Beware the SLINKY: The top 5 countries to avoid investing in

Those who came late to the historic rally in BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China)—or who badly mistimed investments in MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), or who lost quarter of a nest egg gambling on CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) or PINEs (Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ethiopia)—will probably nod wearily to the words of fund manager Rick Schmidt, who oversees $8.9 billion in emerging markets portfolios for Harding Loevner: “Anytime anybody tells you to invest in an acronym,” Schmidt told a Coins2Day reporter recently, “run for the hills.”

With that wisdom in mind, we thought we’d come up with an acronymic investment concept that can serve as an object lesson—a portfolio that screams, “Run Away!”

We present to you the SLINKY, an unlikely retirement-saver for those who like to sift for value stocks in danger zones. (Seriously, don’t invest here.)