Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana. . . U.S. Investors Burst Asian Stock Bubble By Lawrence Malkin International Herald Tribune Friday, January 14, 1994 American investors are pulling their money out of the overheated stock markets of Southeast Asia, helping burst the bubble that they themselves created in a headlong drive to diversify abroad. . As markets tumbled in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore on Thursday, investors, advisers, brokers, and analysts agreed that they had reached their highs for the time being and that Southeast Asia was being dealt out in this year's annual reshuffling of investment portfolios, no matter how optimistic may be the long-term outlook for the area. . The Asia/Pacific component of the International Herald Tribune World Stock Index tumbled 0.8 percent, to 116.47. . But specialists disagreed on where the money would move next - Japan, other emerging markets, Europe, or back to the United States. The most likely answer may be that Americans will continue to diversify their investments in all these places. . If there was any trigger to the flight aside from the obvious unsustainability of the Southeast Asian markets themselves, it was recommendations from major advisers. None counseled a wholesale repatriation to the United States. . Merrill Lynch's international strategist, Thomas R. Robinson, advised clients Wednesday to shift their emphasis to Latin America and Europe because of short-term volatility in Southeast Asia, and Asian fund managers to shift to Japan. This was short-term advice, Mr. Robinson said, because "we are long-term positive" in Southeast Asia. . Eric Kobren, who runs a newsletter tracking Fidelity Investments, the largest U.S. mutual fund house, advised readers to bail out of Southeast Asia about a month ago and either to come back home and bet on the domestic economy or to try profiting from declines in European interest rates by investing in bond or equity funds there. . Vivian Lewis, editor of Global Investing, an American newsletter devoted to foreign stocks, carries few Southeast Asia recommendations now, except to buy some selected issues on weakness. Bullish long-term, she nevertheless advises subscribers to take profits on some of her best picks, for example by selling half of Thailand's Shinawatra Computer, up a phenomenal 558 percent since she first recommended it at the end of 1991.