible will deliver it in the digital media format of your choice.

So if you prefer to get your books in the car or through your MP3 player, this is definitely the format for you. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

A few tidbits from this weekend. First, the social stuff – the NYPost ran a brief about the comedian Jackie Mason, who graciously accepted my invitation to perform at my 70th birthday this year.

I also ran into Massachusetts Senator John Kerry at an event, pictured here admiring Riches Among the Ruins.

Finally, and more substantively, Barron’s ran quite an in-depth piece on Riches Among the Ruins, Turan Corporation and myself. It goes into my work at Turan with Saleh Daher, and we discuss how to make money in a market with very few bargains.

Unfortunately, registration is necessary – but worthwhile!

As an alumnus of Bowdoin, I’ve worked with them a few times and spoken about my work and writing. Here’s a nice profile they ran in their Fall 2009 magazine.

Bowdoin: Is it still necessary for investors like yourself to visit these countries like you did?

Smith: Let me compare it to the CIA gathering intelligence. They’re big on the technical stuff, the satellites and intercepting code and phone messages. But, where they’ve always fallen on the ground is their human intelligence, human intel. I believe that you have to be on the ground speaking to as many people as possible, asking the embarrassing questions to government officials and executives as to where the country is going, what they’re doing, what the economic plan is. It’s similar to applying for admission into Bowdoin, to get an idea of what the College is all about. You can read all the catalogs, listen to all the videos and the promo material that they send out, but unless you are on campus getting a feel and talking to some of the students and professors, you really don’t have an idea of what Bowdoin is all about.

Forbes.com ran an article written by me today, discussing the potential for a bubble in sovereign debt, particularly that of emerging market countries.

When I started trading emerging market sovereign debt in the early 1980s, the big risk was non-payment. The danger of default always loomed over a deal. It was like buying a Japanese car or a transistor radio made in Taiwan in the early 1970s: cheap, substandard goods that would likely fail early and often. However, some countries we still label “emerging markets” have become economic powerhouses: China, India, Brazil and Russia for example, holding foreign exchange reserves respectively of $2,300 billion, $284 billion, $235 billion and $433 billion.

Today, more than $5 billion of emerging market debt (EMD) is traded daily and prices are sky high in both debt and equities. Since Jan. 1, 2009 the MSCI Total Return Emerging Markets Index is up 65.1%, outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return Index, which is up 17%.

Read on…

MarketFolly.com also featured my overview of the EMD market.