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Nina: Yeah, I think the old story about diversification has enormous value. It probably has more value when the market is going down than when the market is going up. It means don't be heavily invested in one sector or one class of assets. Look for opportunities. There will be opportunities. When the broad stock market is under pressure, there will be other opportunities. |
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Neal: Like where? Real estate? Commodities? |
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Nina: I think real estate is one of the sectors that is going to be hit hard. It will be late; it will not come under pressure immediately. It's something to think about as you're planning your strategy. Those of us from the baby-boom generation are looking forward to retirement in the not-too-distant future. The demographics are a fact; the group behind us is smaller. Demographics mean that the property market will change, which makes it prudent to question whether holding a substantial portion of our portfolios in real estate is a wise thing. |
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Another area that is going to be very interesting and potentially rewarding in the years to come is the currency market. There's a lot going on there. |
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Neal: I know there are some people now who wish they had never heard of floating currencies. They wish they were on the gold standard. |
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Nina: The thing here is that there is a real major restructuring going on worldwide, not in the corporate sense, but in the sense of trade. Although we've heard tremendous amounts about Asian currencies and their respective stock markets, very few people in the United States talk about what's going on in Europe and the dynamics there. In the run-up for the creation of the Euro, the capital markets have been converging. And that convergence means that there will be fewer trading opportunities intra-Europe. It also means that once the Euro exists, there will be a new, viable alternative to the U.S. dollar as a reserve cur- |
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