The Growing Irrelevance of 'Risk-On/Risk-Off'

Did you ever notice that every market cycle has its own lingo? Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s we all became familiar with the terms "new economy" and "old economy." Yes, I'll bet you forgot about that craziness. Of course, the craziest part of all of it was that, when the market bottomed in 2002, it was the old economy stocks that led the rally -- which means you haven't heard the term "new economy" in a decade.

This latest rally from the 2009 lows started out with my own personal favorite terms: "risk-on" and "risk-off." What exactly does that mean? Does that imply that, when the market goes down, there is no risk? Nonsense. There is always risk in the market, whether it's heading up or down. That's why every firm puts that disclaimer at the end of their written pages; they don't just put that disclaimer on bullish market commentary....452 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.

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