The Japan Syndrome: Rising Rates and Risky Exposures – By Jason Zweig

That was close.

The U.S. stock market escaped the selloff in the Japanese market—at least for now. When the Nikkei Stock Average dropped 7.3% this Thursday, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell by as much as 1.1% during the day, only to finish down a hair.

But the plunge in Japan, triggered partly by fears that interest rates might rise, is a wake-up call for U.S. investors. It is worth peering inside your portfolio to evaluate which assets could be most vulnerable once the Federal Reserve finally stops keeping interest rates unnaturally low.