True or false: We live in a unique time?
Increased market complexity and globalization make investing much more challenging today than it was in the past. The combinations of elements affecting our global economy are unique.
Many of these events have occurred over the last 135 years. One thing that has remained the same is the strength of free markets in dealing with global change.
Factors impacting the markets are:
• Record federal government deficit.
• Sub-prime loan problem.
• Residential real estate bubble bursting.
• Increasing federal government expenditures on defense, homeland security, social programs and environmental protection.
• Record trade deficit; although a weak dollar is helping reverse this.
• Falling value of the dollar.
• Dependency on foreign savings.
• Excess consumer debt.
• Demographic changes impacting the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
• Shifting of the global manufacturing base and of global economic growth to Asia.
This is a far different environment than the period between 1982 and 1998 when you could have bought a balanced investment with 60 percent in large cap U.S. stocks and 40 percent in domestic fixed-income, forgotten about it for 16 years and been an investment genius. The forces affecting the global economy are unique and also similar to events that occurred in the past.
The global economy continues to benefit from the growth of free markets in emerging economies worldwide. The middle class will be tripling over the next 25 years, according to the World Bank. Global economic expansion will bring many opportunities.
An opportunistically invested portfolio today looks very different than what was appropriate between 1982 and 1998. While the times we live in are unique, the economic factors that create the opportunities and risks are not new.
The investment opportunities, while not without the risk of the constant ebb and flow of market economies, are global in nature and immense. Now is an excellent time for investors with an appreciation for economic history and patience to build attractive investment portfolios.
For more information, visit www.markerwinfinancial.com.
Increased market complexity and globalization make investing much more challenging today than it was in the past. The combinations of elements affecting our global economy are unique.
Many of these events have occurred over the last 135 years. One thing that has remained the same is the strength of free markets in dealing with global change.
Factors impacting the markets are:
• Record federal government deficit.
• Sub-prime loan problem.
• Residential real estate bubble bursting.
• Increasing federal government expenditures on defense, homeland security, social programs and environmental protection.
• Record trade deficit; although a weak dollar is helping reverse this.
• Falling value of the dollar.
• Dependency on foreign savings.
• Excess consumer debt.
• Demographic changes impacting the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
• Shifting of the global manufacturing base and of global economic growth to Asia.
This is a far different environment than the period between 1982 and 1998 when you could have bought a balanced investment with 60 percent in large cap U.S. stocks and 40 percent in domestic fixed-income, forgotten about it for 16 years and been an investment genius. The forces affecting the global economy are unique and also similar to events that occurred in the past.
The global economy continues to benefit from the growth of free markets in emerging economies worldwide. The middle class will be tripling over the next 25 years, according to the World Bank. Global economic expansion will bring many opportunities.
An opportunistically invested portfolio today looks very different than what was appropriate between 1982 and 1998. While the times we live in are unique, the economic factors that create the opportunities and risks are not new.
The investment opportunities, while not without the risk of the constant ebb and flow of market economies, are global in nature and immense. Now is an excellent time for investors with an appreciation for economic history and patience to build attractive investment portfolios.
For more information, visit www.markerwinfinancial.com.