How an Emerging-Market Crisis Could Affect You

By Dan Caplinger – Feb 2, 2014 at 8:11AM

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Do Turkey and Argentina really matter to you? Here's why you should care.

U.S. markets have lost ground lately, with emerging markets getting a lot of blame for the drop. Yet should U.S. investors really worry about emerging markets, and if so, why?

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, goes through the basics of why emerging markets affect investors in the U.S. and around the world. Dan notes that millions of investors invest directly in emerging markets through Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO 0.17%), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM -0.07%), and other similar funds. Moreover, Dan points out that even if you don't own emerging-market stocks, most U.S. multinational corporations have emerging-market exposure. Dan specficially looks at Procter & Gamble (PG 0.65%) and Coca-Cola (KO 0.78%) as among the companies most affected by a major emerging-market disruption. Dan concludes that even if emerging markets seem to have no impact on your daily life, they could affect your portfolio.

Dan Caplinger owns shares of Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble and owns shares of Coca-Cola. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.