Skip to main content

Are we too bearish?

I've noticed a definite trend while looking over our last few "Features of the week" posts, and that is a recent preponderance of bad news.

Whether we're talking about the direction of global financial markets (mostly down this year) or the fate of the global economy, it seems that most of the news we are talking about here is of the "gloomy" variety.

In a way, this makes sense. When we look at the news related to the markets and the economy in recent months, we see that most of it is bad. In fact, one of the defining features of this recent downturn, or "economic crisis", is its ability to continually surprise to the downside.

In fact, I think it's safe to say that most people have been caught off guard by how quickly and how far certain problems could spread throughout our well-linked global financial system.

Yes, there's been an avalanche of news regarding falling markets and never-ending bailouts over the past several months, and it seems only natural that we cover those stories and trends here.

At the same time, we've also tried to stay open to the possibility of stock market rebounds following sharp declines, while focusing on some of the bright spots and outperformers in this market environment.

Besides, not everyone is convinced that we are headed for a next Great Depression; just ask Irving Kahn.

So in keeping with the promise made in our "Themes for October" post, we will continue to try and balance the sentiment by tracking some of the more positive trends in the financial markets.

Tomorrow we'll have a new post highlighting possible investment opportunities as seen by some well-regarded investors, including Julian Robertson, John Hussman, Jim Rogers, and Jeremy Grantham.

Join us for that, and as always, feel free to add your thoughts to the discussion!

Popular posts from this blog

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4.

Moneyball: How the Red Sox Win Championships

Welcome, readers . T o get the first look at brand new posts (like the following piece) and to receive our exclusive email list updates, please subscribe to the Finance Trends Newsletter .   The Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title of t he 21st century this we ek. Having won their first Se ries in 86 years back in 200 4, the last decade-plus has marked a very strong return to form for one of baseball's oldest big league clubs. So how did they do it? Quick background: in late 2002, team own er and hedge fund manager, John W. Henry (with his partners ) bought the Boston Red Sox and its historic Fenway Park for a reported sum of $ 695 million. Henry and Co. quickly set out to find their ideal General Manager (GM) to help turn around their newly acquired, ailing ship. This brings us to one of my fav orite scenes from the 2011 film , Moneyball , in which John W. Henry (played by Ar liss Howard) attempts to woo Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (Brad Pi

William O'Neil Interview: How to Buy Winning Stocks

Investor's B usiness Daily founder and veteran stock trader, William O'Neil share d his trading methods and insights on buying winning stocks in an in-depth IBD radio interview. Here are some highlights from William O'Neil's interview with IBD: William O'Neil's interest in the stock market began when he started working as a young adult.  "I say many times that I didn't get that much out of college. I didn't have much interest in the stock market until I graduated from college. When I got married, I had to look out into the future and get more serious. The investment world had some appeal and that's when I started studying it. I became a stock broker after I got out of the Air Force."    He moved to Los Angeles and started work in a stock broker's office with twenty other guys. When their phone leads from ads didn't pan out, O'Neil would take the leads and drive down to visit the prospective customers in person.