International Equity Markets ~ 2nd Quarter 2010

The worst performing stock in the MSCI EAFE Index for the quarter was British Petroleum, which lost half of its value after the April 20 oil rig explosion in the Gulf.  BP was the second largest component of EAFE at the end of the first quarter with a 1.73% position.  It is still in the top ten positions as of June 30 with a 1.01% weight.   Twenty of the twenty one countries in the MSCI EAFE Index were negative for the quarter.  Only Singapore was positive, a gain of 0.02%, although the gain was mostly the result of currency movements as the country was negative in local currency terms.  Overall, EAFE was down 13.8%.  In local currencies, EAFE was down 10.9%. Speaking of currencies, China announced that they would allow for greater fluctuation of the Yuan relative to the U.S. Dollar. The IMF agreed in early May to a $145 billion bailout of Greece to help the country satisfy debt obligations and limit the spillover to other Eurozone nations. Emerging markets outperformed developed markets as the index declined 8.3% for the quarter.  It was down 5.5% in local currency.