Home Economic Trends Forget GOAT, Look at GBOAT: The Greatest Bubble Of All Time –...

Forget GOAT, Look at GBOAT: The Greatest Bubble Of All Time – Charles Hugh Smith (11/11/2020)

So enjoy the GBOAT (greatest bubble of all time) but watch the clock.

Sports fans debate who qualifies as GOAT–the greatest of all time: in hoops, Kobe, Jordan, Kareem, Magic; in boxing, Ali, and so forth.

What we have today is GBOAT–the greatest bubble of all time That it’s GOAT is beyond doubt, as the charts below reveal.

Bubbles have a few unique characteristics which cannot be captured by financial metrics. The most important such characteristic is that mainstream financial managers don’t see it as a bubble. For those who do admit valuations may be a bit stretched (heh), these professionals shrug and say that since the music’s still playing, they have to keep dancing, i.e. yes there may be a bubble but it won’t pop anytime soon.

The other characteristic of a bubble is that it continues expanding far beyond historic valuation redlines, as if nothing in the real world (earnings, multiples, etc.) actually matters. Anyone proclaiming such extremes are unsustainable is laughed off the stage as extremes become more extreme, and those who bet against the tsunami of euphoric confidence that this isn’t a bubble can be found huddled in a cardboard box beneath the freeway overpass, begging for a handful of Cheetos.

Another characteristic worth noting is the acceleration of duration, amplitude and volatility as bubbles reach their zenith. So while bulls are cheering the greatest post-election rally in 73 years (or was it 743 years? 2,743 years? Whatever…), they should be quaking in their designer boots for what increasingly manic rallies are signaling: it’s about to pop, baby.

Jesse Felder of TheFelderReport.com succinctly summarized the case for GBOAT in This Is The Textbook Definition Of “Late Cycle” In The Stock Market (Zero Hedge).

The charts below bolster the (painfully obvious) case for this being the greatest bubble of all time.

Wilshire total stock market capitalization to nominal GDP: record disconnect from GDP.



Regression to trend: all-time high. (via advisorperspectives.com)



Private sector financial assets as a percentage of GDP: all-time high.



Every leg higher takes less time and reaches greater extremes:



So enjoy the greatest bubble of all time but watch the clock. Those Cinderella gains vanish at midnight.


My new book is available! A Hacker’s Teleology: Sharing the Wealth of Our Shrinking Planet 20% and 15% discounts (Kindle $7, print $17)

Read excerpts of the book for free (PDF).

The Story Behind the Book and the Introduction.



Recent Podcasts:

AxisofEasy Salon #29: A Deep Dive into the Network State (1 hr)


My COVID-19 Pandemic Posts


My recent books:

A Hacker’s Teleology: Sharing the Wealth of Our Shrinking Planet (Kindle $8.95, print $20, audiobook coming soon) Read the first section for free (PDF).

Will You Be Richer or Poorer?: Profit, Power, and AI in a Traumatized World
(Kindle $5, print $10, audiobook) Read the first section for free (PDF).

Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic ($5 (Kindle), $10 (print), ( audiobook): Read the first section for free (PDF).

The Adventures of the Consulting Philosopher: The Disappearance of Drake $1.29 (Kindle), $8.95 (print); read the first chapters for free (PDF)

Money and Work Unchained $6.95 (Kindle), $15 (print) Read the first section for free (PDF).



If you found value in this content, please join me in seeking solutions by becoming a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.


NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE.