The Top-Rated Asian Stocks

On the back of a 110% gain in 2006, China's Shanghai Exchange has risen another 141% this year! Similarly, India's Bombay Exchange has had a nice run this year -- it's up 18%.

Investors the world over have to be wondering whether this type of outsized growth is sustainable. Nowhere, perhaps, is the debate more lively than on Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's investing community, where more than 60,000 investors rate their favorite -- and least favorite -- stocks.

Surprisingly, for the second straight month, there wasn't a single Asian stock among the top 50 stocks as rated by CAPS investors. Back in December, Aluminum Corp. of China held the No. 1 spot and has since surged 194%. Aluminum Corp. still retains its five-star CAPS rating, but a few brave bears have recently reared their heads and helped to drop the stock a bit in the overall rankings.

Moving westward?
While Asian stocks are still generally favored among CAPS investors, stocks from other regions, including Europe and South America, have become more prevalent in the top 50. It seems that investor sentiment may be shifting westward for now, but the growth potential in Asia is still too great to simply ignore.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 Asian stocks, according to CAPS.

Please bear in mind that these are not formal recommendations but rather jumping-off points for further research.

Land of the rising sun
With investors focusing a lot of attention on the emerging Asian markets in recent years, we haven't heard too much from Japanese stocks. But the Japanese markets haven't been asleep during this period. In fact, the Nikkei 225 has outperformed the S&P 500 since September 2002.

The Nikkei was hammered hard during the recent market turmoil, and investors may be turning their attention across the Sea of Japan for some oversold values, particularly in the communications industry.

All three of the Japanese stocks on the list above have their hand in the communications business: Internet Initiative Japan is an Internet service provider, Kyocera builds mobile phones and wireless network systems, and Nippon is a telecom conglomerate that generates the majority of its revenue in regional and wireless communication. Furthermore, each of these stocks sport price-to-earnings ratios below their respective industry averages.

What do you think? Is it time to take a second look at Japanese communications companies? The tens of thousands of investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS are waiting to hear what you have to say about the stocks you follow.

To make your voice heard, register for CAPS. It's 100% free, and don't let the top players intimidate you. There's room for everyone.