by Brad Sanders
August 24, 2015
CWA Digital News Investments Editor and Managing Director at Tectonic Advisors Brad Sanders has covered the problems in China for several years. Read his latest update on China’s financial problems, and learn why plummeting stocks, extended by this morning’s nosedive, underscores why he won’t stop preaching patience is a virtue when it comes to investment strategy.
In the past several weeks global markets have become volatile, and in the past several days we have seen accelerated selling in all markets across the globe.
The issues aren’t new — we have outlined them at length over the past several years. China is in the beginnings of what appears to be a major financial crisis stemming from their use of debt to prematurely accelerate their growth. And globally, central banks have manipulated markets through low-interest rate policy and money printing, which has caused markets to become overextended. When you add the two together, you get what amounts to a powder keg that only needs a spark. Whether or not this continues and becomes something much bigger remains yet to be seen, but it does, however, give us a glimpse into just how fragile markets have become.
The activity over the past weeks once again reinforces our strategy and the position we’ve held since the 2008 crisis: Take measured risks, and employ disciplined, active management to help avoid traps in the market. In order to do this, an investor has to give up some of the return when markets are screaming higher, but when the reverse happens the benefit of this approach is revealed. The majority of the equity managers we employ have been building cash for the past 18 months and now have some downside protection, as well as “dry powder” to deploy at better prices.
By focusing on the longer-term picture you have positioned yourself properly to weather this type of market. Markets are fluid and we will continue to update you as things become clearer. You can rest assured that we are monitoring the situation, and so far, we see the benefit of patience playing out in our investments.
