Michael Panzner is a twenty-five-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets and the author of three books, including Financial Armageddon and When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era, due out from Wiley in February 2009.
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Up until this past year, U.S. investors had been in a mad dash to invest overseas, spurred by the belief that international diversification would provide a cushion against problems at home.
In theory, investors stood to benefit in two ways: reduced exposure to a weakening dollar and direct involvement in fast-growing markets like China and Brazil, which were supposed to hold their own no matter what might happen here.
In reality, global equity markets have remained fairly well correlated in recent years, and Americans who thought they would somehow be insulated from the long-awaited return of the U.S. bear have learned an interesting lesson.
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