Positive thinking

The Isa season has come and gone and investors have stayed away in droves, anything from a 50% to an...

The Isa season has come and gone and investors have stayed away in droves, anything from a 50% to an 80% decline in some cases. As always, the individual investor is a leading risk indicator for the financial services industry. When markets are high, they can't divest themselves of cash quickly enough, and now that markets are lower and the feeling is bearish, they refuse to buy, or worse, are redeeming huge losses. If the past is anything to go by, they won't be seen again for several years. A senior trader in Morgan Stanley recently said he didn't know whether they'd hit the low poin...