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More workers are satisfied with their pay, most likely because they feel lucky to have a job at all, according to Gallup poll results.

More than half of all U.S. workers — some 53% — believe they are paid an amount that is "about right" for their jobs, according to the poll, compared to 43% who said they’re underpaid.

The number of people happy with their pay has actually increased in the last two years, even as the job market has grown steadily worse. A 2008 Gallup poll showed that 46% of U.S. workers believed their pay was "about right," compared to 51% who said they were underpaid.

"U.S. workers’ heightened appreciation for their pay likely reflects today’s challenging job market," according to the report, which was released on Thursday.

Gallup noted that the nationwide unemployment rate of 9.5% is "significantly higher" than the 6 high risk personal loans.1% jobless rate when Gallup conducted the same poll two years ago.

Gallup also reported that about a quarter of workers are "worried that they could soon lose their jobs or see a pay reduction — nearly twice the August 2008 level."

"These findings help explain why workers may now be happier to hang on to their jobs they have than they were only two years ago, without looking for greater financial rewards," concluded the poll.

Bad news for the job market just keeps coming. On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in a row, to 500,000 jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 14, the highest level in nine months. 

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Morgan’s Wonderland, PCI Education and WeAreTeachers have launched a national online contest for special education teachers and their students.

Starting Aug. 10, special ed teachers can nominate a student and his or her family for a chance to win a free trip to Morgan’s Wonderland, the world’s first accessible park for special needs children and adults. In addition, the five teachers whose students garner the most votes will receive free educational products from PCI Education. Nominations and votes will be tabulated through WeAreTeachers’ site (www.weareteachers.com). Nominations will be accepted through Oct. 1. Voting will begin Oct. 4 and close Oct. 20. Winning families can receive two-days admission to Morgan’s Wonderland, round-trip airfare to San Antonio and two nights hotel accommodations.

San Antonio-based PCI Education is the country’s leading publisher of learning materials for special needs students. Austin-based WeAreTeachers is a social and business community for educators, businesses, and education marketers Payday advance. Morgan’s Wonderland is a 25-acre park in San Antonio that has rides, playgrounds, gardens and an eight-acre lake. The entire park is geared toward individuals with disabilities and their families and is wheelchair-accessible.

“We’re delighted to be working with PCI Education and WeAreTeachers in spreading the word about our unique and colorful park designed with special-needs individuals in mind,” says Gordon Hartman, head of The Gordon Hartman Family Foundation and driving force in the creation of Morgan’s Wonderland. “The park opened just five months ago, and the response from guests has been overwhelmingly positive. We feel very confident the winning student will have a truly memorable experience at Morgan’s Wonderland.”

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Home sales and the average price of homes sold continued to climb in June, according to the Memphis Area Association of Realtors.

In June, total Multiple Listing Service sales were 1,152, up 8.5 percent from 1,062 in June 2009. June MLS home sales were 3.6 percent lower than in May, however, when 1,195 homes sold.

The average sales price in June jumped 3.9 percent to $161,000, compared to $155,000 in June 2009, and was 7.3 percent higher than the previous month of May when the average sales price was $150,000.

For the first fix months of 2010, MLS sales are up 4.2 percent — from 5,842 in 2009 to 6,089 this year — while the average price is up 5 payday loan online.9 percent to $144,000.

Data shows that the average time on the market is 108.6. The majority of sales, 38.8 percent or 447 sales, were in the $0-$99,999 price group. The second largest was $100,000-$199,999, with 390 sales, or 33.9 percent.

MAAR’s MLS database records all property transactions in Shelby, Fayette, Tipton and DeSoto counties.

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Although gasoline prices did not drop by much in Southern California, it was a third-straight week of declines, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch.

According to the Auto Club, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.121 per gallon, which is six-tenths of a cent less than last week, a nickel higher than last month, and 17 cents higher than last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.185, down two cents from last week, four cents higher than a month ago, and 16 cents above last year.

In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3 cash advance loan no fax.105, which is four-tenths of a cent lower than last week, five cents higher than last month, and 17 cents more than last year.

"The gas price spread between this year and the same time last year has shrunk from a difference of about $1.10 in January to just four cents per gallon in early June, but now the gap has widened again. Right now, the difference between today’s pump price and the July 2009 price is 15 to 17 cents a gallon," Auto Club Spokesperson Jeffrey Spring said in a statement.

