Our monthly round-up of the best quotes from the financial world.
"If there was a way to short Obama, I would." Not my words, but those of hedge fund boss Hugh Hendry, who can always be relied upon to speak his mind.
If bears like Hendry are to be believed, the worst of this recession is still to come. Commodities king Jim Rogers is particularly scathing about the banking sector stress tests in Europe:
"It was a public relations exercise just as was America's."
"I'm not buying bank stocks because I'm not sure the problems are really solved."
Nightmare inducer Robert Prechter was at the extreme end of the spectrum when he recently predicted that he Dow would fall below 1,000, but even Yale economist Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller house price index, is expecting some challenging times:
"For me a double-dip is another recession before we've healed from this recession. The probability of that kind of double-dip is more than 50%. I actually expect it."
Harvard's Ken Rogoff, author of This Time Is Different, takes a longer term perspective, and sees these crises as minor setbacks in a long-term trend of growth and development:
"There's a balance between these crises and growth ... one of the lessons of history is that although we have these crises, there are long periods of strong growth around it ... Of course we'll have other crises, that is simply beyond doubt, the question is how soon, and if you can have them two generations away you're doing a good job -- if we have it again in ten or fifteen years we really messed up."
Also taking issue with Shiller is emerging markets guru Mark Mobius:
"My feeling is that the talk of double dip doesn't make sense, with the kind of money supply that we have, and that continued, as you know this quantitative easing continuing, there is not going to be a double dip. There's going to be continuing recovery in the US, and in Europe."
But as you'd expect from Mobius, he sees better opportunities in developing countries:
"Russia is the place to start, because that's where we are finding better values. …While it's difficult to make specific predictions, we would expect an appreciation of the Russian Ruble in single-digit terms [over the next year], and an appreciation of the equity market in double-digit terms."
For those interested in Russia as a potential investment, there are expected to be privatisations of state enterprises totalling $29bn in the near future. Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, told a press briefing:
"We will sell significant stakes in state companies on the market. We plan to keep controlling stakes … (assets) will be valued publicly, in line with market prices and tenders will be open. We are fully ruling out a situation where somebody sells something to someone at an artificially low price."
Before dipping a toe into the Russian market, investors might like to consider how business is conducted in that country. A new video has been launched on Youtube regarding the death in police custody of Hermitage Capital's lawyer in Moscow. According to the company's CEO, William Browder:
"The most important eyes of the world are on Russia in this case, and the course of action in the investigation of Sergei Magnitsky's death will effect relations and major policy decisions towards Russia going forward."
Another company with a not-entirely-positive experience in Russia is BP (LSE: BP). On the subject of his departure, CEO Tony Hayward, was quoted as saying:
"I became a villain for doing the right thing. But I understand that people find it easier to vilify an individual more than a company."
"I didn't want to leave BP because I love the company; because I love the company, I must leave BP."
Texan oilman T Boone Pickens had some things to say about America's dependence on Middle-Eastern oil:
"I think we're importing oil from the enemy. We're paying for both sides of the war when we're buying OPEC oil. This is not smart."
Pickens was one of 40 billionaires, with a combined net worth of $230bn (£145 bn), to sign up to Warren Buffett's 'giving pledge' initiative to donate at least 50% of their wealth to good causes. Others on the list include Bill Gates of Microsoft, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Michael Bloomberg of, er, Bloomberg. Sean Stannard-Stockton, who runs a company that advises would-be philanthropists, said:
"If every billionaire commits to giving away 50% of their wealth, we'd see billions of dollars going to philanthropy. But if just 20% of millionaires, committed to giving away 50% of their wealth we'd see trillions of dollars."
Could this be the start of a trend? Would you give away your wealth? Let us know in the comment box below...
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