Salient to Investors: AAII report 40.4% of individual investors expect the stock market to rise over the next 6 months, versus 34.8% a week ago, and the highest since February. 20.6% were bearish, the lowest since February. Retail investor sentiment is often cited as a contrarian indicator. Read the full
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Lee Adler writes: We are in the first leg of a bear market. Markets are neither crazy nor sane, but measure and reflect liquidity. The two official rules are a) the trend is your friend, and b) don’t fight the Fed. Be positive in your coverage of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Mark Hulbert writes: Investor popularity of greed over fear indicates we are close to a stock market top. At the recent San Francisco Money Show, hundreds of seminars catered to greed, while only a handful catered to managing risk and loss. At market tops greed completely replaces fear as investors’
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Michael McFaul at Stanford University sees long-term damage to Russia from Putin’s new direction. Anders Aslund at the Peterson Institute for Intl Economics sees a similar shortfall in Russia’s 2014 growth to 2013’s growth of 1.3%, and versus IMF’s 2013 forecast of 3.9%. Alexei Kudrin expects Russia to post zero
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Lewis Braham writes: Contrarian funds can be a hedge of sorts, though a potentially volatile one as out-of-favor sectors tend to be cyclical and prone to booms and busts. Shorting is inherently dangerous as markets have been trending higher. Brian Singer at William Blair Macro Allocation Fund
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Never put too much of your portfolio in a few investments, or in one country or industry. The employee with a significant chunk of his 401(k) in his employer’s stock, or gets his contribution matched in company stock, risks both job and retirement plans if a setback for
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bruce Berkowitz at Fairholme Capital Mgmt said mutual funds are great vehicles but have rules that allow mutual fund holders to cash out anytime and puts his long-term investing style at a disadvantage, and hurts managers who favor concentrated positions. Berkowitz said he is prone to investing
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Pat Dorsey at Sanibel Captiva Investment Advisers said Greece leaving the euro would not be a big deal to a portfolio of largely multinational large caps. Dorsey said the uncertainty and worry is a big investment positive – its dangerous to invest is when everybody is certain and confident about the future: a la Yahoo! in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Eamonn Fingleton writes: Being a contrarian in the value tradition, I like larger-than-average dividends that often come with out-of-favor stocks. Motley Fool contributor Alex Dumortier says the “sell in May and go away” adage record using the S & P 500 back to 1926 has some truth but not enough to justify
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