By law, trend forecaster Gerald Celente, publisher of Trends Journal, is prohibited from dispensing financial advice. But the analyst — boasting 30 years of accurate trend predictions — is indeed permitted to tout the growth-investing strategy for his own portfolio. In an interview, he told AdvisorOne just what that entails for 2011:
"I'm in gold primarily, silver next, and my cash is in Swiss francs and Canadian dollars. The Swiss are the money cockroaches of the world — they're not going anywhere. Canadian banks are much sounder [than American], and Canada has good natural resources," argues Celente.
An in-demand keynoter by firms such as Bank of America and American Express, Celente predicts that next year "the market will look good to investors because where else are you going to put your money? There used to be a time when people who didn't want risk would put it in savings. But if you do that now, you get nothing."
As for Celente's personal portfolio, "I'm betting the dollar down and buying gold. It's my retirement. In 20 years, gold will be worth a lot more than Chrysler and Merrill Lynch and all those legacy stocks. It's not as though you're investing in a company anymore. You're investing in private equity groups."
Otherwise, because of the "hardship-driven" violence he forecasts (see part one of this interview), Celente looks for continued booming business in the security industry, particularly for home alarms. He also sees opportunities in the alternative energy space, which he believes will "come of age" in 2011.
