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A piece on market timing is a “must read” for anyone who takes market-timing gurus and newsletters overly seriously. Read A Visual History of Market Crash Predictions. (Note the reference embedded in the URL to “the clowns of Wall Street.”)
Yes, all the big fear-monger names are there, including Harry Dent Jr., Robert Prechter, Marc Faber and even a few Marketwatch columnists and the generally respected Mark Hulbert.
As the piece says, you need to remember that almost everyone has something to sell, and the pundits mentioned generally are in the business of selling newsletters, books, market-timing services or related items. And since Fear is a more visceral emotion than Greed, the scarier the headlines these prognostications generate, the more publicity the market prognosticators are likely to reap, and with that more sales of their products or services. As they say in the newspaper business, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
And admit it, would YOU buy a book bearing the calm and sensible title “Markets will fluctuate, stay diversified for the long run and have a sensible asset allocation?” A better title might be “Ignore these idiots.”
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