The three most dangerous words in investing

There’s a phrase that’s trotted out when, against all good sense, it seems like a bull market will go on forever. When you hear it, you know it’s time to get out. John Stepek explains what it is, why it's so dangerous, and how you can protect your wealth.

The four most dangerous words in investment are: "It's different this time."

That was one of Sir John Templeton's many wise observations about markets. When people start reaching for reasons that a bull or bear market will go on forever, it's time to position yourself for things to go into reverse.

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.