THE FUNK ON THE STREET

摘要

Charles de vaulx is sitting atop a big pile of cash. Right now, the co-manager of First Eagle Funds doesn't like what he sees: rising interest rates, a worsening situation in Iraq, and what he considers an overvalued stock market. Around 23% of his fund is in the green stuff, vs. as little as 6% during the bull market in 1999 and early 2000. "A lot of companies-some 30% of the Standard & Poor's 500-have benefited greatly from low interest rates," de Vaulx says, adding that the buffer is coming to a fast, possibly brutal, end. He has plenty of company in shunning equities these days. On May 10, stocks fell to their lowest point this year as investors rushed to bail out. That day, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.3%, falling below 10,000 for the first time since last December. The S&P 500-stock index and the NASDAQ were both down some 1%. Abroad, it was worse: Japan's Nikkei cratered 5%, and the European markets all sank 2% to 4%. The following two days the choppy market regained a few points.