Where Have All the Investors Gone?

Let's face it. Slow economic growth is here to stay.

Among the biggest issues weighing down growth is concern over sovereign debt, and the more general fact that de-leveraging has (much) further to go. While upticks in some developing markets may lift exports and help avoid another recession, the U.S. consumer has neither the wallet nor the optimism to resume recent years' spending levels.

Add to this austere picture, disappointing corporate earnings, incipient inflation, uncertainty over market regulation, and Middle East unrest, and the prospect of stock market gains appears to dim considerably.

Don't be so pessimistic, notes a recent Perspectives article. Even during the years following the 1929 collapse, returns outpaced inflation.

Most important, market participants need to believe in the long-term.

Read "Where Have All the Investors Gone?" here