Wary of Mideast Blowup, Many Brokers Aren't Pushing Stocks
NEW YORK -- Just a few weeks ago, many of Ted Peck's clients were awash in stocks. Some were even borrowing money to buy still more shares.</br></br>Now the Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. broker says he has slashed some clients' stock exposure to 40% and cut back the leverage. It's no time to bet big on stocks, he tells many of them.</br></br>"You don't bottom fish in shark-infested waters," advises Mr. Peck. Noting the external forces playing on the stock market these days, he sighs and says, "This is in the laps of the gods."</br></br>Since the October 1987 stock-market crash, Wall Street has lectured investors to buy on stock-price drops, and that strategy has largely paid off. But some brokers and Wall Street executives say this time is different: There are too many unpredictable forces -- Middle East tensions, volatile oil prices and the budget deficit -- to prod investors back into the market just yet, they say.</br></br>With such potential market minefields out there, "It's kind of hard to ask people to take risks," says Raymond "Chip" Mason, chairman of brokerage firm Legg Mason Inc., Baltimore. "That's why you're not seeing many (brokers) saying, `Go, go, go.'"