A: The Fed operates in 20 years a policy of monetary expansion.After the collapse of LTCM in 1997, after the collapse of the Nasdaq and after the real estate crisis, interest rates were kept artificially low - at virtually zero percent today. In March 2009 the U.S. stock index S & P 500 reached its nadir with 670 points. Now we are at 1700 points - a tripling! The artificially low interest rates and bond purchases have reduced the prices of stocks and real estate driven up. But the economic effect was relatively small.Milton Friedman wrote in "Capitalism and Freedom": The problem with government programs, they can always be started due to an emergency, but not abolished, when the emergency is over.Thus, the state is getting more bloated. For the Fed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to end their policy. And if they still do it one day, what will happen to the stock market?
Q: Which markets are still interesting because for stock investments?
A: If you press me 100 million euro in the hand and say that you have to invest in stocks, then I would probably select emerging markets, which has dropped so dramatically lately. Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore - there are plenty of stocks that have a dividend yield of five percent. That's not huge, but still signaled that the cash flow of the company is okay. The Vietnamese market is interesting. Japan was not thrilled me, but the Nikkei could run better than other markets.
Q: Sounds underwhelming.
A: We are in a sideways market. This was back in the seventies when I started my career like that. Nevertheless, there are of course opportunities. Some industries developed tremendously in this sideways market. Did you have gold or energy stocks, you were rich.
- Marc Faber via Business Week:
