Identification

• Emerging markets include developing nations such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, also referred to as the BRIC nations. Equities or stocks are traded in several dozen emerging market economies across the Americas, Europe, Africa Asia and the Middle East. Stocks are classified by size ranging from small to large based on market capitalization, which is an equation that calculates outstanding shares available for trading times the price per share. A wide range of industry sectors also exist.
  
  

Features

• Volatility is among the characteristics present in the emerging stock markets. Since they are still developing countries, some have evolving political structures. The markets do not look kindly on change, and any sort of political unrest is reflected in losses in the equity markets. During more stable times, and when an overseas economy is growing, these investments can be quite profitable and rewarding. Investors need to be prepared for both extremes.
  
  

Global Economies

• Emerging markets are vulnerable to global events. Following a devastating 2011 earthquake that rocked Japan, a leading nation, both emerging markets and developed markets experienced crippling losses. According to "Bloomberg," emerging market stocks staged a turnaround once companies reported strong earnings or profitability, particularly out of the technology industry. As a result, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a barometer of emerging market stock activity, advanced 4 percent in one week in March of 2011, the best performance for the index in four months.
  
  

Types

• Investors can gain access to the emerging stock markets by purchasing individual stocks through a broker. This will require some research on the part of the investor to determine which equity opportunities are worth pursuing. A task like this can be daunting when investing in domestic stocks, so it might be prudent to invest using a professional money manager, especially when buying stocks overseas. Mutual fund managers have investment portfolios dedicated to the emerging markets.