The Psychology of Contrarian Investors

Posted on 05/22/2019 by Yanis P.

A contrarian investor focuses on the facts and not the noise

We are going to use the precious metals to illustrate some of the Psychological principles of being a Contrarian investor. Keep in mind that most contrarian investors are not real contrarians but fall under the category of Fashion contrarians.

Contrarian investing is based on taking a position that is opposite to that of the masses. In general contrarian, investors get in an investment too early as their analysis is based on doing the opposite of the masses. In contrast mass psychology dictates that you wait for the emotion to hit a boiling point, euphoria or panic before a position is taken. Mass psychology involves the actual study of what the masses are doing as opposed to just determining that their current action is wrong and using that information to take a position in the opposite direction.

A contrarian Investor takes a position that is contrary to the Masses

Contrarians only take a position that is contrary to the masses and that about wraps up the ideology of being a contrarian today. Very few of today’s contrarians are true contrarians; they fall into the category of fashion contrarians.

Investors that adopt the doctrine of mass psychology correctly look for something more. Mass psychology takes the principle of contrarian investing and then pushes it to the next level.

Mass psychology focuses on extreme situations

Students of Mass Psychology look for extreme type situations. In other words, sentiment should not just be bullish before an opposing strategy is put into play, it should be at the boiling point and only then will the student of mass psychology look for an exit and attempt to take an opposing position to that of the masses. To illustrate this point, we will use the following example.

The commodities sector has several components to it, two of them being the Gold and Silver. Throughout 2002 and early 2003, the hate and disgust for both these sectors were extremely high. Fast forward to 2004 and Gold was being mentioned everywhere; even CNBC had a little ticker that stated what the price of Gold was throughout the day. The hate or disgust for both these sectors was no longer there, and even though both these sectors have a long way to go before the masses fully embrace them, they did not provide a psychological basis for taking an opposing position to that of the masses in 2004.

Gold went on to soar to untold heights, heights that most would have deemed impossible in 2003. All along the way we continually stated that Gold would continue to trade higher and higher until 2011. We warned our subscribers to bail out of Gold very close to the top.

A Contrarian Investor pays close attention to what the masses are doing

Even though the masses have still not fully embraced Gold, this concept does not matter in the long run. A more important criterion would be to find out what % of investors has taken positions in these sectors or not. Next one would try to find out what the Gold bugs (the most bullish individuals ever created on earth) are doing. If all the Gold bugs are bullish, then based on the contrarian rules of investing you should take a contrary to a neutral position because all the individuals in your group are now optimistic.

Do not pay attention to the masses; they know not what they are doing when it comes to investing

Should one care what the masses are doing that much or focus on the Gold bugs (the group) that are emotionally tied up with Gold? The masses in general, will not embrace Gold fully until it becomes fashionable and by then a large portion of the Bull Run will be a thing of the past. In the last Gold Bull Run, the masses did not even know what was going on, let alone take a position in this sector.

So one measure would be to determine if all the people who believe in Gold have already taken positions if they have then the market has become saturated. The only way the market can continue its upward run is for momentum players to jump on the bandwagon. These players have very short time spans of concentration, and thus, they jump in and out very fast. Once they decide to bail out the corrective phase could be very painful as was the case of precious metals topped out in 2011. The housing collapse and internet bubble serve as two stark reminders of what happens once momentum has run its course.

A Good Contrarian Investor understand the core principles of Mass Psychology

Mass psychology is the constant analysis of the playing field to determine how the game is being played. Are the rules changing, are the players become more aggressive or docile, is the playing field soft, rocky or worse yet on extremely high and treacherous ground. One has to take measures at different levels and then compare it the pattern you have already established from past observations.

In this sense, mass psychology is dynamic compared to the methodology most contrarians put into play. Contrarians do not measure their position relative to those of other contrarians; they only measure their position relative to that of the masses, and therefore, they fail to obtain a vital piece of data. This usually results in pain, misery and taking on substantial losses In, other words; they do not measure the intensity of emotion in their camp.

The gold bugs are a classic example of contrarian investing gone wrong. They moved from the Euphoric phase to the having found religion period, to the gnashing of teeth and pure misery phase, as they watched Gold plunge from 1800 ranges down to the 1000 ranges. They still cannot fathom why this happened, especially as trillions of more dollars have been created since 2011.

The Internet boom lasted one-year longer after all the TA and contrarian indicators were in the extremely bearish zones. Euphoria for this sector was running sky-high. If one had shorted the markets based on these contrarian factors only one would have lost one’s pants and well as underwear. In other words, you would have most likely lost a small fortune.

Gold bugs should have banked some of their profits. Instead, they continued to plough money into Gold, and as it pulled back, they jumped in joy and added even more. Once the correction moved from the mild to the wild phase, they panicked and started to pray. Today the sentiment is almost as bearish as it was in 2003. From a long term perspective, a great buying opportunity could be at hand.

