U.S. Stocks Still Look Better Than Anywhere Else
While American outperformance continues to defy history, the rest of the world remains trapped in a bear market.
The U.S. is about to celebrate 10 years of uninterrupted economic growth, but the rest of the world is suffering through a bear market that’s now lasted 12 years. Stock markets around the globe, excluding the U.S., remain 25% below the peak they set on the ominous date of Halloween 2007, on the eve of the financial crisis. The American S&P 500 benchmark has gained about 80% over that time.
Outside the U.S., stock markets have never come close to regaining their highs from before the crisis, and they currently appear to be locked into yet another downswing. The MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, which, as its name indicates, covers all equity markets minus the U.S., has dropped more than 17% since its most recent peak early last year, when there was much excitement about a synchronized global economic recovery.