It is decision time again. I am going away on my ‘hols’ for two weeks and the question I am asking myself is whether I should move more of my investments back into cash before I go?

Today, in my book, the financial climate must rate as precarious. We have Mr Trump who is fully occupied in threatening, insulting or goosing both friends and foes alike, in what would seem to be a full-on commitment to a trade war.

Then we have bankrupt Italy, the third largest state in the European Union, whose new populist government would seem to think that threatening Germany and France with the collapse of the Union is the way forward to get a bailout from the European Central Bank.

‘fully occupied in threatening, insulting or goosing both friends and foes alike’

Both of these tactics may turn out to be beneficial for these protagonists. Who can know the answer? It is only the passing of time that will reveal the success or otherwise of this approach to negotiation.

It would seem to me that when I look back over the last few years there have been many occasions where financial and political news would have merited a collapse in the markets akin to the 2008 collapse, yet it did not happen.

Looking at the graph below, if I had exited every time I was concerned I would have missed out on the extraordinary rise that has taken place since 2008.

 

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Perhaps if I were to follow the teachings of Buddha and his single law known as ‘dharma’ I would be more comfortable in these situations. His law states that suffering arises from craving; the only way to be liberated from suffering is to be fully liberated from craving; and the only way to be liberated from craving is to train the mind to experience reality as it is.

There you have it, REALITY AS IT IS. Bring on the saffron coloured ‘all in one’!

‘time for the millenniums to stop complaining of their lot, and leave us pensioners alone!’

With this in mind I am going to stop chewing barbed wire and accept my investments where they currently lie. That is until something significant actually happens to the markets. After all, I rather like the situation of the UK funds and I am hopeful that the smaller company funds, which have vastly lower PEs than their friends in larger company stocks, will perform a catch-up in valuation.

I also like the advances that are being made across all fields of technology. The technology funds did of course receive a major leg-up from the recent strengthening of the dollar. Even so the underlying investments in these funds continue to grow with or without the influence of the dollar, so I intend to stay invested in these funds.

Yesterday I read about the discovery at the M.I.T. of a magnetic superconductor that will allow the commercial production of nuclear fusion to generate our electricity. Apparently it is perfectly safe without the fission problems of radioactivity and it uses hydrogen as its fuel source.

What is not to like about that? A few seconds burst generates enough energy to run a city for a day, which is just amazing. Couple this with the new breakthrough in extracting geo-thermal energy from the earth`s core in order to drive steam turbines, together with solar energy capture, and we are making steps towards a world capable of enjoying the benefits of free energy.

Maybe then will be the time for the millenniums to stop complaining of their lot, and leave us pensioners alone!

Douglas.

Founder & Chairman

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Saltydog Investor Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and does not provide financial advice. Any information you use, or guidance you follow, is entirely at your own risk.





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