Asset Bubbles Explained

An asset bubble is triggered when assets such as gold, stocks, or housing rapidly experience a dramatic price hike over a short period that is not sustained by the value of the commodity. The characteristic of a bubble is unreasonable optimism: a tendency when everyone is buying up a specific asset. When investors rush towards a category of assets, like real estate, it results in a rise in both price and demand.

Investors carry on bidding up an asset’s price well beyond sustainable and real value in the course of a bubble. Inevitably, when prices are in a collision, the bubble "bursts, and subsequently, demand disintegrates, and the result is often significantly lowered domestic spending and dismal business and the economy's possible future downturn. Knowing the historical trends and causes of asset bubbles will prevent one from responding and falling prey to a future debacle. Illogical exuberance is a crucial indicator of a continuing asset bubble.