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Most major automakers reported U.S. sales strongly up from a year ago, but weaker than both May’s sales levels and industry forecasts.

The weaker-than-expected sales and the slower sales pace could be a sign that the weakening economic and jobs outlook is cutting into demand for cars.

Overall sales were up 14% from a year ago, according to sales tracker Autodata, but that left sales down 11% from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted annual sales rate came in just under 11.1 million vehicles, the weakest reading since February.

Experts said rising worries about the economy are clearly cutting into dealer showroom traffic. A survey released Tuesday from the Conference Board found consumer confidence falling sharply and the percentage of Americans planning to buy a new car in the next six months falling to a record low of 1.2%, from 2.7% in May.

That’s a concern heading into the summer, which is typically a big sales season for automakers.

"It’s really a scary thing," said Jessica Caldwell, senior industry analyst at Edmunds.com. "The past week has been a barrage of bad economic news, and that’s not helping. I think it’s going to take a pick-up in the economy, more than new models or incentives to get sales going again."

The one thing going for most automakers are lower than normal inventories of new cars on dealer lots heading into the summer, despite the slowing sales. Jesse Toprak of TrueCar.com said automakers have all learned to limit production more than they did in the past. That will be bad news for consumers, though, since it means cash-back offers and other deals typical during the summer sales season will be tougher to find this year.

"When you have low demand and an abundance of supply, that generally triggers an incentive war. That’s not what we’re seeing this year," he said.

GM, the nation’s leading automaker, reported sales up 11% from a year ago, as the four brands it continues to actively sell — Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC — posted a 36% rise. There was a 98% drop in sales for Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac and Saab, the four brands GM shed as part of the bankruptcy process. Those brands now make up only 0.3% of its sales as GM disposes of its remaining inventory.

But GM sales slipped 12.5% from May. Forecasts had been for a decline of between 8% and 10% compared to May.

Steve Carlisle, GM’s vice president of global product planning, said most of the decline from June was due to a 30% drop in fleet sales to businesses customers, such as rental car companies. The decline was planned due to the front-loading of those sales early in the year, he said low fee cash advance. Retail sales to customers declined only slightly from May.

"It’s not so far off expectations," Carlisle said. He added that GM is expecting retail sales to remain flat the rest of the summer.

George Pipas, Ford’s director of sales analysis, said the industry has been seeing modest improvement each quarter from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the second quarter, which closed out in June. He’s hopeful there will be further modest improvement in consumer demand going into the summer.

"I think modest is the operative word," he said.

Ford (F, Fortune 500) reported that sales at its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were up 15% from a year ago, but down 13% from May. Forecasts had been for a 17% rise from a year ago.

Sales fell 29% from a year ago at its Volvo brand, which it is in the process of selling to Chinese automaker Geely.

Ford sales were enough to keep it ahead of Toyota Motor (TM) in competition for the nation’s No. 2 sales position. Toyota sales were up only 7% from a year ago, but that left it down almost 14% from May sales levels. Forecasts had been for a drop of 12% to 13% from May.

Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., said his company was pleased with its June sales results, but he acknowledged that "the entire automotive industry struggled in June as weakening consumer confidence weighed on sales."

Chrysler Group reported that its sales soared 35% from a year ago, but that was still down 12% from May levels. Chrysler, at least, was able to edge past forecasts, which had called for a year-over-year gain of 33%. Caldwell said Chrysler leaned heavily on fleet sales to support its sales total during the month. Chrysler does not break down the difference between fleet and consumer sales though.

Honda Motor reported only a 6% rise in sales compared to a year ago, which resulted in a 9% drop from May’s sales total. But that was better than Japanese rival Nissan, where June sales were up 11% from a year ago, but down 23% from May. Both fell short of forecasts.

Hyundai Motor Group, which includes both the Hyundai and Kia brands, was able to buck trends by posting a modest 3% gain from its May sales levels, and a 28% increase from a year ago. That topped the forecast of a 13% gain from 2009 levels. 

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Loose internal controls and a reliance on real estate development loans sunk The Buckhead Community Bank, the lender in Atlanta’s tony enclave founded by Aaron’s Inc. founder Charlie Loudermilk, according to a post-mortem of the bank’s collapse.

Buckhead Community, famously founded by Loudermilk, an Atlanta business legend, after a poor customer service experience at another bank, bet heavily on residential and commercial development loans in metro Atlanta.

