They say that the most hated assets offer the best investment opportunities. Russia had been such an outsider for a long time until recent year when the usual underdog delivered one of the best returns among the emerging markets. The media and analysts attribute this to the oil (NYSEARCA:USO) rebound, OPEC deal and Trump winning the election. There is also a lot of geopolitics, propaganda and controversy surrounding this topic. That's why I'd prefer to focus on cold, hard numbers to minimize the subjectivity of this article.
Stagnating economy
GDP growth is the key determinant of the long-term performance of any equity market. Russia is no exception. And we have a situation here.
Russian GDP Growth (Source: Bloomberg)
What is interesting, the collapse of oil prices and the imposition of sanctions were not the original cause of the Russian economy weakness, they only exacerbated the