When Will The Stock Market Crash?

Cash is a dreadful investment. Especially right now. Low interest rates and inflation mean cash goes backwards as an investment. And yet I find myself with too much cash. What I need is a stock market crash - an opportunity to put my excess funds to work.

But Don't I Like It When The Market Goes Up?

Like everybody else, I feel good when the value of my portfolio increases.   It's human nature. But the reality is that while I’m still putting money into the stock market, I should prefer lower prices. It means I get more for each dollar invested. Of course, the opposite is also true. When I start to draw down on my investments, a sudden drop in prices could be more than a little unnerving.

Am I Predicting A Stock Market Crash? 

Is Value Investing Back From The Dead?

It seems value investing has staged a remarkable turnaround in recent times. It’s kind of like what happened to John Travolta’s career after he did Pulp Fiction.

I originally started thinking about this when I came across the performance figures for the Vanguard Global Value Equity Active ETF (ASX Code VVLU).

55 percent! The year-to-date and 1-year figures are very impressive (although the 3-year figures leave a little to be desired). The benchmark, in this case, is the FTSE Developed All-Cap in Australian dollars Index - that's a bunch of companies mostly listed on stock exchanges that aren't in Australia.

As I was perusing these figures, I wondered whether value investing’s long-awaited day in the sun had finally arrived after having been maligned by stock market investors the world over for what seemed like an eternity.