Be A true Contrarian Investor and not a fashion contrarian

Most so-called contrarians were caught flat-footed when the Equity markets mounted this huge rally from Oct 2004. Their contrarian indicators suggested that taking a short or neutral position was the right thing to do. Only 10% of the investors can win at any given time. The moment the number surges past this level (no matter what side of the fence they are on contrarian or the masses side); the markets will adjust to bring this ratio back to its norm.

Investing based on psychology amounts to not only taking a position against the masses but also against the fashion contrarians. Once sentiment has reached the boiling point, one should go into cash; risk takers can consider shorting the markets. Finally, less attention is being given to the precious metals sector, so establishing a position now could be viewed as a prudent long term investment.

On the same token, most investors and experts expected the Market to Crash after Trump won and we stated that it would create a buying opportunity just as Brexit did. In fact, since 2013 we have been stating that a stock market crash was a long way in the making and that all strong pullback should be viewed through a bullish lens.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Originally posted 2017-07-24 16:47:04.

Bitcoin Crash Chart

Posted on 05/21/2019 by Yanis P.

Bitcoin Crash or Backbreaking Correction? (Bitcoin Crash Chart)

The dot.com insanity experienced a backbreaking amendment before the market launched and beat out toward the finish of 1999. The picture below represents that Bitcoin likewise experienced such an adjustment, but since of the expansive finish move it has all the earmarks of being only a blip. Tactical Investing amounts to combining Technical analysis with Mass psychology creating a system that is second to none. The Trend Indicator is an example of such a system.

It combines the most important aspects of Mass psychology with the best of Technical analysis to yield a system that identifies the trend in advance of the event. Our technical indicators also enable us to identify crucial turning points in the market accurately.

Think about that from a high of 2977 (June 10, 2017); it dropped to a low of 1808 set on the fifteenth of July 2017; it shed generally 40% in that brief period (shown by the green box). Everybody recognizes what pursued.

Depressed people tend to depress everyone around them, however it keeps an eye on Pay’s all around inadequately over the long haul

It looks horrid, the media is siphoning apocalypse type situations, solid bulls are appearing of shortcoming, and even contrarian investing specialists are beginning to break. Unadulterated Contrarian Investors are more intelligent than the majority, yet they do have imperfections; the most astute financial specialists are the ones that put the standards of mass brain science into play.

They watch the mass outlook, and they comprehend that notwithstanding when dread begins to crawl into the condition, they are constrained to make this inquiry: Was the group in a condition of elation when the market beat out? On the off chance that the appropriate response is “no”, at that point regardless of how horrendous the image may look, the end amusement is that the group is being set up for a bogus descending move. Furthermore, the ordinary reaction would “why”. Basic answer, this is a propelled type of Pavlovian preparing.

The Bitcoin Crash Chart resembled the Tulip Bubble, it was a trick from the earliest starting point. The ones that made the cash were the ones that got in first, the ones that got in late were given their heads on a stinky tin platter. Never get into a speculation when the majority are euphoric, purchase when there is blood in the lanes and the other way around.

Financial exchange crashes are diverse as they don’t speak to one segment, so it is simply an issue of time before the business sectors will return to the standard. From a mass brain research point of view, financial exchange crashes are only long haul purchasing openings. Disregard the what occurs if the securities exchange crashes situation, and spotlight on what you would do if stocks you were biting the dust to possess before are currently selling for pennies on the dollar.

Pavlovian Type Training Is Being Used On The Masses

At the point when the market puts in a base subsequent to encountering a backbreaking remedy, and after that proceeds to mount an amazing rally; the group engraves the accompanying information in their brains. Purchase the pullback, since it is a phony snare to drive us out; they likewise begin to have confidence in the accompanying mantra “the more grounded the pullback, the better the chance”. Next time when the Market puts in a best, bullish slant will remain bizarrely high, and that will be the notice to understudies of Mass Psychology that the genuine skull pulverizing revision is en route. Once more, we point you toward the not very far off Bitcoin stupendous buyer advertise and the similarly fabulous accident. From low to high Bitcoin attached 11,000% in increases and the majority still expected that the main bearing it could exchange was up. When it bested the Bitcoin swarm was past overjoyed.

Concerning whether the bitcoin crash is finished, we trust that one should hold up somewhat longer before bouncing in and in every way that really matters, Bitcoin chart is exceptionally far-fetched to test the 20,000 territories for quite a while. On the drawback, bitcoin is probably going to test the 3000 territories with a conceivable overshoot to the 2,500 territories before a significant base grabs hold. Right now, there are numerous different stocks that look fascinating and unmistakably more appealing than bitcoin, for instance, PG, MRK, TCEHY, and so on.

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Originally posted 2019-03-19 13:41:12.

Rate of Inflation not an issue according to Bond Market

Posted on 05/20/2019 by Yanis P.

