Looks like the nearly annual stock market correction is out of the way and we’re back to the bull trend. This rally remains the most reviled, disbelieved bull market ever, excepting the 1982 – 1999 epic bull market. Back then, as record after record fell, investors were muttering, “well, that’s the last of it, now it’ll drop”. But it didn’t. Yes, there were annual hiccups, and even a lousy year or two, but the overall trend was up.
Can this be as good as that run, which spanned nearly 20 years? Probably not, but we’ve thought for some time that stocks offer outstanding investment value, and we still believe that. And the more others don’t believe it, the better we feel about our position.
Ever on the quest for value, our favorite bargains are in Europe; in the US or Canadian banking sectors; REITs now that they’ve been clipped by higher interest rates; and the odd retail stock. Miners offer a deep contrarian play, which might take a while to work out. Junk bonds are nearly irresistible, but as always, beware the risk.