Byron Wien: Update on "10 Surprises for 2010"

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Byron Wien, Vice Chairman of Blackrock Advisory Services, provides an update on some of his “10 surprises for 2010” (published in January) and shares his ideas on what the economic recovery means for investors.

Source: CNBC, April 16, 2010.

CNBC - April 7, 2010 - Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Services said crude oil will hit $100 a barrel while gold will reach $1,500 an ounce by the end of this year.

“The emerging markets are consuming more and more oil all the time,” Wien said.

“The developing world consumes a little over 20 million barrels a day and they’re going to add one million barrels a day every year for the next 20 years. I don’t know where it’s all going to come from—the price is going up.”

Wien pointed out that while U.S. per capita consumption is approximately 25 barrels of oil each year, in China and India the numbers are contrastedly lower at near 2 and 0.9 barrels respectively.

“There’s no way China and India are going to stay at 2 and 0.9,” said Wien and added he is “very positive” on the energy sector.

Wien added that the rising gold price has “nothing to do with geopolitical risk or inflation.”

“Most people’s assets are in financial instruments and gold is an insurance against financials and the erosion of the value of financials, the dollar, and the purchasing power of paper currencies,” he explained.

“You can buy gold ETFs; if you’ve got a lot of money, you can buy gold and stack it away.”

Some investment options for consideration:

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)
Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS)

BMG BullionFund (Canadian Mutual Fund)