The Nutty Mouse

I invested in Euro Disney years ago, after reading about it in a magazine. The article praised Disney’s reliability. Unfortunately, the French didn’t go for Mickey. The company struggled, was partly bought by a Saudi prince, and became a penny stock. My biggest mistake was buying what I couldn’t easily follow across the Atlantic. It sounds like a tale of woe, but it was a good lesson.

--Joan Hennessey, Miller Place, N.Y.

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The Fool Responds: There are many international marketing snafu stories, such as when GM had trouble selling the Nova in Latin America (“No va” means “no go” in Spanish). We avoid foreign stocks because it’s hard to get sufficient information on them, and currency exchanges can wreak havoc with earnings. Besides, there are plenty of great American companies with substantial global reach. International diversification is overrated. The United States has the safest markets in the world--as safe as markets can be, that is.