That is, the interest rate on Argentinean short-term paper, or the price of the peso on the forward market, reflects the risk of a surprise devaluation that will cost you a chunk of your capital.

FORBES: Russian Roulette Investing

Rather than lose money, they stocked their shelves with toilet paper, or tried to dodge price controls by modifying their products.

ECONOMIST: The pros and cons of opting out of the global economy

Commodity purveyors like paper, cement, chemicals and aluminum hold little upside price or demand leverage in 1998.

FORBES: A good year for xenophobes

And most of the shares at the offering price went to the institutional investors, who now face paper or real losses on those shares.

CNN: Was Facebook's botched IPO a conspiracy?