Newsletter:

Subject:	Uncertain markets prevail
Date:	02 Jul 10

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Today’s market report by the Intervest team describes the uncertainty of the current investing environment.

‘… 2008 was hard, many missed the 2009 rally and 2010 is proving hard again. Investors seem at a loss. We are certainly in a market where fear of downside risk is outstripping upside potential. Often that is a good sign and creates opportunities but for the brave only,’ they write.

To read more, go to our website click on Current Market View.

Many investment professionals are attempting to put market ongoing turmoil in perspective. One of the better articles to cover this topic is How long is long enough when looking at asset class histories?, written by Greg Flash of Alphen Asset Management. The performance histories in the graphs in the article look at intra-asset class performance over 5, 10,, 20, 40, 60 and 84 year periods.

While the United States and Europe bemoan ‘stubbornly high’ unemployment levels of 10%, South Africa’s unemployment is desperate and closer to 30%. Most people know about the frugal habits of one of the world's wealthiest men, maybe the summary of a CNN interview below will prepare our children for lean times ahead.

For all these articles and more, click on the links below.

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How long is long enough when looking at asset class histories?
Greg Flash of Alphen Asset Management writes that "mean reversion" or "regression to the mean" has also been widely accepted as a powerful force in the fields of finance and economics (although it applies to many other fields like genetics and physics).

More at http://www.equinox.co.za/article_2567.html

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Barriers to entry in the investment industry and the impact on fund performance
Dr Simon Pearse, CEO of Marriott Asset Management says that barriers to entry will always exist and can have a positive or negative impact on fund performance and more importantly, the investor experience.

More at http://www.equinox.co.za/article_2559.html

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Children depleting your pockets this holiday? Give a copy of this article about Warren Buffet to them, it might help.
There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the world’s second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. The following are some his important life decisions and views:

More at http://www.equinox.co.za/article_2563.html

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Some ideas on how to choose a good fund manager
Ian de Lange of Seed Investments writes that with thousands of professional investment management firms around the world, selection becomes a difficult process. Multi managers have tried to identify key drivers of investment firms to help them with fund manager selection.

More at http://www.equinox.co.za/article_2562.html

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Best Regards
The Equinox Team

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