"Foreign Purchases of U.S. Securities Slow" - but only a little

An article titled "Foreign Purchases of U.S. Securities Slow" in the WSJ this morning highlighted that "purchases of U.S. bonds and stocks skidded 23% from February's revised net purchases of $90.5 billion."  We always like to see accompanying historical charts with this type of data, but unfortunately this article did not provide it.  So here they are:

Last months slight decline hardly seems to be a "skid."

Perhaps the more important highlight should have been that the recent decrease in foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries (as Treasuries have slid) has coincided with an increase in foreign purchases of U.S. stocks (as stocks have risen).  It's examples like this which illustrate why investors should not always be so quick to take headlines at face value, as there is usually more than one angle to a story.