You know what’s truly amazing about this stock market? No, it’s not the slow, painful blood-letting of the major North American indices that are now flirting with September lows.

It’s that with each passing day, someone, somewhere, somehow is calling a bottom or screaming buy when there isn’t a single compelling reason to jump into stocks.

And many investors are still buying into the rubbish being churned out by the hype artists.

When the Dow gained 200 points on June 17, many so-called gurus were inviting investors to dip yet another toe into shark-infested waters.

Once again, it was nothing but a mirage. How do these cheerleaders sleep at night?

It’s time investors faced reality. The wishful thinkers waving pom-poms on Bay Street and Wall Street and rooting for their best interests on Report On Business TV and CNBC don’t give a hoot about your money. Many are paid to be unabashed cheerleaders. Bearishness doesn’t pay.

When it comes to predicting the indices, many big names on Wall Street can’t shoot fish in a barrel.

Six months ago, Goldman Sachs strategist Abby Joseph Cohen, Wall Street’s superstar during the bull market, predicted the Standard & Poors 500 Index would trade in the 1300 to 1425 range in 2002.

The S&P isn’t within shouting distance of Cohen’s call, having drifted below 1000 to 989 at the close on June 21. Goldman’s heaviest hitter was also out in left field in 2001 when her S&P prediction of 1650 missed the market by 502 points!

At the June 21 close, other indices were threatening to test post-September lows, with the TSX Composite, despite the strength in precious metals stocks, at 7139, the Dow 30 at 9253 and the Nasdaq at 1440.

Strategists, economists, analysts and money managers are continually reeling off historical charts to make a case for a market turnaround.

But what they don’t tell you is that this is a stock market treading in virgin territory.

Past markets were not tormented by terrorism, stunning accounting scandals and a series of securities investigations.

One would think that this would be enough to bring the investor to his knees, kicking, screaming and crying uncle.

Yet, surprisingly, market sentiment has still not reached the stage where investors simply throw in the towel and, as a result, many stocks are still trading at ridiculous multiples.

Market contrarians believe that, as long as there are more bulls than bears, a bear market is a bear market, based on the assumption that most of the pros are followers rather than leaders.

A recent survey by Investor’s Digest of the market sentiment of 140 independent advisers showed that 48.9 per cent were still bullish, 31.3 per cent were bearish and 19.8 per cent undecided.

A June survey by Merrill Lynch of 282 fund managers around the world may be a sign the U.S. markets could be in for an even ruder awakening. Sixty per cent of fund managers said U.S. stocks were the most expensive in the world and 33 per cent said the least favoured outlook for corporate profits was in the U.S. The 33 per cent was the highest percentage of any region, including Japan.

Although Canadian markets may fare better than the U.S. markets with their weighting in natural resources, the TSX generally piggybacks the Dow’s performance.

Before the latest selloff, Andrew Pyle, senior financial markets economist with Scotiabank, provided a stern warning that sounded like a voice in the wilderness.

In a memo to clients, Pyle wrote: “Don’t put away the flak jackets yet. We hate to say it, but the last time the stock market fared so poorly after the (U.S.) Fed’s last rate cut . . . was back in 1932.”

Sadly, the voices of a handful of realists are being drowned out by the cheers.

* STREET TALK: Who’s the mangiest mutt of the Canadian media stocks? Well, throw a canned publisher into the mix and you’ve got a heckuva dog race.

Based on 12-month performance, CanWest Global Communications (CGS.A-TSX) has just lumbered past BCE Inc. (BCE-TSX) on the paws of its controversial firing of Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills over editorial policy. Shares of CanWest, publisher of the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, are 47 per cent off a 12-month high after a weekly five-per-cent drop to $8.50, precipitated by the Asper family’s latest public-relations disaster.

That’s even better than BCE, publisher of the Globe and Mail, whose shares are off 45 per cent at $25.55 as they rebound from a recent low.

With CanWest breaking through a $9 support level and BCE on the rebound, the smart money’s on CanWest to claim dubious honours, at least in the short term.

Not all of Canada’s media companies are dogging it. Quebecor (QBR.A-TSX), publisher of the Calgary Sun and Edmonton Sun, is sitting pretty in comparison at $26.45, just seven per cent off its 12-month high, and TorStar (TS.B-TSX), publisher of the Toronto Star, is at $24.40, five per cent off its high.

( SAGE WORDS: “Scared money is usually dumb money.” - Louis Ruykeyser in the Louis Ruykeyser Newsletter.



HOT ALBERTA STOCK: Ridgeway Petroleum RGW-TSX Venture $2.80 Up 50 cents (+21.7%) on 263,500 shares (for week ending June 21). Hey, this is no ordinary Venture Exchange hot dog. Calgary-based Ridgeway is relishing a new listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol RWP) and mustered another surge in its Venture share price on impressive volume (actually, anything over zero volume on TSX Venture is impressive). Ridgeway boasts the largest known accumulation of undeveloped and uncommitted helium and CO2 in the world. Can the competition catch up?



COLD ALBERTA STOCK: Rocky Mountain Energy RME-TSX Venture $4.00 Down 60 cents (-13%) on 75,000 shares (for week ending June 21). In spite of its recent dip, Rocky Mountain has been riding high in the past year and is still up mor11e than 50 per cent from its 12-month low. The Calgary-based oil and gas exploration company has an interest in 47,000 gross acres of exploration property in Alberta’s Princess area. The company has filed notice to the Venture Exchange to repurchase certain issued and outstanding common shares.