The Bond market is Indicating that The Rate of Inflation is not an issue in 2017

Bonds should have continued to plunge, but notice that bonds bottomed in April and have started to trend higher. After the July rate hike, bonds should have taken out their April lows, but they did not. Instead, they went on to put in a series of higher lows; higher lows are usually indicative of higher prices. Furthermore, the stock market hardly reacted to the last rate hike; after a very mild reaction, it has continued to trend higher.

We tend to focus more on the technical and psychological outlook, and both are indicating that inflation is still not an issue. The Gold market is also indicating that inflation is not an issue. Last July Gold traded past $1400; at that time rates were lower and the US dollar was trading at higher levels. But today rates are higher today, and the dollar is trading lower than it was in 2016, but Gold instead trading at or above $1400 can’t even trade above $1300 for a sustained period.

Mass Psychology seems to support the theory that US inflation is not a big problem

The psychological factor does not support higher prices; the economy is not doing well as the consumer is not spending wildly. Consumer confidence is increasing, but consumer spending is not marching in tandem with consumer confidence. Income growth is weak; the rise in incomes and net worth has primarily benefited high income and high net worth households. These are the same individuals that have the most money invested in the stock market which has tripled since its March 2009 lows.

We have listed a plethora of factors that illustrate that inflation is not an issue; at least not yet.

Even James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve of St Louis went seems to be in agreement

“Low inflation has been the major surprise of the era,”

He also went on to state that he was still waiting for inflation to return to the 2% ranges and would not support any increases in the Fed’s benchmark rate until 2018 to allow inflationary forces to recover. He might have to wait a lot longer than that. AI and technology, in general, are going to continue to fuel lower prices. The retail sector is in freefall; the remaining players battle it out, and price wars will continue for the foreseeable future. Food prices are going to plunge due to the price war that new entrants like Lidl and Amazon have triggered.

The bond market is not supporting the higher inflationary outlook, in fact by all measures the bond market appears to be building momentum to trend higher.

US Jobs Report misses the mark

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% and wages barely grew. Only 156,000 jobs were added as opposed to the 180,000 consensus number.

The retail sector continued to get hammered; retailers shed 9,00 jobs, while the public sector shed another 9000 jobs.

“In months where there are anomalies like this, we look at the three-month average, which is 185,000,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “The labor market is healthy, but we still have the conundrum that solid employment gains haven’t translated into faster wage growth.”

One wild card in the second half of 2017 will be gasoline prices. The surge following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas will leave less money for consumers to spend on other goods and services.

“For the economy, it’s steady as she goes, but for the markets, it’s Goldilocks,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, referring to the not-too-hot, not-too-cold August payroll increase. NY Times

The markets are holding up well and trending higher as we stated they would all along in 2016 and now in 2017. Until the sentiment turns bullish the markets are expected to trend higher.

Originally posted 2017-12-08 15:55:47.

Price of Copper Signalling Inflation or higher Stock Market Prices

Posted on 05/19/2019 by Yanis P.

Price of Copper probably a bullish Development for the Stock market

Many pundits associate higher copper prices with inflation. This is the wrong metric to look at; higher copper prices are usually associated with an improving economy.

Copper has traded past a key resistance point ($3.00) and it has managed to close above this important level on a monthly basis. The long term outlook for copper is now bullish and will remain so as long as it does not close below 2.80 on a monthly basis. Copper is facing resistance in the 3.20-3.25 ranges and as it is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges. As copper is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges, it is more likely to let out some steam before trading past this zone. A healthy consolidation will provide copper with the force necessary to challenge the 3.20 ranges and trade as high as $3.80 with a possible overshoot to $4.00, provided it does not close below $2.80 on a monthly basis.

Now that copper has traded past $3.00 on a monthly basis, the Fed deserves another pat on the back for they have managed to further cement the illusion that this economic recovery is real. Copper is seen as a barometer for economic growth, so pulling off a Houdini here is probably going propel a lot of former naysayers to embrace this economic recovery.

Mass Sentiment is still Negative so Stock Market likely to Correct only

Combining this data with the action in the Copper markets leads us to believe that the stock market is more likely to experience a correction than an outright crash. Higher copper prices are usually indicative of higher stock market prices. Therefore, the copper markets are confirming that the long term trend is still intact.

What about the Inflation issue?

The chart below puts an end to that argument for now. If inflation were an issue, the velocity of M2 money stock would be trending upwards. Until it starts to trend upwards, inflation is not an issue and the focus should be on higher stock market prices.

Conclusion

Don’t focus on the noise; focus on the trend as it’s your friend and everything else is your foe.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Originally posted 2017-12-08 15:43:34.

Corrections or Crashes?

Posted on 05/18/2019 by Yanis P.

The Dow would have to drop below 9000 to break below the main uptrend line; an unlikely event in the near future. However, this does not mean it’s impossible. Every once in awhile the markets experience a monumental crash that can shave of as much as 60% of the Markets current value. In this is instance we are using weekly charts; each bar on the chart represents one week’s worth of data. Straight off the bat, you can see that back breaking corrections translate into long term buying opportunities. Remember when there is blood in the streets and the masses are in panic mode, the opportunity is knocking.

