Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of January 29, 2013?

Article Excerpt

At any given time, somebody is always arguing that the stock market is headed for a crash based on some absolutely logical assertion that turns out on closer inspection to be totally irrelevant. Lately, for instance, one common reason for the predicted crash is that corporate profits are rising much faster than Gross Domestic Product or GDP (a measure of economic activity within the country). Corporate profits do indeed routinely grow faster than GDP. For decades, GDP has averaged 3% yearly growth, while profits have averaged 10% growth. But even if there was anything to this indicator, it’s open-ended. After all, total corporate profits after tax are now running at around 11% of GDP. Who’s to say if that’s the rate where the crash will begin? Maybe profits can safely climb to 12%, 14%, 20% or whatever? But there are many more problems with the idea that the market is in danger because profits are rising faster than GDP. For one, the U.S….