Madness and mania in the stock market

Many analysts believe today's high stock-market prices are justified. That's wishful thinking, says John C Burford - stocks are in a bubble.

Are stock markets, which are very close to their all-time highs, being propelled by an extreme state of euphoria by investors, who are engaged in a classic mania? And can stocks be said to be in a bubble?

There are plenty of analysts that maintain that today's stock valuations are not outlandish (the new normal') and are entirely justified. To me, this seems to be wishful thinking they are disregarding evidence, because they want to believe this is the new normal'.

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John is is a British-born lapsed PhD physicist, who previously worked for Nasa on the Mars exploration team. He is a former commodity trading advisor with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and worked in a boutique futures house in California in the 1980s.

 

He was a partner in one of the first futures newsletter advisory services, based in Washington DC, specialising in pork bellies and currencies. John is primarily a chart-reading trader, having cut his trading teeth in the days before PCs.

 

As well as his work in the financial world, he has launched, run and sold several 'real' businesses producing 'real' products.