European equities: Why the joke is on the herd

The Great Wall Street Joke Book was published in 1986. It was perhaps well timed, given that there was precious little humour to be mined from the Black Monday crash that hit markets the following year. Permit me to wow you with one of its gags.  A stockbroker's secretary answered his phone one morning: "I'm sorry," she said. "Mr Bradford is on another line."  "This is Mr Ingram's office," the caller said. "We'd like to know if he's bullish or bearish right now."  "He's talking to his wife," the secretary replied. "Right now, I'd say he's sheepish."  It is hardly a timeless rib-...