- High liquidity & market depth (Avg Vol: 127,403,000) - US company's are typically considered less risky (for accounting, regulatory, etc... reasons) - US maturity - Recent equity underperformance relative to other nations might allow for equity-specific outperformance (Annual 5-year returns = 7.5% In the end: you'll still be hit b/c it's a stock, but maybe you'll be hit less than if you were invested in - say - China...

- For a foreign index-based ETF, it has pretty good volume (Avg Vol: 563,000) - UK - like the US - is relatively safe and mature - Recent relative underperformance, as compared to other foreign countries' equity markets (14.65%) In the end: like the U.S., in the end, you'll still be hit b/c it's a stock, but maybe you'll be hit less than if you were invested in - say - China...

- See "EWU" above - Avg Vol: 297,000

- Relative safety of utilities + dividend yield => should leave it less harmed by such an event. Indeed, we'll always need energy, right?

- AAA-rated credit + low multiple + good utility exposure + Warren Buffett => gonna be ok in the long-run :-)

- Solid liquidity (Avg Vol: 430,000.00) - Dividend yield should give it support

- Large-caps should outperform (relative to other equities) during such a time - Decent liquidity (Avg Vol: 282,000.00)

- High liquidity & market depth (Avg Vol: 23,825,000 ) - Japan - like the UK and the US - is mature - Recent equity underperformance relative to other nations might allow for equity-specific outperformance (Annual 5-year returns = 13.28%) In the end: the risk-reward balance of Japan - when combined with exposure to various other countries - seems to make it a decent investment