We've all heard people say, "I saw the writing on the wall."
The phrase often begins a story about how a person prepared for a change they saw coming.
Many times the story is about work life -- for example, the person who picks up on hints about a company-wide "downsizing." That individual would start sending out resumes, even while other employees believe things are humming along well.
It's the difference between knowledge before vs. after the fact. The person who anticipated -- and acted -- was in a much better position.
Anyone can wait until a change is obvious. It takes discernment and backbone to act ahead of time, especially when others are acting so normally -- blissfully unaware. (There's also the fact that when it comes to exactly what "writing on the wall" will mean, 100% certainty doesn't exist.)
Brian Whitmer is our European Financial Forecast editor: He believes the writing is spelled out clearly on the eurozone's wall. Here's his comment from the February issue:
"Today's bullish sentiment is nearly as strong as it was during the largest market tops in the past 12 years."
Brian also discusses the current sentiment readings, and says: "These gauges only confirm what we have detailed with countless other charts over the past few months."
One of those charts was in the October 2010 European Financial Forecast. We've republished it below (wave labels removed): It shows how British investors have embraced risk during the rally (AIM is London's high beta market):
Brian goes on to spell out other "hints" he's picking up about Europe's financial and economic story, which you can read about in the February European Financial Forecast.
With your risk-free read of the European Financial Forecast, you can also get a FREE viewing of Brian's NEW 32-minute webinar recording. As you watch, Brian answers questions like:
Will the debt problems of "peripheral" or Southern Europe (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Greece) likely spill over into the "core" of Europe?
You'll also learn Brian's analysis of credit default swaps in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Plus you'll see a 70-year chart of Britain's FTSE, which communicates even more "writing on the wall" for investors.