News, analysis and personal reflections on the markets & the financial sector

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Worst may be over for US shares

The recovery of the Dow Jones Industrial Average following Friday's (December 5th) news about US joblessness has prompted some "high-profile" Wall Street investors to speculate that the worst is over for the country's battered stock markets, according to reports.

Chris Orndorf, a fund manager who helps control $50 billion for Payden and Rygel Investment Management, told Reuters that the market's gains - despite the news of the worst job losses in 34 years during November - could represent a significant change in attitudes.

"When the market shrugs off bad news just as it did, investors are signaling that the worst is behind us," he commented.
Brian Gendreau of ING Investment Management Americas added that prices may be bottoming out after declines of around 40 per cent on the year - although the continuing recessions make a bull market unlikely in the near-term.

Bill Miller, who manages Legg Mason's $7.6 billion Value Trust fund, noted that while many investors agree that share prices are now cheap, there needs to be a revival in the credit markets before the stock markets can return to health.

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