> You forgot one important thing: Potential for Growth The key to understand this madness is so right in front of our faces, that we can't even see it. Due to the dynamics/nature of the market, stock investments seems to be more about a gamble today, and you can't gamble on Ford too much except for it to go down. Forget trying to spot the value. It's all about what's hot. Hence Facebook is getting crazy valuations.
Sure, fundamentals are what a lot of people base their buying or selling off of, but what's "hot" is all that matters just like it always has. Maybe a company just crushed their numbers for the quarter or a drug company attained a new patent; and while that may contribute to the true value of the company, when it comes to the stock price nothing matters except how many people buy.