The failure of the $896 million-in-assets Buckhead Community cost the government's deposit insurance fund $240 million.

Like many other Georgia banks, the sweet profits found in lending to developers soured with the fallout of the real estate market, and Buckhead Community burned through its capital as losses mounted, according to a report Friday by the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“(The bank) failed because the bank’s Board and management did not implement adequate controls to identify, measure, monitor, and control the risks associated with the bank’s significant (land acquisition and development loan) concentration,” the report stated. “Further, Buckhead relied on potentially volatile non-core liabilities such as higher-priced certificates of deposit, including brokered deposits, to fund loan growth.”

It’s a familiar story in Georgia, a state which leads the nation in bank failures with 38 since 2008, including eight this year.

Buckhead Community failed Dec. 4, 2009, along with two other banks. It and First Security National Bank were bundled and sold to State Bank & Trust Co. in a deal assisted by the FDIC.

Buckhead Community was founded in 1998 with $34 million in assets by investors, including Loudermilk, and featured some of the city’s business elite on its board, including and real estate developers David Allman, owner of Regent Partners LLC, and Julian LeCraw.

The bank tripled in size every three years from 1998 to 2007, propelled in part by an ultimately crippling decision in 2007 to acquire Allied Bancshares Inc., the parent company of First National Bank of Forsyth County.

In a December 2008 interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle, Loudermilk, Buckhead Community’s chairman, said he regretted the decision to acquire Allied at the height of the market.

The purchase contributed to soaring loan losses at the bank, with eight branches across the north metro.

“We wouldn’t buy that group again,” he said at the time. “It was a good thing at the time, but if we were presented with it today we’d pass.”

First National was also besieged by real estate loan problems when Buckhead Community acquired it for $53.8 million in stock and cash, capital that could have been used to protect against real estate losses.

Buckhead Community lost $59.8 million through the first three quarters of 2009, following a $35.8 million loss in 2008.

The bank was bullish with its loan growth from 2004 to 2007, ignoring declines in the housing market, the FDIC said.

“Weaknesses in the bank’s loan underwriting and credit administration practices, exacerbated by the precipitous economic decline in the Atlanta metropolitan real estate market that began in 2007, led to ADC loan losses that eroded the bank’s earnings and capital,” the Inspector General’s report said.

In 2008, Buckhead Community had nearly five times its total capital in real estate loans.

Soured loans began to mount in the second half of 2008. Problem loans—those delinquent, in default or in foreclosure—climbed to 9.8 percent in third quarter 2008 and more than tripled to 28.66 percent by the end of the first quarter of this year.

By the third quarter, 36.98 percent of its $648 million loan portfolio was in some form of trouble. A total of $173 million in loans were listed as non-accrual or foreclosed.

In December 2008, the held $277.7 million in wholesale deposits, volatile funding sources when a bank encounters trouble because the deposits are not from local core customers.

In its 2009 annual report, Buckhead Community’s auditors said they had doubts about the bank's ability to survive, and the bank was also subject to regulatory enforcement orders requiring the bank to raise capital and improve its balance sheet.

By January 2008, regulators reached an informal memorandum of understanding to correct problems. More restrictive enforcement action followed in August 2009, when the FDIC slapped the bank with a cease and desist order, directing the bank to make changes to its operations.

Bank insiders tried to save the bank, pursuing options to raise capital. It issued $10 million in subordinated notes in March 2008, and submitted an application in October 2008 for funding under the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. That application was withdrawn several months later.

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Private-sector employers added jobs for the fourth month in a row in May, according to a survey released Thursday by a payroll processor.

Automatic Data Processing, which processes paychecks for one in every six U.S. employees, said private-sector employers added 55,000 jobs to their payrolls in May, down from a upwardly revised 65,000 increase in April.

The May increase fell short of the 60,000 jobs economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecasted for the report.

From February to May, the report has shown a monthly average increase of 39,000 jobs, in line with a slow recovery economists are seeing from other surveys. Friday’s government jobs report is also expected to show modest job growth, after economists account for a large boost from temporary census hires, said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

"It is a very slow recovery, but a recovery nonetheless," he said. "We’re growing jobs at a fast enough pace to keep unemployment rate where it is, or slightly lower, but we’re not looking at a quick, snapback recovery that many people were hoping for."

