Giving International Equities Another Look

For the most part international investing has been a disappointing place to be over the past several years.  Here's a recent performance chart of various broad based international ETFs in our universe going back to the time around the March, 2009 market bottom and through the back end of July.   The S&P 500 is in bright red on the immediate left and it is here for comparison.

Just as a reminder you can double-click on this chart in order to make it larger.

Even a quick look will show that while international performance in some instances has been quite positive, all have paled in comparison to the S&P 500.  The good old US of A has been the place to be during that time.  Some of these markets, like Latin America, haven't justified the risk of investing in them during this time.  

In such an environment it could be tempting to turn our backs on foreign markets and just eat our home cooking.  Blackrock's Russ Koesterich tells you why that might be a mistake.  Go read his most compelling article at the link below.  I'll list the four main reasons but go read the article so you can read the reasoning behind the results.

1.  The US may be safer, but at a cost.

2.  EM is actually outperforming.

3.  International stocks is not just about stocks.

4.  In a real bear market, US stocks are not necessarily the safest place to hide.

Here's the link.  "Now go read Four Reasons You Should Still Invest Abroad."

Performance charts are from Stockcharts.com.    

Back Thursday.

*Long ETFs related to certain of these indices in client & personal accounts.    Please note positions can change at anytime without notice.