Foreign investors eye developments in Cuba

The U.S. trade embargo has not been lifted and does not look like it will be soon, but investors are apparently already taking a greater interest in the thawing relationship between the United States and Cuba. Mutual funds like the Caribbean Basin Fund fluctuate in direct response to news concerning Cuba and developments in bilateral relations in the last several months. The companies whose stocks compose the fund include Western Union, which operates on the island and facilitates the sending of remittances; Lennar, a home-builder that apparently has a pending business plan for Cuba; and Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises, both of which already operate extensively in the region (the Caribbean) and would likely experience an increase in passengers with Havana reopened as a port of call.

Meanwhile, European traders are returning to the Cuban securities market due to the low price of Cuban assets and the prospects presented by Obama administration overtures toward the island.

Both Reuters and Barron’s ran articles in the last few days suggesting the investment possibilities opened by the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations—ever contingent upon the eventual lifting of the trade embargo.