According to ADP, the service sector reported an increase of 78,000 jobs, its fifth consecutive monthly gain, while manufacturing payrolls grew by 15,000 jobs. Those gains were offset by losses in the goods-producing sector, which declined by 23,000 jobs.

Construction and financial services jobs showed big monthly declines, as they have for more than two years.

ADP breaks out job trends across categories for small, medium and large businesses — all three of which showed job growth in May.

The ADP report follows on the heels of a separate jobs number released Wednesday by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

According to Challenger, planned job cuts inched 1.3% higher in May, driven by shrinking government payrolls, but the pace of downsizing continued to slow. Employers announced plans to cut 38,810 jobs in May, up from April’s four-year low of 38,326.

Many economists view the Challenger and ADP reports as a preview of things to come from the government’s national unemployment number due on Friday. Economists are forecasting the government’s report to show employers added 500,000 jobs in May after expanding payrolls by 290,000 jobs the month before.

Unlike the ADP report, that number also includes government census hires, not just jobs created by private employers.

The national unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, is forecast to ease slightly to 9.8% from 9.9%. 

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Your Internet bill will go up $50 a month! You won’t be able to access your favorite Web site! Your Internet connection is going to slow to a crawl!

That’s just some of the rhetoric and doomsday scenarios flying back and forth over the contentious subject of "Net neutrality." Many of the sky-is-falling, self-serving arguments are standard Washington lobby shop speak, but the reality is quite different.

The talk heated up last week, after the Federal Communications Commission proposed regulatory changes that would give it a say in how the Internet is delivered to consumers.

Under the mandate, dubbed "Net neutrality," the FCC would require Internet providers, like phone and cable companies, to treat all Web content equally. That would prevent providers from restricting access to certain sites or applications, or even collecting fees to deliver some sites faster than others.

On one side, the Googles (GOOG, Fortune 500), Yahoos (YHOO, Fortune 500), Amazons (AMZN, Fortune 500) and eBays (EBAY, Fortune 500) of the world say Net neutrality is crucial because it would foster an environment where cool new things on the Web could develop, and it would prevent Internet providers from blocking access to sites like Hulu and YouTube that carry a heavy strain on the network. It would also prevent Internet providers that own media companies from favoring their own content over others’.

On the other side, the Comcasts (CMCSA, Fortune 500), AT&Ts (T, Fortune 500), Verizons (VZ, Fortune 500) and Time Warner Cables (TWC, Fortune 500) of the world say they have been able to provide very good and increasingly better Internet access to customers without any regulation from the FCC. They say Net neutrality would slow down their Internet service and that the costs would be too prohibitive.

Independent analysts say there are elements of truth to both arguments.

"There appears to be very little risk that broadband service providers would severely discriminate against traffic or content from competing companies," said Daniel Hays, partner at consultancy PRTM. "But the flip side of that is the reality that they want to be able to discriminate against applications and users that unfairly clog their networks."

Here’s a quick look at some of the changes you might see if Congress approves the FCC’s proposals:

Will my Internet bill go up?

Your broadband service probably won’t cost more than the incremental amount your bill already goes up every year.

"It’s unclear how any regulatory changes might get back to consumers," said Doug Williams, broadband analyst at Forrester Research. "That sounds like a lot of saber rattling on the part of the carriers."

But it’s not just the carriers touting higher prices. An independent Frost & Sullivan study found that a Net neutrality law could raise consumers’ broadband bills by $10 to $50 a month.

Here’s why. Regulation would make providing Internet service less cost-effective for broadband companies, according to the study. That means companies would likely stop building out their networks. However, if the FCC decided to force carriers to continue increasing capacity and service, those costs would be passed onto consumers.

Cable and phone companies have been using the report to fight the FCC’s proposal. But the study is based on the assumption that the FCC would propose broader and stricter regulations than the ones it actually has proposed.

In fact, historical precedent also suggests the Frost & Sullivan study is far fetched: After AT&T merged with Bell South in late 2006, the FCC subjected AT&T to a two-year Net neutrality rule. During that time, AT&T’s broadband prices did not rise, and AT&T actually invested more in their infrastructure on their own volition.

"Empirically, it doesn’t prove to be the case that increased regulations will result in higher consumer prices," said Markham Erikson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition, a group that supports Net neutrality.

How would it impact my service?

