Who Is Marc Faber?

Oct 01

Posted by Kristjan Velbri | Posted in People | Posted on 01-10-2009

Dr. Marc Faber, often referred to as Dr. Doom, is a well known financial analyst who often appears on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox and other TV and radio programmes. He holds a very negative outlook for the world’s economy, but especially the United States. He sees hyperinflation and a possible war down the road for the nation of stars and stripes, war being a convenient way to divert attention from the real problem, namely the government’s fiscal position. Faber has an outstanding track record and he always presents his analysis in a way that allows the audience to challenge his position, or in other words, he doesn’t use fallacious arguments.

Marc Faber’s biography

Dr Marc Faber was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He went to school in Geneva and Zurich and finished high school with the Matura. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a PhD in Economics magna cum laude.

Between 1970 and 1978, Dr Faber worked for White Weld & Company Limited in New York, Zurich and Hong Kong.

Since 1973, he has lived in Hong Kong. From 1978 to February 1990, he was the Managing Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK) Ltd. In June 1990, he set up his own business, MARC FABER LIMITED which acts as an investment advisor and fund manager. You can read his full biography at Wikipedia.

What does he do?

Marc Faber is an independent financial analyst and economist, published and editor of the monthly Gloom Boom and Doom Report, which offers an overview of the economy and the stock market. He often appears on TV and radio where he voices his opinion in a very calm and yet convincing way. Oftentimes his views are interpreted as overly bearish and this leaves a lot of folks with no idea how to act. Actually, a lot of that negative information can be put to use when it is translated correctly into investing advice. Currently, Faber is very pessimistic of the US bond market, which in translation means that he thinks bond yields are going higher. Investing in funds or ETFs that are negatively correlated with US bonds is one way of using this information. For professional advice, it is always best to turn to a specialist, preferably someone you know you can trust.

What does his track record look like?

Famous for his contrarian approach to investing, Marc Faber does not run with the bulls or bait the bears but steers his own course through the maelstrom of international finance markets. In 1987 he warned his clients to cash out before Black Monday in Wall Street; he made them handsome profits by forecasting the burst in the Japanese Bubble in 1990; he correctly predicted the collapse in US gaming stocks in 1993; and he foresaw the Asia-Pacific financial crisis of 1997/98 and the resulting global volatility. On March 9 2009 Faber correctly predicted US stock market bottom.

Where I can find more about him and his work?

Since Dr. Faber is a regular guest on TV and radio, it is quite easy to keep yourself up to date with his recent work. You can always subscribe to his monthly newsletter, which is $200 a year, which makes for $17 a month. This is very cheap considering his insight and the research he puts into the report. However, if you don’t want to spend any money, you can always subscribe to his YouTube channel (well, it’s not actually his channel, it’s the channel of one of his fans). He is also a regular guest at Financial Sense Newshour and King World News, he appears on both shows at least once a month. If you are interested in his past predictions, have a look into the archives of FSN and KWN. I strongly encourage you to listen to his radio shows as they go more in depth than the TV appearances (no commercials there, either).

Recent appearances

Dr. Marc Faber of Fox Business (ignore the fact that it’s Fox) on September 25th
Dr. Faber’s Bloomberg interview on September 22nd
Dr. Faber on Financial Sense Newshour on September 19th
Dr. Faber on King World News on August 19th