FTSE 3 year lows anyone buying?

[mcampbell]

I noticed my VTIAX tanking this week, and I checked the news. Looks pretty bad wondering if anyone is buying in?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/dec/14/markets-fed-week-jittery-mood-business-live#block-566ebab8e4b0e941631037a7

[cerat0n1a]

I am, but I would be buying just the same if it was at a 3 year high.

What %age of VTIAX weighting does the FTSE represent? You have to remember that the FTSE is dominated by oil, and banks (and miners, until recently). Even at the current low share prices for oil companies, they're ~12% of the index. The index is still around 1000 points lower than where it was in late 1999.

[EarlyStart]

I hold 40% international stocks, so I've been buying according to that allocation. A lot of the declines in the international allocation are due to dollar strength, for what it's worth.

[LAGuy]

I hold 40% international stocks, so I've been buying according to that allocation. A lot of the declines in the international allocation are due to dollar strength, for what it's worth.

This is the same allocation I hold as well, which is up slightly (from 30 to 35%) than I used to have. Right now, international stocks are about the only place in the market that I see any value. Still, this is a decade long play. The next year or two could still hold weakness in International. When it changes, I figure it will change fast. Think it was last week or so that the ECB didn't ease as much as people expected. This caused the dollar to seriously sell off. It has since clawed its way back, but I figure as soon as people perceive any weakness in the dollar, it's going to sell off pretty fast so you'll already want to be internationally diversified at that point. In the meantime, while you wait, you get a pretty good dividend on international stocks.

Note: this isn't meant to be some doomsday prediction. Just the normal ebb and flow of the markets.

[tj]

FTSE with a nice bump today. I also feel like international is undervalued vs U.S, but I'm still making new contributions to both funds.


I'm rather light on emerging markets though. I feel more comfortable investing in Europe, Canada, Australia and Korea vs. Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. Is this irrational?

[EarlyStart]

I hold 40% international stocks, so I've been buying according to that allocation. A lot of the declines in the international allocation are due to dollar strength, for what it's worth.

This is the same allocation I hold as well, which is up slightly (from 30 to 35%) than I used to have. Right now, international stocks are about the only place in the market that I see any value. Still, this is a decade long play. The next year or two could still hold weakness in International. When it changes, I figure it will change fast. Think it was last week or so that the ECB didn't ease as much as people expected. This caused the dollar to seriously sell off. It has since clawed its way back, but I figure as soon as people perceive any weakness in the dollar, it's going to sell off pretty fast so you'll already want to be internationally diversified at that point. In the meantime, while you wait, you get a pretty good dividend on international stocks.

Note: this isn't meant to be some doomsday prediction. Just the normal ebb and flow of the markets.

Yeah, I agree with the gist of what you say. A strong dollar is a reason to accumulate international equities, as far as I'm concerned, given a long time horizon.