GC, you are right and so am I - the market is easy and straightforward.
It is only those who have an interest in making it sound complicated that create an aura of mystique and technical difficulty. You know what they do? They conjure up emotive terms to make them sound intelligent when in reality all it boils down to is a company going to earn cash in perpetuity in its chosen market.
One can dream up any metric one likes with intent to make themselves sound intelligent. EV/EBITDA, PE, Acid test, ROE, ROA, Dupont, NTA, goodwill, and on it goes.
Then they can dream up a idioms to make life colourful and sound intelligent. You know, like "country club built on quicksand" "jawboning" "Aussie poltroon" all designed to make one sound as if they have a little bit more information than the person next door.
Investors who are busy pursuing goals in other professions/trades perhaps don't have time or inclination to fully research finance (it is a full time job). Unintelligent scum in the finance industry know this, I believe, and use underhand tactics to sound convincing and worry folk out of hard earned.
Back to the start, it is 'easy and straightforward'. Have a basic understanding of what it is that a company does, satisfy oneself it is a product/service in demand now and foreseeable future, ensure it is earning cash (history) then make a call if feel it will continue to earn cash to pay its owners and creditors. Simple, don't worry about the market does that is just a price tag that fluctuates as it does in frequent David Jones sales.s
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