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

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Clean Money - John Rubino: Book review

Clean Money by John Rubino 274 pages. Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley & Sons. 2009. 1st Edition. The bouyant stock market environment of the past several years is gone, and the financial wreckage of 2008 is still sharp in our minds as a new year starts to unfold. Given the recent across-the-board-declines in global stock markets (and most asset classes) that have left many investors shell-shocked, you might wonder if there is any good reason to consider the merits of a hot new investment theme, such as clean energy. However, we shouldn't be too hasty to write off all future stock investments. After all, the market declines of 2008 may continue into 2009, but they may also leave interesting investment opportunities in their wake. Which brings us to the subject of this review. John Rubino, author and editor of GreenStockInvesting.com , recently released a new book on renewable energy and clean-tech investing entitled, Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green Tech Boom . In Clean ...

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...