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27. 07. 12. - 09:00

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27. 07. 12. - 09:00

Positives in the Euro crisis?

Croatian Times

Leave the media to its masochism and allow yourself to see positives in the euro crisis. Equities are cheap across the region and Croatian investors should be encouraged to look at neighbouring markets in Europe, as well as the UK, for bargains. Now's the time to buy, insists Clem Chambers, CEO of leading stocks and shares site www.ADVFN.com and author of investment titles and thriller novels. www.clemchambers.com

Sometimes I think I would be better off if I never picked up a newspaper or logged into a news site ever again. Keeping up with current affairs is depressing, and more so because there remains so little an individual can do about any of it.

A far flung natural disaster induces a sense of acute helplessness; similar to the way I feel about the current global financial crisis.

I can’t unfix Libor. I can’t sort out the banking system or single-handedly bring down trillions of dollars of global financial imbalances. Forcing oneself to watch the disaster unfold in slow motion via the media, meanwhile, is exactly the kind of masochism young people inflict on themselves via a screening of the latest horror movie.

It’s simply not good for the soul! The current financial dramas are obscene and now’s the time to look away.

So overnight, I’m no longer a pessimistic ‘bear’. Instead, I’ve become a bull. When it comes to financial markets, a bullish viewpoint sees the world as being the best it can be - full of opportunity. And certainly, the world is a far better place than when I was born. Never has there been a better time for humanity; more ways to prosper.

I’m not going to look on the bright side just for the sake of it, mind. Instead, I’m going to focus on the "strengths, opportunity" side of life, putting the "weakness and threats" theme so prominent these days, further into the background.

Why should we view the euro crisis as such a bad thing, for instance? Bad systems are bad, yes, but then they break, and are remade better. It’s an unpleasant process and lots of people, especially those favoured by the old, ‘bad’ system, will complain, yet, if you have faith in market forces, then that’s just white noise.

It’s blatantly obvious that the old system was always doomed to suffer this kind of crisis. It was just a matter of when. The new system that will emerge in time will produce a better, more sustainable Europe. What more could you ask for?

And where is the opportunity to prosper from the change?

Remember, through both boom and bust, bad news is constant. So why pay it any attention? Instead, find the good news.

Houses in the US are getting bigger, for example. The depressed market -  glutted with houses no one wants to buy - is responding by making bigger houses at a better price.
That’s great news for Americans. Who wants to live in a rabbit hutch, after all, - even if its value is inflated? How rich is a person with lots of property equity, if they have to live crammed into a cardboard box?

Wealth is not just about money.

I’m increasing my wealth from now on by refusing to worry about the giant mess world economies are in. Instead, I’m going to focus on opportunities to improve my lot as the game changes.

Yesterday, I was unhappy by how depressed stocks and shares are, today I’ve decided to be happy about it.

Equities are looking very cheap!

In the UK, there are so many companies at sub 10 P/E and with dividends over 2% that I’m spoilt for choice. The German and French markets are looking great value. I’m even tempted to put my toes into the Greek market, which is basically dead for now.
Happily, there is no rush to pile in, as the current difficulties mean there is not going to be a giant rally any time soon.

I’m going to simply drop savings into blue chip shares and not worry too much what happens next. However bad the world gets, there will still be Shell, Vodafone and Astrazenica and they will do well in comparison to the rest.

Why worry? The Maya were wrong. The world isn’t going to end in 2012. Economic life, too, will go on ebbing and flowing. The time to load up on investments is during the ebb and this is the ebb, the’ deep ebb’.

Real money is made buying at the bottom of the market. While we may not be there yet we are getting close. Fear is the only real enemy. It’s time to get over that fear, reclaiming the wealth that comes with having a positive mental attitude whilst continuing to try and lay the foundations of a prosperous future by investing carefully for the inevitable recovery.

The bear market has gone on five years now. It will not continue forever. The recovery will be camouflaged with bad news and dire prognosis but it will come.

Already, America is on the comeback path - a strong indicator that now is the time to look to the future. It’s time to let the final year or two of the trough offer up opportunities that will define the recovery because when it comes it will be too late to catch the best of it.

~Visit www.ADVFN.com  for free, real-time stock prices
~ Clem’s latest news and articles at www.clemchambers.com
~Follow Clem on Twitter: @ClemChambers

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