Investors who have done well buying U.S. stocks this year could be doing even better with Nigeria.

The Nigerian market, in fact, has outperformed American equities by a large margin, up more than 20 percent this year versus the U.S. gain of a still-respectable 6 percent.

Ditto for Dubai, Iceland, Vietnam and Abu Dhabi. Taken together, the countries form an unlikely quintet that leads the global equity markets and poses opportunities for investors wary of all the stomach-churning turmoil closer to home.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100507540