Premium: When the Bear is on top, all investing news is bad. Like right now.

In the past half century, Behavioural Economics has (rightly) risen in status. Indeed, its application is the secret sauce for Shared Value businesses, SA's own Discovery among the leading applicants. Being cognisant of human behaviour is equally important to understand the day-to-day pricing of assets. Even more so nowadays, as the speeded-up world compresses the duration of cycles from years to months.

Something that hasn't changed, though, is the way news flow amplifies investment market trends. During Bull Markets, news enjoys a generally positive spin. When the Bear gets a grip, however, that nuance reverses. And right now, the equity market's Bull is getting a right royal mauling – something clearly evident in the headlines.

The piece below from our partners at WSJ reflects how the concept of exponential growth, already tough for linear-thinkers to get their heads around, is now in the dumpster. For instance Uber doubled revenues in Q2, yet on release, its share price fell. Amazon posted a 7% revenue gain following a 44% surge Q2 last year. Its share price, too, took a pasting because news flow ignored the higher base was ignored.

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