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There has been an interesting trend in the globalization movement.  The U.S. has seen some major brands and major companies get acquired by foreign public companies, but suddenly U.S. investors have a very hard time in investing in those companies again.   The NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE: NYX) and the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) have an opportunity to recruit many of these foreign companies to take on full US listings (again for some of them).  We also have many products and goods produced by foreign companies which we in the U.S. consume.  Despite most of these companies being public, most U.S. investors cannot easily invest in many of these icons.  Most brokers do not even know how to trade them.  The Peter Lynch method suggests investing in what you know, yet that notion is not possible in many of these companies for most Americans.  This form of globalization may feel like isolation for investors who want to own a piece of their favorite brands.

Throughout this decade, it became commonplace for large companies to stop having full listings in the U.S.  One reason was over the disclosure and regulatory rules, while some reasoned that the cost of listing was of little to no benefit to the company.  Some of these are at least traded OTC or on the Pink Sheets.  That is good or at least a start.  Unfortunately, most Americans  do not know how to invest in these markets.  For that matter, most brokers do not either.  Here are just some of the companies which trade OTC or on the Pink Sheets:
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