Barbed Wire And Guns

According to Anthony Fry economic conditions will not be improving any time soon.

“The current problems will be with us for 5 years or more and uncertainty is very high," Fry said.

"Sentiment is extremely volatile as shown by the collapse of the Prudential’s attempt to buy AIA. When the deal was thought up just a few months ago it was a very different world,” Fry told CNBC on Monday.

Fry says the best we can hope for in the current environment is a soft landing, but sees little chance of this happening.

“Look at the current situation. You have Greece, now you have Hungary and huge issues surrounding Spain and Portugal,” he said.

Fry believes many European banks have yet to fess up on losses and says governments across the world are between a rock and a hard place.

“Governments need to cut spending and raise money and if they do not do so credibly will be killed by the bond market demanding higher rates,” he said.

Pretty gloomy, huh? Well that was just the intro. He gets more pessimistic as he looks at what is likely to be done versus what needs to be done.

So how about some investing advice in this climate? He has that. In spades or sticks of dynamite depending.

...Fry is telling investors to play it safe and buy physical assets like land.

“I don’t want to scare anyone but I am considering investing in barbed wire and guns, things are not looking good and rates are heading higher,” he said.

Why am I not encouraged by this advice? I can imagine another question that might elicit a similar response. "Would you like that coffin in teak or mahogany?"

H/T Diogenes at Talk Polywell