I suspect a reasonable interpretation is somewhere in between.
Often, we see major changes like this associated with market tops and bottoms and subsequent major reversals. We saw it with gold, bear markets, the economy, real estate (check Time and Fortune) and many other events.
I have been studying questions surrounding contrary indicators for a long time. Why do these events so often mark tops? Investors need to consider not merely any specific event but rather the longer-term forces that allowed it to occur.
There is, of course, one caveat here: It is dangerous to put too much weight on any sample set of one. That's something to keep in mind when focusing on this single event.
This column was provided by Bloomberg News.