U.S. stocks still the place... for now

Global stock markets have been on a skid - some dropping as much as 37% in the third quarter. Emerging markets, resource dependent markets like Australia and Canada, Asia and Europe - all dropping amid a slowdown in the global economy. America caught a chill, and the rest of the world has fallen ill. So much for decoupling theories. Notable in the fallout is the fact that the American stock market, on a U.S. dollar basis sits atop the 13-week performance ranking of global indices. Actually, the Philippines scores higher, outperforming the S&P 500 by 6%, but the relative performance of U.S. stocks is substantially better than all the major markets. The future of the U.S. dollar, though, has to be a concern going forward. The commitment of public finance to shore up the balance sheets of financial institutions is bound to stoke inflationary fears. We'll see how U.S. stocks hold out in the coming months.