Anyone else getting investment jitters?

wombat42_2

meester wrote: »

Don't you see the irony in basing your investment decisions on the basis of someone calling themselves 'trust no-one', and spelling their username in super-paranoid style?

And who slates the hugely respected and talented Neil Woodford on the basis of data about a completely different fund?

Be careful of commodities. Real assets generate both income and growth.

A bar of gold need yield neither.

The commodities bandwagon is a dangerous one.

Oh look, say the trend chasers 'wheat prices have doubled', let's put 100% of our market into some ETCs.

Fine, but what are the consequences of that?

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=333697&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

"Last week three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso were hit by serious rioting after grain prices went up. Mobs burnt government buildings and looted stores. That incident followed on similar riots earlier this year in Senegal and Mauritania."

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2104849.0.2008_the_year_of_global_food_crisis.php

"
IT IS the new face of hunger. A perfect storm of food scarcity, global warming, rocketing oil prices and the world population explosion is plunging humanity into the biggest crisis of the 21st century by pushing up food prices and spreading hunger and poverty from rural areas into cities.

Millions more of the world's most vulnerable people are facing starvation as food shortages loom and crop prices spiral ever upwards.

The bank points out that global food prices have risen by 75% since 2000, while wheat prices have increased by 200%. The cost of other staples such as rice and soya bean have also hit record highs, while corn is at its most expensive in 12 years.

High prices have already prompted a string of food protests around the world, with tortilla riots in Mexico, disputes over food rationing in West Bengal and protests over grain prices in Senegal, Mauritania and other parts of Africa. In Yemen, children have marched to highlight their hunger, while in London last week hundreds of pig farmers protested outside Downing Street.
If prices keep rising, more and more people around the globe will be unable to afford the food they need to stay alive, and without help they will become desperate. More food riots will flare up, governments will totter and millions could die."


Bottom line is commodity speculation is something that most people would seek to avoid. Farmers would be happy not to have to worry about palm oil prices or grain costs. They could also find prices lower than they were 25 years ago (quite common until recently).

Why expose yourself to this.

If Vodafone's profits double, nobody starts a riot. If Coca Cola succeeds in its expansion, there are no protests, no campaigns to cut prices.

Commodities are a dangerous game to play.

Yes rising food prices may well cause civil unrest etc. But can you actually expect the world powers to do much about it ? Bear in mind this is a problem on top of the subprime credit crunch issue which was dreamt up by some dearranged psychopathic finance directors hoping to make a fast buck and the rest of the financial world went along with it. To reduce food prices you would need to do all the following:
- reduce the inevitable big increases in world population
- tell China to stop economic growth
- make sure all harvests are good ones
-stop diverting food crops into developing biofuels
- stop global warming which will reduce arable land by about 1% per year.

Did governments actually do anything about the high price of houses ? No they just kept stoking it up.

See http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/6/worldupdates/2008-03-06T211602Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-323389-1&sec=Worldupdates

pumpndump

giambitime wrote: »

My isas are currently invested in the following funds:
Bailie Gifford High Yield Bond Fund
Fidelity South East Asia,
Gartmore emerging markets opputunities,
Invesco Peerpetual High Income Acc
and Neptune Russia and Greater Russia fund in equal parts.

Looks good to me. A very adventurous portfolio. If you can sweat out the bear market you will be very rich.

If you feel you are getting short of money, get a job.