Why You Must Flee the Country

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Disney Buys Marvel!

David Gardner called it. He’s up 1,334%! See what David’s recommending that you buy NEXT.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Industry after industry in decline, the Fed printing money so fast that gold bugs are multiplying like rabbits ... the U.S. is facing some big challenges. I think it's time you moved out of here.

Uh, what are you talking about? I like it here. Land of the free and home of the brave, y'know? Besides, did you see how my garden did this year? The asparagus was great, and those tomatoes -- mmm. Nothing tastes as good as a local tomato, you know that. You want me to flee all this?

No, no, hear me out. I don't mean actually physically leaving. I like the local tomatoes too. I'm talking about stocks. I think you should be investing more overseas.

Dude, I'm already overseas. I've got Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), right? They sell that new Windows 7 thing all over the world. I know they do -- I read it on the Internet. And earlier this year you were telling me about Ford (NYSE: F) and how that airplane guy --

-- Alan Mulally --

-- yeah, him. You told me he's turning Ford into one big global company, and about all the good cars they have coming from Europe. So they're global too, and I bought some when it was cheap, like you said. Now I hear they're turning a profit. I'm covered.

Listen for a minute, will you? The dollar was strong for a while earlier this year, but it's been weakening lately, and it could keep getting weaker over the long haul. All other things being equal, that means companies that do business in other currencies are only going to get more expensive in dollar terms over time.

Yeah, but don't these big global companies have ways to manage that? If they're smart enough to do business all over the world, they should be smart enough to trade futures or whatever so that they can deal. Right?

Sure. But wouldn't it be even better if that currency trend were working for you? Maybe on top of some great growth stories?

Is this where you tell me to go buy Chinese stocks? I've got that China ETF the guy on TV talked about, that iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) thing. I'm good, I keep telling you.

China's a great place to start. But not with that ETF, because it kind of stinks. It's not the ETF's fault; it's the index. It's full of fat slugs.

Slugs? What are you talking about? It's China, the boom-boom emerging superpower. You're the guy who told me to buy Ford and you're telling me about slugs?

Hey, Ford is up 500% since you bought it. Stop your complaining. But that index is full of big companies that are mostly owned by the Chinese government. Those companies aren't going to take off anytime soon, and if the government decides to dump their holdings, the stock prices will tank. If you want growth in China, you've got to go buy growth stocks, real emerging companies.

Uh-huh. And how do I find these things?

Dude, this is The Motley Fool. Poke around. Look at China Green Agriculture (AMEX: CGA), which makes organic fertilizer and has a lot of fans at the Fool. Look at Indian companies like Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which have given investors big returns over the past year. Look at China Digital TV (NYSE: STV), a play on China's conversion from analog to digital television. Some small companies are still cheap, because most investors flock to the bigger stocks.

Or take a look at Huaneng Power (NYSE: HNP) -- China's still developing, so electricity is still a growth business. This company's a big player, and it's getting bigger -- and it pays a dividend. Or Mindray Medical (NYSE: MR), which makes medical imaging --

Wait. Stop. You know, I watch TV -- I know China's government isn't the biggest fan of private property. They're Communists! How do I know they won't be out at the vanguard of the whosis seizing my company's means of production or whatever?

Look, the Chinese government knows it has a good thing going right now. They need Western investment and Western markets. There's definitely risk, but I think it's not a big deal.

OK, suppose I agree with you. All those stocks you just named sound good. But they're all traded on U.S. exchanges. Doesn't that mean they've already gotten pretty big? How do I find the ones that haven't popped yet?

That takes some more digging. But that kind of digging is exactly what they do at the Motley Fool Global Gains newsletter. In fact, the Fool's sending the team to India to scout out some great investing opportunities.

Yeah, yeah. I don't subscribe to that one. And money's tight --

-- so take a free trial. It'll cost you nothing and you can spend 30 days poking around and picking their brains. Seriously, you need to get on this soon.

OK, fine. I'll take a look if you go rake all the leaves out of my garden already. What do I need to do?

Just click here to get rolling. It's worth your time, I promise.

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Mindray Medical and China Digital TV are Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendations. Microsoft is a Motley Fool Inside Value selection. Huaneng Power is a Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation. China Green Agriculture is a Motley Fool Global Gains recommendation. Motley Fool Options has recommended a diagonal call on Microsoft. The Fool formerly owned shares of Mindray Medical.

This article was originally published on May 29, 2009. It has been updated by Dan Caplinger, who doesn't own shares of the companies mentioned. You can try any of our Foolish newsletters free for 30 days with no obligation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On November 25, 2009, at 9:36 AM, robertinvestor wrote:

    If you are going to India for new growing companies.

    I believe that we can not Invest in India companies unless they are adr ..Do you have a way .What good is it to know great companies if you can not invest in them

  • Report this Comment On November 25, 2009, at 1:28 PM, globalsailor wrote:

    Sorry wasn't worth the read. Can you guys try to get into more of the details of the vagaries of investing in foreign countries or will you continue to waste time with generalities?

  • Report this Comment On November 25, 2009, at 1:31 PM, globalsailor wrote:

    You guys also keep talking so much about international stocks. Maybe the Fool should switch to using a world stock index. Something like the 100 or 500 largest companies in the world might cut it, but China would over-represent with their state enterprises.

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