Finance & economics | Plentiful helium

Is the bull market about to turn into a bubble?

Share prices are surging. Investors are delighted—but also nervous

Illustration of a bull turning into bubbles
Illustration: Ryan Chapman

Two years ago, pretty much everyone agreed that one of the great bubbles was bursting. An era of rock-bottom interest rates was coming to a close, shaking the foundations of just about every asset class. Share prices were plunging, government bonds were being hammered, crypto markets were in freefall. Wall Street’s prophets of doom were crowing with delight. The consensus of the previous decade—that inflation was dead and cheap money here to stay—looked as ludicrous as the groupthink of any previous financial mania. Thus the pendulum was about to swing: from exuberance to scepticism, risk-taking to cash-hoarding and greed to fear. It would take a long time to swing back.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “From bull market to bubble?”

From the March 16th 2024 edition

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