Again With the Bubbles?


A few years back - it seems like an eternity today - the U.S. stock market experienced a severe bubble burst. Legitimate stocks rose beyond reasonable valuations and ideas merely in the germination stage sold for prices far beyond those of real proven companies. When the bubble burst, billions of dollars of shareholder value evaporated. One would have thought we'd learned our lesson.

Today, Yahoo and EBay, the two leading internet companies, again sell for prices beyond reasonable value. Again, people seem content to listen to a good story and place unrealistic valuations on companies that have no earnings or real prospects. Google's recent IPO is proof positive that the market is still bubble-icious. Even stocks like General Electric are selling at prices above what the market should bear. What's the story?

The story is, very simply, that we don't learn lessons very well. Also, if you think about it, a lot of people actually made money back in the late 90's during the bubble. So, there's a case to be made for gambling on another similar adventure. If we can survive the "greater fool" theory, and find someone willing to pay more than we are, it almost doesn't seem dangerous to buy a stock that has little or no intrinsic value, as long as there's a belief that someone else might eventually pay more. So much for value investing!

No, the "experts" are now convinced that stocks and markets do not move in line with actual events, but instead move along with emotions and trends. Thus, the big money is chasing itself, going where it goes simply because it is going there. Does that make sense to you? I hope not.

We've held firmly to the seemingly outdated position that value does matter. We differ from some value investors, such as Warren Buffett, who avoids technology and new ideas: we do believe such stocks can have merit. We also hold firm to the idea that stocks will eventually return to their real value?or at least move toward that point in the end.

In these days when emotion seems to dominate reason, it is not unlikely for the whipsaw effect to be stronger than the reality effect. But we believe that, even in the midst of such insanity, having a focus on reality is worth something?even if no one else believes it.

For questions or comments, Scott Pearson can be reached directly at Scott@valueview.net or by visiting www.valueview.net

Scott Pearson is an investment advisor, writer, editor, instructor, and business leader. As President and Chief Investment Officer of Value View Financial Corp., he offers investment management services to a wide variety of clients. His own newsletter, Investor's Value View, is distributed worldwide and provides general money tips and investment advice to readers both internationally, and in the U.S.


MORE RESOURCES:

Financial planning: It pays to start right
American Chronicle, CA - Aug 26, 2008
Assets can be your bank balance, investment in stocks, mutual funds, gold, property, insurances, vehicles etc. And liabilities are the loans to repay (they ...


Inheritance strategy: Pay off credit cards, evaluate the mortgage
CreditCards.com, TX - Aug 26, 2008
Stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) are among different types of variable investments. With fixed investments, you receive a fixed rate of ...


Insurers to tap into real estate
Shanghai Daily, China - Aug 25, 2008
The investment channels could be widened to marketable securities such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds and real estate, according to the draft, submitted to ...


Money Tip: ETFs stable in turbulent markets
Baxter Bulletin, AR - Jul 25, 2008
Trading in exchange-traded funds has been stable and strong despite recent troubles in financial markets. Like mutual funds, ETFs are single investments ...


SEC Weighs Overhaul of 'Index' Annuities
Wall Street Journal - Aug 16, 2008
But the SEC wants indexed annuities to be considered "securities," just like stocks, mutual funds and even variable annuities. ...


Ibbotson Selected by ING Financial Advisers to Create Model ...
MarketWatch - Aug 13, 2008
Morningstar provides data on more than 280000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 18 ...


New investor email lists and leads posted - including active real ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Aug 20, 2008
... finance executives, owners of tax free investments, Canadian investment responders, individuals interested in stocks, mutual funds, rare coins, ...


Banking crisis a surprise most saw coming
The Age, Australia - Aug 5, 2008
And, as the FDIC site explains, it does not insure investments held in banks such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds, life insurance policies, or municipal ...


Easy-to-Use Solution Allows Retirement Plans to Offer Allocation ...
MarketWatch - Aug 6, 2008
Morningstar provides data on more than 270000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 18 ...


Investing early is best strategy
Miramichi Leader, Canada - Aug 19, 2008
You can invest in equity in many ways: stocks, mutual funds, indexes or private companies. Yes, there are risks, but there is also the potential for greater ...

Stocks-Mutual-Funds - Google News

home | site map
© 2006