Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of July 9, 2013?

Article Excerpt

When I look at all the relevant information, I’m reasonably confident that we have set off on a secular bull market. That’s a situation like we had from the early 1980s through the year 2000, or the late 1940s through to the early 1970s. A secular bull market is a period of rising stock prices, lasting anywhere from one to several decades. During a secular bull market, stock prices still go through bear markets (downturns of 20% or more, say). The difference with a secular bull market is that the rising phases within it generally last longer and go higher than people expect. Also, the falling phases or bear markets take a smaller toll off of stock prices, and/or end sooner than people generally expect. Secular bull markets generally begin toward the end of a period of low investor expectations and weak investor returns. The time between 2000 and 2012 was one of those periods. It gave investors lots of…