Weekly Stock Market Update

Our investing insights explore the topics that matter most, whether on climate and ESG, current market trends or global investing and risk management across asset classes. We consider the views and practices of the international investment community and assess a market’s economic development, accessibility and investability. In response to weakening economic conditions, the FOMC lowered its target for the federal funds rate from 4.5 percent at the end of 2007 to 2 percent at the beginning of September 2008. Initially, the expansion of Federal Reserve credit was financed by reducing the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities, Everestex reviews in order to avoid an increase in bank reserves that would drive the federal funds rate below its target as banks sought to lend out their excess reserves. These included a credit facility for "primary dealers," the broker-dealers that serve as counterparties for the Fed’s open market operations, as well as lending programs designed to provide liquidity to money market mutual funds and the commercial paper market.

What Is An Index Fund?

A host of fundamental ingredients have also underpinned the recent resurgence of international. Fueling that decline has been a global trend of dollar diversification—i.e., foreign investors seeking to diversify the mix of currencies and assets they own. Moreover, many have identified compelling potential stock opportunities that could thrive under a variety of market scenarios. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investor’s point of view.

Research Stocks, Etfs, Or Mutual Funds

It’s impossible to know in advance whether international stocks will have another banner year in 2026. Sam Polyak, who focuses on emerging markets as co-manager of Fidelity® Total International Equity Fund (), notes that many developing-market companies serve as key links in the AI value chain too (in addition to already-mentioned Taiwan Semiconductor). While past performance is never a guarantee of future results, Fidelity portfolio managers see several reasons for optimism about the future of international investing. After mostly trailing US stocks for more than a decade, international stocks sprang to life in 2025, with non-US stocks returning 30% for the year as of mid December,1 outpacing the S&P 500 Index® by double digits. Given their high Medalist Ratings, we expect the top-rated funds on our list to outperform over a full market cycle. All the funds and ETFs on the list fall into Morningstar’s international equity US category group and have at least $100 million in assets.

Determinants And Possible Explanations Of Stock Market Participation

A number of measures have been proposed or put in place to reduce the risk of financial distress. When the financial market turmoil had subsided, attention naturally turned to reforms to the financial sector and its supervision and regulation, motivated by a desire to avoid similar events in the future. In the face of this prolonged weakness, the Federal Reserve maintained an exceptionally low level for the federal funds rate target and sought new ways to provide additional monetary accommodation. These purchases were intended to put downward pressure on long-term interest rates and improve financial conditions more broadly, thereby supporting economic activity (Bernanke 2012).

• Including international stock investing can allow you to tap into a broader range of companies that could aid in long-term growth, while helping to reduce the effects of U.S. market volatility and risk to domestic stock investments.
• You’ll also want to have a fund in your portfolio that matches your investment profile.
• And while much of this investment is funded through internal cash flow, mega‑cap technology companies are starting to rely more heavily on debt to finance the rapid expansion as they transition away from historically capital‑light business models.
• European stocks have the largest allocation at 64.57%, while Japanese equities account for 22.17% of the fund’s assets.

NerdWallet, Inc. is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. Just remember that any chance for higher rewards comes with higher risk. The fund has one of the lowest net expense ratios among its peers and a lower turnover ratio of 9.94% as of Nov. 30, 2025, making it decent for tax efficiency. VTMGX returned 8.71% to investors in 10 years compared to its benchmark. The fund invests 21.2% of its assets in Japan while 12.2% are invested in the United Kingdom, and 11.0% are in Canada. It has an exceptionally low turnover ratio of 2.9% (as of Dec. 31, 2024), making it highly tax-efficient for investors.

However, this market behaviour may be more apparent than real, since often such news was anticipated, and a counter reaction may occur if the news is better (or worse) than expected. The players now must give heavy weight to the psychology of other investors and how they are likely to react psychologically. In times of market stress, however, the game becomes more like poker (herding behavior takes over). In the present context, this means that a succession of good news items about a company may lead investors to overreact positively, driving the price up. Other research has shown that psychological factors may result in exaggerated (statistically anomalous) stock price movements (contrary to EMH which assumes such behaviors ‘cancel out’).

Jpmorgan Chase

Average home prices in the United States more than doubled between 1998 and 2006, the sharpest increase recorded in US history, and even larger gains were recorded in some regions. The recession and crisis followed an extended period of expansion in US housing construction, home prices, and housing credit. In addition, the financial crisis led to a range of major reforms in banking and financial regulation, congressional legislation that significantly affected the Federal Reserve.

A Fresh Outlook For Fixed Income

• Just like other mutual funds, international index funds try to track the performance of a similar benchmark index.
• This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor.
• He points to companies like Hitachi (),21 which transformed mid-single-digit margins into double digits by shedding unprofitable businesses and focusing on global competitiveness.
• Financial planners often point out that market declines can be good timing for Roth conversions.
• The market’s results from one year to the next may vary substantially from the long-term average.

This strategy may also be used by unscrupulous traders in illiquid or thinly traded markets to artificially lower the price of a stock. The SEC modified the margin requirements in an attempt to lower the volatility of common stocks, stock options and the futures market. Computer systems were upgraded in the stock exchanges to handle larger trading volumes in a more accurate and controlled manner.

In parallel with various economic factors, a reason for stock market crashes is also due to panic and investing public’s loss of confidence. Over the short term, stocks and other securities can be battered or bought by any number of fast market-changing events, making the stock market behavior difficult to predict. Sometimes, the market seems to react irrationally to economic or financial news, even if that news is likely to have no real effect on the fundamental value of securities itself. This is an attractive feature of investing in stocks, compared to other less liquid investments such as property and other immoveable assets.

Simply put, home bias (or ‘home country bias’) is the conscious or unconscious choice of investors to invest the entirety or majority of their assets in domestic investment products – we’re inclined to believe in and root for the things that we know best. The marketplace is truly global, and when it comes to investing, geographical location matters a lot less than it used to. International investments often receive different U.S. tax treatment compared to domestic investing. Investing in an international company’s stock is investing in its home country’s people and government.

Buying or selling at the Market means you will accept any ask price or bid price for the stock. A potential buyer bids a specific price for a stock, and a potential seller asks a specific price for the same stock. Apart from the Australian Securities Exchange, these 16 exchanges are all in North America, Europe, or Asia. Edward Jones’ U.S. financial advisors may only conduct business with residents of the states for which they are properly registered. Systematic investing does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.

• Morgan advisor to learn more about how to better position your portfolio for potential global market shifts.
• But one “R” we do not expect in 2026 is a Recession, an outcome that would threaten the durability of the bull market.
• They are not intended to provide investment advice.