American unexceptionalism: Foreign markets leave U.S. stocks in the dust

S&P 500 futures were up marginally this morning after the index closed down 0.33% yesterday. The index is up 1.41% year to date, which isn’t bad given that we’re only 42 days into the new year … unless you compare that to foreign stocks. 

Global stocks are up nearly 9% year to date, as tracked by the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks mid- and large-cap stocks in all countries except the U.S.

South Korea’s KOSPI, for instance, is up 24% year-to-date. You can see why that might be tempting.