Understanding and dealing with bubbles – a review of the state of the art

September 27, 2017
Ziad K. Abdelnour

Exploring Financial Strategies and Economic Insights

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Take a close look around you. There seems to be today bubbles boiling up everywhere.

There are bubbly stock markets like India, Brazil, and the U.S. Lots of bond bubbles: U.S. Treasuries, U.S. corporate bonds, global bonds in general, subprime auto bonds.

There’s talk of a bubble in the international art market, solar energy, venture capital, lithium and U.S student loans. Another looming one is the bitcoin bubble too.

There’s also evidence of real estate bubbles around the world: Vancouver, Auckland, Sydney, Toronto, San Francisco and London, for starters. There’s a reported bubble in “nine-figure real estate listings.”

Chinese bubbles are a class of their own: Real estate, iron ore, cotton, garlic, eggs and soybean meal are some recent ones. Of course, China’s stock market bubble burst last summer.

Then there is discussion of “the mother of all bubbles” also known as “the everything bubble,” which infers that a global debt bubble feeds all the other bubbles. With so many bubbles, it’s hard to keep track.

Possibly a Bubble ETF is needed, composed of the many bubble markets, so that there’s an efficient way to track and trade the world of bubbles.

Yet, despite the fact that speculative bubbles are popping up everywhere, it can often be hard to tell you’re in a bubble until it pops. It would help to know how to tell a bubble is forming.

Luckily there are about four centuries’ worth of speculative bubbles to study for answers.

The first widely known and the most famous market bubble of all time was Tulip Mania, which occurred in Holland in the early 17th century. The Dutch became enamored with tulips that had flaming colors on their petals. They coveted the bulbs that grew into these unique tulips.

As demand for the bulbs increased, along with their value, a market in tulip bulbs developed. As word of profitable speculation spread, more people piled in. Prices moved continuously higher.

Then from December 1636 to February 1637, the price of premium tulips surged by 200 percent. At the height of the mania in 1637, the market price of a single prized bulb was sufficient to purchase one of the grandest homes on the most fashionable canal in Amsterdam – when that city’s homes were among the most expensive in the world.

Needless to say, these prices were not an accurate reflection of the true value of a tulip bulb. In February 1637, buying tipped over into selling, and a domino effect of cascading lower and lower prices took hold. Speculators saw that they had spent vast sums to buy plants that were little more than glorified onions, and liquidated their tulip bulb holdings without regard for price. As wealth evaporated, pandemonium engulfed Holland. A deep economic depression followed.

Tulip mania established a pattern that has since been repeated over and over in speculative bubbles ever since. Despite advances in economic theory and the increasing sophistication of markets, market bubbles, and human psychology, haven’t changed much since the 1630s.

In 2008, Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a Canadian transportation scholar, conducted a study of the history of bubbles, and published a model of bubble stages:

Stealth Phase. The initial bubble stage is where a new market opportunity, or paradigm, is cautiously recognized by early smart money investors.
Awareness Phase. As market prices rise, more investors are attracted to the new investment story. The media begins to cover the story, adding to the momentum, and investors become increasingly interested – and increasingly less sophisticated.
Mania Phase. Now everyone notices the rising prices. The media is touting “the investment of a lifetime.” Price becomes detached from underlying economic reality. Euphoric, irrational investors project recent price gains into the future. Enthusiasm spreads like a contagion between investors. A feedback loop ensues – rising prices amplify stories that seem to justify high valuations, which attract an ever increasing number of buyers.Even cynical traders join the buying, expecting to sell to “greater fools.” Price gains become nearly parabolic. Paper fortunes are made. Greed rules. Meanwhile the smart money is selling to the dumb money.
Blow-off Phase. At some point buying abates and a paradigm shift slowly – or sometimes quickly – unfolds, as market participants realize something has changed. Sellers now find few buyers and prices fall quickly. Leveraged speculators face margin calls and are forced to sell. The decline becomes a crash.

Everyone now views the market as “a house of cards,” and prices plummet at a rate much faster than when the bubble was inflated. Often, prices fall below pre-bubble levels. The market becomes universally hated. But eventually the smart money starts buying again, recognizing the panic has created an opportunity to buy assets at bargain prices.

This classic bubble pattern is apparent in the most notorious bubbles of the modern era, including some very recent ones. Another example is the Shanghai Composite index just last year. Starting in August 2014, the index gained 125 percent in 10 months. This was fueled in part by easier margin lending rules, which allowed Chinese investors to borrow more to invest.

This amplified the speculation and buying, so prices kept going higher. Thinking that buying stocks was an easy way to make money, less sophisticated investors entered the market and mania ensued.

But eventually the bubble popped. Investors realized stocks were way overvalued and the market collapsed and fell 32 percent in less than a month.

Over 400 years of market bubbles have shown a recurring pattern: A smart investment idea gains a following, and prices rise. The media discovers the story, ever more investors join in, becoming increasingly excited, and prices rise even more. Valuations lose connection with economic reality. Sooner or later the bubble bursts, prices crash, and many investors are ruined.

With potential bubbles in so many different markets across the globe, it’s a good time to study this historical pattern. Knowing what stage a market bubble is in can help you avoid taking a bath when the bubble pops. And bubbles always pop.

Learning to control the emotions that can cause us to get caught up in market bubbles is also important.

Next bubble?

I am afraid the next bubble will be due to cheap money…

Ever since the Fed (and other money printing entities throughout the world) started to print money at record pace after the 2008 crisis, there has been a lot more money in the economy.

What the central banks were trying to do (and it has worked a little) was stimulate economies by injecting money into industries that were hanging on by a thread.

Unfortunately, this has caused many assets to be inflated in price because of the larger volume of dollars (or whatever currency you use) in the market.

This large volume of money allowed people to pay higher prices for things like homes, businesses, cars, education, or really anything that can be bought with borrowed money.

As we continue down this road of more money printing, we are just like a drunk at the bar, who is drinking more and more. We think we are getting better and better at dancing all over the tables, and hey, maybe we are! But… the next morning we are going to have a mean hangover.

So, anything that is financed through borrowed money is at risk of being in a bubble. Real assets that cannot be financed are the few things that wealthy people will start transitioning into as this bubble gets larger. Things like metals, art, collectibles or foreign real estate.

Given the current state of our economy, the only thing worse than a new bubble would be its absence.

Now you know….

Disclaimer: This article discusses certain companies and their products or services as potential solutions. These mentions are for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as endorsements or investment recommendations. All investment strategies carry inherent risks, and it is imperative that readers conduct their own independent research and seek advice from qualified investment professionals tailored to their specific financial circumstances before making any investment decisions.

The content provided here does not constitute personalized investment advice. Decisions to invest or engage with any securities or financial products mentioned in this article should only be made after consulting with a qualified financial advisor, considering your investment objectives and risk tolerance. The author assumes no responsibility for any financial losses or other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the content of this article.

As with any financial decision, thorough investigation and caution are advised before making investment decisions.