Speaking on an interview on the Finsbury Growth and Income website, Train said that because over the long term stock markets go up, it is especially important when bad news is prevailing to be looking for the silver lining.
Two such silver linings Train has identified can be found in oil and Tesco’s recent woes.
While he admits that Tesco shareholders have had a torrid time of late and is glad he doesn’t currently own the stock, Train points out that its problems and those of the other food retailers amount to one thing – lower prices for shopper.
“That may not be great news if you are a food retailer, but it means that the outlook, in the medium term, for consumer expenditure in the UK has just improved,” he said.
The second silver lining is the 23% drop in the price of oil. While Train says that many people see this as a bearish signal, a sign that a new global recession is in the offing, he sees it as a positive thing.
“I think all a 23% fall in the oil prices does is present a multi-billion dollar dividend to users of energy all over the world, both consumers and corporations. It won’t be long before economists are beginning to model an increase in consumer demand and an improvement in corporate profitability as a result of that marked drop in the energy price,” he added.
