In 1957, my parents got divorced, and my 20-year-old Japanese mother suddenly found herself living in a strange country with no family, friends, money, food, or place to live. Yet instead of returning to Japan where her family and friends were, she scratched, rummaged, and scavenged enough to make a new life for us in America. Why?
I was about a year old at the time, and my mother knew that a half-Japanese, half-American child had limited opportunities in Japan. It wasn’t like it is today — the wounds from World War II were too fresh. I would have never gone to a top university or landed a top job.
Even though my mother barely spoke English and seldom had more than two nickels to rub together, she held fiercely to the idea of the American dream. “In America, anybody can get rich if they work hard,†she told me.
I always remind myself that I was only one fork-in-the-road away from shoveling animal dung instead of writing to you. As my mother always knew, by simply living in America, I had already won the greatest lottery in the world. No matter how smart or how hard I worked, no other country in the world could have given me the same opportunities I had here.
My mother was decades ahead of her peers back home. But now there’s a tidal wave of Asian immigrants hitting American shores with the same dream she had …
Asians Are Flocking
To America’s Shores
The number of Asians living in the United States has reached 14 million, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Why are they coming to the U.S.? They grew up watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous … have seen Yao Ming play for the Houston Rockets … and heard about other family members landing jobs with U.S. firms. In short, they want the same thing my mother wanted for me: A piece of the American dream.
Interestingly, a significant number of the Asians coming over here already have a great head start — almost half hold at least a bachelor’s degree. And a particularly large number have science and engineering backgrounds.
In fact, a quarter of all college-educated workers in the science and engineering fields — and 40% of those with doctorates — were born overseas. Among all doctorate holders that live in America, a majority in computer science (57%), electrical engineering (57%), civil engineering (54%), and mechanical engineering (52%) come from abroad.
However, there’s still one big barrier to entry that even highly-educated Asians have to hurdle: Before they can enroll in U.S. colleges or take high-paying jobs with American companies, they need to speak English.
This Company Is Teaching
China to Speak Our Language
For 1.3 billion Chinese, the way to learn our language is to take English classes. Let me tell you, the popularity of English classes in China is staggering … and growing like mad.
Since 2002, more than 100,000 Chinese students have enrolled in foreign colleges. Heck, even many Chinese colleges are now requiring English proficiency as a prerequisite.
I know at least one small Chinese company that’s making a fortune off of this opportunity.
New Oriental Education was started by a former English professor at Beijing University. Originally, the company focused on preparing Chinese students for entrance exams. It’s still in that business today — 375,000 students paid for this service last year.
However, the company has seen even stronger demand for English language instruction. I can see why: There are approximately 457 million Chinese citizens in the prime years for schooling (ages 5-29). The market for English language instruction is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2006 to $3.7 billion by 2010.
New Oriental just reported its third-quarter results last week, and they were very impressive. Quarterly revenues soared by 31% vs. the same period last year, while profits skyrocketed 101%!
The company’s student enrollment jumped 25%, as the company taught 337,400 students in just 90 days. To accommodate that swelling demand, they had to open seven new schools in just the last quarter!
Now, as good as business seems, the company’s shares have gotten ahead of themselves. I want to wait for a pullback before I tell anyone to jump in.
More importantly, the company has invited me to sit in on a class. So I won’t make my final decision until I kick the tires in person, and talk to some teachers and students.
I’m patient. If the company’s prospects are as good as I think, waiting a few weeks won’t make any difference. And nothing beats boots-on-the-ground research.
In the meantime, remember my number-one rule for making big money in the stock market:
Invest in things that China is buying and get the heck out of the way of whatever China is selling.
And as I just told you, one of the things that the Chinese want more than anything else is a piece of the American dream. I don’t blame ’em one bit!
Best wishes,
Tony
About MONEY AND MARKETS
MONEY AND MARKETS (MaM) is published by Weiss Research, Inc. and written by Martin D. Weiss along with Sean Brodrick, Larry Edelson, Michael Larson, Nilus Mattive, and Tony Sagami. To avoid conflicts of interest, Weiss Research and its staff do not hold positions in companies recommended in MaM. Nor do we accept any compensation for such recommendations. The comments, graphs, forecasts, and indices published in MaM are based upon data whose accuracy is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Performance returns cited are derived from our best estimates but must be considered hypothetical inasmuch as we do not track the actual prices investors pay or receive. Regular contributors and staff include John Burke, Amber Dakar, Monica Lewman-Garcia, Wendy Montes de Oca, Kristen Adams, Jennifer Moran, Red Morgan, and Julie Trudeau.
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