(London)

The US stock market is looking increasingly volatile at the moment. Valuations are high, there are a number of fears, and worries over a trade war are causing daily swings. So what is an investor to do? One good option is to hedge US equity exposure with some international equities. Overseas stocks had a mixed first quarter but have been doing well recently. The reason why appears to be that they have underperformed the US for years, but are now finally catching up. While lending standards are tightening in the US, they are loosening elsewhere, causing a consumer spending boom. Further, higher US valuations make overseas stocks look “cheap”.

FINSUM: Having some overseas allocation seems like a good idea right now. The only real weakness we see, beyond Dollar risk, is that a trade war would negatively affect all countries, at least in the near term.