Changes in investment emphasis

From a cyclical point of view, companies in Europe are likely to face a tougher time in the future than they have during the past year. This is for two main reasons. The first is a tightening in the region's extremely lax monetary conditions, caused by a decline of more than 20% in the value of the euro against the US dollar since the euro's inception in January 1999. The second reason is the fact that global growth rates appear to have peaked after recovering strongly in the aftermath of the Asian crisis. The likely result is that fewer companies in Europe will remain as profitable and t...