2011 Stock Market Returns by Country

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For the global investor, this was a year for stocks. Excluding the U.S., global stock market returns are a lousy -14% in 2011, with -13% for developed markets and -18% for emerging markets.

Take a look at the returns by country in 2011. The U.S. looks like the nicest house on a bad block:

Once all the rage, the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have now underperformed for the second straight year. Each of them face headwinds as we head into 2012, but have their stock markets gotten beaten up too much? The MSCI Emerging Market Index (EEM) is trading at just 11-times trailing earnings. Will 2012 mark the end of their losing streak?

And if you were forced to pick a country outside of the U.S. to invest in for 2012, which would it be?

Todd Bunton is the Growth & Income Stock Strategist for Zacks Investment Research.

The information supplied above by Zacks Investment Research Inc. contains opinions based on factual research which may or may not be accurate. Neither Zacks or Intellisphere will assume any liability for losses from investment decisions based on this information.