Market Crashes are Buying Opportunities

The first zone comes into play at 16,000. If the Dow closes below this level on a monthly basis then there is a chance it could trade as low as 13,000. However, based on the current market sentiment, there is very little likelihood of such a scenario coming to pass. Mass Psychology is very clear when it comes to dealing with stock market crashes. Market crash on a note of Euphoria and bottom on a note of despair. Mass psychology states that optimum time to get into the markets is when the masses are in panic mode.

A fortress of support comes into play at the 13,000-13,500 ranges

To trade any lower than this level, the Dow would need to close below the above ranges on a quarterly basis. If it were to do that then the main uptrend line could be tested. Note that this trend will continue to trending upwards, so in 12 months, the trend line could move from the 9000 ranges to the 10,000 plus ranges.

Buy the Fear Sell the Joy

The individuals who arrive at the party late are the first ones to come out and mistake a correction for a crash.The crowd panics when it sees blood in the streets; instead of joining the crowd do something different take advantage of stock market crashes and buy as the crowd dumps quality stocks and flees for the exits.

Crash or correction boils down to the angle of observance

What is stunning to one, could appear ugly to another; it comes down to the angle of observance. Alter the angle and the image changes. Mass media and most experts try to alter the angle and direct you to see what they want you to see. They are in the fear “Selling Business” because fear sells, so they focus on creating a mountain out of a mole hill.

History clearly indicates that the Astute investors build very large stakes when there is blood in the streets. Moreover, they keep building these positions as long as the main driving force is fear. Take a look at the current Bull market; the Dow is trading at 22,000 and the masses are still nervous. It’s history in the making. The masses are always on the wrong side of the markets in the long run.

The astute investor always views financial disasters through a bullish lens. Instead of panicking they take advantage of stock market crashes.

Normality highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps100, 000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.
R. D. Laing 1927-1989, British Psychiatrist

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Originally posted 2017-12-08 14:41:34.

Dow 22K Predicted In July 2017; Next Target Dow 30k?

Posted on 05/15/2019 by Yanis P.

The Dow appears to have broken through the top of the Channel formation that fell in the 20,800-21,000 ranges. If it closes above 21,300 on a monthly basis then despite the markets being overbought, the Dow could surge past 22K before running into a strong zone of resistance. Market Update June 18, 2017

Give the resiliency of this market; the Dow could very easily trade to 22K before it trades to 19K. The masses need to show some enthusiasm; if they don’t and the market pulls back strongly, then it has to be viewed as a screaming buy. For now, the masses seem to be locked in the pessimistic mode. The bullish sentiment has never traded to the 60% ranges even once this year; it did not even make it to the 55% ranges, and that is very telling. On the same token, the number of individuals in the neutral camp has generally continued to trend higher and higher. Market Update July 6, 2017

What’s next for the Dow?

Not only did the Dow trade to 22K but it surpassed this target and is now dangerously close to striking 23K. The sentiment is still not bullish, so the path of least resistance is upward. As for Dow 30K; there is a good chance that the Dow could strike this target. We discuss that in full detail in this article titled “Dow Could Trade to 30K But not before This Happens ”

If you prefer to watch a video; then the video covers the essential points of the above article

Originally posted 2017-12-06 15:58:04.

Black Monday – The stock market crash of 1987

Posted on 05/14/2019 by Yanis P.

What caused Black Monday: The stock market crash of 1987?

Monday October 19,1987, is known as Black Monday. On that day, stockbrokers in New York, London, Hong Kong, Berlin, Tokyo and just about any other city with an exchange stared at the figures running across their displays with a growing sense of dread. A financial strut had buckled and the strain brought world markets tumbling down.

In the United States, sell orders piled upon sell orders as the Dow shed value of nearly 22%. There had been talk of the U.S. entering a bear cycle – the bulls had been running since 1982 – but the markets gave very little warning to the then-new Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Greenspan hurried to slash interest rates and called upon banks to flood the system with liquidity. He had expected a drop in the value of the dollar due to an international tiff with the other G7 nations over the dollar’s value, but the seemingly worldwide financial meltdown came as an unpleasant surprise that Monday.

Exchanges also were busy trying to lock out program trading orders. The idea of using computer systems to engage in large-scale trading strategies was still relatively new to Wall Street and the consequences of a system capable of placing thousands of orders during a crash never had been tested. These computer programs automatically began to liquidate stocks as certain loss targets were hit, pushing prices lower. To the dismay of the exchanges, program trading led to a domino effect as the falling markets triggered more stop-loss orders. The frantic selling activated yet another round of stop-loss orders, which dragged markets into a downward spiral. Since the same programs also automatically turned off all buying, bids vanished all around the stock market at basically the same time. Full Story

The Crash of ’87, From the Wall Street Players Who Lived It

On Wall Street, when things decline, you tend to remember. When things decline a lot, you remember the date. Oct. 19, 1987, is one such example. The biggest single-day stock market collapse in history—a 23 percent drop—rendered once-trusted ideas useless and redefined the financial landscape for market professionals.

