This is my take on the following classes of stocks:
> Equities ETF - world/international - do you really want to buy in now at record prices? What upside remains? Another 10% or even 20% higher will probably make you complacent the end will not arrive
> Equities ETF- Australian - Australian stocks are underperforming their international counterparts and may well continue to do so, we will know when we see the next quarterly results
> Blue Chips - banks could continue their underperformance impacted by erosion in margin, low confidence, shakeup and possibly loss in market share, telcos likewise, large resources banking on high iron ore prices may not sustain as China economy dives further
> Healthcare Blue Chips- this is currently the sanctuary but you have to ask how high you expect CSL to continue going to? $300 then what? And if you would be buying these stocks, I wouldn't imagine you would be in for short term. Continue holding past $300 and when the downdraft comes, it will equally lose its lustre or perhaps even more than the general market
> Midcap stocks - there are a few bright sparks but you would need to be very selective but cyclicals are out
> Growth stocks - these have been the market darlings for the better part of the first half of the year but exuberance in them is waning as market participants can no longer assume their upward trajectory can continue and some remain valued at considerably high PE, and fundies shorting these stocks certainly do not help one bit. Notable good growth stocks will continue doing what they do well and possibly not disappoint the market but the question is whether it will be good enough to hold their lofty valuations when the markets are under siege
> Gold stocks - our local gold stocks have underperformed relative to gold price and their overseas counterpart , I suspect this will however correct itself when we can see a more sustained upward move in gold price -the current frustration is that the short term rises have not been able to be sustained, but that said, it has held up reasonably well even with the hopes and optimism that has carried Wall St to their record highs.
You would expect me to have a bleak outlook on longer term investment in equities based on what I have been posting on this thread. Short term investing is rather hard as we are constantly subjected to random patterns of buy/sell and market behaviour complicated by daily bipolarity in flow of news in relation to trade deal and economy and the increasing influence fundies are having on the fortunes of individual stocks.
