The American stock markets had a rough week last week; the Dow Jones industrial average lost 2.7 percent of its value, and is now down overall for 2014, with a loss of 0.2 percent. One of the reasons given for last week's performance was the poor economic news coming out of Europe, and especially Germany, which is the Eurozone's acknowledged financial leader.
It may seem odd that Europe's problems would have such an effect on U.S. stocks, but we are truly living in a global economic village these days. According to S&P Dow Jones indices, the S&P 500 companies garner nearly half - 46 percent - of their sales outside the U.S. About 7 percent of that comes directly from Europe.
The rising value of the dollar has exacerbated the overseas woes of American companies. The dollar is up 9 percent versus the euro over the past six months, which reduces the profits earned by American goods sold in Europe. That's just another global factor to watch in monitoring the American market.
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