In an Op-Ed for The New York Times, Warren Buffett writes that significant inflation problems could be headed our way, and that it’s up to Congress to keep it from growing out of control. “The United States economy is now out of the emergency room and appears to be on a slow path to recovery,” Buffett writes. “But enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, we will need to deal… Read More
One of the key questions any investor must grapple with is, “How many stocks should I own?” Jonathan Burton addresses that issue in a recent MarketWatch column, taking a look at focused funds — those that hold relatively few stocks compared to most other mutual funds. “Focused funds — portfolios with only a couple of dozen holdings — are getting attention in a market where stock selection is more important than ever,” Burton writes. He… Read More
Joel Naroff, who was named the top economic forecaster in 2008 by Bloomberg Business News, thinks the modest recent increase in consumer spending will continue, and grow stronger in the fall. “It’s not that there is going to be a huge growth in income, or jobs are going to start growing,” Naroff tells Forbes.com. “It’s just that an awful lot of people were so fearful about the future that that they were spending as if… Read More
Recently, we highlighted the bull market call of Goldman Sachs’ Abby Joseph Cohen. Now, in an interview with Bloomberg news, Cohen expands on her outlook for the economy and the stock market. Some of her key points: She expects slower growth than typically seen coming out of a recession, but she doesn’t see a “double-dip” recession occurring. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpKefxpVIEc&hl=en&fs=1&]
In a recent panel discussion held by Charles Schwab, several top managers and strategists offered their take on the current market, as well as portfolio management tips regarding buy-and-hold investing, hedging, and how to succeed if the current rally falters. Among the panelists was Ron Baron, chief investment officer at Baron Funds. Baron says that “investors have opportunities now to buy stocks at the cheapest prices in years,” reports AOL Daily Finance’s Matthew Scott. Erik… Read More
One of the troubling surprises for many investors during last year’s economic crisis was the “recoupling” of the developed world and emerging markets. Rather than offering a safe haven, emerging markets ended up being hit as hard, if not harder, than the U.S. and Europe. In the Financial Times, PIMCO Chief Executive Officer Mohamed El-Erian recently offered his thoughts on whether the future will hold decoupling or recoupling for the developed and emerging markets, an… Read More
Ken Heebner, whose CGM Focus fund stumbled last year but remains at the top of its category in terms of 5-year and 10-year returns, tells CNBC that he thinks things are looking up for the economy — and, believe it or not, Ford Motor Co. “I think there’s a bigger turn in the economy coming than people are looking at,” Heebner says, citing manufacturing, inventory, and consumption data. Bob Doll, global chief investment officer of… Read More
In his latest column for the New York Times, Mark Hulbert examines an interesting study on buy-and-hold investing. The study — “When Everyone Runs for the Exit,” by Lasse H. Pedersen, professor of finance at New York University, concludes that it’s not traders or true long-term buy-and-hold investors who get hurt the most in a liquidity crisis like the one we’ve just experienced — it’s the investors who end up stuck in the middle. Pedersen… Read More
Templeton Asset Management Executive Chairman Mark Mobius says that emerging market stocks are due for a significant correction in the short term, but will likely soar to new highs by the end of next year. Mobius told Dow Jones Newswires that with companies’ earnings remaining weak, the recent rise in stock prices means “valuations are now relatively lofty”, and price/earnings ratios at 20 to 30 and a tenuous economic recovery will lead to investors taking… Read More
Richard Thaler, the researcher whose work has brought such key behavioral finance issues as myopic loss aversion to light, says recent events have shown markets are not efficient, but that they are still the best way to employ capital. “Counting the earlier bubble in Japanese real estate, we have now had three enormous price distortions in recent memory,” Thaler wrote in The Financial Times. “They led to misallocations of resources measured in the trillions and… Read More