BEARMARKETCENTRAL.COM
BearMarketCentral.com
For all the carnage wrought upon the financial markets after three years of equity losses, stock market bears remain a provincial lot. Sure, every now and then a cautious or negative remark from a well-known bear will appear in the mainstream press. But such opportunities for bears to make their case to the public at large remain relatively rare - and often take place only in the wake of a terribly bad week in the market ("Here to join us is noted bear market guru Mr. Grizzly, who seems to be annoyingly satisfied with the present market ...").
Those who have taken up the bearish case as their own often need to resort to the fringes of the financial media to hear reasoned arguments about the bubble in mortgage financing or the problems with directional derivative portfolios among major institutions, or even just an intelligent, bear-biased view on equity valuations. For these born-in-the-fur bears, nothing short of a clearinghouse for bearish opinions will suffice. Fortunately for them, there is BearMarketCentral.com.
Figure 1: BEAR MARKET CENTRAL
There are more bearish websites out there, but most of them feature
links to BearMarketCentral.com, which has been steadily serving up what
Money magazine has called "cranky contrarian opinion" since 1998. It makes
you wonder how "cranky" the scribes and contributors of BearMarketCentral's
Daily Market Comment and Crash Warning Update seem today, with the Standard
& Poor's 500 down 18% from its level in January 1998, and the Nasdaq
down some 28% from its January 1998 open.
Bears' delight
If anything, the bears of BearMarketCentral are perhaps the giddiest grizzlies around. The Crash Warning Update that leads the website's "Grizzly Growlings" consists of observations about the various major market indexes and technical indicators like the Trin (Arms index). The Update also occasionally comments on the observations of others, such as the talking heads of Cnnfn, whose apparent bewilderment in the face of the three-year equity bear market seems to provide no end of amusement to the bears of BearMarketCentral. An archive of Grizzly Growlings is only a link away and includes daily reports going back to December 2000 (one priceless excerpt from December 29, 2000: "Markets end a down year with a down day, bringing the Nasdaq's loss to 39% for the year, its worst ever. What kind of odyssey will the market take in 2001?"). Even more entertaining to stock market historian types may be the archived Grizzly Growlings from as long ago as 1998 (the first report, a "Special," is titled "The Fat Lady Is Singing"!).
Other main features include links to other bear-minded websites such
as The Daily Reckoning and Damon Vickers' Daily Market Comment (which largely
features pieces from commentators such as Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley
and Bill Gross of Pimco). There is also a sizable "Bear Market Reader"
section that provides reading material of the bearish persuasion from commentators,
analysts, and market observers like Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International.
A mosaic of sections - ranging from a daily market roundup, chart of the
week, and Elliott wave reports to a guide to bear market funds, short-selling
strategies, and a World Gold Report - provides grist for even the most
bearish mill.
Figure 2: BEAR MARKET CENTRAL
Unlike some of the other bearish websites to which investors and
traders are surfing these days, BearMarketCentral is really as much a clearinghouse
as a destination in and of itself. In addition to the features mentioned,
BearMarketCentral includes a bear funds scorecard, a scrolling ticker of
major indexes and market averages. Links to partners such as Market Mavens
and (surprisingly enough) Pitbull Investor can also be found here. Those
looking for particularly incisive commentary on finance and economics -
particularly from the nontechnical perspective - may find a bearish website
like Prudent Bear more to their liking. But those who don't mind kicking
the bull while he's down - and enjoy finding a few really smart and famous
people who agree - will likely find their fill of gloom and doom at BearMarketCentral.
- David Penn, Staff Writer
Originally published in the December 2002 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2002, Technical Analysis, Inc.