With stock markets battered by the credit crunch and resulting recession many investors are trying to gauge the best time to re-enter the market and/or boost exiting positions. But is it really possible to determine the bottom before it becomes history?

Überinvestor Warren Buffett declared he was going bargain hunting last October (2008), but markets subsequently fell further. In Great Britain the real estate market bucked predictions by rising 1.9% in January (according to major mortgage lender, Halifax). Has longstanding pent-up demand caused the market to bottom early, or is it a mere aberration in the continuing downtrend predicted by economists?

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