The flotation of Facebook and its fall in price the day after reminds me of a workshop I facilitated several years ago for Unilever in Rio de Janeiro (someone has to do it). I fell into conversation with a young American consultant there from Paris.
“My husband and I have invested steadily in so far loss-making companies from Silicon Valley and have made millions,” she boasted.
Probably out to prick her bubble, not having had such a joyous ride, I responded: “My own feeling is that the NASDAQ is going to tumble. Quite soon. 50% or maybe more.”
“No chance!” was her reply.
“But the losses? Not to mention the slowing of growth?”
“The rules have changed,” she responded.
"Don't think so."
And that’s exactly what happened – the following month.
I love the writer Somerset Maugham’s pithy summary in his The Facts of Life:
“How’s the market today,” he asked.
“Booming. Even the suckers are making money.”
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