April 06, 2014

How Will We Know When the Music Stops?

When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.
~ Chuck Prince, then CEO of Citigroup, in an interview with the Financial Times published July 10, 2007

At a party last weekend, I sat for a chat with a few of the guys.  The conversation turned to careers, and one man explained, "I've got a great new job with a startup.  I'm based in Denver now, flying all over for meetings.  The start-up is 15 people, but we could easily be at 150 in a year."  He went on to describe what sounded like a very exciting job, but after 5 minutes I realized it wasn't clear what he did for a living, nor did I understand the startup - neither its name, line of business, nor his role in the company. 

The conversation was stimulating, but I began to wonder if this conversation was evidence of a bubble.  I was reminded me of the shoeshine boy offering stock tips before the stock market crash of 1929. 

As we discussed in this past newsletter, bubbles create - and destroy - immense wealth. And as noted here, it is vitally important not to lose the wealth we gain during a bubble.  As a result, spotting bubbles and timing their demise is a key discipline to growing and maintaining wealth.

Despite the negative returns in bank prop trading and hedge funds this year, there is finally a party on Wall Street.  It took several years post-crisis for stock day-traders (i.e. the investing equivalents of underage drinkers) to emerge.  But here they are, enjoying massive volatility (mostly positive) in electric vehicles, biotechs, 3-D printing, and other high-flying stock groups.

Today's newsletter addresses the question - "Are we in an equities bubble?", and if so when should we exit.  It goes on to offer a risk management checklist to keep you grounded when your investments are performing well.