Investment Guru Stock Tips and Expert Advice

Tens of millions of Americans have now been fully vaccinated and the fun is just beginning. Re-opening euphoria and pent-up demand could lead to an economic boom that lasts into 2023. Supply chains, especially semiconductors, are still feeling the effects of Covid, and price pressures continue.

Recently I searched the Thoughts from the Frontline archives to see how often I used the word “bubble.” It was more than I thought, and I wasn’t quoting Don Ho. The bubbles I talked about were anything but tiny. Most of them subsequently popped, too. For most people, buying a home is the biggest single purchase they ever make. It continues to represent the largest part of their net worth. It is also the most leverage most people ever take on. The risk of loss is very high if you have little equity in the home and need to sell it.

Part of the runup in stock prices over the past year is due to the rebound in earnings we will see over the next few quarters. However, now that interest rates, oil prices and the dollar index have each been rising for some time, earnings growth will almost certainly peak and rollover next year, falling back into negative territory. As the stock market discounts fundamentals roughly 18 months into the future, according to Stan Druckenmiller, this bearish reversal in fundamentals could begin to affect stock prices relatively soon.

The last year brought exponential growth in, among other things, use of the word “exponential.” It is now the go-to term when you want to say something is “growing super-fast.” As humans, we tend to think in terms of linear growth—whatever is happening immediately around us in shorter time periods. Accelerating, exponential growth is harder to grasp. Exponential growth means the rate of growth increases with time, just like a car goes faster the more you press the gas pedal.