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The world is becoming more interconnected every day. If you watch any financial television channel or read the news online, you are most likely aware of how events in one country seem to have an ever-increasing effect on other countries worldwide.
Certain aspects of globalization can have positive benefits. Still, when threats of a financial crisis, war, global recession, trade imbalances, etc. do occur, it often leads to the talk of moving money to safer investments and increasing government deficits. This rising uncertainty can confuse even the well-informed investor.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- There is always a level of risk and uncertainty when investing, which increases in wars, recessions, pandemics, and other negative occurrences.
- When times are tough, investors move their money from equities to safer assets, such as precious metals, government bonds, and money-market instruments.
- The move of investor capital from equities to safer assets causes the stock market to depreciate.
- Uncertainty impacts the economy on both the micro and macro levels: On the micro level, it focuses on companies and individuals, while on the macro level, it focuses on the overall economy, such as global oil prices and the flight of capital.
- Being well-informed and adjusting your investment strategy as events change over time will allow you to invest wisely during uncertain times.
- Diversification is a key investment strategy that prevents significant losses if one area of your portfolio takes a serious hit.
The Impact of Uncertainty on Investing
Any time you put money at risk in an attempt to profit, there is an inherent level of uncertainty. When new threats such as war or recession arise, uncertainty increases significantly as companies can no longer accurately predict their future earnings.
As a result, institutional investors will reduce their holdings in unsafe stocks and move the funds to other asset classes like precious metals, government bonds, and money-market instruments. This sell-off, which occurs as large portfolios reposition themselves, can cause the stock market to depreciate.
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Uncertainty is the inability to forecast future events. People can’t predict the extent of a possible recession, such as when it will start/end, how much it will cost, or what companies will be able to make it through unscathed.
Most companies normally predict sales and production trends for the investing public to follow, assuming normal market conditions, but increasing uncertainty levels can make these numbers significantly inaccurate.
Micro and Macro Risks
Uncertainty can affect the economy on both the micro and macro levels. Uncertainty on a micro-level center around the effect on individual companies within an economy faced with the threat of war or recession, while uncertainty on a macro-level tends to focus more on the economy as a whole.
Micro Risks
From a micro-level, company-specific viewpoint, uncertainty is a major concern for those producing consumer goods daily. For example, consumption may fall during a recession as individuals avoid purchasing new cars, gadgets, and other non-essentials.
This uncertainty may force companies in certain sectors to lay off some of their employees to combat the impacts of lower sales. The uncertainty surrounding a company’s sales also extends into the stock market. Consequently, stock prices of companies that produce non-essential goods sometimes experience a sell-off when levels of uncertainty rise.
Macro Risks
On a macro level, uncertainty is magnified if the countries at war are major suppliers or consumers of goods. A good example is a country that supplies much of the world’s oil. Should this country go to war, uncertainty regarding the level of the world’s oil reserves would grow. Because the oil demand would be high and the supply uncertain, a country unable to produce enough oil within its borders would be required to ensure enough oil was stored to cover operations. As a result, the price of oil would increase.
Another macro-level event that affects companies and investors is the flight of capital and devaluation of exchange rates. When a country faces the threat of war or recession, its economy is considered uncertain.
Investors attempt to move their currency away from unstable sources to stable ones. For example, a country’s currency under the threat of war may be sold, and the currencies from countries without the threat may be bought instead. The average investor probably would not do this, but the large institutional investors and currency futures traders would. These actions translate into a devaluation of exchange rates.
Investing Strategies for Uncertain Times
When heightened uncertainty arises, the best defense is to be as well-informed as possible. Keep updated by following news that impacts markets and researching individual companies. Analyze which sectors have more to gain and lose in a crisis, and decide on a long-term plan.
Tip: Investing in gold has been a popular strategy during hard economic times, primarily because gold has an intrinsic value.
Times of heightened uncertainty can lead to great opportunities for investors who position themselves to take advantage of it. Some investors might go on the offensive and search for companies that provide goods or services that will lead to great returns when things turn around. It is difficult to commit capital during uncertain times, but it can often reap huge rewards in the long run. Those who want to mitigate uncertainty and risk might be content leaving their money where it is or perhaps moving it to safer securities.
Diversification is always a key investing tactic, and not only in times of uncertainty. Having your investments spread across various assets, such as stocks, bonds, and precious metals, helps soften the blow if one area depreciates quickly.
Furthermore, investing in different regions, sectors, and industries also increases diversification. For example, if all of your investments in oil companies and oil prices dived because of an outbreak of war in the Middle East, you would be at a significant risk of loss. If you also had investments in the technology sector and renewable energy, your portfolio would not be impacted as much.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of which strategy you decide to take (if any), you can’t go wrong over the long term by keeping yourself well-informed and taking advantage of prices when things reverse. Staying on top of news and adjusting your portfolio accordingly will help you invest wisely during uncertain times.
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