Stingray :
A couple of quick points : First, who would have thought that index funds would become so popular? Donald Christensen, in "Surviving the Coming Mutual Fund Crisis" (first published in 1992(?) - I am not very sure) says that the S&P 500 index fund might well turn out to be an enlarged version of the Nifty Fifty of the early 70s.
In fact, he says that the Nifty Fifty had 50 stocks and the fever lasted about 2 years, and then goes on to say that the S&P 500 index fund has 500 stocks, and that the first S&P 500 index fund was started in 1976. Then, he wonders if therefore, this mania would last about 20 years, i.e until 1996 or so......
Second, you stated that O'Shaughnessy's funds are currently trailing the S&P 500. Now you might not act on that information, but believe me, a lot of people will. As a result, most people would tend to get on to the bandwagon _after_ a year of spectacular gains and then get off when things turn sour or just get dull for a while. And that is what makes me believe that no matter how widely _known_ these strategies might become, they are never likely to be widely _followed_.
Dipy. |
