Secrets of Investing Success

Will the markets recover strongly? The following is a good piece: Finally, from a contrarian perspective, today’s sell-off will likely extend the current rally even further. That’s right…today was good for the markets. Over the last couple of years we’ve kept a close eye on mutual fund inflows and outflows. A consistent trend emerged. Investors want bonds, not stocks. Investors are still feeling the sting from 2008. They’ve consistently turned to the “safety” of bonds. They’ve done so despite now being the worst time in 30 years to buy bonds because they lose value when interest rates rise. Most of them have not come back into stocks in a meaningful way. If history is any precedent, they will. It took them nearly two years after the tech bubble burst. This time around it will probably take a good bit longer. The Big Opportunity In the end, today’s record-setting decline is a chance to really learn how comfortable you are with your portfolio. Were you worried about a sharp decline in the stocks you hold? Did you buy them because they had a low P/E or because they are in a sector with years of growth ahead of it? Did you buy any of them looking for a quick flip even though that kind of strategy usually involves taking big risks for small rewards? These are just a few of the questions to ask now. After all, despite all the volatility and the endless “I told you so” from the perma-bears who mostly missed out on this entire rally, the Dow is still down just 6% from its highs. It’s only down 6%. Meanwhile, the fundamental driver of the entire rally – near-zero short-term interest rates – are still low and will be low for the foreseeable future. That’s why I wouldn’t be too quick to call this all over just yet. And in the next Prosperity Dispatch we’ll look at why this type of volatility is here to stay and how stocks could go much, much higher from here. Good investing, Andrew Mickey Chief Investment Strategist, Q1 Publishing

There is some stock price firmness in the late morning, and I think this reflects the over-correction that has happened in the past few weeks. It is probably too late to sell and it\'s too early to buy cos the market will need to stabilise and find more direction in the next few weeks. The strengthening of the euro vs USD is a positive. Just my 2 c. Anyone has another view?