Individuals actually don’t appear to be shopping for FTSE 100 shares proper now.

The financial outlook is dire. Inflation isn’t down as a lot as hoped, and rates of interest are nearly certain to go up some extra.

So it is sensible to avoid shares and wait till the outlook is brighter, proper?

Improper!

A greater manner

Effectively, I believe that’s the mistaken strategy. And there’s a much better investor than me who all the time mentioned the identical.

I’m speaking of Sir John Templeton, probably the most profitable contrarian traders of the twentieth century.

I make no apology for utilizing this quote from him once more, as I believe it may be on the crux of the most effective alternatives to purchase FTSE 100 shares ever.

In 1995 in Forbes, he wrote:

Persons are all the time asking me the place is the outlook good, however that’s the mistaken query. The best query is: The place is the outlook essentially the most depressing?

He liked catastrophe, did Sir John.

Purchase low cost shares

And he put his cash the place his mouth was too.

The outlook certain was depressing in 1939, at first of World Conflict II. So he borrowed $10,000 and put $100 into each US inventory he might discover that was priced at a greenback or much less.

Now, I’d by no means borrow cash to take a position. Not solely might I lose all of it, I might find yourself with a bunch of debt to repay.

However the gamble paid off for Sir John, and in 4 years he’d quadrupled his cash.

Being contrarian

When shares are on a bull run, we will all take pleasure in success and construct up some good money.

That’s why I believe the inventory market is one of the best place to take a position for the long run. Even when we simply go together with the crowds, the UK inventory market has overwhelmed different types of investing arms down for greater than a century.

However in gloomy occasions like right now, we will absolutely do even higher. Right here’s one other one from Sir John:

It’s unimaginable to supply superior efficiency until you do one thing completely different from the bulk.

In opposition to the crowds

Proper now, I’d say which means going towards the crowds and shopping for FTSE 100 shares whereas they’re out of trend.

Sir John’s focus was on development shares. However I reckon the identical strategy can work simply as nicely with dividend shares. Or with any technique a person investor likes greatest.

So, on my buying listing, I’ve banks and housebuilders providing dividend yields of 5%-6%. After which insurers with forecast yields of 8%-9%.

A lot of large yields

In truth, right now there are round 25 shares on the FTSE 100 with dividend yields of 5% or extra.

Isn’t there danger in shopping for shares that the large Metropolis people don’t need? Effectively, sure, there’s. The inventory market may nicely have a poor second half this 12 months, and shares might fall additional.

However over the long run, UK shares have averaged round 7%-8% whole returns per 12 months. And Shares and Shares ISA returns previously decade have averaged 9.6%.