I often look for contrarian signs at the top and bottom of market cycles. Things like a USA Today cover showing bulls charging up the steps of the New York Stock Exchange with ticker tape streaming from their horns or cartoons of bears feasting on the carcass of a rotting bull.
I saw something today that struck me as such a sign. I’m talking about the picture of Meredith Whitney on the cover of Fortune magazine. I met Meredith at my 1st Wedding. She was a guest of one of my more successful Cornell friends and she made it obvious that she felt she was slumming in New Jersey in the company of a bunch of Cornellian’s. (Ms. Whitney was a graduate of Brown living in Manhattan. And, for what it's worth, my now ex-wife had a similiar attitude towards the Cornell gang!) At the time she was working for CIBC and someone suggested that we might have something in common since we were in the same industry. We had a strained conversation for about an hour the night before the nuptials until one of us made some excuse.
Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised to see Ms. Whitney become the most recent Wall Street darling and overnight sensation in October of last year when she correctly predicted capitalization problems at Citi-Bank would lead to a dividend cut. Since that time she has been a regular on CNBC and the other financial broadcasts. After my wedding she parted company with my friend and married a professional wrestler and part-time financial expert.
For the past 9 months, she has been ubiquitous in the financial press. Appearing everywhere with a message of doom and gloom for the capital markets. Analysts who vault to fame are usually short-lived and they usually continue to re-broadcast their original, award-winning, message. Anyone remember Elaine Garzarelli Joe Granville, or Abby Cohen? I think seeing Meredith on the cover of Fortune may be a sign that the worst of the credit crunch is behind us.
I saw something today that struck me as such a sign. I’m talking about the picture of Meredith Whitney on the cover of Fortune magazine. I met Meredith at my 1st Wedding. She was a guest of one of my more successful Cornell friends and she made it obvious that she felt she was slumming in New Jersey in the company of a bunch of Cornellian’s. (Ms. Whitney was a graduate of Brown living in Manhattan. And, for what it's worth, my now ex-wife had a similiar attitude towards the Cornell gang!) At the time she was working for CIBC and someone suggested that we might have something in common since we were in the same industry. We had a strained conversation for about an hour the night before the nuptials until one of us made some excuse.
Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised to see Ms. Whitney become the most recent Wall Street darling and overnight sensation in October of last year when she correctly predicted capitalization problems at Citi-Bank would lead to a dividend cut. Since that time she has been a regular on CNBC and the other financial broadcasts. After my wedding she parted company with my friend and married a professional wrestler and part-time financial expert.
For the past 9 months, she has been ubiquitous in the financial press. Appearing everywhere with a message of doom and gloom for the capital markets. Analysts who vault to fame are usually short-lived and they usually continue to re-broadcast their original, award-winning, message. Anyone remember Elaine Garzarelli Joe Granville, or Abby Cohen? I think seeing Meredith on the cover of Fortune may be a sign that the worst of the credit crunch is behind us.
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In other words an article titled Bubble Gum followed up by an article that should have been titled Bubble Head both written by BBBud??
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