Stocks aren’t overvalued – so keep buying

Ken Fisher

These are not my words, I’m quoting Ken Fisher, founder and chairman of Fisher Investments. He writes a column in FT Money and this was his message last Saturday.

I love his column; like PG Wodehouse, he meets my expectations every time. In Ken’s version of Blandings shares are never over-valued and bonds are always to be avoided. Fisher and his salesmen sell equities and of course charge for their service. The sun always shines on equities in Fisher’s world. The tale of Mr Kenneth Fisher never varies. It is a re-assuring message for a long term investor like me.

Jeremy Fisher

I read his article several times with great satisfaction. Then I went and spoilt everything by reading Merryn Somerset Webb’s column. She lives on the dark side where investors lose money. She points out that the S&P 500 has risen 80% in the last five years while earnings per share have risen by 9%. The P/E ratio is almost twice its long term average. She thinks that equities are going to hell in a handbasket. The only safe havens might be Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

Merryn Somerset Webb

Weatherby’s is the posh place to bank, even posher than C Hoare & Co I’d say, and Coutts these days is just plain common. It was where only racehorse owners could have an account until 2006 when it became a Private Bank for anyone with more than £3 million of lolly. Like Ken Fisher they provide investment advice and that is that active asset management is not worth paying for. I partially agree. If you have to keep an eye on your horses, read The Racing Post, keep up with pedigrees and watch The Racing Channel it may be best to follow their advice. Actually TRC is defunct but you get the idea.

A digression; I was told by a trainer that satellite TV is a great boon. He had an owner who lived in the US but liked having horses in the UK because he could watch them on TV after breakfast. If it’s not indiscreet, his owner’s name was Paul Mellon.