When the market is volatile, it's important to spread your investments across different assets, industries and securities.One way to do this is to invest in foreign markets.
Individual investors can easily access international mutual funds, which allow them to invest in foreign markets. However, it's difficult and expensive to invest directly in foreign stocks. But if you want to invest in individual stocks, a good idea is to buy shares of international companies in the form of American depositary receipts (ADRs).An ADR is a negotiable certificate that is issued by a U.S. commercial bank and represents shares of a non-U.S. publicly traded company. They are priced in U.S. dollars, so owners avoid many costs associated with direct foreign investment, such as international settlement, global custody, foreign brokerage, currency conversions and multi-currency accounting. Dividends are also paid out in U.S. dollars.
The ADR screen explores the characteristics of ADR stocks and how a growth-at-a-reasonable-price screen could be applied.