Richard Bernstein on the Nifty Fifty bubble

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, major institutional portfolio managers became so enamored with the idea of growth in general, and with the so-called "Nifty-Fifty" growth stocks in particular, that they were willing to pay any price at all for the privilege of owning shares in companies like Xerox, Coca Cola, IBM, and Polaroid.  These investment managers defined the risk in the Nifty-Fifty, not as the risk of overpaying, but as the risk of not owning them: the growth prospects seemed so certain that the future level of earnings and dividends would, in God's time, always justify whatever they paid.  They considered the risk of paying too much miniscule compared with the risk of buying shares, even at a low price, in companies like Union Carbide or General Motors, whose fortunes were uncertain because of their exposure to business cycles and competition.

~ Richard Bernstein, Against the Gods

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Richard Bernstein lists three reasons why it's not a bear market (2018)

If one were to solely look at fundamentals, it would be very difficult to say that we're on the precipice of an all-out bear market.  Earnings in the United States are still accelerating, liquidity is still ample - although some had dried up, I will readily admit, but still ample - and it's hard to argue that investors are overly bullish.

~ Richard Bernstein, as appeared on CNBC, December 9, 2018

Richard Bernstein says investors are in "denial" about bull market

Markets go through four phases. The first phase is a period of denial, where people say, it can't happen (stocks rising despite risks), it won't happen, and if it's happening it can't continue. That's where we are in the U.S. The second phase is acceptance, like OK, I should probably be (buying stocks). The third is what I call the brave new world, things are never going to change, everything is wonderful. The fourth phase is the bear market.

In the U.S. we're in phase one. The fact that the stock market is up more than 80% from its trough, and people refuse to believe that there's actually a bull market underway, reflects that we are in the denial phase.

~Richard Bernstein, CEO and CIO, Richard Burnstein Advisors, "Experts agree: Get over your fear and get back into stocks", USA Today, December 17th, 2010