I know a lot of readers here are fans of Marc Faber, but even if one is not, there are very few who can entertain like this man while offering his market views. While tagged as "doom and gloom" I generally find much of what he says very realistic - especially in the near and intermediate term. In the long run, we're all dead. If you are a fan, there is a quite lengthy expose on the man's career on CNBC.com which I found to be an interesting read. Unfortunately there is no video specific to the piece- much like Hugh Hendry, a story on this guy without an accompanying video is just a shame.
Click here for full story. Some snippets:
Click here for full story. Some snippets:
- The thing about predictions is that if you make enough of them, eventually they’ll start to come true. Being a good enough prognosticator to hold the investor community’s attention most of the time is an entirely different matter. That’s what economist and market forecaster Marc Faber has clearly become. But even he isn’t perfect. His best prediction of all time, he says, was also the worst investment call he’s ever made. “That was the prediction that the tech bubble would burst,” which he made in 1998. “But it came two years too early.”
- Identifying market lows is much easier than calling market highs, Faber believes.Bubbles always seem to blow up further than expected. “I have always underestimated the madness of the investment community,” he says.
- In terms of timing, his best bet was to recommend selling stocks a week before the 1987 crash. But even that had more than an element of luck. “It was a coincidence that it happened a week later,” he admits.
- Still, it’s those kinds of calls that have made Faber a favorite board member, panelist and prognosticator. Subscriptions to his monthly “Gloom, Boom & Doom Report” run as high as $1,500 per year, or $300 for an abbreviated market commentary.
- “He sometimes gets it wrong,” Hong Kong-based writer Nury Vittachi notes, “but one doesn’t mind someone getting it wrong as long as they have taken a stance. It’s the people that don’t take a risk who don’t get any respect.”
- His outspoken nature, and deep knowledge of the history of financial markets, have made him a popular speaker. TV anchor Bernie Lo, who has interviewed him since the early 1990s, says he is one of the most anticipated guests, generating a flood of emails and inquiries ahead of any appearance.
- Faber is one of the few Asia-based experts who command worldwide attention. He ranks along with investment gurus Mark Mobius and Jim Rogers in terms of the attention his predictions get, Lo says, noting it’s standing-room-only to hear his addresses at investment conferences. “People love him,” Lo says. “He is entertainment and historical perspective, all in one package.”
- Given a hectic travel schedule, Faber spends only a week out of every month at home, and three weeks on the road.
This is a hilarious outtake from the article:
- The same kind of logic applied to his run on Wall Street, which began in 1970 at the firm White Weld & Co. with a role summarizing economic research to send to overseas offices, in the pre-Internet days. He got to know future U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who gave a briefing to the firm every two weeks. “At the end I was the only person attending because all he did was summarize the Wall Street Journal of the previous day,” Faber says.
Latest views:
- Faber predicts now that the financial system will ultimately break down, and even forecasts that the current fad of printing money in the West will lead to World War III. In the meantime, own stocks, real estate and commodities, not bonds and cash, he recommends.
- Among his favorite current calls: invest in natural gas, now very cheap, and Japanese stocks. Beware the U.S. stock market, particularly small- and mid-cap stocks. Gradually buy gold. Real estate is a bargain, though not in China and Hong Kong. Emerging markets are likely to continue to correct, and the U.S. dollar should gain.