One of them was a rising Salomon Brothers bond salesman named Michael Lewis, who had yet to pen Liar’s Poker. “The markets in a panic are like a country during a coup, and seen in retrospect that is how they were that day,” he would later write of the chaos he witnessed. “One small group of people with its old, established way of looking at the world is hustled from its seat of power.”

Black Monday, as the day became known, is part of financial history’s fossil record, a divide between old and new markets. It was the first significant instance of computer-driven trading run amok. The nascent equity options market saw assumptions based on the Black-Scholes model overturned and replaced by a more complex world of volatility skews. And Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, just two months on the job, got to glimpse a market panic and sell his first “Greenspan Put” under the U.S. equity market. Full Story

Remembering the worst day in Wall Street history

It was a day so terrible, it will forever be known as Black Monday.

On October 19, 1987, the stock market collapsed. The Dow plunged an astonishing 22.6%, the biggest one-day percentage loss in history. Even bigger than the 1929 stock market crash, just before the Great Depression.

Nothing since Black Monday has come close. Not the selloff after the September 11 terror attacks or the 2008 financial crisis.

On that day in 1987, as the cameras rolled on the frenzied floor of the New York Stock Exchange, prices on the ticker tumbled, the panic spread, and the crash worsened. By the closing bell, the Dow stood at 1,738.74, down 508 points. Full Story

Originally posted 2018-06-12 19:21:49.

Stock Market Crash Of 1929

Posted on 05/14/2019 by Yanis P.

What was the ‘Stock Market Crash Of 1929’

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 began on October 24. While it is remembered for the panic selling in the first week, the largest falls occurred in the following two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did not bottom out until July 8, 1932, by which time it had fallen 89% from its September 1929 peak, making it the biggest bear market in Wall Street’s history. The Dow Jones did not return to its 1929 high until November 1954.

BREAKING DOWN ‘Stock Market Crash Of 1929’

The stock market crash of 1929 followed a bull market which had seen the Dow Jones rise 400% in five years. But with industrial companies trading at price-earnings ratios of 15, valuations did not appear unreasonable after a decade of record productivity growth in manufacturing – that is until you take into account the public utility holding companies.

By 1929, thousands of electricity companies had been consolidated into holding companies which were themselves owned by other holding companies, which controlled about two-thirds of American industry. Ten layers separated the top and bottom of some of these complex highly leveraged pyramids. As the Federal Trade Commission reported in 1928, the unfair practices these holding companies were involved in — like bilking subsidiaries through service contracts and fraudulent accounting involving depreciation and inflated property values — were a “menace to the investor.”

Full Story

A brief history of the 1929 stock market crash

The stock market crashed in 1929, plummeting into a correction.
Margin buying, lack of legal protections, overpriced stocks and Fed policy contributed to the crash.
There are ways to protect investors can protect a portfolio from downturns.

On October 16, 1929, Yale economist Irving Fisher wrote in the New York Times that “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Eight days later, on October 24, 1929, the stock market began a four-day crash on what became known as Black Thursday. This crash cost investors more than World War I and was one of the catalysts for the Great Depression. Irving Fisher’s declaration went down as the worst stock market prediction of all time.

Before the 1929 stock market crash: Risks and warning signs

Hindsight is always 20/20 but in the Roaring Twenties, optimism and affluence had risen like never before. The economy grew by 42% (real GDP went from $688 billion in 1920 to $977 billion in 1929), average income rose by about $1,500 and unemployment stayed below 4%. In the wake of World War I, the U.S. was producing nearly half of global output and mass production made consumer goods like refrigerators, washing machines, radios and vacuums accessible to the average household. Investing in stocks became like baseball – a national pastime. As newspaper headlines trumpeted stories about teachers, chauffeurs and maids making millions in the stock market, concerns about risk evaporated.

Full Story

Why The 1929 Stock Market Crash Could Happen In 2018?

As U.S. stocks continue soaring to record high after record high, investors anticipating an inevitable plunge have yet another cause for sleepless nights. The CAPE ratio, a measure of stock valuations devised by Nobel Laureate economist Robert Shiller of Yale University, is now at a higher level than it was before the Great Crash of 1929, the Financial Times reports, adding that the only time the CAPE was even higher preceded the dotcom crash of 2000-02. However, the FT notes, there are some differences between 1929 and 2018 that make the CAPE parallel less terrifying for investors.

From their previous bear market lows reached in intraday trading on March 6, 2009, through their closing values on January 12, 2018, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has gained 318% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has advanced 299%. Regarding the CAPE valuation analysis, there are several key limitations.

