Business World: What Do Shmoes Know That Wall Street Doesn't?
Stock prices having more than bounced back from their post-Russia lows, we are being told once more by various authorities that the market is "wrong."</br></br>Maybe the hordes of small investors are simply processing the available information better than the pros. What might the non-chumps who have started putting money into stock funds again know?</br></br>Their jobs are secure, wages are rising, and their employers are doing well. Heading out to do their shopping, they experience the joy of finding that prices, if anything, are a bit lower than last time. Harder to put a finger on but palpable nonetheless, there is something distinctly less crappy about the goods for sale. The clothes are made from natural fabrics, the appliances have computer chips in them, the cars never seem to break down.</br></br>What else does our shmoe know? Downsizing gave him a rough ride, and wisecracks about the boss's stock options are a standard water-cooler hors d'oeurve. But somehow the company does seem more focused and disciplined: No more drifting in the clouds of wishful thinking, executive vanity and bureaucratic inertia.</br></br>So his boss is keener on earning a profit, and his dollars are worth more down at the Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Price Chopper. What does this mean for the shmoe's stock funds?