Want outperformance? Southern European markets are hot

Greece, Spain and Italy have largely been unloved and ignored, but over the trailing three years through June, these markets have actually done better than European or global stocks. Recent performance should be put into perspective because these markets still have a lot to catch up. But then, if investors drill down to see what were the underlying drivers, there's one common denominator: the extraordinary performance of the banking sector. It has a significant weight in all three markets and thus an outsized impact with many large banks that saw their stock price double over the last year,...