Doom & Gloom in The Boom
What the Heck is Going On?
Part I
by Joe DiPietro, Publisher
M&A Chicago

Am I the only one that has noticed a non-stop, daily plethora of articles, quips, news releases, event panels, and speeches, all with the same theme: The sky is about fall - hard - on the current buyout activity?

It's starting to become a bit tiresome. And weird.

I'm calling it "Doom & Gloom in The Boom."

When all other indicators - Record low defaults; Record levels of unspent capital; Eager lenders; And plenty of targets shouting "Buy me!" - all point toward the opposite of the "Doom & Gloom in The Boom" assessment, some of the biggest names in the business still predict a sharp fall-off, very soon, in M&A/POE/Buyout activity.

Well, it's time we tackle these predictions and see if, in fact, there is some truth in them, or if they're goofy and baseless, and why. We'll also tackle the possibility that if these Big Names keep preaching this Doom loud and long enough, will it become a self-fulfilling prophesy? (If a respected person three aisles down shouts "Fire!" in the theater, I'm outta there, despite the fact that I might not smell smoke nor see flames.)

Stay tuned over the next several issues as we look at this, in my opinion, very weird and confusing phenomena in these, the best and busiest of buyout times.

Note: I'd be very appreciative to hear what you think about this subject as well. Please drop me a line with your thoughts, and if you'd like to share them with our audience, or if you'd like to remain anonymous. You can write me at publisher@machicago.com