b. Yes, and how many people have dropped a bundle? Or more to the point, how
c. Investor psychology is a slippery concept, more often than not used to explain
price movements that the individual invoking it cannot personally explain.
47. Investments in financial markets, such as stocks or bonds, are available to all
participants in the marketplace. As a result, the prices of these investments are bid up to
In contrast, investments in product markets are made by firms with various forms of
protection from full competition. Such protection comes from specialized knowledge,
name recognition and customer loyalty, and patent protection. In these cases, a project
48. There are several thousand mutual funds in the United States. With so many
professional managers, it is no surprise that some managers will demonstrate brilliant
performance over various periods of time. As an analogy, consider a contest in which
7-8
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.