Pessimism about the U.S. economy and financial market is so thick right now you could cut it with a knife. I’ll be the first to admit that times are tough. But Americans have seen tough times before. And we have always prevailed.

Too many investment myths have gone unchallenged lately. Today I plan to refute them - and explain why financial markets are likely to perform much better than most investors believe in the year ahead.

Let’s begin by examining the four biggest investment myths circulating right now…

Investment Myth #1: The Era of Free Markets is Over

It’s true that many of the apostles of free-market economics have begged Congress for government intervention during the current credit crisis. But nobody is seriously arguing that Uncle Sam should nationalize the economy, set wages and prices, or establish production quotas.

The free market still constitutes the best means of securing

...

The 4 Biggest Investment Myths of 2008

by Alexander Green, Chairman, Investment U Investment Director, The Oxford Club Monday, December 29, 2008: Issue #907

Pessimism about the U.S. economy and financial market is so thick right now you could cut it with a knife.

I’ll be the first to admit that times are tough. But Americans have seen tough times before. And we have always prevailed.

Too many investment myths have gone unchallenged lately. Today I plan to refute them - and explain why financial markets are likely to perform much better than most investors believe in the year ahead.

Let’s begin by examining the four biggest investment myths circulating right now…

Investment Myth #1: The Era of Free Markets is Over

It’s true that many of the apostles of free-market economics have begged Congress for government intervention during the current credit crisis. But nobody is seriously arguing that

...

strongWall Street Journal and Financial News/strongbr /br /By Jason Corcoranbr /br /15 December 2008 br /br /Fund managers have called the bottom too oftenbr /The investment horizon has experienced so many false dawns over the past 18 months that investors could be forgiven for regarding any rose-tinted outlook as a mirage.br /br /Every time the stock market suffers another steep drop, fund managers and investment sages pronounce that the market bottom is in sight and now is the time to buy.br /br /Fundamentals, technical signs and precedents may have backed up some of their theories but subsequent slumps in valuations have not borne out their views.br /br /Ken Kinsey-Quick, head of multi-manager strategies at UK asset manager Thames River Capital, said: “The problem with predictions is that no one has a perfect crystal ball. Anyone making a prediction is taking a risk which gives them about a 30% chance ...

While Jim Cramer and others are wringing their hands, the people I respect most are turning bullish.

At least, over the long term.

Let's start with John Bogle. (Doesn't it always start with John Bogle?)

Judging by the series of interviews he's been giving lately, Bogle is very worried about the U.S. economy. As he said in an interview with Forbes today (highlighted by Murray Coleman in our invaluable new daily news roundup), "it will be a year-and-a-half to two years before [the U.S. economy] turns upward."

That doesn't mean investors should be sitting on the sidelines. Far from it. Bogle says the market may be undervalued by about $7.5 trillion right now, and thinks that the market has likely over-discounted the impending recession.

Bogle's not alone. In the forthcoming January/February issue of the Journal of Indexes, Rick Ferri (a great financial advisor) calls this "the greatest opportunity in our lifetime" for

...

Sometimes the worst markets hide the best profit opportunities. And you don’t get much worse than the housing market at the moment. Jonas Elmerraji says prefab manufactured housing is making a big comeback in devastated real estate industry. He says investors can play this emerging trend with small cap firms like Skyline Corp (NYSE:SKY) and Champion Enterprises (NYSE:CHB).

More from Penny Sleuth:

While most investors look for industries they expect to boom in the future, there’s a solid investment case to be made for buying stocks in bad industries.

Jeremy Siegel, one of Wall Street’s best investment minds, said that, “Some of the most successful investments of the last thirty years have come from industries whose performances have been utterly horrendous.”

And if ever there was a horrendous market, housing’s it. The housing industry has sunk almost 40% this year, sending most investors heading for the hills…but not all…

***********************************

Does $2.00 for a

...

The bears are back out for Halloween. US futures are down sharply this morning, as edgy investors anticipate more weak economic data. October 2008 has been the worst month for stock markets in decades. But Lynn Carpenter says the reasons for the next bull market are already in place….

More from Investor’s Daily Edge:

Years ago, my friend Bob Meier told me that bears start every bull market. Sounded strange. But it’s true.

Bulls push rallies farther and higher on big hopes, but they’re not the ones to start them. But bulls are like adolescents. They don’t handle adversity well. And just about the time the bulls are upset because they aren’t going to make 40% a year, the bears are smelling honey in those trees. They are seeing stocks that should go up 15% to 20% and priced at half to two-thirds of their fair value.

But how

...

We were recently asked by a prospective client to identify when we became bearish and clearly said so — to demonstrate whether we were ahead of or behind the trend.

That seemed like a fair question.  If one person is willing to ask, several more may be thinking the question.  Here is our answer.

The best place to go for that information is the written record.  Here are quotes from articles posted on this blog that show we were pretty far ahead of the major damage, and have been advising raising cash for some time now.

Note: We are alert for a re-entry point and are accumulating a buy list for those things we want to own. Dividends are becoming juicy, but as of today we don’t think it’s time yet to go back in.

August 21st, 2007 Better Safe Than Sorry

Sometimes risk reduction and capital preservation are of higher importance than pursuit of

...

Barron's had it annual "retirement" issue this weekend and candidly there was a little less meat on the bone than when they have done this in the past.The best article had five snippets of varying length from five "risk experts" to "explain how to keep your nest egg from cracking."The five were Peter Bernstein, Charlie Ellis, Barton Biggs, Jeremy Siegel and David Darst.Berstein's post was a mix of general concerns and specific suggests that may not be very new but it was worthwhile to get is take.Charlie Ellis focused on global diversification which is important but the post was very short.Barton Biggs' post was totally worthless in the context of talking about retirement. He essentially spelled out why he likes tech right now. Even if he is 100% right about tech in the time ...