The almost universal consensus, even among mainstream orthodox economists, is pessimistic regarding the world economy. Even though their predictions understate the scope and depth of the crises, there are powerful reasons to believe that we are heading toward a steeper decline than what was experienced during the Great Recession of 2008 – 2009…[Let me explain.] Words: 1656
With the S&P 500 at its highest level since the summer of 2008, investors previously sidelined by reoccurring fears of a double dip recession and nagging worries about a disorderly Greek default may now be tempted to hold their noses and dive into the market where, presumably, they will be swept along to the land of outsized profits by the Dow 13,000 wave. Having said this, it is worth noting that often the best time to sell is when everyone else is buying. Now may be that time. [Let me explain.] Words: 885
I am worried about the possibility of a second dip – of a new recession beginning sometime in the next year or so – before the current recovery has had a chance to produce much improvement. Verbally-intuitively, the case for a second dip still seems pretty overwhelming to me. I take comfort in the knowledge that I tend to have a pessimistic bias, and in the fact that sophisticated quantitative models are generally putting the odds of a second dip quite low. On the other hand, successfully forecasting recessions has not been a strong point of quantitative models. Words: 1433
The market basically doesn’t want a recovery right now. It loves high unemployment and a bad economy because it allows the Fed to keep rates at zero which is highly profitable for Wall St via the games that I described above. Of course our crippled economy is an absolute nightmare for the rest of us as we lose our jobs and our homes as Rome continues to burn. Words: 1248
The key concern for analyzing trading/investing opportunities for the rest of 2010 is whether we are facing a major pullback or ‘crash back’ to Autumn 2008 or March 2009 lows, or to see markets continue in their “risk on / risk off” pattern of the first quarter. Words: 516
Here are [6 of my 11] my prognostications in the areas of the economy, domestic politics, global geopolitics, and the investment markets: The US Dollar will fall to record low; house prices will fall a further 10%; interest rates will rise; unemployment rate will rise to 11%; oil prices will exceed $100; the stock market will drop 30%. Let’s hope I’m wrong! Words: 681
Because it is significantly undervalued on a purchasing power parity basis, the dollar rallies against the yen and the euro. It exceeds 100 on the yen and the euro drops below $1.30 as the long slide of the greenback is interrupted. Longer term prospects remain uncertain. Words: 664
One conclusion I think we can agree on is the need to maintain defensive strategies and minimize volatility and downside risks as well as to focus on where the secular fundamentals are positive such as in fixed-income and in equity sectors that lever off the commodity sector, under the proviso that the “experts” are correct on this particular forecast — that China and India remain the global growth leaders. Words: 1380
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