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Guest Post: Reality Vs Belief
Submitted by Lance Roberts of StreetTalkLive blog,
In this past weekend's missive I showed, in rather excruciating detail in multiple charts, that complacency in the financial markets is at extremely elevated levels. I equated this "complacency" to the danger of driving down an isolated freeway very late at night:
“The sky is clear, the music is on, you become a bit hypnotized as the road stripes regularly tick by...and then - WHAM! A deer runs out in front of you.”
It is much the same with the markets. As prices steadily rise - investors become lulled into a false sense of security. Since bull markets tend to grind their way higher – investors began to believe that the rise will be unending as the mainstream analysts encourage continued risk taking. Each time investor's fall victim to the belief that somehow, or for some reason, this time will be different. However, it is in this moment of extreme complacency that **** happens - “WHAM!”
The chart below shows you what I mean.
The reason that investor's perform so poorly over long periods of time is that investors continually extrapolate current trends (reality) indefinitely into the future (belief). It is in that moment, when "contrarian investment views" are regularly disregarded as irrational fears, that a new "reality" presents itself.
In 1999 - it was the age of technology that justified lofty valuations. Old valuation metrics no longer mattered...until they did.
In 2003 it was believed that the market would continue going down as the internet bubble collapsed from its own weight. It didn't.
In 2007-08 it was the "Goldilocks" economy and "subprime" issues were contained while banks and hedge funds had eliminated market risks. They weren't and they didn't.
In late February of 2009, as I wrote the article entitled "8 Reasons For A Bull Market," it was believed that the markets had nowhere to go but further down. The unwinding of the financial crisis and destruction of the real estate market was far from over.
Each time as "belief" separated from "reality" investors repeatedly made the same emotional mistakes either selling at bottoms or buying at tops. Today is no different. With mainstream analysts goading them forward - investors who have remained cautious, until now, are throwing in the towel. The "belief" has now become that global liquidity injections, from the Fed to Japan to Europe, have changed the game offsetting any risks of being invested in equity related investments. However, just as we have seen repeatedly in the past, that "belief" may be flawed and it is possible that a new "reality" may be set to form sooner rather than later.
This past week I posted a piece by Mebane Faber entitled "You Are Not A Good Investor" which goes to much the same point. Mebane Faber stated:
“So why do most people think they are great investors? Likely the same reason most people think they are better drivers than average, and are certainly better looking than average. It is a built in behavioral bias floating around in our genetics passed down from our ancestors many years ago.
Don't be too downtrodden; stock picking is hard, really, really, hard. The basic odds are stacked against you. My friends at Longboard Asset Management completed a study called The Capitalism Distribution that examined stock returns from the top 3000 stocks from 1983-2007. They found that:
- 39% of stocks were unprofitable investments.
- 19% of stocks lost at least 75% of their value.
- 64% of stocks underperformed the index.
- 25% of stocks were responsible for all the market's gains.
Simply picking a stock out of a hat means you have a 64% chance of underperforming a basic index fund, and roughly a 40% chance of losing money!
Not only is it hard to pick stocks, you are also up against the most talented investors in the world.
There is a famous saying in poker, 'If you sit down at the table and don't know who the fish is – you're the fish.' Most people who sit down at a poker table with a professional player will quickly lost all of their money. While luck can have an influence in the short term, eventually the outcome is near certain. Most individual investors do not know that they are the fish in the game known as Wall Street...”
Investors behave much the same way as individuals who addicted to gambling. When they are winning they believe that their success is based on their skill. However, when they began to lose, they keep gambling thinking the next “hand” will be the one that gets them back on track. Eventually - they leave the table broke.
It is true that bull markets are more fun than bear markets. Bull markets elicit euphoria and feelings of psychological superiority. Bear markets bring fear, panic and depression.
What is interesting is that no matter how many times we continually repeat these “cycles” – as emotional human beings we always “hope” that somehow this “time will be different.”
Unfortunately, it never is, and this time won’t be either.
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Deerstew.... HHHMMMMM....
This markets levitation act puts David Blaine's to shame....
That's why it can be best characterized as an "illusion."
"They're not tricks Michael, they're illusions"
-GOB Bluth
It's collective manic-depressive insanity:
http://www.spiritoftruth.org/Thesis/Intro
Most would say it's hard to kick a crack habit when all the lights in the casino are flashing dollar dollar bills yall...
