Market Trends & Performance - International stocks and ETFs are outperforming the US stock market [1][2] - The MSCI All Country World ex USA Index is up approximately 30% year-to-date, marking its widest outperformance against broad US indexes in 16 years [3] - US dollar weakness, declining about 9% this year, boosts returns of foreign indexes in dollar terms [3] - International stocks are attractively valued after 10-15 years of underperformance versus US stocks [3] ETF Analysis & Diversification - Diversification and better valuation are reasons to consider international stock ETFs [5] - VXUS, a Vanguard ETF, holds 8,700 developed and emerging market stocks excluding the US, with a 005% expense ratio and $111 billion in assets [6] - IVLU, an iShares ETF, focuses on value characteristics, holding 343 large and mid-cap developed excluding US stocks, with a 030% expense ratio and $8 billion in assets [9] - Gwell, a Cambria ETF, is actively managed, focusing on the cheapest countries in the world with a concentrated portfolio of 113 stocks, a 066% expense ratio and $353 million in assets [10][11] Sector & Country Allocation - International stock ETFs offer more diversification to sectors beyond technology, such as financials and industrials [8] - Top countries in VXUS include Japan, China, UK, Canada, and Taiwan [9] - Japan receives approximately 30% weight in IVLU [9] Comparative Performance - Gwell is up about 47% year-to-date, IVLU is up about 37%, and VXUS is up about 30%, compared to the S&P 500 index which is up about 17% year-to-date [13]