Ray Dalio of Bridgewater

You may not have heard of Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, but in the investment world he is right up there with Warren Buffett and Bill Gross.

Bridgewater is one of most successful hedge fund operators. After returning nearly +45% (!) last year for its investors, Bridgewater now manages roughly $59 billion, which makes it one of the largest funds in the world.

From time-to-time I have subscribed to Bridgewater's research, and have found it very useful (unfortunately, I have not been able to achieve the same level of investment success!).

So when I came across this interview with Ray Dalio that first appeared on CNBC I thought I should take a look.

If you have time (the interview lasts about 24 minutes) I would suggest you take a look as well.

As you can see from the interview, Dalio thinks that 2011 will still be a good year for stocks, but is less sanguine about the prospects for 2012.

He thinks that we continue to be in a deleveraging part of the business cycle, which will cause growth in the U.S. to be sluggish for a number of years.