Hi,
Most thought-provoking investing advice I'm reading in various blogs is based on the US market. I live in Austria and have only started out with investing. What's most important to me is getting an income from dividends and to diversify into various sectors.
So my question is: Does it make sense to only buy stocks in Austrian companies or should I consider other countries such as the US as well? Does the local market pretty much reflect what's happening internationally?
One factor is that when buying stocks listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange I don't pay as much commission.
Thank you for your advice.
Marcel
Investing in Austria
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Concojones
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:57 am
I'm not from Austria but this should get you started:
Does the Austrian stock market reflect the international markets? BTW, you mention the US, but the developing world is more important if you want to diversify. Anyway, it depends on the stock. Quite a few Austrian companies are active in Eastern Europe, I believe. There may also be multinationals on your stock exchange that have important activities in the developing world. Commodity stocks are an indirect play on emerging markets (which need commodities and drive up prices).
Likely you'll want to buy stocks on foreign exchanges too. The difference in commission should only be a few euros, which is nothing compared to your holdings. Maybe you need a different broker, preferably one with no recurring costs. A noteworthy disadvantage of foreign stocks is that dividends get taxed twice: in their country and in your country. That's why I personally avoid foreign DIVIDEND stocks, because where I live dividends are heavily taxed but stock appreciation is not.
Does the Austrian stock market reflect the international markets? BTW, you mention the US, but the developing world is more important if you want to diversify. Anyway, it depends on the stock. Quite a few Austrian companies are active in Eastern Europe, I believe. There may also be multinationals on your stock exchange that have important activities in the developing world. Commodity stocks are an indirect play on emerging markets (which need commodities and drive up prices).
Likely you'll want to buy stocks on foreign exchanges too. The difference in commission should only be a few euros, which is nothing compared to your holdings. Maybe you need a different broker, preferably one with no recurring costs. A noteworthy disadvantage of foreign stocks is that dividends get taxed twice: in their country and in your country. That's why I personally avoid foreign DIVIDEND stocks, because where I live dividends are heavily taxed but stock appreciation is not.