Link: Various Countries’ First Quarter Market Returns

TickerSense recently posted the First Quarter Stock Market Returns sorted by Country, and the good news is that the United States is in positive territory for the first quarter.

The bad news is that 65 (of the 87) countries (75%) beat the US stock market (S&P 500: up 0.18%) in the first quarter.

Topping the list: Zimbabwe at 600%. Can you imagine what it would be like to have your investment grow 6 times its initial value in 3 months? The only problem is that inflation grew at 1,000%, or 10 times your initial investment, so actually, your money would be worth less now than then, ironically.

It is always worth studying global markets, or at least giving international markets at least a cursory glance. How can it help? As globalization takes hold, the world is becoming more interconnected, where events (especially tragic events) that affect certain economies can now affect major economies across the globe.

Be aware that the United States is one nation among many, and we Americans tend to forget other economies are growing more rapidly than our own, and conditions overseas definately affect us at home. Investors are wise to study international trends and markets.  China’s Shanghai SE Composite rose 19%.

Check out the link and the TickerSense site. By the way, in the TickerSense Poll, bulls and bears (sentiment) are tied at both 30.30%.

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