On a positive note for Japan, export growth in December surprised economists by growing at 12.1%, compared to the 7.6% forecast, for the first time since the collapse of Lehman in 2008. Breaking down the numbers, analysts were equally unsurprised to learn which market was responsible for the rapid growth. If I'm hitting my target audience, you've already guessed it... (hint: it starts with "Chin")

The half Joseph Stalin half Adam Smith economy continues to roar at 10.7% GDP expansion, in the final quarter of 2009, yet the majority of consumer markets have been slow to follow suit. Chinese stimulus can be thanked for the birth of domestic consumerism in China, as households have been given vouchers to buy specific goods, creating demand in centrally targeted industries. Simultaneously, all levels of government opened the faucet of liquidity, through low borrowing costs and lax loan requirements, which has accelerated the churning out of western style real estate for consumers to fill with all their new stuff. The price tag on China's stimulus so far scans just shy of $600 billion USD, representing 13% of GDP in 2008 and well above spending in the U.S. and Korea, closer to 5% of GDP for each.

Summary: The most important measurement for the effectiveness of a CEF fund advisor is “value-add”: the amount of relative incremental investment value generated as a result of its stewardship of its fund’s investments. This is particularly important in this day-and-age where there is a plethora of low cost, easily-assessable, indexed, investment alternatives such as ETFs.

Eqcome CEF Value-Added Management Rankings: In an effort to determine which of the CEF’s managements were adding the most value for their shareholders, a sample of 160 CEFs were processed through the Eqcome CEF Value-Added Management Rankings model (Eqcome CEF “VAMR”).

As world markets continue to rally in the face of tax cuts, stimulus packages, monetary easing, various new social programs aimed at protecting the middle class from the impact of the economic downturn, there are indications that the recent revival in economic activity is going to bring about some positive surprises on a wide scale. Both investor and consumer sentiment are indicative of a slight but steady revival of confidence, and if that attitude is sustained, financial speculation and reckless credit expansion by governments may well extend this rally into the winter season.

Perhaps the most important signs of revival are coming from Asia. Japan has reasons to be optimistic that its new government will finally be willing to tackle the pressing issues of the past decades with some credibility and determination. The emerging behemoth, China, has not felt the impact of this crisis as strongly as other nations have, and with a bit of luck they may eventually come out as a stronger, more balanced economy once the crisis dissipates. The resurgence in the U.S. means that the Indian IT sector is finally seeing some revival in demand. In Europe the social programs in place have mitigated the impact of the economic collapse to some extent, and the more balanced economy of the continent may be better placed in a revival led by Asia, as exports pick up, and commodity demand increases.