HEDGING THE GLOBAL MARKET

摘要

The world's economies are no longer led by the U.S. as they once were, but they're still intimately and inextricably linked to it. When our American market soared in its post-2002 recession rebound, we also benefited from the robust recovery of international markets. Now, as our stocks come down to earth, we find the markets linked again. There isn't quite the safe harbor you might have hoped for abroad.rnFor the first time since 2005 foreign equity markets are trailing rather than leading our own. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 16% through mid-September; the MSCI EAFE Index, the best broad gauge of non-U.S. stocks, was down 29% in dollar terms. Russia, last year's hot market, is off 53% this year. Other European exchanges are giving up multiyear gains. China, the country global investors have been banking on for double-digit returns over the next 30 years, is down 56% from its peak last fall. What's a global investor to do?