2019年经济学人 两只股票的故事(2)

 

It is hard for banks to make money when yields on the safest of government bonds,

当最安全的政府债券收益率达到一定水平时，银行很难盈利，

the benchmark for lending rates, are negative, as they are in Europe.

和在欧洲一样，贷款利率的基准为负。

Banks face an additional threat from financial technology firms,

银行还面临着来自金融科技公司的威胁，

which do not share their burden of costly¹ branches or surplus staff.

这些公司不分担他们费钱的分支机构或过剩员工的负担。

Carmakers need pots of capital to equip them to make electric and self-driving cars. The returns are far from certain.

汽车制造商需要大量资金来装备自己，生产电动汽车和自动驾驶汽车。回报远不能确定。

It is easy to imagine a future in which status is less entwined with car ownership.

不难想象，在未来，社会地位与汽车拥有权之间的联系将会减少。

People may not care whether the robotaxi they fleetingly² occupy is a luxury car or a bog-standard saloon.

人们可能并不在乎他们乘坐的机器人出租车是豪车还是普通轿车。

Before then, the prospect³ of punitive⁴ American tariffs⁵ on European-made cars is looming⁶.

在此之前，美国对欧洲制造的汽车征收惩罚性关税的前景迫在眉睫。

The value-growth axis⁷ is different in Europe, because there are no homegrown tech giants.

在欧洲，价值增长的轴线是不同的，因为欧洲没有本土科技巨头。

The big stockmarket winners have been quality stocks.

股市的大赢家一直是优质股。

This is a category that combines stable profits and high return on capital with sensible debts and low staff turnover⁸.

这个类别是利润稳定、资本回报率高和债务合理以及员工流动率低的结合。

Many are consumer firms with strong brands, such as Nestlé, Diageo (a British drinks giant) and LVMH (a French luxury-goods firm).

许多都是拥有强大品牌的消费品公司，如雀巢、迪阿吉奥（英国饮料巨头）以及路易威登（法国奢侈品公司）。

Value investors¹⁰, however chastened, believe there is an opportunity here.

价值型投资者虽然受到了抑制，但他们相信仍有机会。

For them, the Daimler-type stock is the one to buy. True, carmakers (and banks) have their troubles. But value stocks usually do.

对他们而言，戴姆勒型的股票是值得购买的。没错，汽车制造商（以及银行）也有自己的困难。但价值型股票通常如此。

The trick is to buy them when everyone shuns¹² them, because that is when they are cheap.

诀窍在于，当所有人都在回避它们时，你就去买它们，因为这个时候它们很便宜。

The Nestlé-type stock is the sort of fad¹³ that the giddier sort of investor⁹ piles into, only to rue¹¹ overpaying as it falls back to earth.

雀巢型的股票是一种时尚，让眼花缭乱的投资者蜂拥而至，但当它跌落神坛，人们只后悔买价太高。

Well, perhaps. But why be a hero? An investor in a low-cost index fund can own both types of stock without worrying too much about relative value.

或许如此，但为什么要做英雄呢？低成本指数基金的投资者可以同时持有这两种股票，而不必过多担心相对价值。

A lot of stockpicking Americans stay away altogether. The cheap stocks look hopeless; the dear stocks look expensive.

很多选股的美国人两种都不买。便宜的股票看起来没啥希望，高价股票由太贵了。

So they don't buy at all, says Robert Buckland of Citigroup.

所以他们干脆不买股票，花旗银行的罗伯特·伯克兰说到。

The Nestlé-Daimler breach¹⁴ mirrors the divide within property markets in cities such as London.

雀巢和戴姆勒的缺口反映了伦敦等城市中地产市场的分歧。

You could try to make a killing¹⁵ on a fixer-upper in a down-at-heel suburb. That bet requires patience and luck.

你可以试着在破旧郊区的一处需要修葺的住宅区大赚一笔。这个赌注需要耐心和运气。

Or you could buy a nice house in a ritzy neighbourhood. It will not be cheap. But it may never get much cheaper.

或者你也可以在奢华的街区买一幢漂亮的房子。价格不菲，但也可能永远不会大降价。

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 fleetingly   

adv.飞快地，疾驰地

参考例句：

• The quarks and gluons indeed break out of confinement and behave collectively, if only fleetingly. 夸克与胶子确实打破牢笼而表现出集体行为，虽然这种状态转瞬即逝。 来自互联网

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

5 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

6 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

7 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

8 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

9 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

10 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

11 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

12 shuns   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• We must not reproach her, or she shuns us. 我们可不要责备她，否则她要躲避我们。 来自辞典例句
• Any of them shuns, impedes, or attempts at inspection. 一规避、妨碍或拒绝检查。 来自互联网

13 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

14 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。