Presently there is a school of thought that equity prices are perhaps 25 pct underpriced, which is based on the comparison between earnings yield and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond.

But who is to say that bond yields are not " for many obvious reasons " say 25 pct too low?

And who is to say that both stocks and bonds are not overpriced and that a fair risk-adjusted return on holding cash in a money market fund ought to be much higher?

And who is to say that the current IMF view on U.S. budget and trade deficits is not correct in that the $USD ought to be priced much lower?

And if that were the reality, who is to say that commodities (oil, base metals, precious metals) would not be better priced say 25 pct higher?

The point is that there is a dynamic pricing model at work. Some of the drivers are not purely economic, but they may be political. They also " I think we all agree " involve mass psychology, i.e., the promotion (by few to many) of fads and trends.

Regardless of time horizon " day trading to very long-term decisions " it is up to us to figure it out.

Is there a person here who really believes that they have the right answer all the time? No, I think we all agree that listening to the opinions and insights of others is the way to make better decisions.

Thanks to my readers, I get to enjoy communicating to others what's important to me, which is that personal independence (i.e., avoidance of need) and objectivity (i.e., adherence to truth) is one's greatest wealth. It is the key to making better decisions.

You see, our opinions and insights always change because we know that markets are constantly changing. But if we don't each have personal values that keep us tethered to reality, we simply follow the path set by others.

For those of you who are not well grounded, first you lose your individuality, and then you lose your money. It's inevitable because the people who would show you the way are only willing to do so if you pay them.

That's why I am not commercial. In blogging, I am seeking only happiness and the opinions of others.

If people did not come to this website/blog to learn, to express their views, and their thanks, I would not be as happy as I am.

Happiness happens to be an asset that is invaluable. You simply cannot put a price on it.

Everything else in life has a price tag on it, which is subject to change.