2010年07月29日 華爾街日報
道瓊斯工業股票平均價格指數(Dow Jones Industrial Average)上週收盤時﹐跟一個星期多一點之前十分接近。上週三振奮人心地上漲200點﹐主要也就是填補前一個週五讓人發愁的200點跌幅。
幾個星期以前﹐道指重挫近800點﹐然後又以同樣劇烈的程度回升。相比4月份﹐這個廣受關注的市場指標目前下跌了7%﹐相比2009年低點則上漲了59%。
這種讓人頭暈眼花的起伏﹐又一次考驗著投資者的神經。2008年到2009年的各種事情已經讓人崩潰﹐而自今春爆發希臘債務危機以來﹐動盪行情又一次回到了市場。
在這種時候﹐經紀商或理財師可能會為你提供一些箴言或建議。有一些標準的安慰話﹐你會一遍又一遍地聽到。但這些話說得有多對呢？下面的10句話﹐就需要進一步推敲。
1.“現在是投資股市的良機。”
真的嗎？問一問經紀商﹐看他在什麼時候警告過客戶﹐說當時不適合投資股市。2007年10月？2000年2月？壞掉的手表﹐一天總有兩個時刻顯示的時間是對的﹐但並不能因為這個理由去撿只壞表來戴。或者像某人曾經說過的一樣﹐找經紀商問現在是否適合投資股市﹐就像找理髮師問你是不是該剪頭。“當然該剪﹐先生。請跟我來！”
2. “股市平均讓你每年盈利約10%。”
那又怎樣？這是根據一部分過去的歷史總結出來的﹐一直要回到19世紀初﹐而且有很多地方經不起檢驗。
這 10%當中﹐約三個百分點只不過是來自通貨膨脹。其他7%也不一定可靠。19世紀的數據是值得懷疑的﹐而20世紀的全球圖景錯綜複雜。專家認為﹐5%可能更為典型。另外﹐股市只有在你以平均估值買進的時候才會產生平均回報率。如果你在估值較高的時候買進﹐回報就遠遠不如了。
3. “我們的經濟學家預測……”
打住吧。問問經紀商﹐他們公司的經濟學家有沒有預測到最近的這場衰退﹐如果預測到了﹐是在什麼時候。
人們過去的經濟預測成績並不怎麼好。即使是到了2008年﹐很多經濟學家還在否認衰退已經進行。常見的表演是預測經濟將會出現“放緩”﹐但不會進入“衰退”。這樣﹐不管實際情況怎樣﹐他們都能夠為自己開脫。巴菲特(Warren Buffett)曾經說過﹐在預測家面前﹐算命先生的表現還算不錯。
4. “投資股市讓你參與經濟增長。”
把這話說給日本人聽吧。自1989年以來﹐日本經濟已增長逾四分之一﹐但股市下跌了逾四分之三。或者把這句話說給任何在10年前投資美股的人聽。而且﹐這類例子還不僅限於這兩個。1969年﹐美國國內生產總值約為1萬億美元﹐道指約在1000點。13年過後﹐美國經濟已增長至3.3萬億美元﹐道瓊斯工業平均指數呢？還是1000點上下。
5. “要有高回報﹐就得承擔高風險。”
巴菲特聽了這話肯定覺得意外﹐他寧願投資那些沒意思的公司和沒意思的行業。在過去四分之一個世紀﹐FactSet Research公用事業指數的表現超出了激動人心的“高風險”納斯達克綜合指數(Nasdaq Composite index)。賺取高回報的唯一途徑﹐是購買相對未來現金流比較便宜的股票。至於“風險”﹐經紀商可能認為它就是“波動性”﹐而波動性的意思往往就是股價的上下起伏。但大家都知道﹐風險其實是損失本金的可能性。
6. “市場估值真的很便宜了﹐現在的市盈率大約只有13倍。”
被普遍引用的市盈率（股價除以年度稅後利潤）可能會起誤導作用﹐因為利潤的波動性實在太大﹐繁榮期高得不得了﹐衰退時又低得不得了。
讓經紀商談談其他估值指標﹐比如股息率﹐也就是每一塊錢的投資得多少分紅﹔或者談談經過週期性調整的市盈率﹐也就是股價除以過去10年的利潤﹔又或者談談托賓Q值(Tobin's Q)﹐即股價除以公司資產實際重置成本之比。沒有哪個指標是完美的﹐但這三個指標在過去的預測表現不錯。目前﹐三個指標全都說股市相當昂貴﹐而不是相當便宜。
7. “市場變動的時間不能預測。”
這種老話使得客戶一分錢都不敢從市場裡撤出來。努力趕上市場的每一個起落﹐當然是傻子才做的事。但這並不意味著你就得一直不對整體估值給出判斷。
如果你在股價相比現金流和資產顯得便宜的時候投資股市（這往往是在所有其他人都看跌的時候）﹐你一般都會取得不錯的成績。
如果在股價非常昂貴的時候（比如其他每個人都離奇地看多時）投資﹐你可能就會敗得一塌糊塗。
8. “我們推薦您組建分散化的基金組合。”
如果經紀商的意思是你應該在現金、債券、股票、另類投資、大宗商品、貴金屬當中進行分散化﹐那麼這是一個不錯的建議。
