I expect stocks to simply become ignored. Trust in Wall Street is shattered
I would like to offer a personal anecdote which, I think, illustrates your point. In 1974 I was a young, recently married fellow. I had a certain naive interest in the economy and the markets. Some of my observations were pretty good - for instance, I recognized that without any doubts buying a seat at the NYSE for 30000 dollars would simply have to be a great investment.
Stocks those days were a heartbreaker for many families. I will never forget how my Mother-In-Law - who herself was an occasional pretty sharp intuitive short term trader - tried to discourage my interest in the markets. Every chance she had, she would tell me that stocks are a fools game, that the entire thing was for idiots who will inevitably end up losing their money.
She was not alone - this was the predominant mindset in the community, after several years of choppy markets.
Of course, this proved to be the low of a secular Bear market.
Today, we are not there yet. "Formal" sentiment studies indicate that a rally is quite likely.... however, only this morning, with the markets a tad in the positive, CNBC had a segment with several people discussing what to buy, asset allocation, promising sectors, etc. Bullishness is still only 1/32 of an inch under the surface. |
