Is a Bull Market Coming? Bearish Books Say Yes
If you’ve had occasion to browse the personal finance book selection at your local Borders recently, you may have noticed a more subdued and serious tone. Titles that used to scream things like “Become a Millionaire by 40!” and “Independently Wealthy: Have it Your Way” have been replaced by more cautious tones like the current best-seller Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe & Sound.
The Wall Street Journal picked up on this shift and made mention of a 2006 study by the Journal of Behavioral Finance that revealed “stocks perform substantially better after the publication of bearish financial books than they do after bullish titles are published.”
The bad news bears can be found around every corner these days, so if that study’s got any legs, we should see the light at the end of the tunnel real soon, at least in terms of a stock market turnaround. That could be some solace for those with 401(k)s or other long-term retirement money invested in the stock market.
What’s the latest personal finance book you’ve read?