Drawbacks of CAPE

According to investment manager Rob Arnott, the founder, chairman and CEO of Research Associates, CAPE has been on an upward trend over time. This makes sense both to him and to the FT since the U.S. as progressed from being essentially an emerging market to the world’s dominant economy during the course of more than a century. As a result, both believe that an increasing earnings multiple for U.S. stocks would be justified. While the current value of CAPE is above its long term trend line, the difference is much smaller than in 1929, as Arnott’s detailed research paper shows.

Full Story

Originally posted 2018-06-12 17:59:42.

Bitcoin Crash: Is Bitcoin Bull Dead Forever?

Posted on 05/14/2019 by Yanis P.

Bitcoin Crash

The dot.com mania underwent a backbreaking correction before the market blasted off and topped out at the end of 1999. The image above illustrates that Bitcoin also experienced such a correction, but because of the large follow through move it appears to be nothing but a blip. Consider that from a high of 2977 (June 10, 2017); it dropped to a low of 1808 set on the 15th of July 2017; it shed roughly 40% in that short period (illustrated by the green box). Everyone knows what followed.

Bitcoin Backbreaking correction Dec 2018

Misery loves company, but it tends to Pay’s very poorly in the long run
It looks grim, the media is pumping end of the world type scenarios, strong bulls are showing signs of weakness, and even contrarian investors are starting to break. Pure contrarians are smarter than the masses, but they do have flaws; the smartest investors are the ones that put the principles of mass psychology into play. They observe the mass mindset, and they understand that even when fear starts to creep into the equation, they are compelled to ask this question: Was the crowd in a state of euphoria when the market topped out? If the answer is “no”, then no matter how terrible the picture might look, the end game is that the crowd is being set up for a false downward move. And the normal response would “why”. Simple answer, this is an advanced form of Pavlovian training.

The Bitcoin crash was like the Tulip Bubble, it was a scam from the beginning. The ones that made the money were the ones that got in first, the ones that got in late were handed their heads on a stinky tin platter. Never get into an investment when the masses are euphoric, buy when there is blood in the streets and vice versa.

Stock market crashes are different as they don’t represent one sector, so it is just a matter of time before the markets will revert to the norm. From a mass psychology perspective, stock market crashes are nothing but long-term buying opportunities. Forget about the what happens if the stock market crashes scenario, and focus on what you would do if stocks you were dying to own before are now selling for pennies on the dollar.

Pavlovian Type Training Is Being Used On The Masses
When the market does put in a bottom after experiencing a backbreaking correction, and then goes on to mount a powerful rally; the crowd imprints the following data in their minds. Buy the pullback, because it is a fake trap to drive us out; they also start to believe in the following mantra “the stronger the pullback, the better the opportunity”. Next time when the Market puts in a top, bullish sentiment will remain unusually high, and that will be the warning to students of Mass Psychology that the real skull crushing correction is on its way. Again, we point you in the direction of the not too distant Bitcoin spectacular bull market and the equally spectacular crash. From low to high Bitcoin tacked on 11,000% in gains and the masses still assumed that the only direction it could trade was up. When it topped the Bitcoin crowd was beyond ecstatic.

As for whether the bitcoin crash is over, we believe that one should wait a bit longer before jumping in and for all intents and purposes, Bitcoin is highly unlikely to test the 20,000 ranges for a very long time. On the downside, bitcoin is likely to test the 3000 ranges with a possible overshoot to the 2,500 ranges before a meaningful bottom takes hold. At this point in time, there are many other stocks that look interesting and far more attractive than bitcoin, for example, PG, MRK, TCEHY, etc

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Random views on Bitcoin Crash

So, you’ve heard about Bitcoin and you want to invest…
You’re not the only one! Bitcoin has been one of the best investments you could have made in the last 5 years. People are still using it to make a lot of money, in many different ways.
In this guide, I will teach you the history of Bitcoin, the future of Bitcoin and how to understand what goes into a Bitcoin price prediction. We will look at predictions for different years, including the Bitcoin price prediction 2019. I will answer the questions that are on everybody’s minds, like “Will Bitcoin crash?” and “Why is Bitcoin rising?”.
Understanding how to predict and invest is the first step to building a successful portfolio. However, with all investments, there are risks involved. So, you should always speak to a financial advisor before making any major decisions. Before going to Bitcoin price prediction, let’s go back a little to the basics. I assume, as you are reading this guide, you must have heard of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the world’s first digital currency and it has been very popular over the last year! A lot of people have made large profits by buying Bitcoin for a low price and then selling it for a high price.
Confused? Well, let me explain.
Bitcoin is a currency, just like US Dollars, Japanese Yen or British Pounds. It can be bought, sold and exchanged for goods and services. Full Story

Is Now The Time to Buy Bitcoin? The 2019 Edition

Many investors are still hesitant about Bitcoin ending the bearish period, despite Bitcoin’s recent consolidation price action and market fundamentals looking strong
How will you know if it’s the time to buy Bitcoin? In this article we’ll present signs that may indicate on an end to the current bear market.
Timing the market is almost impossible – meet the DCA option.
Most experienced traders know that markets are primarily driven by emotions, and the key to cracking them is understanding the market psychology as well as being able to interpret technical analysis and chart fundamentals.

