One of my favorite Wall Street legends is Barton Biggs, who was the Chief Global Investment Strategist for Morgan Stanley compiling an impressive record over many years. I managed the portfolio of his father-in-law, who was a dear man that died at the tender age of 99, just three months short of the century mark. During that time, according to his father-in-law, Barton never criticised nor nit-picked management of his portfolio.
I have great respect for Mr. Biggs and have read all of his books. Today, I watched him on CNBC as he said that stocks are greatly over-sold and are poised for a 7-9% rebound within the next 3-4 weeks. He felt the “farce” in Washington on the debt deal and continuing anxiety about Europe have made us overly-pessimistic. He feels the GDP growth rate could recover nicely, approaching 3%.
Still, the questions remain . . . is it too early to pull the trigger and start putting money back into the market? Or, is the U.S. on the precipice of social and economic collapse?
In my opinion, yes and no!
