Columnists

With house prices having peaked and now showing few signs of wanting to stop falling, it is important to think about a strategy to handle the downturn. Fortune magazine did so in a article a while back, and came up with a few suggestions on how to survive a real estate bust.

Investment fads come and go.

There seem to be types of markets out there at present. One type is associated with finance and credit - affected by the so-called 'subprime' and 'liquidity' issues. The impacts of these issues include higher interest rates, lower demand for borrowing and higher default rates on existing loans. Financial services and property investments are particularly vulnerable.

US commentator Bill Gary has been writing about economies and markets for over 40 years. A recent report sums up beautifully why the world economy and markets are experiencing so much pain lately. The bad news is that there is likely to be more to come!

As a professional investment advisor it is easy to get bogged down in finding more and more complicated ways of minimising risk and maximising returns. However, sometimes the best lessons are the simplest ones and here are a few everyone should take to heart.