The age-old challenge: Buy low or sell high?

Buy low; sell high. Sounds simple, but easier said than done.

Because of “fear,” when assets are “on sale,” few investors buy, thinking that asset prices can still go lower. It is a fact that only a handful of investors actually buy at the low or sell at the high. The odds of you being one of them are quite remote.

In the end, one has to have confidence in one’s view of the future to sell when you think the assets are overpriced and to buy when they appear underpriced.

Given the rise in equity prices we’ve seen since last November, you might conclude that this column is about selling at the highs. But, it is actually about the other pole — buying at the lows.

To set the stage, I need to discuss the two major views of the macroeconomic landscape that exist today among major market players.

• View 1: Underlying economic factors are getting stronger, and soon we willsee much-improved economic growth. Pundits here point to a housing market that appears to be healing (prices are once again rising), to a consumer confident enough to continue to consume despite increasing taxes, to record-setting corporate profits and to a stronger employment market.

• View 2: The basic economy is weak and is being propped up by money printing. The

Fed has targeted the equity markets, hoping the “wealth effect,” via rising equity prices, will translate into increased consumption and economic growth.

The Fed is committed to the money-printing policy untilsignificant economic growth occurs. Pundits here point to a housing market dependent on historically low interest rates, a consumer not capable of borrowing, record-low capital expenditures on the part of businesses which have and hold a record amounts of cash, and a continuing fall in real income.

Europe is in an intense recession, and China’s economy markedly has slowed. In addition, the job creation numbers, they say, are misleading. Of the 293,000 jobs created in April, 278,000 were part time and 309,000 were from self-employment. That means that full-time payroll employment fell by 294,000.

Those who hold view 1 believe that the stock market will go higher yet. View 2 holders believe that the equity market is overvalued and, as soon as there is a signalfrom the

Fed that the money printing willslow, that market will correct.

One thing is for sure:If we don’t get robust economic growth, both in the U.S. and on a globalscale, we are going to see a continuation of the money-printing policies by all of the major central banks CentralBank, Bank of England, Bank ofJapan), at least until “recognized” inflation becomes an issue.

The policymakers at those central banks have told us so. Both our Fed and the Bank ofJapan have set inflation targets. And, while the targets appear low (2.0 percent in the U.S. and 2.5 percent in Japan), we all know from common everyday experience (and from private sector studies) that the realrate of inflation is much higher than officially recognized.

Monetary policy, by the way, operates with a long and variable lag as we were taught during the inflation experience of the late 1970s and early 1980s. So, by the time an inflation is officially recognized, it is wellestablished and quite hard to quell.

We should also acknowledge that we have never had monetary policy conducted with such experimental tools and don’t yet know the unintended consequences.

Finally, the independence of the central banks from their respective governments is now questionable, especially since the Abe government in Japan browbeat that central bank into submission to its money-printing views.

Remember buy low? Because of the slow growth worldwide, all of the equity prices of naturalresource and commodity stocks and of the commodities themselves are at or near cyclical lows. Copper, coal and agricultural commodities are good examples in the raw commodity space, while in the equity area we have cyclical lows in mining stocks and iron and steelstocks. Oil and natural gas, on the other hand, both are at lows because ofslack demand and because of the large new supplies coming online in the U.S.

Under either view 1 or view 2, these look attractive. Can their prices go lower? Of course. In all my years of trading, I think I bought at the printed low only a handful of times.

If view 1 turns out to be correct, demand for basic materials and commodities willrise along with their prices.

Under view 2, either we will get economic growth or inflation.

If we end up with the latter, commodities and basic materials act as inflation protection hedges.

The mention ofsecurities/commodities should not be considered an offer to sell or solicitation to buy investments mentioned. Consult your investment professional to understand the risks and/or how the purchase or sale of these investments may be implemented to meet your investment goals.