The Contrarian Investor: When will the cent drop?

CONTRARIAN INVESTOR

I think it was the wonderful American novelist John Updike who once said "America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy".

In true Scrooge-like festive spirit, I could probably say the same thing about equity markets as we approach the festive break. Equity investors like a good-news story and, as long as we can keep those tapering blues out of view, a prosperous 2014 looks to be heaving into view. But I have a funny feeling ordinary private investors are not convinced by this equity market optimism. A recent BlackRock survey of advisers finished with the following fascinating observation: “a staggering three quarters (77%) of advisers are concerned their clients are holding too much cash”. I cannot say I...