Stock Gain Is 'Dead Cat Bounce,' Aberdeen Asset Says

The rally in global stocks over the past month is a “dead cat bounce,” as companies report “terrible” earnings this year and the global recession persists, Aberdeen Asset Management Plc said.

Investors should instead focus on companies with strong balance sheets and sustainable business models that can weather the “severe recession,” Hugh Young, who oversees about $37 billion as managing director of Aberdeen Asset’s Asian unit, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. He favors regional financial companies and holds stakes in Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank Ltd.

The MSCI World Index fell 0.7 percent to 826.66 as of 4:49 p.m. in Singapore, taking its losses this week to 3.3 percent. The decline ended a four-week, 23 percent rally that came amid optimism government efforts worldwide to revive the global economy will succeed. The gauge has lost 10 percent this year.

“It does feel very much like a dead cat bounce if you like, or a bear market rally,” Young said. “The fundamentals for the stocks we’re looking at are not improving and this year is going to be pretty bloody for earnings, if not into next year as well.”
Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal- display televisions, today reported a 130 billion yen ($1.3 billion) loss, its first since 1956. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, yesterday posted a second-straight quarterly loss as the global recession reduced demand for the metal used in automobiles and appliances.

‘Comfortable Valuations’
The average analyst estimate for earnings at companies on the MSCI World Index has been slashed by 44 percent in the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Declines in the past year mean stocks are trading at “comfortable valuations,” allowing Aberdeen to add to its holdings as prices drop, Young said. Companies on the MSCI World trade at an average valuation of 13 times reported earnings, almost half its 10-year average multiple of 22 times.

Even so, Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the economic crisis, told Canada’s Business News Network yesterday he sees no reason to change his forecast that the U.S. economy will continue to contract through this year.

The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to a 25-year high of 8.5 percent last month, an April 3 government report showed. Japan’s exports sank 50.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the country’s Ministry of Finance said today.

Investor Jim Rogers said today the global capital markets haven’t reached “the final bottom” yet, echoing sentiments of fellow investors Marc Faber and George Soros, who predicted this week that the stock-market rally will falter.

“It’s too early to say that we’re out of the woods,” said Nader Naeimi, an investment strategist at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney, which manages about $85 billion. “You still have concerns about the health of the banking system and the depth of the global recession. There are some green shoots out there, but they’re fragile.”