Despite this public knowledge, many of us still fall into the same traps that cause us to either lose money or miss out on significant investment opportunities. This is not just limited to Bitcoin and crypto.

The current sentiment around the crypto markets indicates that the majority may be falling for yet another emotionally driven trap.

Ironically, people rushed to buy Bitcoin when it first hit $10,000 and $15,000 in late 2017, yet now when the price is around the mid $3K range (discount of over 80% from the all-time high), there is steady progress and strong market fundamentals, buyers seem to be more hesitant than ever about entering the market and buying Bitcoin.

Perhaps it’s the fear of being yet another victim of the market crashes we’ve seen during the 2018 bear market, or the constant negative messaging led by the mainstream media insisting that ‘Bitcoin is dead’ or a ‘pyramid scheme’. Full Story

Strategist Who Called Bitcoin Crash Says It’s Time to Buy Crypto

Bitcoin is in the middle of a sustained recovery and investors should use recent weakness to buy more, according to Fundstrat technical strategist Robert Sluymer. The largest cryptocurrency climbed to its highest since November.

“Use pending pullbacks to continue accumulating Bitcoin in the second quarter in anticipation of a second-half rally through ~6,000 resistance,” Sluymer wrote in a note May 2. He sees Bitcoin’s rebound from its 200-week moving average and breakout from its first-quarter trading range as “the early stage of a longer-term recovery developing.”
Bitcoin advanced as much as 7.2 percent to $5,795.50 as of 9:33 a.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. The 55 percent jump in 2019 has helped pull rival tokens higher. Litecoin has soared more than two-fold.

Adding to the overall optimism Friday was a Wall Street Journal report that Facebook Inc. is reaching out to financial companies and online merchants to help launch a cryptocurrency-based payments system tied to the social network.
Sluymer warned in mid-November, when Bitcoin was trading around $5,500, that the asset had suffered “significant technical damage” that could take months to repair. Over the next several weeks, Bitcoin slid to as low as $3,136.04. In February, Sluymer cautioned that the technical position in the crypto space was still weak. Bitcoin didn’t recover the $5,000 level until early April.

Fundstrat was an early mover in analyzing cryptocurrencies and developed its own indexes. And Sluymer’s colleague, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, is regarded as a Bitcoin bull. Full Story

Trending Now News Equates To Garbage; It’s All Talk & No Action

Posted on 05/14/2019 by Yanis P.

Trending Now (Fake) News Equates To Garbage

Have you ever heard or seen the press push good news and that begs the question why? Fear sells, and everyone is using fear as the tool to manipulate the masses. It is the oldest trick in the books, but unfortunately, it works like a charm. The so-called Trending Now News concept is just another ploy to make garbage somewhat platable.

Once you realise the ploy, it is easy to deal with the issue. How do you recognise the ruse, the best way is to stop watching TV. For example, I cut the cord roughly 10 years ago. I am always asked if I have a smart TV, and I respond with “yes it’s brilliant” because it keeps its mouth shut most of the time. When you stop watching the news which is nothing but gossip on steroids, one finds out that nothing has changed. That’s when the realisation sinks in that today’s news has, and will always be an avenue for the best gossipers to turn garbage into sensational headlines. The news is worse than “toilet paper”; at least toilet paper is good for one swipe, one can’t lay the same claim to today’s news.

The media is going to continue to weaponise the news. Be prepared for fantasy claims regarding Brexit, the trade war with China, and any other factor that can be spun. Ridiculous claims that make no sense will be used to try to push the fear factor higher; once again the best solution is to just ignore what the media is pushing and focus on the trend.

The “silver lining” is that fear of the unknown increases the “uncertainty factor” and in doing so breathes even more life into this bull market. Until the Masses embrace this bull, this mad bull is unlikely to die. The logical path based on the news is to panic, the illogical path is to ignore. Logic works when it’s based on reality, but fear is not based on reality, it’s based on a perception of what “could” happen. If you start to fantasize over what could, would, and should happen, one cannot focus on the trend. Ignore the noise and focus on the trend.

Despite the fact, that the DOW is dangerously close to testing its old highs, there are too many traders sitting on the sidelines waiting for the markets to pull back. For almost this entire year, the number of individuals in the neutral camp has exceeded the individuals in the Bearish and Bullish camps. Neutrality equates to uncertainty and uncertain individuals are the 1^st ones to panic.

These chaps will react the same way they have always reacted in the past when the markets do pullback, they will panic and flee for the hills and the whole process of waiting for the next pullback will start over again. In the end, these guys worry about everything but never focus on the main issue, which is to make money in the markets. The only way to make money in the markets is to be in it; as the say, the rest is just noise. Hence there is a very good chance that the next pullback could push neutral readings to the 50% mark. Every time this has occurred (since the inception of this bull market), the markets recouped their losses and then surged to new highs.

