Investment the best aid for Japan

It is at times like this, with the Japanese earthquake and the suppression of the Middle Eastern population by some of its rulers, one of the oldest investment mantras seems entirely inappropriate - the best time to invest is when there is blood on the streets.

Of course, this maxim is designed to illustrate that the best entry point into a market or asset is when there is negative sentiment all around. It may seem like a very uncomfortable discussion, but is there a case for investing in both Japan and the MENA regions with prices so low? The case for foreign investors re-entering Japanese equities was building quite nicely before the earthquake, on the back of very strong corporate results. If ever there was a country where the index performance does not truly reflect the world class nature of some of the individual companies, it is Japan, bu...