Keep an eye on Asia stocks

WASHINGTON: Whatever happened to Asia? Last time I looked, 3.5 billion people lived there -- three times as many as in North America and Europe combined. Asia is the fastest-growing part of the world and already accounts for one-quarter of all global economic output. Yet Asia gets almost no respect from US investors. 

Part of the problem, of course, is Japan. Over the past decade, its economy has stagnated, and its stock market has disintegrated. The Nikkei 225, Japan's benchmark index, has dropped 30,000 points, or 78%, from its 1989 peak.