Asset Allocation: Gold, Real Estate, Stocks & Cash

The best thing an individual investor can do right now is to hold 25 percent of his assets in equities, 25 percent in real estate, 25 percent in gold, and 25 percent in cash. If equities, real estate, or gold drop another 10 to 20 percent, put more cash in. - in BullionVault

ETFs, SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

No One Forced Banks And Insurers To Buy Greek Bonds

No one forced banks and insurers to buy Greek bonds. The crisis we have today won’t be fixed and the problems won’t be solved, they will be delayed. And then one day, we’ll see the final crisis, where numerous governments will go bankrupt. - in Bloomberg

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

I Am A Great Optimist In Life

Well, I think I'm very constructive and I'm a great optimist in life, otherwise I would commit suicide in view of the kinds of governments we have now-a-days. Because, for sure, they will take wealth away from the well-to-do people one way or the other, and from the middle class, they will take it away through inflating the economy and lowering the standard of living. - in Beacon Equity

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Governments, They’re Going To F— You All, That’s For Sure

You should not only diversify your asset holdings, but also diversify where you hold those assets, in case they’re seized by politicians as the welfare state enters its death throes. The governments, they’re going to f— you all, that’s for sure. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Printing Money Is Postponing The Endgame

Well, before sovereigns go bankrupt they'll print money, and they can print endless money, and as long as we have Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen at the Fed, they will also print money, and they can postpone the endgame endlessly, endlessly not, but say for another five to 10 years. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The End Crisis Will Be Postponed Until The Sovereigns Go Bankrupt

The end crisis will be postponed until the sovereigns go bankrupt. They can postpone the end-game endlessly...say another five to 10 years. Each money-printing exercise brings about unintended consequences. These unintended consequences are higher inflation rates than had no money been printed. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

CNBC Video Interview: October 26th

CNBC video interview: An outlook on the economy, with Marc Faber, Gloom, Boom and Doom Report editor/publisher.

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Stocks Will Outperform Bonds Over Next 10 Years

When you print money everything goes up at different times, different asset classes. I think that stocks may still continue to go up, and I would rather own equities than government bonds for the next 10 years. - in CNBC

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas. Bond ETF (TLT), iShares Lehman 7-10 Yr Treas. Bond ETF (IEF)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

U.S. Monetary Policy Focuses Too Much On Boosting Consumption

U.S. monetary policy focuses too much on boosting consumption. This is a short-term fix, but benefits often accrue elsewhere, namely in China, which provides the goods to feed American consumerism. The negative real interest rates and boost to Chinese incomes and investment also push up commodities prices, which then counteracts the stimulative effect for U.S. consumers by acting as a tax on income. The world’s bill for oil went from 250 billion dollars in 1998 to 2 trillion dollars in 2006 before doubling again by 2008 as the Fed started cutting rates towards zero. - at the World Commodities Week, excerpt from the WSJ Blog

Tickers: United States Oil fund (USO), iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF (FXI)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Global Liquidity Is Tightening: Bullish For US Dollar, Bearish For Risk Assets

CNBC Video Interview: Global liquidity is tightening

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The U.S. Needs To Tighten The Belt, Save More And Work For Lower Salaries

The U.S. needs a Lee Kwan Yew (Singapore prime-minister) who stands in front of the U.S. and tells them, ‘Listen you lazy bugger, you need to tighten your belts, you need to save more, you need to work more for lower salaries’.

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Western World Is Going To Stagnate Over A Long Period Of Time

As to that huge level of debts, I don’t see how the Western world, including the U.S., Japan and Western Europe can actually grow. They’re going to stagnate. And when you have stagnation over a longer period of time, people start to ask questions. - Beacon Equity

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Lack Of Savings Is The Problem Of The United States

We're not going to get out of recession by saying, "Spend, Spend, Spend". That is wrong. The lack of savings is the problem of the United States.

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

We Have A Record Wealth & Income Inequality

In fact, the problem in America is that real wages, real compensation has been down since the 1970s. But at the same time, asset prices, equities, real estate and so forth have gone up dramatically, and that favors people who have these assets. And so the ratio expanded and you have now a record wealth inequality, and income inequality. - in Bloomberg

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

There Is A Lot Of Uncertainty And The Markets Move According To Momentum

I think we have a lot of volatility in markets and they are, as far as I am concerned, fairly unpredictable because we have a lot of government intervention. We do not know whether QE3 will come about in America, some form is likely. We do not know about the bailout of banks in Europe, some bailout is likely.

So there is a lot of uncertainty and the markets move according to momentum. For instance, is it possible for me that the euro just strengthened in the last couple of days as much as it has because the outlook for Europe is probably worse than for the U.S. So we have a lot of uncertainty and all I can say is the best for investors is to stay diversified. - in Bloomberg Surveillance

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Next Shoe To Drop Could Be China

I think we have to distinguish between different commodities. We have agricultural commodities, and I think the long term outlook for agriculture in the world is probably rather favorable. I would rather play it by owning farms than by speculating in wheat futures and corn futures because the average investor will find it very difficult to trade these markets.

