Salient to Investors: Jim Goff at Janus writes: Only invest money you won’t need for five to 10 years, set it and forget it. Australia has the best such plan with its mandatory retirement fund contributions of 9% of salary – assets now exceed Australian GDP and the Australian stock market. Bad headlines are the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Legatum Prosperity Index attempts to broaden economic health beyond indicators such as GDP. The latest index shows: The US slid from the top 10 for the first time – to 12th position Norway, Denmark and Sweden were declared the most prosperous The standing of the US economy has
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: IMF growth projections have been revised downward almost everywhere, especially in Europe and the big emerging markets like China. The IMF projects the US to the strongest of the rich economies over the next four years – 3 percent versus 1.2 percent in Germany and France and 2.3 percent in Canada. The
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ding Shuang at Citigroup said China’s fiscal policy will be neutral in Q4 as spending won’t be higher than a year earlier – policy effects from previous months will ensure a modest recovery, but the rebound is restrained. Professor Song Guoqing at Peking University said the fiscal money left for spending
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Speculators lowered bullish bets on commodities for the third straight week, the longest streak since April. Copper holdings fell the most in seven weeks, and sugar wagers dropped to a one-month low. Bullish bets on gold slumped the most in three months. Donald Selkin at National Securities Corp said
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Masaru Hamasaki at Toyota Asset Mgmt said: Investors expect further BOJ stimulus but are also losing hope that big enough steps will be taken. Japanese shares are outperforming versus overseas markets because the yen’s strengthening trend has eased. The 2 percent growth of US GDP was certainly good as the headline,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: From November 1957 to October 2007, the Best 6 Months strategy (sell in May and come back in November) gained 38 times, lost 12 times, for an average annual gain of 7% versus the worst 6 months of the year which lost 18 times for a less than 1% average annual
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Julian Robertson at Tiger Management said hedge funds positioned for a “disaster” are making a mistake – so bearish that they’re not going to get out of it without a black-swan type event. The Bloomberg Global Aggregate Hedge Fund Index is up 3.1 percent in 2012 through September versus
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Investment trust discounts to net asset value tend to exhibit mean reversion, i.e. move to their average level over time. But never use an extra-wide discount as the sole reason to purchase a fund. Read the full article at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/96144/3-Investment-Trusts-Warren-Buffett-Would-Buy.aspx
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: History shows investors are more prone to sell “winning” investments but hold on to losers. Momentum trend-following strategies will lose some money, but probably not all of your money. Avoiding losses is the key advantage of momentum strategies. Kevin Orr at F-Squared Investments said: Avoid loss, even at the expense of
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