U.S. Investors Say It's Time to Buy Stocks; Favor Asia, Energy By Rich Miller
May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Close to half of affluent U.S. investors see the stock market as a buy, with energy as the industry and Asia as the region to be in.
The annual Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll of investors found that 44 percent of those with household incomes of $100,000 or more viewed it as a good time to buy stocks, versus 15 percent who said it isn't. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 10 percent from its record high in October.
``Any time prices come down, that's typically been the time to buy,'' said Phyllis Hamm, 59, a survey participant who works at a nonprofit group in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The poll results signal some Americans may be ready to shift part of the $3.5 trillion parked in money market funds into equities. The confidence also indicates they anticipate limited spillover among stocks from the financial crisis that has led to $335 billion of losses and writedowns in that industry.
``There's plenty of ammunition out there for an equity rally later this year,'' said Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist in New York for the investment-management unit of Bank of America Corp., which oversees $643 billion in client assets.
Forty percent of respondents singled out energy as the best place to put their money over the next 12 months, followed by health care and drugs, at 30 percent, technology, at 22 percent, and financial services, with 15 percent. Investors could choose more than one industry.
Asia came out on top when well-off investors were asked which region offers the best returns over the next 12 months -- the same result as in last year's poll. The U.S. slipped from second to third, slightly lagging behind emerging markets.
