Invest Globally

The Fed's policy of fighting the subprime crisis with lower interest rates means higher returns for international stocks held by US investors. Lower interest rates in the US is keeping the US dollar index at historic lows. Therefore it will take more dollars to buy foreign stocks.

The conservative approach would be to invest in developed international stocks. The best way to do this would be to purchase shares in the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) or the Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (VEA).

The more aggressive approach would be to invest in international stocks of emerging countries. I would consider looking at iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) or the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF (VWO).

Personally, I prefer owning particular stocks over the ETF's. I currently have positions in CVRD (RIO), Banco Bradesco (BBD), and CNOOC (CEO).