Most investors are making money. Shares are going up, bonds continue to rise in value, gold is doing well again. Yet there‟s an uncanny, artificial feeling about the markets.

Wall Street is looking great. The major indexes – the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite, the Dow Jones Industrial Average – have broken out on the upside to all-time highs, which has got the chartists excited.

Although European markets look the dodgiest, they‟ve stopped falling. London has been rocketing since its Brexit low. Emerging markets are having a great year – up by a third so far. The biggest Asian bourses, Japan and China, have been building bases as if they‟re getting wound up for take-off.

It‟s not only equity investments that are delivering gains.

The bull market in US Treasury bonds maintains its momentum, adding to the pain of all those forecasters who got it wrong, while the 20-year bull market in German Bunds is doing even better. Corporate bonds are recovering, even those in the “junk” sector.

Gold bugs are excited – big rises in values this year suggest the four-year bear market is over. Industrial commodities have bounced back. Even oil, recently the biggest investment problem, is now rising strongly once again and well above its new year lows.

Property is buoyant almost everywhere as long-term investment funds continue to shift into an asset that attractively combines relatively good yields with capital gains. (Don‟t be misled by the current crisis in the London commercial market – it‟s largely a short-term problem caused by Brexit panic).

So what is there to worry about?

David Fuller's view

This issue of Martin Spring’s letter contains excellent, informed analysis.  I think subscribers will find it interesting.

Here is a PDF of On Target.