Investors hum to frenzied beat of the IPO gold rush

[arthur]

the other day i was coming back from NTUC and lugging a whole trolley of groceries (not the NTUC trollies mind), it was slow-going as i manoeuvered up the slope to my house. so happen this family got stuck behind me coz i was trolley-hogging the five-foot-way. lo and behold, they were talking about investing in shares and the main topic going back and forth was about buying into IPOs. so i decided to eavesdrop a little to hear what was being discussed. essentially, the daughter of the family was talking about how easy it was to make money off IPOs recently. the mother as usual was cautioning her to be careful, coz the stock market burns quite rapidly. the daughter countered by saying that it was safe and that STI was increasing everyday and also how her friends and colleagues were all doing it as well. she also mentioned that she played it "safe" by buying into those GLCs like the recent GLP.

does that count as over-exuberance? lol... well, it did make me sit up and take a good look around... what does everyone else think?

Similar encounter in Times Bookshop yesterday. (that made me recall I had a similar encounter at another Times bookshop in yr 2007 that I related in old Wallstraits forum)

Kid A was telling Kid B how to buy shares and with some credit due to him, Kid A introduced Kid B the Philip Fisher's Common Stocks, Uncommon Profits.

Not that he made a wrong recommendation but the way Kid A put across to Kid B on the easiness of buying investment was like.. very amusing.

Still.. I maintain exuberance is not yet visiting us with full force.
I recalled distinctively Yr 2006 ~ Yr 2007 the air was filled with so much more excitement.

Perhaps when nobody write about exuberance in this forum anymore and then it comes along stealthily like a thief in the night.

Just another personal opinion coming across my mind.
I realised too many youngsters looking at Reits as a "safe play". Something about their mentalilties makes me very uneasy. Hopefully they know how to manage their portfolios.

I know there are many dividend investors around at this point of time and I am not intending to put down this investment strategy. But if dividend play becomes growth strategy.. that would be akin to "yin and yang are inbalance?"

Cheers.