Our lead story today comes from Sarasota, Florida, courtesy
of the International Herald Tribune. There, it is reported
that the Metheusela of investment mavens, John Templeton,
92, says you should get out of U.S. stocks, the U.S. dollar
and 'excess' residential real estate.
Templeton believes the dollar will fall 40% against other
major currencies... and that this will lead the nation's
major creditors - notably Japan and China - to dump their
U.S. bonds, which will cause interest rates to run up, thus
beginning a long period of stagflation.
The Florida reporter felt he should get a second opinion
from the local brokers and fund managers. None wanted to
contradict the great man directly, but neither did they
want their customers to think he might be right. "It
probably won't be that bad," was the gist of their remarks.
"Bush wouldn't let the dollar fall too much," said one.
Another thought she saw a way to undermine Templeton's
authority. His age, she noted, "could count against him."
Templeton was still sharp in 1999. While the financial
industry hacks in Florida were urging their customers to
buy more tech stocks, Templeton warned that the bubble
would soon burst. He was right; they were wrong. Of course,
he was only 88 back then. |