但在太多的經紀商那裡﹐所謂分散化就是投資不同名稱、不同“風格”的基金﹐像大市值價值型、小市值成長型、中市值混合型、國際小市值價值型之類。這些東西不過是營銷噱頭。比如﹐“中市值混合型”基金這樣的東西根本就不存在。這些基金往往一直是100%入市﹐並且全部投資於股市。在全球化的經濟中﹐甚至帶“國際”字眼的基金所具備的分散性也不及以往﹐因為各種東西之間都在產生關聯。
9. “這是一個選股人的市場。”
什麼？每一個市場好像都可以定義為“選股人的市場”﹐但對多數人來說﹐投資回報（不管是正還是負）中的多數都來自他們所選的資產類別（見第8條）﹐而不是單筆投資。面且﹐即使市場確實是一個選股人的市場﹐你要怎樣才能相信你的經紀商就是合適的選股人呢？
10. “從長期來看﹐股市表現超過其他市場。”
何為長期？如果你能堅持10年或更久﹐那又有什麼用呢？就像經濟學家凱恩斯(John Maynard Keynes)曾經說過的那樣﹐從長期來看﹐我們都會死。
Brett Arends
（編者按：本文作者Brett Arends是《華爾街日報》網絡版專欄作家﹐他的專欄《投資回報》幫助投資者分析最新時事並做出相應投資決定。）
Ten Stock-Market Myths That Just Won't Die
By BRETT ARENDS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average last week ended up pretty much where it had been a little more than a week earlier. A rousing 200-point rally on Wednesday mostly made up for the distressing 200-point selloff of the previous Friday.
The Dow plummeted nearly 800 points a few weeks ago -- and then just as dramatically rocketed back up again. The widely watched market indicator is down 7% from where it stood in April and up 59% from where it was at its 2009 nadir.
These kinds of stomach-churning swings are testing investors' nerves once again. You may already feel shattered from the events of 2008-2009. Since the Greek debt crisis in the spring, turmoil has been back in the markets.
At times like this, your broker or financial adviser may offer words of wisdom or advice. There are standard calming phrases you will hear over and over again. But how true are they? Here are 10 that need extra scrutiny.
1 "This is a good time to invest in the stock market."
Really? Ask your broker when he warned clients that it was a bad time to invest. October 2007? February 2000? A broken watch tells the right time twice a day, but that's no reason to wear one. Or as someone once said, asking a broker if this is a good time to invest in the stock market is like asking a barber if you need a haircut. "Certainly, sir -- step this way!"
