Stocks that are going straight up, $1.2 billion misplaced (MF Global), warships congregating in one spot, and the world, once again, is insane about getting rich quick. Every day I feel like the average citizen who couldn’t understand why their neighbor paid thousands of dollars for a single tulip bulb.
I listen to the mainstream media pontificate about the best dividend paying stocks or the correct swing strategy to profit in all markets.
In addition, I read trade journals telling me that if a client hasn’t embraced this new bull market then he or she are being poorly advised. Where am I? What year is it? Why haven’t I touted the latest dot-com stock?
Then I think, absolutely, Corning (GLW) is worth $300 per share with their fiber optic capabilities. Heck, it might even be worth $1,000.
After that I read the latest headlines “Are Financials Due for a Rebound” and I think maybe buying Bear Stearns makes sense at this price.
Next, I’m convinced the 50% drop to 20,000 is only temporary for the Nikkei, and shortly, it will be back to 40,000. Finally, I watch Barack Obama speak and I hear FDR’s words. My head is spinning.
Is it 1637, 1999, 2007, or 2012? It feels very eerie and almost Twilight Zone-ish. Well, I know its 2012 but everything tells me that I’ve been through a time warp.
Maybe I’m just suffering from some kind of March Madness, but it feels as though I’m simultaneously experiencing different eras. Most people, if given a chance to correct past mistakes, state categorically they would do things differently next time.
However, as I travel through time and talk with participants in each era, I continue to witness the very same people doing the same thing over and over again. Unfortunately, they’re not learning from the past and thus continue to repeat their mistakes.
If only the pronouncements of turnarounds, advancements, and success belie the actual events that are screaming “Beware, Beware, Beware!” As I journey through time, I become awed by the same exuberance that was shared for both the next tulip bulb and the next iPad.
Yet, none of the lessons of the past are ever learned. It seems the mantra of “This time it’s different” is worn by each succeeding generation.
As a Trekkie, I know I can move through time. But after experiencing the same thing over and over again, I think it’s just time to say “Beam me up, Scotty, there’s no intelligent life down here.”
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