It has been a terrific year for U.S. stocks.

If the Santa Claus rally kicks in, and the S&P 500 ends the year above 1,834, the year 2013 will end as the best one for the market since 1998.

In contrast, it has been all doom and gloom for emerging markets.

Even as the U.S. market has put the permabears in investors’ doghouses, emerging markets are likely to finish the year down 6%, compared with a (so far) 27% gain for U.S. markets and 19% for the rest of the developed world.

Having lagged the S&P 500 for over two years, emerging markets are coming off of their longest underperformance in recent memory.

….read & view more HERE