Asset bubbles follow a standard progression: Stealth phase: The price of an asset is going up. Awareness phase: Some investors become confident, enthused by the rise. Mania phase: Popular buzz; media coverage. The public see these first investors and buy because others are buying, with the implicit assumption that there will always be Greater Fools to sell it on to. This is what makes a bubble: investing to sell to other investors. Someone will say that the old rules don’t apply any more. Blowoff phase: The old rules turn out to still apply. The bubble runs out of Greater Fools; prices
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