Skip to main content

Is the Market Always Right?

Dear Speculators,

Many a times in the market, we make rational bets in the stock market and we lose even when we are right. Stock market is a game and the system is either rigged in your favour or against you. Because the market participants are all thinking individuals, they decide the market outcomes by voting with their Naira. If a greater number of people believe in a particular outcome, they move in that direction. The force of their investment moves the market in such a way that the outcome of events in the stock market is exactly as they all anticipated.

Confused? Here's a simple example. Imagine you are home alone. You think you will be hungry in an hour so you start cooking an hour early. Nearly an hour later, the food is almost ready and the enticing aroma makes you hungry. "Yes! I knew it", you say, "I correctly predicted what time I will be hungry". But at this point, it is difficult to substantiate correctly what triggered the hunger. It could have been the aroma, your prediction, your stomach, any of them or all of them together.  Point is we will never know because the only fact we can confirm is that you are now hungry.

Your hunger for profits in the stock market will push you to make smart decisions or crazy decisions. My advice is don't over think it! If everyone else anticipates the same thing you do, whether right or wrong, the market will move in your favour. Money controls the market not brains. Next time you spot an investment opportunity and you decide to latch onto it, don't think only of what you will do but also how the market will react. Because if your moves aligns with theirs, you will be singing happy tunes to the bank.

Emeka Ucheaga,
Managing Partner,
Emeka Ucheaga Advisory

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Wrong Forecaster

Dear Speculators, The gloominess of the Nigerian economic outlook has significantly knocked down the prices of some financial assets but the real value of some of these assets have been mildly affected. While recounting the economic misfortune that has befallen the country in the last two years is inevitable, dwelling on the past is a perfect time wasting activity. Luckily, investment is forward looking and not regressive thinking. The past is a great indication of the future but not a mirror for prediction. The randomness of the world ensures that yesterday looks at least slightly different from tomorrow. And if we have learnt anything from the history books, it is that good things do not last forever and bad times always have an end. Life is by definition cyclical. The key questions to ask before buying or selling any financial asset is; will the current economic situation last forever? Will the inflation rate remain in double digits over the next 5 years? Will the Nai...

It's a Dip not a Bear

Despite strong economic fundamentals and fairly optimistic market sentiments that have driven stock market prices in the past year and even stronger since the start of 2018, stock markets all around the world are witnessing an unexplained coordinated price descent in the past one week. Asides the biggest bitcoin price crash in years, now 66% lower than its record high price of $19,500 in December, nothing out of the ordinary has occurred. Yes, stock prices are at the highest it's been in since pre-crisis era in U.S and the market is due for a price correction but then how do we explain market dips in relatively cheap emerging markets? Something is amiss! As Central Bankers around the world have begun to discuss monetary tightening in a coordinated fashion as the quest for 2% inflation seems more achievable this year due to strong global economic and rising commodity prices, bond prices have dropped precipitously and the U.S 10 year Treasury bills risen above 2.5% a...

Everything is Going Down in Nigeria Except Inflation

Dear Speculators, The wait is over, we anticipated bad news and we got it. Our fears have become reality, the economy has continued to back slide and Nigeria has officially tipped into a recession. Not that this surprises anyone though. Falling oil prices, dollar scarcity, exploding oil pipelines, massive labour retrenchment and import restrictions have all contributed their fair share to weaken growth in Nigeria's economy. However, the stock market arguably has had it worse than the general economy this year as the market is currently down about 3.8 percent against an economy contraction of 2.06 percent in the second quarter. A closer analysis of the stock market brings to light some intriguing statistics. The largest 49 companies in the stock market account for 97% of the total stock market capitalization. 41 companies of the 49 sell at an average of 22x earnings. Only 49 companies out of a total of 171 companies trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange are valued above ...