by The Investor
on May 8, 2010
I am pretty sanguine about the Greek crisis and the panic that engulfed the market this week.
Newsflash – stocks don’t go up forever! If they did the FTSE would be even less affordable than UK houses. We’d need a dodgy mortgage from Lloyds or RBS just to buy their shares.
I understand the fears of contagion from the Greek crisis, the position of the Euro, the risk of the solvency of European banks, and so on.
But none of this is new. Not even Europe’s dithering – that’s business as usual. As a result, I think it’s just nervous investors throwing their toys out of the pram as they periodically do.
And that’s an opportunity for brave investors buying well-diversified UK and US stocks to profit from stock market fear.
[continue reading…]
Thanks for reading! Monevator is a spiffing blog about making, saving, and investing money. Please do sign-up to get our latest posts by email for free. Find us on Twitter and Facebook. Or peruse a few of our best articles.
{ }
by The Investor
on May 7, 2010
Keeping a watchlist of attractive stocks is a useful discipline for active investors, whether you’re in a bull market that’s grinding higher or a bear market in headless chicken mode.
If you’re a passive investor, then regularly investing in a tracker and turning off the TV when share prices fall is a perfectly sensible strategy. Invest for long-term returns, ignore the noise, and enjoy life.
If like me you choose to trade some individual shares alongside your passive funds, then it’s vital to keep your head when the market is on the move.
[continue reading…]
{ }
by The Investor
on May 1, 2010
My regular weekend ramble, plus links to some great blogs and financial articles for you to peruse.
I am not convinced that having a good idea, failing to pursue it, and eventually seeing it implemented by someone else is worth beating yourself up over.
And not just because I’d have knocked all my teeth out!
Mainly it’s because I’ve learned that good ideas are common, whereas good implementation is hard and rare. And then you need good luck.
One day I’ll do a post called I Coulda Been a Contender, but for now there’s Missed Opportunities on Eliminate the Muda. It’s my blog post of the week.
[continue reading…]
{ }
by The Investor
on April 28, 2010
I have been having a good discussion about the US versus Greece on Twitter with my favourite Canadian blogger MoneyEnergy.
Our disagreement has now spilled into the comments on an old post of mine that she was kind enough to take the time to read about how Wall Street caused the credit crisis. (I wrote it in March 2008, but it’s taken on new relevance in the light of the alleged Goldman fraud.)
The discussion first began on Twitter after MoneyEnergy (real name Clare) posted these thoughts:
Clare: Anyone else think it unfair that S&P, Moody’s haven’t downgraded US credit rating yet even a notch? They obviously have the bite for others.
Maybe it’s completely ok to take advantage of the USD reserve status? = only reason US can keep printing its debt. Not better than Greece.
It’s really sad to see such a small nation punished and self-punishing (its workers striking, etc –> can they do anything else?).
Putting aside thoughts of Greeks working 40 weeks a year, retiring at 50, and generally living high on the hog, I soberly replied:
Monevator: US can print money. Greece can’t coz in Euro. Also cant devalue (as US has). Key differences.
I thought that was that: I had spoken.
But Clare read my tweet, digested…
[continue reading…]
{ }
