This might seem like a pretty out of the character subject for me to discuss, since I write about sensible, non-hype, and long-term investing principles. Those would be exceedingly prudent and timely given the market onslaught. If you are at all familiar with general investing terms, then you would most likely associate technical analysis with the image of someone hunched over multiple LCD screens, fixated by indecipherable charts and graphs in a range of neon colours, and occasionally yell “Buy!” or “Sell!” with a touch of craziness into the phone. Needless to say, your average value investor would not approve of this behaviour. In fact, Warren Buffet famously dismissed technical analysis and quipped, “I realized technical analysis didn’t work when I turned the charts upside down and didn’t get a different answer.” So far not great, then why am I talking about it?
But first, what is technical analysis and why the bad rep?
It all depends on what you believe in.
Belief numero uno: Efficient market
At the crust of the matter, technical analysis is deemed the opposite of fundamental analysis. Where fundamental analysis make buy or sell decisions based on intrinsic value of a stock compared to market valuation; technical analysis disregards intrinsic value (since it assumes the market is efficient enough) of the stock, and focuses purely on supply and demand in the market.
In modern finance, this rests in something called the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). Most economists believe in a weak version of EMH, which is to say that the market does a pretty ok job when it comes to incorporating public information into the stock prices. But it’s not perfect, since insider information may still exist. On the other hand, technical analysts assume the market is perfect in incorporating valuation related information as well as market psychology into the stock price, or at least accurate enough for its purpose. The rest of the market movements are determined by more immediate demand and supply, as well as market psychology.
Belief numero dos: History tends to repeat itself Read more...
Thank you to The Penny Daily for including this article as its “Editor’s Pick” in Carnival of Everything Money #5.
We set out to see what the experts are saying about 2009. What we didn’t realize was how the art of providing financial outlook has become a game of “one down-manship.“ How else would you explain the boom in competition for the title of Dr Doom?
So it would seem that the Rapture is upon us, are you ready? Yeah, we feel the same way.
Here’s our survey of what some of the bigwigs in the investment industry have said about 2009 in recent months. In our mock* roster, we have Warren Buffet the sage; Nouriel Roubini aka Dr Boom/perma-bear, or our favourite, the playboy Professor; Nassim Taleb aka Black Swan; Peter Schiff who’s-laughing-now; Jim Rogers my-kids-speak-Chinese-and-that-is-my-investment-hedge; Marc Faber the original-Dr-Doom; Don Coxe via Basic Points; and John Embry the Canadian goldbug.
Outlook for 2009
Investoralist: So how bad is 2009 looking? Don’t hold back now, give it to us straight-up!
Warren Buffet: We have lived in one way in one type of economy. And we’re now deleveraging that economy. We’re gonna have to live without the same impetus from credit expansion that really helped propel the economic engine for a long period of time. That wind will not be at our back.
The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009, and, for that matter, probably well beyond, but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall.
Nouriel Roubini: The worst is yet to come. I don’t want to name names, but many [banks], given the housing bust, will become insolvent. Their losses are mounting because they have written down only their subprime loans so far. They haven’t started writing down most of their consumer-credit losses, and reserves for losses are much less than they should have been. The banks are playing all sorts of accounting gimmicks not to recognize them. There are hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding in home-equity loans that eventually could be worth zero, too.
Read more...
Thank you to Penny Daily for including us in its Carnival of Investing Strategies #5.
What makes a successful long-term investor? Is it an exceptional understanding of the market? Is it a Blackberry full of Wall Street contacts that tip you on every insiders’ move? Is it a PhD in quantum-physics or mathematics?
No. Because if that was the case, then most investment funds with their well-paid, well-educated, and well-connected managers would not be walking around with their portfolios 50% lighter.
So what is it about the market that suckers in so many people? How is it that some investors are ruthlessly spit out, and others remain relatively unscathed in the long-run?
Knowledge.
But not just business knowledge. What has been taught in business school and other rudimentary business classes do little to improve one’s chances when it comes to investing. Why? Because the knowledge presented in those accounting and finance classes only give you a myopic look at the whole picture.
For example, say you are an accounting maven but know nothing of what’s going on in the mortgage market in 2006. You look at the balance sheet of banks, match up the debit and credit sides, check off the triple-A rated loans, and marvel at how the bank has managed to grow so quickly in the last few years. But any economists looking at the picture would be alarmed at the rate of growth, probe deeper into the loan ratings, gasp at the poor judgment exercised on part of the bankers, and issue a warning. Someone who is schooled in politics would take a hard look at the political contributions made to head of committees that signed off on the predatory lending policies and yell foul! And any Tom, Dick, and Harry, who’s been canvassed by sketchy pseudo-lending institutions would tell you that if it walks like a scam, and quacks like a scam, it is a scam.
Read more...
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