surely that was obvious to most market participants at the time...how else does one come up with an outrageous target in uncharted territory?
it sure was the trigger though for the whole outrageous targets nonsense that ensued, which imo did untold damage all things considered.
it was interesting how it stopped working when on day an 'analyst' came out with an extra idiotic target for the British dotcom auction stock, i don't remember its name...
in hindsight, that was as clear a sign as any that the game had irrevocably changed. well, it actually began when an equally ludicrous target price for QCOM was not reached within two days of its being issued, and was in fact never reached. before that, targets used to be exceeded, no matter how utterly ridiculous.
the truly amazing thing is that the <expletive of your choice>s perpetrating this nonsense still seem to enjoy the same respect as before (well, not in all quarters)and apparently continue to be listened to.
the media also refrain completely from taking 'analysts' to task over their in hindsight often completely disastrous recommendations. somehow giving financially destructive advice in the most public of forums seems to be considered exempt from critical examination.
the closest i see e.g. CNBS coming to critical appraisal of what passes for 'analysis' on WS is when they joke about downgrades on stocks after they have already lost 90% of their value. but that's always done in a jokular, non-confrontational manner. confrontation is reserved exclusively for bears. guest: "i think the NAZ will go lower" Kernan: "i'll write that down....we'll tell you about it once the market has gone higher".
the implication being that market pessimists are only scaring peiople out, since everybody knows you should be fully invested at all times...whether it makes sense or not. -g- btw, not only should one be fully invested, but also buy every dip...although it remains a mystery how fully invested people can do that. except on margin perhaps...
they come to tell you you can't time the market whenever it gets whacked...but they still want to know from their guests if it'll go up or down.
they also ALWAYS want to know what one should buy...even from the occasional bear.
which reminds me, the only ones ever daring to answer with 'stay out' were Fleck and Tice....
and the only one ever to recommend gold stocks was Arch Crawford, a well known fringe whacko -g-.
all the others say 'get defensive'...but stay fully invested of course...
irresponsible analysts, irresponsible media, lots of Prozac and stupendous money supply growth...the essence of the mania. |
