Investors, forget the basically flat to slightly positive yield curve. Forget the corporate buybacks that are the rage and those rising corporate earnings raising everyone’s eyebrows and pulses.
Despite the tariff head winds, Iran, North Korea and all the other distractions on this mixed up, do-it-yourself planet, the fact is we have a President and Federal Reserve Chairman now driving this market higher.
So the bull keeps snorting and stomping, so much so that today I’m issuing a buy recommendation on a broad range of securities already in my portfolio like AT&T that are doing quite nicely, thank you.
But the thing I worry about is Euphoria.
I wish there were signs on Wall Street like there are on I95 ordering slower, unsteady, less alert motorists to keep to the right.
Why aren’t there signs advising euphoric drivers also to stay on the side with the slower traffic instead of speeding fearlessly, recklessly, euphorically in the fast lanes?
Why? Because euphoria leads right into the bear’s cave. I don’t know about you, but bears are not my favorite dancing partners.
Crashes
All that euphoria is going to do is cause multi-car crashes sending our portfolios plunging maybe 20 percent and our investments veering off the trolling toll road into a big fat ditch and remaining there for a couple of lean and mean years.
We need to keep firmly in mind what John Templeton said about Euphoria.
“Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die of euphoria.”
While we’re most likely in the mature phase of a bull market, currently the bitcoin, marijuana and cannabis stampedes are signaling animal spirts coming alive in the market, another ominous sign of that dreaded contagion–euphoria.
Today there’s some potentially upsetting evidence of euphoric drivers lurking in the traffic out there, waiting to cut outside in front of us, shoot into the fast lanes and pass us like we’re standing still. I fear this is going to one day send stocks tumbling. Crashing.
Those mindless euphoric drivers bent on hastening their wealth accumulation, fueling their egos and building portfolios like there’s no tomorrow will inevitably poison the punch bowl at the party we’re having right now when they’re in that dangerous state called euphoria.
So please, those of you with euphoria stay in the slow lane. Keep to the right, if you don’t mind, for your own good. Thank you.
TM