International stocks deserve consideration in virtually every stock portfolio and investing globally today is amazingly easy and efficient. While the U.S. remains the economic engine of the world and international trade an increasingly vital component of growth, the world economy may be at a tipping point. The rise of a common European economic bloc, the European Union, and developing economies throughout Asia will drive increased economic interdependence in the coming decades and that translates to investment opportunities in both developed and developing countries.

Presently, virtually every stock market index is reaching an all-time high with the S&P 500 Index, a broadly followed measure of domestic stock prices, up over 20% from its lows of last summer. Even the brief downdraft in world stock markets, triggered by concerns over China’s economic growth this past March, seems like a distant memory as those sharp losses have been reversed by investors bidding stock prices higher.

Too often investors fixate on return and ignore an enduring aspect of investing called risk. Risk has many definitions in finance theory most of which are not particularly intuitive, but the one definition that is universally recognized and understood is losing money. Risk is omnipresent and, while it may recede to the dark corners of investors’ minds temporarily, the financial markets always find some way of bringing it into the light, often to the shock and surprise of investors.

The year of 2006 reminds investors of the risks inherent in investing and the fact that one can lose money at any point in time, despite the long term clear upward bias in stock prices.