Displaying items by tag: international

(London)

US market valuations are eye-watering. By several measures the S&P 500 is as richly valued as it has ever been. With that in mind, overseas stocks, especially in Europe, appear to be a good bet. For example, while US stocks are now well ahead of their pre-COVID peaks, the Stoxx Europe 600 is still down 9.2% since its high in February. Since March, the S&P 500 has rebounded by 60% while the Stoxx Europe 600 has only seen a 40% rise.

FINSUM: So European benchmarks are more exposed to the banks and industrials, which were more hurt by COVID than US tech companies, which dominate American benchmarks. That said, now that a vaccine is in site, there is a big chance for appreciation in Europe that seems much less likely to occur in the US.

(London)

American investors tend to be focused on US stocks, which over the last several years has been very fortunate. However, there are potentially great discounts to be had overseas. Barron’s has just picked five overseas bargain equities, borrowing from fund manager Dodge & Cox. According to the CIO of Dodge & Cox, “There’s very strong secular growth in some regions outside the U.S. … If you want to participate, you need to own local-market stocks”. The picks are Itau Unibanco Holdings (Brazil), South African media company Naspers, and French drug company Sanofi. They also like DISH Network and Google at home.

FINSUM: So there are obviously great bargains to be had overseas, but we think it takes a real focus to understand the dynamics integral to picking shares in such different markets. Funds that specialize in doing so seem like a good idea.