Net neutrality would force Internet providers to provide their customers with access to any Web site. But that’s what the broadband companies have been doing for years — without any regulation.

It’s an extraordinarily rare occurrence when a service provider denies its customers access to a Web site, app or program. Comcast’s temporary block on some peer-to-peer networks that were clogging up its network in 2007 is one of the only examples. Some mobile companies have also instituted restrictions, like AT&T’s ban of the Sling media app on the iPhone and Verizon’s blocking of pro-abortion text messages in 2007.

"Excluding content providers does not make good business sense, especially with a growing number of alternatives, like 4G," said Mike Jude, analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Analysts said it’s much more likely that broadband providers will begin charging customers for the amount of data they download, just like wireless companies charge more for packages with a greater number of minutes.

Since a Net neutrality law would ensure that customers can download or upload whatever they please, some are worried that users will soon experience system bottlenecks that slow down their Internet speeds (think AT&T and the iPhone). But carriers, including AT&T, continue to spend billions of dollars a year improving network capacity, and the communications industry has been resilient about making improvements during tougher regulatory periods in the past.

"Ultimately, we’re talking about very large broadband pipes out there, which can provide 100 megabit speeds," said Jude. "Is Net neutrality a concern? Yes, but that doesn’t supercede the carriers’ purpose of deploying the network in the first place." 

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The manufacturing sector grew for the ninth consecutive month in April, and at its fastest rate since June 2004, according to a report released Monday.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index rose to 60.4 in April, from a March reading of 59.6. Any score above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector.

April’s number is slightly better than expected, driven by increases in productivity, new orders and manufacturing jobs. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a reading of 60.

"Overall, the recovery in manufacturing continues quite strong, and the signs are positive for continued growth," Norbert Ore, chairman of the ISM’s survey committee, said in a release.

Of the 18 industries surveyed in the report, 17 reported growth. Apparel, non-metallic minerals and wood products were among the industries showing the strongest growth.

New orders, productivity, imports and commodity prices all rose at faster rates in April than the month before, indicating that demand for products is driving a recovery in manufacturing.

As for factory jobs, trends continue to look up. The employment component of the report grew for the fifth consecutive month, rising to 58.5 in April from 55.1 the month before.

"It affirms something we already know — manufacturing is in a full-blown recovery," said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities. "Now, the markets are waiting for that recovery to spread to other sectors."

The inventories part of the index shrunk slightly in April, though, to just under 50 — the tipping point — from 55.3 in March.

That decline is not entirely surprising, Quinlan said, as manufacturers are still taking their time to rebuild inventories after scaling back at unprecedented rates during the recession.

The ISM manufacturing index is determined by a survey of purchasing managers and reflects the number of people who say economic conditions are better, compared with those who say conditions are worse. While the index can paint a picture of broad trends, some analysts warn that because it stems from a survey, the index can be subjective. 

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Woe is us.

Unemployment is 9.7 percent. The U.S. stock market is still 25 percent off its high. The federal deficit is measured in trillions. Our dollar is mocked overseas.

The Chinese lecture us on fiscal responsibility as they lend us billions of dollars so that we can buy their TVs, clothing and other trinkets of an American lifestyle built on credit.

The 20th century was the American Century — with our nation the premier economic and military superpower. The 21st century may belong to someone else.

That possibility has implications for investors. If growth is going to be faster overseas, is that where you should be investing?

That’s not an easy question. Venturing abroad means taking currency and political risks that we don’t get at home. And foreign stock prices may already reflect high growth prospects, making them no bargain.

The chances are you’re already investing more globally than you think. The S&P 500 companies — all big American firms — draw 40 percent of their revenue from overseas, up from 32 percent eight years ago, according to T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore mutual fund firm.

At least in the short run, growth in the developing world will be more rapid than in the U.S., or Europe and Japan for that matter.

The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth of 2.7 percent in the U.S. this year, only 1 percent in the Eurozone and 1.8 percent for Japan. By contrast, the IMF expects 10 percent growth in China, 7.7 percent in India, 4 percent in Mexico and 6 percent in emerging markets overall.

This may be the first global economic recovery led by China. The world usually follows the U.S. The IMF expects the growth gap to continue through 2011, with 2.5 percent growth in advanced countries, and 6.9 percent in emerging markets.

Those growth rates should, in theory, mean higher company profits and higher stock prices. So, should we be buying stocks in Brazil, India or the Far East?

