While the U.S. stock market has rebounded, the combination of the Trump tariffs, a volatile dollar and an erratic bond market has begun to shake global investment thinking.

People living in the United States and using mainly dollars in their personal lives may not fully appreciate the combination of shocks that have unnerved investors elsewhere in the world.

The first half of the year was a game changer for investors in Europe, Japan and many other countries for whom the instability of the U.S. financial markets was a seismic event. After years of U.S. outperformance, stocks, bonds and the dollar all experienced painful reversals that were magnified for those holding euros, yen and other currencies.

In fact, calculations by the global financial services company MSCI show that for people using Japanese yen or euros, the combined volatility of the dollar and the U.S. stock market in the first half of 2025 made U.S.