And then we have industrial commodities, and this is an important signal for the market. They collapsed. They did not collapse because of Greece. They are down 30 percent because it is very likely that the Chinese economy is now decelerating very rapidly.

And that on the world would have a far greater impact than say Greece. And so I think investors who all focus on the banking crisis in Europe, they overlook the next shoe to drop, which could be China. - in Bloomberg Surveillance

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Periods Of High Volatility

The volatility arises because we had the Nasdaq bubble, the housing bubble, the stock market bubble, the commodity bubble...and usually when the bubble burst like after 1929or after the late 60`s, you have a period of very high volatility for about 10 to 15 years before the market settles down and reignites the uptrend. - in CNBC

Related: iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSE:VXX), United States Oil Fund LP ETF (NYSE:USO), PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Real Wages, Real Compensation Has Been Down Since The 1970s

The problem in America is that real wages, real compensation has been down since the 1970s. But at the same time, asset prices, equities, real estate and so forth have gone up dramatically, and that favors people who have these assets. And so the ratio expanded and you have now a record wealth, inequality, and income inequality. - in Bloomberg

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

At Their Lows, Basically The Banks Were Selling Below Book Value

Well, it is very difficult to really assess the quality of earnings of banks. But I am told by experts here in the U.S. that the auditors have become very, very tough and that banks basically are at their lows recently. JPMorgan was at less than 27 USD per share. That 27 USD now is 32 USD.

And at their lows, basically the banks were selling below book value. So some people say that American banks are actually a very good investment opportunity at the present depressed level. - in Bloomberg

Stocks: JP Morgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), Bank Of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

It Is A Very Good Move That Banks Become Far More Conservative

I think it is a very good move that banks become far more conservative because banks, when you think of it, your salary is probably paid into a bank account and you expect that money to be available to you at any time. So the bank has a fiduciary function, and it has a certain social function. And with your deposit, the banks should not go and speculate.

So my proposal is basically to ring fence the depositors, and the domestic operation that is the traditional bank, and then farm out into separate entity what the bank does with money in terms of hedge fund activity. There are a lot of banks they are just like hedge funds. They take huge positions here and there, and then we have losses - as occurred for UBS in London, that basically should not be your concern as a depositor. - in Bloomberg

Stocks: Bank Of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), JP Morgan (JPM)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Global Liquidity Is Tightning

As far the dollar is concerned, the reason I’m actually quite positive is that global liquidity, despite of the fact that the ECB and the European governments will flood the market with liquidity to pay the sales out, that global liquidity is tightening. And whenever global liquidity is tightening, it’s bad for asset prices but good for the U.S. dollar as was the case in 2008. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Western Economies, Stagnation, Uprising & Minorities

As to that huge level of debts, I don’t see how the Western world, including the U.S., Japan and Western Europe can actually grow. They’re going to stagnate. And when you have stagnation over a longer period of time, people start to ask questions and then they go after minorities. And Wall Street is a minority – they are a minority and anyone else would have done the same. They use the system. But they didn’t create the system.

The system was created by the lobbyists and by Washington. So they should actually go to Washington and also occupy the Federal Reserve on the way. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Message To Americans

“I’ll tell you what the U.S. needs. The U.S. needs a Lee Kwan Yew who stands in front of the U.S. and tells them, ‘Listen you lazy bugger, you need to tighten your belts, you need to save more, you need to work more for lower salaries.” - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

We Have Restrictive Regulatory Policies - They Are Bad For Business

We have expansionary fiscal policies, we have expansionary monetary policies but we have restrictive regulatory policies and it curtails any initiative by the small businessman and the large businessman. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Western Economies Will Stagnate

We've had far too many interventions in the Western world where the share of total economy that goes to government and is government-sponsored has grown. That essentially makes it very difficult for the Western world to grow sustainably...I don't see how the Western world including the U.S., Japan and Western Europe can grow. They're going to stagnate. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

CNBC Video Interview: October 11th

Marc Faber of the Gloom, Doom & Boom Report, shares his outlook on the global economy on CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Global Liquidity Is Tightning

Despite the fact that the European Central Bank and the European governments will flood the market with liquidity to bail themselves out, global liquidity is tightening. Whenever global liquidity is tightening it is bad for asset prices but good for the U.S. dollar, as was the case in 2008. - in CNBC

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Gold Could Undergo A Significant Correction Similar To What Happened Between 1974-76

At 1900 dollars per ounce gold was extremely overbought, and a correction was necessary. However, Faber now believes that gold could undergo a significant correction similar to what happened between 1974-1976, when gold fell 40 percent. Faber notes that a large decline in gold is now a distinct possibility. The first support level for gold is at the 200-day moving average around 1500 dollars per ounce. Despite the potential for a pullback, Faber still likes gold and believes it will trade significantly higher. - in Seeking Alpha

ETFs: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Forecasts & Experts

As my readers can imagine, I am extremely cynical about forecasts by experts. In every major investment mania there is a large number of academics and ―experts who will justify and fuel the increase in prices by writing papers about the merits of the inflating asset class.

