When a wise market guru says "buy when there's blood in the street," or "be greedy when others are fearful," you may already be thinking to yourself that if it were so easy, you'd be set for life. Ben Carlson agrees and focuses on a failed attempt by Brett Arends to call the bottom in Russian stocks. In March. When stocks were down 78%.
Since then, the Russian stock market lost another 40%.
Today, Bloomberg reports Russian Stocks Drop 12 Percent. There's not only blood in the streets, there's a deep red river!
This is not to single Arends out. Premature calls on "bottoms" are more common than perfectly timed ones, as reflected by the lack of buyers at panic lows.
A Lesson in Market Crashes
By BEN CARLSON
Excerpt
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. So easy to say but much harder to pull off in real-time.
The reason?
People can always become greedier or more fearful. Case in point — the Russian stock market. In early March, MarketWatch columnist Brett Arends laid out the case for investing in Russian stocks, specifically Russian small caps:
Heaven help me, I’m going to invest in Russia.
I’m not going to overthink it. I’m not going to let people talk me out of it. I am going to throw some of my money into the Russian stock market—and then forget about it for a few years…
For Respeja: Chart looks horrible but how low can it go? Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares
Wonder what Jay Carney thinks — he said "don't buy" in March: Ex-White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Was Right About The Russian Stock Market.
