The Pessimists Are Wrong: No Downturn Anytime Soon, ECRI's Achuthan Says
Posted Oct 09, 2009 12:30pm EDT by Peter Gorenstein in Investing, Recession
Related: ^DJI, ^GSPC, spy, dia, qqqq
Think the stock market bulls are full of B.S.? You might want to rethink.
Or, more accurately, you might need an attitude adjustment. While it's normal to be pessimistic about the future given what we've just lived through, it's also wrong, Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) tells Tech Ticker.
"The mistake in the emotional attitude is related to the size of the cycle," he says, citing a favorite quote at ECRI: "The error of optimism dies in the crisis but in dying it gives birth to an error of pessimism. This new error is born, not an infant, but a giant. That giant error of pessimism is still running rampant, and will keep most people mired in gloom, long after the Great Recession is history."
Skeptical?
It's understandable but don't discount him. ECRI has a proven track record at predicting recessions and recoveries.
Now, back to the stock market. Achuthan concedes stocks are an imperfect leading indicator. That being said, there's a strong chance "we don't have a downturn in the stock market of any significance anytime soon," he says, citing ECRI's 100-plus years of data on business cycles.
Still don't believe it. That's OK, a healthy amount of investor skepticism is actually a bullish sign for the market.
finance.yahoo.com/techticker/article/...,-ECRI's-Achuthan-Says