Investment Gems

Data released on Wednesday  showed the biggest annual decline in a decade. Economic conditions are worsening with increased austerity and increasing unemployment.

Only South Korean producers have been able to expand sales through an aggressive effort in Europe. Car makers like Peugeot, Renault, Ford and Honda have announced job cuts

This is leading to a downward trend in terms of market quotations. My experience tells me that some opportunities for stock buying might arise from this glitch in sales. The governments, specially Germany and France, will not tolerate the continuation of this trend since it will have negative effects on the electorate. This way if things do not improve naturally, governments might approve incentives in order to stabilize the market.

Looking at valuations, and operational performance we might find some companies worth for buy and hold. Companies like Volkswagen, which presented good operating performance, even during the crisis, are trading at ridiculously low levels. Usually these are the times to buy, the prices are overly depressed because of the dark clouds surrounding the European auto industry, which leads to exaggerated price corrections.