I admit, I come to these issues with my own bias, which is only this: Nobody knows anything The ambiguity we see gives investors and pundits lots of room to put their biases on display. We invest a lot of time and energy constructing a model of the world, and when facts challenge that model our instinct is defend our past decisions, even if they are objectively wrong. This is how we are wired. This, of course, can be problematic for investors.
Which brings us back to the markets and the economy. Rather than asking ourselves what we see in the data, perhaps the better question for investors is why: why is it you see whatever it is you think you see, be it bull or bear, recession or expansion.
That answer is much more illuminating than you might think.
This column was provided by Bloomberg News.