Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part V)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, terrorist attacks, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By Elliott Wave International

You may remember that during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, many called into question traditional economic models.

Why did the traditional financial models fail? And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

This series gives you a well-researched answer.

Here is Part V; come back soon for Part VI.

Myth #5: "GDP drives stock prices."

By Robert Prechter (excerpted from the monthly Elliott Wave Theorist; published since 1979)

Surely the stock market reflects the nation's Gross Domestic Product. The aggregate success of corporations shows up as changes in GDP. Stocks are shares in corporations. How could their prices not reflect the ebb and flow of GDP?

Suppose that you had perfect foreknowledge that over the next 3 3/4 years GDP would be positive every single quarter and that one of those quarters would surprise economists in being the strongest quarterly rise in a half-century span. Would you buy stocks? Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part V)"

Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part IV)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, terrorist attacks, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By Elliott Wave International

You may remember that during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, many called into question traditional economic models.

Why did the traditional financial models fail? And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

This series gives you a well-researched answer.

Here is Part IV; come back soon for Part V.

Myth #4: "Earnings drive stock prices."

By Robert Prechter (excerpted from the monthly Elliott Wave Theorist; published since 1979)

This belief powers the bulk of the research on Wall Street. Countless analysts try to forecast corporate earnings so they can forecast stock prices. The exogenous-cause [i.e., news-driven -- Ed.] basis for this research is quite clear: Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part IV)"

Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part III)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, terrorist attacks, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By Elliott Wave International

You may remember that during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, many called into question traditional economic models. Why did the traditional financial models fail?

And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

That's a crucial question to your financial well-being. This series gives you a well-researched answer.

Here is Part III; come back soon for Part IV.

Myth #3: "Expanding trade deficit is bad for economy -- and bearish for stocks."

By Robert Prechter (excerpted from the monthly Elliott Wave Theorist; published since 1979)

Over the past 30 years, hundreds of articles -- you can find them on the web -- have featured comments from economists about the worrisome nature of the U.S. trade deficit. It seems to be a reasonable thing to worry about.

But has it been correct to assume throughout this time that an expanding trade deficit impacts the economy negatively?

Figure 8 answers this question in the negative: Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part III)"

Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part II)

Interest rates, oil prices, earnings, GDP, wars, terrorist attacks, inflation, monetary policy, etc. -- NONE have a reliable effect on the stock market

By: Elliott Wave International

You may remember that during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, many called into question traditional economic models. Why did the traditional financial models fail?

And more importantly, will they warn us of a new approaching doomsday, should there be one?

That's a crucial question to your financial well-being. This series gives you a well-researched answer.

Here is Part II; come back soon for Part III. Continue reading "Don't Get Ruined by These 10 Popular Investment Myths (Part II)"

Top Approaching in Berkshire Hathaway?

By: Elliott Wave International

Editor's note: The following article originally appeared in a special September-October double issue of Robert Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist, one of the longest-running financial letters in the business. From Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, Prechter's firm, Elliott Wave International, is throwing open the doors to all of its investor services 100% free. Click here to join EWI's free Investor Open House now.

It piques our interest when a person or company makes the front page of a magazine or newspaper. On August 15, USA Today ran an article with a chart on the share-price performance of Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway. The Guardian and other papers covered the news, too, which was that the stock had cleared $200,000/share.

The stock (symbol BRK-A) has returned a 19.7% compounded annual return to shareholders since 1965, the year Buffett turned a failing textile company into an investment company. It has returned 22.8% annualized since 1977. Let's just say that the stock has produced about 20% per year compounded.

The above figure shows that the stock has just met a 16-year resistance line on arithmetic scale. The next figure shows that it is still a bit shy of that line on log scale. Continue reading "Top Approaching in Berkshire Hathaway?"