My money lies over the ocean

Despite the fact that S&P 500 companies have posted 14 straight quarters of double-digit growth, their stocks have been pretty flat this year.

To quote the great dead English playwright William Shakespeare, "What the hell is going on?"

Well, the Christian Science Monitor has a few theories. People are concerned about high energy costs. People are hesitant to invest after the post-millenium recession. People are worried about baby boomers withdrawing their savings.

The Monitor's most interesting theory, though, is that all this money is going overseas.

Some strategists are shifting their attention overseas, based on the superior growth prospects of foreign markets, and to protect against the possibility of a falling dollar in the long term.

With emerging markets overseas posting huge gains this year, mutual fund investors have been pouring more money into world funds ($9 billion in September inflows) than domestic ones ($1.1 billion for the same period, according to the Investment Company Institute).

So, if I understand this correctly, the fear of an inflating dollar has scared investors away from American companies. That's money that would go back into our economy if it were here...

You think there's something to Greenspan's incessant cries over the state of our national debt?