Equities - Good Timing?
Reminiscent of The Economist front page in March 1999, depicting
a couple of oil workers covered in gunk with the blazing headline "Drowning
in Oil." With oil approaching $10 a
barrel at that point, there were predictions that it could eventually hit
$5.
“Consumers
everywhere will rejoice at the prospect of cheap, plentiful oil for the
foreseeable future.”
With the market at a six-year high, the majority of leading money managers
see even more upside. In the annual Barron’s Big Money poll of institutional
investors, 57% of respondents say they’re bullish or very bullish about the
stock market’s prospects through the end of this year, up from 47% who held
such conviction last fall. But it’s getting harder to find compelling
bargains.
The managers expect capital goods, energy and technology sectors to
outperform in the coming 6-12 months, and consumer cyclical, financials, and
utilities to underperform. The asset classes managers are most bullish about
are Asian Stocks, Gold and Oil, with bearish sentiment highest for Real
Estate, the U.S. Dollar and Corporate Bonds.
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