The weekly charts illustrate that the Dow is now trading in the overbought ranges; it still has a bit of room before it moves into the extremely overbought zone. On the monthly charts the MACD’s have still not experienced a bullish crossover; until they do there is always a chance that the markets could experience a stronger than expected pullback. If this occurs embrace the correction as we from Nov 2018 to Jan 2019. Market Update April 13, 2019

Random thoughts on the Fed and Stock Market March 2019

In terms of the stock market, until the Fed changes its mind, all sharp corrections have to be viewed as buying opportunities, and backbreaking corrections have to be placed in the category of “once in a lifetime events”, provided of course the trend is positive. That is what we are here for; to inform you if the trend is positive (Up) or negative (down).

The world is going to witness a Fed that has decided to make a cocktail of Coke, Heroin, Crack and Meth and take it all in one shot. Imagine what a junkie on this combination of potent drugs is capable of doing, and you will have an idea of where the Fed is heading in the years to come. Now the Gold bugs will cry “I told you so”. Our response to this statement; not so fast little bugs. While precious metals will do well, we think stocks in key sectors (and we are not referring to Gold stocks) will pulverise the precious metals sector in terms of returns. One such area is robots (particularly Sex-bots) and AI. Market Update Feb 28, 2019

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Random views on Trending Now Fake News

how to avoid financial fake news

Steve McDonald (SM): The topic this week is information sources. With the president claiming that there’s all types of fake news out there, I have news for him: There’s always been fake news in the money press.

So we have Matthew Carr here today to talk about reliable information sources and why that’s so important if you’re going to get the market right.

Welcome, Matt.

Matthew Carr (MC): Thanks for having me, Steve.

SM: It’s my pleasure. We’re not going to get political, I promise you. But is there a lot of fake news in the money press?

MC: Oh, I’m with you. I believe there’s always been some sort of fake news or bias in the press. You know, when I was growing up, we were always taught to read, for example, The Washington Times and The Washington Post.

You read the same story in both publications. They each have a slant either to the left or the right. And you know that somewhere in the middle is the truth. And in the financial press, everybody’s going to pick their sides.

We live in this divided world where our political affiliations sort of dictate everything that we do, so it is important you try to make sure you’re cobbling together the best, clearest picture as possible, and a lot of times that just means pulling from as many sources as possible.

SM: Do you have a primary source of information that you like to use? Full Story

How Social Media Giants Are Fighting The Fake News Menace

In recent times, the issue of fake content has taken epic proportions. Major social media platforms like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) , Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) , Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) and Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google have frequently come under fire for failing to combat the spread of fake news on their platforms.

Social media giants are playing an expansive role in connecting the world, thanks to the improvement in Internet speed and connectivity as well as solid penetration of mobile devices. Per a survey by Pew Research Center last year, 20% of American adults learn about current affairs through social media and only 16% through newspapers.

However, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2018, the usage of social media and aggregators for news is declining, primarily due to trust and privacy issues, and fake news concerns. The report, which surveyed more than 74,000 people in 37 markets, stated that only 23% of respondents trust the news they find on social media.

Fake News Proliferates Faster

Fake news is spread via bots and fake profiles that use cookies to track people’s website visits. Based on that data, fake profilers and bots allure users to view fake content. Notably, this not only fans the flames of misinformation but also creates cybersecurity threats.

Fake news has been responsible for numerous sensitive situations, including terror propaganda and tampering with people’s sentiments about culture, religion and politics. Full Story

How To Invest In A Time Of Fake News?

This election year has created a major challenge for investors: How to deal with the fake news that now circulates daily. The basis of investment fake news is trying to build forecasts and outlooks on political pronouncements. Therefore, we need to ignore the fake flow and focus on facts. Only by doing so can we have a sensible strategy for pursuing returns and controlling risks.

Disclosure: Author is invested in selected U.S. stocks and actively managed U.S. stock funds. Holdings include Apple, Starbucks and Walt Disney, mentioned below.

“Fake news” has two components, commonly used after elections

Taking as fact the statements of desire (primarily by President-elect Donald Trump) that drove the election cycle. The problem is that desires often change when the governing period starts, Moreover, the U.S. Government structure and political realities offer no assurance that desires can become reality, either quickly or as envisioned.

Making pronouncements of surefire investment actions based on simplistic interpretations of those statements of desire. This elementary A=B without fact, fulsome reasoning and common sense is an invitation to underperformance or, worse, loss as the contrarian approach turns out to be the correct path.
Ramping up the challenge is the trail of contradictory statements of desire

Based on his Donald Trump’s statements regarding military buildup, the advice is that we should buy defense stocks. However, what about Trump’s roast of Boeing and Lockheed, plus his dismissive attitude toward our NATO allies, a source of foreign sales? Full Story