2. Advice to Ignore

“For better or for worse, the U.S. economy probably has to regard the death of equities as a near-permanent condition—reversible some day, but not soon.”

Business Week’s Aug. 13, 1979, “The Death of Equities” cover story

The most derided magazine cover of the last three decades, the one held up for the most ridicule (other than perhaps Time magazine’s famous alteration of O. J. Simpson’s mug shot), was Business Week’s mid-1979 cover story, “The Death of Equities.” It’s been an article of faith that the story is Exhibit A in the long history of evidence for investors to consider media a contrarian indicator for market trends: If a leading publication says the rally is over, it’s time to start buying. If stocks look cheap, ...

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