As stock markets across the world bounce around with each twist and turn of the plan for a $700 billion bailout package for U.S. financial companies, global experts are recommending that investors add more diversification to their portfolios.
rong> Look to Land and Hedges Investors should be fully diversified to include exposure to real estate and hedge funds, say Joe Terranova, chief alternative strategist at Virtus Investment Partners and Diane Garnick, investment strategist at Invesco. Time To Clean Out the Garbage If we get a rally out of this market, you have a chance to clean up your portfolio, says Dan Genter, RNC Genter Capital Management. He recommends investors look at consumer stocks, energy companies, healthcare companies and others that are going to gain no matter who wins the election. Companies like Chesapeake , Diamond Offshore and Teva . Companies that have been “knighted to be consolidators,” like Bank of America and JPMorgan are also a good option. Cox a Problem, GE a Bargain? Christopher Cox is very unsophisticated and the wrong man for the job, says Mad Money's Jim Cramer. Just the same, he adds, the SEC's discussion about reinstating the uptick rule is right on. “We gotta stop with this false nature of banning the shorts,” he says. “Welcome the shorts, the shorts have been dead right.” As for Buffett's $3 billion move into GE , Cramer says this may well be investors' last chance to buy GE cheaply. IBM , on the other hand, is caught in the web of companies that think they need financing and nobody trusts anybody that needs financing right now. Head for Dividends In troubled times, cyclical stocks still offer value on the short side, and stay close to stocks with high dividend yields and strong cashflow on the long side, advises David Chon, founding partner at Atlas Capital Management. Gold at $1,500 in 2 Years Aaron Smith, managing director at Superfund Financial, sees gold as a good bet as he believes it will rise to $1000 an ounce by year-end, and $1500 in two, three years' time. Safe-Haven Plays in Bonds Investors looking for long-term safe-havens should buy supranational bonds like the World Bank and people looking for pure corporate debt should steer clear of financials, Marc Ostwald from Monument Securities, told CNBC Wednesday.