11 Aug Financial Advisers Urge Potential Investors to be Cautious

A number of financial advisers are urging investors to be cautious when it comes to seeing the currently turbulent market as a good buying opportunity. They are claiming that market is simply too unpredictable to make sound investments after a week of heavy falls and occasional rises culminated in the market dipping back towards 5,000 on Wednesday. They claim that there is no quick fix to the issues and that the market may well be in store for further dips after dropping more than 10% since August 9th. Hargreaves Lansdown head of research Mark Dampier claims that in the short term the worst may be over, however nobody can accurately predict the future of the market and it is entirely possible that we may see another 10% dip. He comments "Making an investment decision at this stage is too premature as the market volatility could continue for the next couple of weeks." Skerritt Consultants head of investment Andrew Merricks added "Japan had a banking crisis and a property crash, growth became negative or marginal and then it went into a slump. There are similarities but everyone assumes markets will hit a bottom and it will go back up again. But if we are in a Japan-style problem you can lose a huge chunk of value in the stock market and then it can go nowhere. That can happen in the US, in particular. This turmoil will be drawn out." Chelsea Financial Services managing director Darius McDermott also expressed his views, stating "Over the long term there will be value in equities. I would focus on those sectors that have been hit hardest at the moment, like financials and miners, they are the ones that will feel the bounceback."