You are currently viewing As quoted in Barron’s – September 23, 2002

As quoted in Barron’s – September 23, 2002

We didn’t expect a recovery from last year’s tragic events so quickly late in 2001, and our feelings are the same for the balance of 2002. It would be great to finish with an up year in equities but doing so would only rob Peter to pay Paul. All investors have to do is look at the most popular 20 stocks held by Merrill Lynch clients to see that Johnson & Johnson is down only 11.6% and ExxonMobil 14.5% and that the rest of the list is decimated with losses of over 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% and we are just talking about 2002 performance. This market has given investors opportunities to take advantage of this year, but one has to be very disciplined and nimble.