US - Diversity offers defensive strength

Investing in the US might seem like a giant leap of faith in the current climate. Faced with an unpalatable mix of ongoing problems in the financial markets, a pronounced economic slowdown and a housing market slump, investors could be forgiven for their reluctance to hold North American stocks. But before turning their backs on the US, shareholders should remember that the country's stockmarket remains the largest in the world. With some 5,000 listed companies, the US equity market is also the most diverse, offering stockpickers an unrivalled breadth of market-leading firms from which to c...