``Castles In The Air'' Vs``Firm Foundation Theory''

1671 Words7 Pages
When determining the price of stock investors often rely on “The Firm Foundation Theory” or “The Castles in the Air Theory” which have contradictory connotation associated with stock market bubbles. Stock Market bubbles are abnormal increases in market value followed by leveling drop. “The Firm Foundation Theory” uses formulas and past information to determine stock prices, so when abnormal fluctuation takes place it will have a contrasting effect. “The Castles in the Air Theory” base it profit making on predicting what the other buyers will do and thus often searches for the formation of bubble. The term bubble when applied to the stock market refers to an overpriced stock. An economic bubble is “trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance from intrinsic values.” (King, Ronald R). A stock market bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs when investors overvalue a stock the price rises above the normal stock valuation in a short periods of time. This is because there is a misconception about the stock and people keep paying more than the last trade of already overvalued stock. This goes on till the stock eventually crashes. Thus, like a bubble, the stock quickly grows and then pops and crashes. Malkiel examines the Mississippi Scheme in France and the South Sea bubble in England, famous stock market bubbles than came to a sudden end in 1720 bankrupting thousands of misguided investors. Malkiel explains in the case of the South Sea Company good timing and deception where major factors. The English people where eager for investment opportunities in 1711, the year the South Sea Company formed. The company took a government IOU of £10 million for the exclusive rights to trade in the South Seas. People believed massive profits would be made in this monopoly and quickly overvalued this stock. The directors of new company had no
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