What's happening to my stocks?!?

Question

I am 16 first off, and i am invested in 100% foreign countries, which i know you think is stupid, but people are saying to get into international stocks now-a-days, and i like to "go big" since im young.

I own EEB (a BRIC stock). This stock is one of my less riskier stocks, but still risky itsef none-the-less. I dont think i am too too worried about this, but these next ones i am not to sure.

WBD (a russian food company). I have been to their website, i have read what articles it has under yahoo finance, and i still cant understand why this company isn't doing well.

Lastly, EWZ (A brazilian company) i can not find out why they arent doing well either.

Do you guys think that since i have about 10 years until i have to take the money out, i sohuld be fine, and all these stocks should move up in price. I guess in 10 years $4,400 wont be that much to me, but i still would lke to know, because its frightening me now.

Thanks@

P.S. i have done some research on them all.

Answer 1

For WBD check out this page:  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/Sto...

If a Russian company does very well, the new Stalin (spelled Putin, the one still in charge) will have all the officers arrested on tax evasion and will take the company over.

Answer 2

First off, you need to understand your investments in the broad context of world affairs and markets.

Why are you invested in these individual investments and why?

Emerging markets have outperformed US investments as of late.  Why?  Demand in those countries and growth exceeds the US  generally.

There are always crisis every few years in the world markets.  LTCM, peso crisis, russian default (98), asian crisis, our US market (87 and 2000-2001).  Select your stocks carefully.

Stocks are subject to pullbacks.  Lately (last two days) investors are worried that the increasingly high price of commodities (oil, gas, steel, coal & agricultural derivatives) will result in a global slowdown...

So now, even those BRIC countries may have reduced growth.

Those sectors referenced above have become "crowded trades" meaning a lot of the investors chasing the same stocks and investing themes, they took profits in the last two days..

Look, you can sell today (mon.) and buy the next day.  The thing is to be fluid in your investing style.  Don't risk more than you can afford to lose, but be ready to take profits and actively manage your money.

Answer 3

One problem with investing in foreign stocks is the lack of information.

Companies in other countries are not required to report as much as in America and you cannot trust what they do report as much.

One reason people invest in the US is our fine system of laws.

So be careful about investing overseas on your own.

Answer 4

EEB and EWZ will do well over the years.  They may be headed down for a while now since we are in a bear market, but both should do well if you keep them several years.  Instead of investing in a Russian stock, it would be safer to diversify by investing in an ETF like CEE or TRF.