In the financial world, most discussion about quantitative easing, the sequel, centres on this question: what's the clever thing to buy when the US Federal Reserve's printing presses are in overdrive?
They discuss things they plan to buy when they sell their hundreds of millions of dollars in stock: boats, planes, artwork, even an island.
That is, most individuals tend to buy when things have done well and sell when things have done poorly.
But there will always be people who want to buy when things are really cheap and are willing to press ahead when the quest seems most challenging.
He warned against submission, saying, "It is extremely difficult to go against the crowd to buy when everyone is selling or has sold, to buy when things look darkest, to buy when so many experts are telling you that stocks in general, or in this particular industry, or even in this particular company, are risky right now".
He argues that the newly rich in places like the Middle East can actually smooth things out by having the money to buy when everyone else is selling.
The stock market is one of the only few places that when things go on sale, nobody wants to buy; when there is a clearance sale, instead of flooding to the store people are running away in mad hordes.
For the moment, the notion that they may run out of things to buy seems laughable especially when you visit the mother of 1990s consumer temples, just off a freeway in Seattle.The temple in question is the flagship store of REI, a camping/sporting/outdoor retailer.
Because I like to do errands and I like to talk on the phone and answer e-mail and buy things when there are things to buy, which would be during business hours.