Can't we just regulate and tax deer traffic?
We do! The deer paid his tax!
But this time is different
This time IS different. Berstinkie has the back of the stock market and will buy all stocks at higher prices. Trust in Bertwinkie!!
I wouldn't count on him turning off the spigots anytime soon and that chart doesn't begin to show the change in the real value of a dollar or the shitty rates for savers. Party on! But, one wrong word from the Bernanke and it all comes tumbling down. Like you, I can't see it anytime soon.
One day Bertwinkie becomes BurntWanker.
If it doesn't end soon then the Government/Corproate alliance will have a major (more major) stake in the means of production. And that leaves us where?
One thing will be different this time. Bernanke won't be able to print his way out of the coming shit storm. Inflation will consume everything that isn't nailed down. ( it's already starting to)
For the past 2 years, gold has been down, and the U.S. market up. That's a reality. The predominate ZH belief during this period was that gold would be the superior investment. How many here can man up and admit that?
'Up' in what, Bernank ClownBux? So what?
What are you going to do when the stawks can't possibly keep pace with rising prices? Or, when tissue paper markets crumble one of these days when it's 'our turn' once again?
The market has been POMOed and QEed up. The market doesn't reflect reality in any way. Why don't you man up and admit that? Look at bond yields, unemployment, food and oil prices.
Re "The market has been POMOed and QEed up. The market doesn't reflect reality in any way. Why don't you man up and admit that?"
On the contrary, the market reflects exactly that. What it doesn't reflect are the conditions inthe underlying economy, but at the moment the forces created by POMO and QE appear to be in control of the market.
How long that will continue to be the case is anyone's guess, of course. I'm surprised that it's gone on this long, but then again, I thought 1987 was the end of the road for us, and that was a quarter of a century ago.
I'm still up >100% on a cost-averaged basis - with much less risk than I would've had in the markets. If you want to try and time that shit and put all of your hard-earned wealth into a musical chairs game rigged for the chosen - knock yourself out. On my time horizon and risk tolerance, I'll just keep on stacking, thank you.
Anybody buying gold as an investment gets what they deserve. The smart people buying Au and Ag do so to preserve wealth. If the price goes up -- and it will over the long haul -- that's a bonus.
For the past 2 years, gold has been down, and the U.S. market up. That's a reality. The predominate ZH belief during this period was that gold would be the superior investment. How many here can man up and admit that?
you knew when you posted that, that you were being situationaly politically incorrect and going to receive down votes didn't you?
Are you seriously suggesting that attention whores crave attention?
Actually I was suggesting it is a brave man that goes against the heard
I bet you herd that somewhere else.
Pimping the markets is contrarian now?
And for the past 5 years (since the last collapse), GLD is up 78% (12% annually) and SPX is up 19% (4% annually).
How's my Solyndra Stock doing? I was going to trade it for silver a couple years ago, but my full fee retail broker suggested I stay green. It would make me feel better about myself.
Joe moneybags said: "How many here can man up and admit that?"
Let's see, tangibles that hold their value or paper profits that can be vaporized overnight?
Hmmm...
Considering the people running the economy, I'll man up and go with tangibles I can personally defend.
Same old shit....I'm off to believe myself up a steak sandwich for lunch. Oh wait...that only works in the world of finance and economics.
Just move the deer crossing zone signs. Problem fixed.
That won't work, stupid. Deer can't read.
Donna the Deer Lady thinks they can.
http://mashable.com/2012/10/18/donna-the-deer-lady/
The entire stock market since about 1985 hasn't reflected reality, it it ever has in history. Which is a pretty good point to make.
When has the stock market actually reflected the true underlying economic reality?
Stocks shot up in the 20s, it was all because of credit expansion, not because people used real earned money to pay for the economic growth. The same can be said for the past thirty years.
The stagflation of the 70s wasn't actually that bad for most middle class people. Sure there weren't a ton of opportunities to get rich quick, but people did work and small business actually did quite well. The 1980s rolled around and the best place to be was on the board of a company that might get bought out, perhaps at a valuation two or three times what the company was worth a few days before. If you were a common employee, you were screwed.
