Stock Market: Are Perma-Bulls Really Stupid?

 (Drivebycuriosity) - There are 2 kinds of people. The optimists and the skeptics or pessimists. Those optimists who invest into the stock market all called bulls, the pessimists who avoid stocks - or  bet against stocks by short-selling and buying put options - all called bears. For some reasons the skeptics are  considered as smart & sophisticate, the optimists are seen as naive. Some change their opinion from time to time, other stay all the time bullish or bearish. Members of the last group, the perma-bulls, are regarded as dumb. Are they?

The chart above shows how the S&P 500, the gauge for the US stock market, did since 1982. The green lines show the days when the stock market reached new all-time-highs. In December 1982 the index hovered at 150 points, today above 3,000 points. Unfortunately this index does not include dividend payments and does not show the total return.

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The chart above displays the growth of a dollar invested in the S&P 500 at the end of August 1929. The blue line again shows just the stock market gains, without dividends (adjusted for inflation). The other lines display the total return, with dividends reinvested. Over time one dollar turned into 1,000 dollars. In the recent days the stock market climbed to new all-time-highs. Are perma-bulls really stupid?