International stocks — the world is bigger than the US
About half the world's stocks live outside America.
The idea
The US isn't the only place with great companies — about half the world's stock value lives outside America, in places like Japan, Korea, and Europe. Owning some international stocks spreads your bets even wider, so you're not betting everything on one country. Different regions take turns leading, so going global smooths out the ride over decades. 🌍
Words to know
- International stocks
- Shares of companies based outside your own country.
- VXUS
- A fund holding thousands of companies from around the world outside the US, in one ticker.
- Recency bias
- Assuming whatever has done best lately will keep winning — which leads people to skip international.
- Diversification
- Spreading money across many companies, sectors, AND countries to lower risk.
- Market cap
- A company's total size in dollars; used to compare US vs world markets.
Try it — no account needed
About HALF the world's stock market lives outside the US. Swipe RIGHT for TRUE, LEFT for myth.
~50% of global stock value is OUTSIDE the United States.
In the full lesson
- 1True or false
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