Jeff Saut of Raymond James recently visited with portfolio managers in Europe to discuss their global outlook. During the discussions he noted a particular gloom. He asked 15 various managers what they see as their largest fear in the markets:
“The responses went like this: 1) fund managers that only use mutual funds and exchange trade funds (ETFs); 2) investing is practiced in a too complicated a fashion when it should be easy; 3) a military coup in Greece; 4) inflation goes down instead of up; 5) China sells half of its Treasury Bonds; 6) Europe and the U.K. don’t tackle their pension problems; 7) there is blood in the street, but the markets trade higher; 8) most of the unemployed are un-hirable; 9) the EU doesn’t stay together; 10) water; 11) I used to worry about Ireland, but I don’t anymore (now that’s funny); 12) over regulation; 13) if the EU breaks up, what happens to the boom in German exports; 14) the fact that only 11 residents in Greece declared annual incomes of one million Euros or more; and the best – everyone is so negative that when the blue skies arrive they will be ignored.”
It always good to note those loose stones that could cause us to lose our way on the trek to the top of the investment mountain. Even if they aren’t really that loose (e.g. – “China sells half of its Treasury Bonds”).
Source: Raymond James
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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