By Ben Carlson
A Wealth of Common Sense
The United States makes up nearly 60% of the global stock market by market capitalization.
The dominance of American stocks over the rest of the world wasn’t just a 20th-century phenomenon either.
The performance over the past decade and change shows U.S. stocks won hands down over our foreign counterparts.
Many investors look at these numbers and wonder: What’s the point of owning international stocks if the U.S. is obviously the only game in town?
I understand the sentiment. The United States has the majority of the biggest and best companies in the world. Many of those corporations are multi-national and get a decent percentage of their revenue from overseas.
Having said that, it’s still worthwhile to consider international diversification over the long run.
The commentary is the opinion of the author and distributed with permission under limited license. All data and charts presented herein are from sources deemed to be reliable but are not guaranteed to be accurate. The financial information presented is for information and educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional advice; use of or reliance on any information herein is solely at your own risk. Edited from the original.
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