It seems the times the stock market shot up rapidly, people employed in the productive sector suffer the most. If you were lucky to get a job in the new "growth" sector, you probably had three or four real good years of employment, and then poof it was gone and you were dead ass broke because most of your wealth was probably tied up in the stock of the company you worked for. When homes were doubling in value every couple years, people didn't care about their jobs because they could make more money flipping their home than working for ten years.
People flocked to areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Florida because the property markets were so hot. In doing so hey completely destabilized the entire economic matrix of the country. Plus they destroyed the environmental balance of the southwest trying to turn deserts into posh tropical paradises with one golf course for every 100 people.
please listen ... BTFD ...
The longer we are wrong,the more right we will be!!
Yeah, well look at NUGT. It's risky, but here at 5 bucks and change? It WAS over 30 18 mos ago. I don't have the balls to buy much of it, but 1000 shares looks like a reasonable bet. Meanwhile, fuck Bernanke and all the rest of the banking thieves.
Is it me or is it funny listening to the desperation "It's a stock pickers market!!!" ranting by every asset manager that is underperformig their benchmark.
If this market goes up another 10-20% uninterrupted the financial advisory business will be a wasteland. All hail Vanguard.
Then we tank.
Not to mention the ever present "experts" who counsel people to "not try to time the market" and "to buy good companies and hold their stock for the long term". So, even though many of the sheeple do make paper profits during the bull phase, they "hold for the long term" during bear market declines and wind up getting nowhere. This effect can be clearly seen in the zigzag pattern of that chart.
And there is a huge zag on the way...
Re: "Not to mention the ever present "experts" who counsel people to "not try to time the market" and "to buy good companies and hold their stock for the long term"
On the contrary, timing the market is everything. You don't have to get the exact tops and bottoms, but somewhere in the bottom half is where you want to enter a position, and somewhere in the top half is where you want to exit. Thus the popular sayings, "the best time to buy is when blood is running in the streets", and "the best time to sell is when there's irrational exuberance".
This is exactly the opposite of what your many investors do, which is to sell in a panic (I've done this myself) and buy in euphoria (I'm never euphoric). It's true that dollar-cost averaging is far better than this, which is why buy-and-hold might not be a bad strategy for the average person.
Oh yes, and one more saying: "Sell in May and go away." Or invest in an inverse ETF.
YOU can bet your sweet ass that when the time comes for the fat lady to quit dancing, JPM, GS, and the rest of the demonic HFT owners will will have sold out, placing their short bets, counting their profits, and the hapless & hairless sheeple will be left standing on all fours wondering what the fuck happened to them, AGAIN. Until next shearing season, good luck............................
The last "Fat Lady" that I danced with was unfortunetly drunk, and fell on me. Now I depend on my disability check every month to buy a few grams of au. I guess theres a parable in there, somewhere.
Gold Mining Stocks
Northrup Grumman
Make a note of this note, date and time.
Get back to me in 8 months,
There, some of us are able to do this.
I just know I'm going to hit the progressive on that triple 777's machine in Vegas next trip; I can feel it!
Oh, I'm buying stocks too, Apple's looking cheap here - and Financials too.
Pump it up Bernanke, you stupid motherfucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xr22b_elvis-costello-pump-it-up_music#....
Most stocks at 52 week highs.
The bots at CNBC act as if everything is fantastic!
RE is up. Airlines are up. Financials are all up. Portable technology is way up. Now it's Netflix that's the bomb (again).
I thought the motto of "don't fight The Fed" made a lot of sense in 2009-2010.
But now? It's literally off the charts.
this time the CB got ya back!
There is nothing sweeter than a good deal and there is no better deal than something for nothing, but the truely wealthy fully understand that to make real money you have to be the one selling the tickets. Its always those looking for the deal that are the first to be fleeced. Unforntunately the gamblers have figured out how to back their bets with our limited wealth, and when the deal goes sour, some one comes knocking on our door. We were all Greeks but are soon becoming Cypriots.
Was there a prediction in this article?
If so, I missed it.
We are pretty much at the top of the belief ramp, before reality and a dump set in.
The Chinese said it 2000 years ago.
Thankfully, most people are too egocentric to recognise they have weaknesses.
Zimbabwe market is higher than our....so don't talk about fundamentals!
Reality
Belief
Looks like what I'm calling for: http://flic.kr/p/e3JjRS , Mar16