Wednesday, May 13, 2009

You know better than you think you do

Massive inflows into the global equity / commodity markets in the month of April to me is an indication enough that repeated assertions by the talking heads – about money waiting in the sidelines - falls flat in their faces. I think now it’s getting very tenuous––the fund managers, retail investors across the board people are very nervous at these higher valuations. In that sense, I don’t endorse the capability of equity markets to forerun global economic fundamentals that are still weak, at least as weak as they were made out to be in the early days of liquidity crunch in Q1-Q2 of 2008. The expression I guess is, suspended disbelief - as in the super heroes in the movies, when you know humans cannot fly but you believe Superman can fly, so you can enjoy the movie.

That is not to say that we don’t enjoy the current rally while it lasts. The suspended disbelief here is in ignoring the reality of the economic fundamentals. At some point, delusions give way to reason and the tide ebbs all of a sudden. It’s hard to guess what can legitimately support equity valuations much higher than here, almost in any market around the world.

When you can’t guess it, it’s time you respect your fears and retrace a bit. Don’t repudiate your own instinct so much just because it comes to you free and it tells you to keep away from seemingly juicy opportunities, especially after a long, dry spell. Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's. Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out. You know more than you think you do.
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