Positional stocks

January 26, 2012

Conspicuous consumption — buying what others can’t afford — is a disequilibriating force.  Prices get raised and supply is limited.  The goods that are conspicuously consumed are positional goods.

A similar phenomenon occurs in the stock market.  AAPL currently seems to fit the mold.  Fashion changes.  I don’t much believe in predictions, but I predict that “bite of Apple” will have a new connotation in the foreseeable future.

Epilogue

Perhaps the best possible explanation of “positional good”.

Subscribe to the Portfolio Probe blog by Email

Latest posts

Leave a Reply

Related posts

  • What is volatility?

    January 19, 2014

    Some facts and some speculation. Definition Volatility is the annualized standard deviation of returns -- it is often expressed in percent. A volatility of 20 means that there is [...]

  • S&P that might have been

    January 6, 2014

    The S&P 500 returned 29.6% in 2013.  How might that have varied? S&P weights There are many features that could vary -- here we will keep the same constituents [...]

  • An interview regarding social impact bonds

    October 28, 2013

    An interview with Russ Bubley: Russ is the founder of i for change, a social investment strategy consultancy working with charities, social enterprises, government and investor groups to bring [...]