Good Point! I didnt write that post to try and start an argument on such a useful thread so I hope ppl wont take it as such...The kevin costner and junk shot thing was supposed to be sarcastic!

Yeah and I work for Halliburton so I was just messing around. I doubt we will ever know what truly happened. Investment wise though, it's going to be interesting to see what ultimately becomes of BP. They are a very large company and the blow out in the gulf was a serious problem. Was it enough to sink the company or will people who stick it out and buy while it's low become the next Google investors that some how saw the light at the end of the tunnel and reaped ridiculous sums from their gamble? No clue and honestly, I don't care. I'm not invested with them nor will I ever be. I'm also not gambling.

Well said boys...

Yes we will get back to investing..

As Greg says sometimes we post like we are sitting around and talking .

No big deal and nobody should take it as anything more than that..

On a side note, Dividends keep rolling in no matter what..

I have some small portions of my Portfolio that are high dividend plays to offset my safer investments.

Always good to see them come in.. No matter what the market is doing...:cheers: :lateral:

So i have a question for everyone. In this book i was reading they were talking about how not only is it important to have a diversified portfolio, but it is equally important to have both stocks with American based companies as well as with Internationally based companies. It makes sense since just about everything you look at is Made in China, or Made in Korea, Made in India, etc. However, my question is how does one go about researching international companies and trying to figure out which ones to invest in? Do you just look at american companies in certain sectors that you would invest in and then try to find their international counterpart??

For me, Investing is not only Diversified, But Global, Nimble, and Liquid.

For my research, I have used Schwab to check and then invest in certain things. I know some people do not like Mutual Funds, but I own Templeton and Oppenheimer Global funds. Their long term returns have done pretty well for me.

Also I do take small risks with Global High Dividend payers, but with only a small amount of money.

But I believe that part of Diversification is being Global..What percentage is a personal choice.

I believe that the US is the biggest player on the block, but that does not prevent me from buying outside the US.

Let us see what Greg and others have to say..:cheers:

You do not necessarily have to purchase stock in foreign companies to get international exposure. There are many U.S. based companies that operate worldwide that will give you some international exposure. For example, Catepillar is one stock that is international and has recently been declining due to growth concerns in foreign markets.

If you are interested in purchasing individual stocks rather than a mutual fund as Bucketlist suggested, you could look at the holdings of "international" mutual funds and research some of the stocks in their holdings to see which ones you may want to invest in.

thats kind of the take i have on it.. companies that sell internationally, not just within the US.

good idea about checking out some "international" mutual funds to find companies to start researching.

I think one of the major concerns with true international stocks is understanding the taxation of the stocks. Greg spoke on his dealings with Banco Santander and what he goes through with regards to dividends, taxes incurred and the reinvesting of the dividends. Hopefully he chimes in for a response to this.

wth is banco santander doing. my google finance says its $73. has to be a error?

I see it too.. shows $6.24 on Schwab tho. so google must be playin games. heh