Corn. Hitting lows and the seasonal trend is to be very long right here.
Quote from lynx2004:
I have also been watching VBI (VIX future) over the last few weeks and am wondering about the same questions...VIX keep dribbling lower while the premium also seem to erode each week as nothing big happens. Is there anyone here who has experience trading the VBI future? I am trying to find a way to get long implied vol -- this could be the biggest trade for 2005 if only one can time it!
Quote from nravo:
Yeah, MArc Faber or someone in BArron's also said to play corn short term with a six month contract. I wonder, though, when folks here and Barron's are touting a seasonal play with new lows, well, if something sounds too good to be true ....
Quote from BlueHorseshoe:
Blah blah blah. Stick to equities ravo - & think twice before you accuse me of 'touting.'
Touting corn? Talk about cynicism running amok ...![]()
Quote from Cutten:
Another major long-term trend IMO (as in 5-10 years) is Japanese smallcap stocks, and Japan real estate stocks.
Japan has had a 14 year economic stagnation which is has only just looked like coming out of. Any business, especially a smaller company, which has survived this environment will have cut fat to the bone, will be fairly well managed, or inherently a very resilient business. Real estate is even more extreme - prices have been falling for ages until recently, imagine trying to make money in real estate when the values decline each year. So any remaining solvent developers, and any financially solid real estate investment companies should be good investments. Finally, govt bonds are yielding 1.5% - eventually as economic growth picks up, and stocks come slowly back into fashon, people will not be satisfied with that return and thus some of the huge amounts of money invested in JGBs will shift into stocks.
I wouldn't just go and buy an index or a Japan fund. Rather I would be looking for promising small growth stocks that in 5-10 years time could be billion dollar businesses. Japan now reminds me of the US or UK market in 1993-95 - plenty of gems to be unturned in the next couple of years, and the likelihood of solid returns for the medium to long term. I would also avoid exporters due to the likelihood of a slowly strengthening Yen.
I have a feeling something might happen with China in 2005 too, but I wouldn't make any bets right now. Overall, I have less long-term ideas now than I have had for some time. So I'm not making any major commitments, just preserving capital for the next opportunity.