Brazil, China and other emerging markets trail US

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Brazil-China-and-other-apf-1029221502.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=
NEW YORK (AP) -- It sounded like a can't-miss proposition: Buy the winners, drop the losers.
Developing countries from Brazil to China are expanding much faster than aging economies in the U.S. and Europe, where borrowing during the boom years has been a drag on growth. So the smart money bought stocks in emerging markets, expecting that rapid economic expansion there would provide better rewards. This year, that bet hasn't worked out.
The broadest measure of U.S. stocks, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, is down just 0.4 percent this year. Markets in Brazil, China and the like have lagged far behind, even though their economies are still growing faster than the U.S.
"If you were anywhere in the world other than in the S&P 500 this year, you got crushed," said Greg Peterson, director of research at Ballentine Partners, an investment advisory firm. end quote.

So, definitely things are really changing worldwide. When you hear that only with U.S. investments in the S&P 500 did you even go down only .4 percent this year. So if you only lost so far .4 percent and then if you were 40% into Muni bonds in a state where you live you likely broke even or better. You did even better if you were only into dividend bearing stocks and  then muni bonds from your state. In that case you likely did much better than breaking even. However, depending upon your age you all will have different investment strategies depending upon how much time in life you think you have left. Older investors need to be the most conservative in their investments. (this is nothing about politics) this is just a basic investment survival strategy based upon one's age. The strategy is that the younger the investor the more risks he or she might be willing to take. The older the investor the less likely he or she should be taking risks at all if he or she wants to continue to have money to live on into old age and to maintain their health as long as possible and to be able to continue to pay for food, shelter and possibly some travel to keep the mind working well.