ESOCF - EWI: Italy Continues To Be Weighed Down By Capital-Heavy Companies

• Italy is a market I would love to be bullish on, but the index is weighed down by capital-heavy, low-returning industries that could be considered value traps.
• The iShares MSCI Italy ETF underperformed short-term treasuries since its 1996 launch, and delivered a negative total return over the past decade.
• Three of Italy's top components: a utility, a bank, and an oil company don't seem to offer much growth or even a high sustainable dividend yield.
• On the bright side, 10% of Italy's index is in two branded automakers that may offer better future growth at debatably reasonable prices.
• In this article, I look at some fundamental historical charts on the top 5 components, and why even negative Euro interest rates may not be enough to drive good returns for stock investors.

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