Back to basics

Although now may be a reasonable point for entering the market, there are a number of questions an investor should ask before filling the investment shopping basket

We have reached that point in the bear market where some analysts point to low price-to-book ratios (currently around one times for the Asia ex Japan universe) as representing a good buying opportunity. However, the time to buy will probably be when price-to-book ratios, at least on a prospective basis, look expensive, following a couple of years of heavy losses that eat into equity. While investors seem to have accepted that this crisis may turn out to be the worst since the Great Depression, analysts' earnings forecasts still just assume a mild slowdown. As the expression goes, "denial ai...