I have experienced the implosion of high quality growth stocks in 1973/74 (for growth you can pay any price), the demise of the Japanese stock market after 1989 (then the most popular stock market in the world), the Asian crisis in 1997 (among investment strategists- Asia was at the time- the most favored investment destination), the collapse of the NASDAQ after March 2000 (then the darling of the investment community) and the housing slump after 2006 (remember, home prices never decline!).

In fact, history is littered with poor forecasts by experts and people in the know: In 1876, a Western Union internal memorandum stated that this "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.

In 1895, Lord Kelvin President of the Royal Society, opined that heavier than air flying machines are impossible. Before the First World War, Marshall Foche thought that "airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."

An associate of David Sarnoff (RCA) said in the 1920s that "the wireless music box (radio)" has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?

Harry Warner exclaimed in 1927, "who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" In 1943, IBM President Thomas Watson‘s view was that "there is a world market for maybe five computers" and as late as 1977, Ken Olson- the founder of mini-computer leader Digital Equipment, opined that "there is no reason for any individuals to have a computer in their homes."

My advice is "Listen to Expert". Simply because you can learn a lot from their deep knowledge about an industry, a region, a company or any field in which they specialize. Do listen to them even if you completely disagree with their views. However, beware of their predictions and forecasts because by specializing in one field, “experts” may overlook exogenous factors, which may influence the outcome of future events and trends. - in GBD, June 2011

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

The Real Threat To Global Markets Is China, Not Europe

In his latest view on the markets, the quintessential contrarian suggested in his October edition of the Gloom Boom Doom Report that the real threat to global markets is China, not the global financial crisis epicenter of Europe.

China, he stated, may be on the verge of economic collapse, stemming from the dreaded one-two punch of rapidly increased capital goods overcapacity to match significant reductions of global demand for its products. - in Beacon Equity

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

US Dollar: Short Term OK, Long Term Doomed.

The Dollar can be your best friend in the short term, in the longterm it is doomed. - in Fokus FX

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Shorting Opportunities

Seeking Alpha posted a short summary of the latest Gloom, Boom & Doom Newsletter. Here`s the shorting opportunities section:

"Short Opportunities - There is no doubt about it; shorting in this kind of manipulated market is dangerous, but if you must, here are a few ideas: Apple (APPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Salesforce.com (CRM). Only short these with very tight stops."

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

It’s very dangerous in life to be right when the governments are wrong. - Dr. Marc Faber, in Bull Source

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Copper Is Signaling A Very Serious Slowdown In China

The price of copper is signaling a very serious slowdown (if not complete collapse) in China. This is what is really behind the move down in all commodities. A hard landing in China would be devastating for the global economy. The Shanghai composite is making new lows along with copper, which is very bearish. Also stay away from the Australian and Canadian currencies. If China crashes, these markets will get massacred. - in Seeking Alpha, from the Gloom, Boom & Doom Newsletter

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

US Dollar Outlook: Short Term Bullish. Long Term Is Going To Zero.

It's true that the dollar has no intrinsic value and is being printed into infinity, but the US dollar will be your best friend for the next few months. As global liquidity contracts on EU debt concerns and a possible hard landing in China, Faber advises investors to be long the dollar. Note this is a short-term call; longer term the dollar is going to zero. - in Seeking Alpha, from the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

US Treasuries Outlook: Overbought And Susceptible To A Large Correction

Despite being bullish on the US dollar, Faber does not reccomend treasuries, noting that they are overbought and susceptible to a large correction. - in Seeking Alpha, form the Gloom, Boom & Doom Newsletter

ETFs: ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasuries ETF (NYSE:TBT) iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Stocks Are Oversold But That Does Not Mean They Can`t Go Lower

Yes, stocks are very oversold, but that does not mean they cannot go lower. The dreadful price action in both Copper and the Shanghai Composite points to new lows for the equity markets. After US stocks make a new low below 1100 on the S&P 500 (SPY), there could be a year-end rally followed by a more meaningful decline into 2012. Investors should use any bounce in stocks as an opportunity to reduce their equity exposure. - in Seeking Alpha, from the Gloom, Boom & Doom Newsletter

Related: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY), ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF (NYSE:SDS)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Chinese Are Selling And Stupid Foreigners Have Been Buying Chinese Shares

The problem is that the local Chinese are selling and buying properties in Vancouver and in Singapore. They are shifting money outside.

So, the insiders are selling and the stupid foreigners have been buying Chinese shares. - in NewsMax

Related ETFs: iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF (NYSE:FXI)

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

You Don`t Need The Federal Reserve To Tell You Something Is Wrong

"You don`t need the Federal Reserve to tell you something is wrong." - in Reuters

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.

Real Estate Markets In China Can Drop Massively

"Some real estate markets in China will blow up & massively so prices could easily drop 40%, 50%" - in Reuters

Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.