Interpreting Bernanke As Time’s Man Of The Year

Cover stories about the stock market tend to occur at points near maximum momentum on the upside or the downside.

– Steve Sjuggerud, “Wringing Profits From Magazines”, Investment U, July 8, 2003

What does Time Magazine putting Ben Bernanke on its cover as Man of the Year tell us about the current stock market?

Believe it or not, I find this kind of thing to be very telling.  What it tells me is that the opinion leaders, such as the journalists at a mainstream, respsected magazine like Time, believe that the recession is over.  How could you name Bernanke Man of the Year if you had serious doubts about the sustainability of this recovery?  You couldn’t.  Therefore, they’ve reached a level of confidence and conviction in the economy to be able to do something like this.