2 "Stocks on average make you about 10% a year."
Stop right there. This is based on some past history -- stretching back to the 1800s -- and it's full of holes.
About three of those percentage points were only from inflation. The other 7% may not be reliable either. The data from the 19th century are suspect; the global picture from the 20th century is complex. Experts suggest 5% may be more typical. And stocks only produce average returns if you buy them at average valuations. If you buy them when they're expensive, you do a lot worse.
3 "Our economists are forecasting..."
Hold it. Ask your broker if the firm's economist predicted the most recent recession -- and if so, when.
The record for economic forecasts is not impressive. Even into 2008 many economists were still denying that a recession was on the way. The usual shtick is to predict "a slowdown, but not a recession." That way they have an escape clause, no matter what happens. Warren Buffett once said forecasters made fortune tellers look good.
4 "Investing in the stock market lets you participate in the growth of the economy."
Tell that to the Japanese. Since 1989 their economy has grown by more than a quarter, but the stock market is down more than three quarters. Or tell that to anyone who invested in Wall Street a decade ago. And such instances aren't as rare as you've been told. In 1969, the U.S. gross domestic product was about $1 trillion, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at about 1000. Thirteen years later, the U.S. economy had grown to $3.3 trillion. The Dow? About 1000.
5 "If you want to earn higher returns, you have to take more risk."
This must come as a surprise to Mr. Buffett, who prefers investing in boring companies and boring industries. Over the last quarter century, the FactSet Research utilities index has even outperformed the exciting, "risky" Nasdaq Composite index. The only way to earn higher returns is to buy stocks cheap in relation to their future cash flows. As for "risk," your broker probably thinks that's "volatility," which typically just means price ups and downs. But you and your Aunt Sally know that risk is really the possibility of losing principal.
6 "The market's really cheap right now. The P/E is only about 13."
The widely quoted price/earnings (PE) ratio, which compares share prices to annual after-tax earnings, can be misleading. That's because earnings are so volatile -- they're elevated in a boom, and depressed in a bust.
Ask your broker about other valuation metrics, like the dividend yield, which looks at the dividends you get for each dollar of investment; or the cyclically adjusted PE ratio, which compares share prices to earnings over the past 10 years; or "Tobin's q," which compares share prices to the actual replacement cost of company assets. No metric is perfect, but these three have good track records. Right now all three say the stock market's pretty expensive, not cheap.
7 "You can't time the market."
This hoary old chestnut keeps the clients fully invested. Certainly it's a fool's errand to try to catch the market's twists and turns. But that doesn't mean you have to suspend judgment about overall valuations.
If you invest in shares when they're cheap compared to cash flows and assets -- typically this happens when everyone else is gloomy -- you will usually do very well.
If you invest when shares are very expensive -- such as when everyone else is absurdly bullish -- you will probably do badly.
8 "We recommend a diversified portfolio of mutual funds."
If your broker means you should diversify across things like cash, bonds, stocks, alternative strategies, commodities and precious metals, then that's good advice.
But too many brokers mean mutual funds with different names and "styles" like large-cap value, small-cap growth, midcap blend, international small-cap value, and so on. These are marketing gimmicks. There is, for example, no such thing as "midcap blend." These funds are typically 100% invested all the time, and all in stocks. In this global economy even "international" offers less diversification than it did, because everything's getting tied together.
9 "This is a stock picker's market."
What? Every market seems to be defined as a "stock picker's market," yet for most people the lion's share of investment returns -- for good or ill -- has typically come from the asset classes (see No. 8, above) they've chosen rather than the individual investments. And even if this does turn out to be a stock picker's market, what makes you think your broker is the stock picker in question?
10 "Stocks outperform over the long term."
Define the long term? If you can be down for 10 or more years, exactly how much help is that? As John Maynard Keynes, the economist, once said: "In the long run we are all dead."
沒有留言:
張貼留言