I like history, not just for the larger lessons society can learn so that we don't make the same mistakes, but on a personal level, too. I find it particularly fascinating when historic events yield insights that apply to a specific situation in my life.
Yet perhaps the study of the past is most fruitful when it comes to your financial investments. Let me explain.
Think back to early June 2011. The mainstream financial media tried to pin the FTSE's price action to some external cause with headlines like these:
- "FTSE drops after weak US, UK data" -- Reuters UK (5/31/11)
- "FTSE 100 falls as recovery concerns and Greece weigh" -- Proactive Investors (6/2/11)
- "FTSE creeps higher as US payroll numbers loom" -- Reuters (6/3/11)
It was business as usual, so no one noticed the most important story -- namely that the FTSE's pattern looked
eerily similar to a specific time in the past. No one, that is, except EWI's
European Financial Forecast Editor Brian Whitmer.
Here's what he told his readers in the June 3, 2011, edition of The European Financial Forecast:
"The FTSE 100 has recently traced out a compelling reproduction of its ... high in 2007."
A chart in the June issue clearly showed the similarity -- their retracements were almost identical in percentage and duration. If you remember what happened after the 2007 top (and who can forget it), this was a bearish omen indeed.
What has happened since then? The FTSE plummeted, and the historic parallel continued -- to an alarming degree. One stunning chart in the new October issue shows you the striking similarities for yourself, but here's Whitmer's summary (emphasis added):
"The FTSE experienced exactly the same percentage declines (21%) in exactly the same amount of time (14 weeks)."
He didn't need fundamentals to make this prescient observation. He simply studied the price charts and applied the Elliott Wave Principle's timeless insight that markets are patterned and predictable. Thus, European Financial Forecast subscribers were prepared for the FTSE's steep decline -- even as the mainstream was caught off guard.
Will this 2007 flashback continue? The new European Financial Forecast gives you the latest forecasts and specific price targets for the FTSE -- along with a 70-year chart that "holds the key to the market's current dynamic."
Prepare yourself for what's next by reading the independent insights in The European Financial Forecast -- risk-free for 30 days.