Over the past decade, you’d have been much better off investing in the developing world than at home.

Since March of 2000, the Hang Seng Index of stocks traded in Hong Kong is up 66 percent with dividends reinvested and measured in U.S. dollars. The Mexican Bolsa and Brazilian Bovespa were both up 269 percent and the Russian Trading System Index was up 725 percent as of midweek. By contrast, the S&P 500 index of large American stocks lost 3 percent over the last 10 years.

The last five years also favored the foreigners. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 84 percent in that time, excluding dividends. The S&P was flat.

American investors have noticed. Lately, 95 percent of American investments in foreign stocks have gone into the emerging markets, notes Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist at Edward Jones in Des Peres.

Skrainka thinks that’s a mistake. "When the crowd heads one way, you’d better head the other," he notes. The emerging markets have largely had their run, and it’s too late to jump aboard, he argues.

As they say on the fund prospectuses; past performance is no guarantee of future return.

"The emerging markets have been temporarily underperforming the U.S. markets for the last three months. This could persist for a year or two," says Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager in global asset allocation at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Morganlander’s bottom line: Don’t jump into emerging markets with both feet. Tiptoe in during dips in the market.

If you’re thinking of investing there, you had better enjoy roller coasters. Emerging markets are 60 percent more volatile than the developed world.

The great stock market crash sent U.S. stocks down 56 percent from their 2007 highs by March of last year. Emerging markets fell 66 percent before bouncing back.

"It has a much rougher road on the downside than the U.S. market," said Morganlander.

There’s more oomph on the way up, too. Both the emerging markets and the S&P are now both 25 percent off their highs of 2007.

Step outside the developed world and an investor finds a whole new set of worries: the whims of Latin strongmen and Iranian ayatollahs, unstable currencies, religious conflicts and guerilla insurgencies.

While world stock markets were crashing in late 2008, investors in India had an extra worry — nuclear war as Indian and Pakistani rattled swords in the wake of the Mumbai massacre. The Indian market had dropped 73 percent by March 2009.

On the other hand, the emerging markets aren’t as wild and woolly as they used to be. Currency blowups, rampant inflation and outright fraud aren’t as common and fiscal controls are better. "In some cases, their sovereign debt picture is better than Japan, the UK, Greece, maybe even the U.S.," says Paul Christopher, senior international strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis.

All this argues for letting a pro do the stock picking, which is what you get when you buy a mutual fund.

Morningstar, the mutual fund analysis firm, recommends Oppenheimer Developing Markets (ODMAX) and American Funds New World (NEWFX). New World supplements emerging markets stocks by buying developed-country stocks in companies that do a lot of business in the developed world. That tends to smooth out the roller-coaster ride a bit, says Morningstar.

You could also buy the whole shebang at once. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) is an exchange-traded fund that tracks an index of third-world stocks in 20 countries, with the bulk in China, Korea, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, India, and Mexico.

Another alternative is to target certain countries through country-specific funds. "The best opportunities in the world come from selecting countries the way you select stocks," says Christopher, of Wells Fargo.

China has been the big growth story of the past decade, but some think the Chinese market is overheated. Stifel’s Morganlander sees a bubble building. Much of last year’s growth was government-manufactured, the result of stimulus spending designed to make up for falling exports. Stimulus doesn’t last forever, he notes, and when the building boom ends, the nation could have a nasty fall.

India is a better bet, he says. It’s economy is less dependent on exports than China and the Indian government is friendlier to foreign investors.

Countries such as Brazil and Mexico are natural resource plays. They supply food and raw materials for the high-growth Asian markets.

Meanwhile, a stronger dollar is making one developed market — Europe — look a little sweeter at the moment.

The dollar was on a long decline against major currencies from 2002 to 2008, weighed down by our trade deficit. That’s one reason that foreign investments performed so well, when measured in dollars. The financial panic of 2008 sent the dollar up as worried investors fled back to the buck, but the greenback’s slump resumed last year.

Lately, though, Europe has been having its own financial panic over the chance that Greece might default on government bonds, followed possibly by Spain and Ireland. The euro is down 10 percent against the dollar since November.

If you think that the euro’s problems are temporary, and the dollar is still a dud, then European stocks look interesting. "If the dollar’s weakness resumes, you’ll earn a good return," says Skrainka.

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