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The effects of Fed tightening
- Thread starter MARKETWAVES
- Start date
- Joined
- 21 December 2004
- Posts
- 674
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Re: THE EFFECTS OF FED TIGHTNING
Nice post. I'm very interested myself in that relationship because I think I can remember that the Japanese bubble was pricked by a 6% interest rate.
Property prices came down 80% in value (from memory) and their stock market now is only about a quarter of what it used to be.
Maybe the US economy is headed the same way followed closely by all other western countries. Looking at gold, you'd have to seriously think that it is more than likely to occur.
I'm very bullish on gold just by looking at Market Waves charts.
Nice post. I'm very interested myself in that relationship because I think I can remember that the Japanese bubble was pricked by a 6% interest rate.
Property prices came down 80% in value (from memory) and their stock market now is only about a quarter of what it used to be.
Maybe the US economy is headed the same way followed closely by all other western countries. Looking at gold, you'd have to seriously think that it is more than likely to occur.
I'm very bullish on gold just by looking at Market Waves charts.
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Re: THE EFFECTS OF FED TIGHTNING
Thanks for that marketwaves. An interesting post. Certainly gives one reason to pause and think. I'll certainly use it when I'm teaching my HSC students about Global Business. Cheers!
Thanks for that marketwaves. An interesting post. Certainly gives one reason to pause and think. I'll certainly use it when I'm teaching my HSC students about Global Business. Cheers!
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Re: THE EFFECTS OF FED TIGHTNING
My trading is based substantially on this sort of thing. I think that we have seen the highs for quite a while and the next major move is down for the market.
That's based on what the central banks are doing, yield curves, anecdotal evidence regarding the overall state of the economy, my perception of general sentiment etc. Of course, I'll trade whatever the market does but this is my expectation.
I think that this conflicts somewhat with the views produced by a T/A approach???
My trading is based substantially on this sort of thing. I think that we have seen the highs for quite a while and the next major move is down for the market.
That's based on what the central banks are doing, yield curves, anecdotal evidence regarding the overall state of the economy, my perception of general sentiment etc. Of course, I'll trade whatever the market does but this is my expectation.
I think that this conflicts somewhat with the views produced by a T/A approach???
- Joined
- 6 May 2005
- Posts
- 318
- Reactions
- 1
MILLIONS OF NEW DAY TRADERS COMING SOON
by Peter J. Nelson
August 22, 2005
A PREVIEW OF THE POSSIBLE RAMPANT STOCK MARKET SPECULATION TO COME
AS THE UNEMPLOYED HOUSING SECTOR MOVES TO THE STOCK MARKET FOR ASSET
APPRECIATION AND TO EARN A LIVING
Everyone knows that for the last year and change the FED has been
raising rates to contain inflationary pressures. It is also common
knowledge that inverting the yield curve (when short term rates
exceed long-term term rates) has always caused a recession in the
past or some major dislocation in the economy. The yield curve is
now approx. 20 basis points from inversion and the FED is still
claiming that further rate hikes are necessary and they plan to
raise at a measured pace into the future. So, I have to ask
myself, "Why is the FED continuing to raise rates"? and "How high
are they going to go"? "Are they crazy"? "Don't they realize how
many jobs are at stake"?
The following scenario is a possible outlook in the next few years
as our economy slips into recession and the housing boom goes bust.
Millions of new unseasoned day trader's all descending on the stock
market in an attempt to earn a living because of losing their jobs
as a result of the downturn in housing and other related sectors.
This could be a very real reality and one possible consequence of a
housing and construction downturn.
We are all aware of the frightening aspects of a real estate bust or
even a 2 year correction. The amount of jobs that are at stake will
dwarf the lost jobs in manufacturing since 2000. Who knows exactly,
but maybe 10's of millions. I never expected real estate to surge in
the first place after 911. I completely missed this one. In fact, I
quit the home building business myself, sold my personal home and
have been renting since. Clearly, that now looks like a huge mistake
as I should have gone all in. I guess we should all be thankful,
because had it not been for the housing boom, we more than likely
would be knee deep in a depression at this point.
But lately, it appears that the seed are being sown by the Fed,
bubblevision and by many market professionals that the next bubble
to inflate will be the stock market. With the FED raising rates and
the media talking housing bubble, the housing boom may be over or
very nearly so as hot markets are showing signs of inventory builds
and the average time to sell is increasing.
The FED clearly engineered the housing boom after 911 with low
interest rates and oceans of cash to keep the wealth affect in tact
to keep the consumer spending. It now seems foolish to think that
they do not have another demented plan to provide another financial
vehicle to carry the baton for the American consumer. Unfortunately,
I do not think they have the commodity and energy markets in mind as
the replacement vehicle. Of course, they may not have a choice as
this will be up to individual investors and market fundamentals.
But, since when did the housing market have good fundamentals to
almost double in the last 5 years? This was engineered and
encouraged....Period!
My point is simple. That the next financial vehicle to inflate has
to be a vehicle that the general public can easily take part in and
where they have a basic understanding: The stock market. The general
population doesn't understand and don't know how to trade the
commodity markets or the metals. This is why I think the stock
market may inflate as millions of displaced construction workers,
real estate agents, lumber salesmen, etc (this list could go on for
a mile) will find themselves in front of their computers online day
trading the market while trying to sell their home to escape the
nightmare that has unfolded on them. The basic necessity to earn a
living will force these people to bid stocks to ever higher
valuations that may exceed the 2000 top and then some. This could be
the next demented plan of the FED to keep the wealth affect in place
and keep the consumer spending. Truth is stranger than fiction.
When the housing market goes bust, what other jobs are going to be
available? Pouring coffee at Starbuck's? Working at Wal-Mart?
Flipping burgers at McDonalds? I don't think so. Most businesses
will be contracting at this time because of slower consumer spending
and lower demand. Also, a lot of these people are very well off and
some have tidy little nest eggs and unless they can find quality
higher-end jobs, they might be forced to turn to the markets for
financial speculation. This might have something to do with
explosion of gambling the last few years as many dot-commers and
unemployed manufacturing working may have turned into professional
gamblers in order to make a living because they were unable to find
jobs. What a world we live in. Here's a job for people. Become a
gambling addiction counselor and you will probably make a fortune in
the future.
For the last 2 years, the FED and bubblevision (Jim Cramer, Larry
Kudlow) seem to be relentlessly trying to herd investors long the
stock market, while at the same time trying to work the commodity
markets lower with rate hikes and statements like "Commodities are
OVER" (Jim Cramer) Commodity prices will go higher and higher unless
they can slow the housing market and the economy to a crawl. They
may succeed. The economy is slowing with every increased rate hike
and we may already be slipping into a recession which would put
major downward pressure on commodity prices for the next year or so
as supplies build and demand slows. Recent market action might be
confirming this. Lumber is down. Oil may be topping. Homebuilders
are down and may be topping. Silver did not confirm gold's rise and
now both are declining. Home Lenders are declining.
The housing boom may be ending from its own weight and not because
the FED is raising rates. One look at the mortgage statistics tells
the tale as more and more interest only loans and negative
amortization loans are being issued. This clearly shows that the
market is running out of buyers at these lofty prices and is now
scraping the bottom of the barrel to lend to anyone under any
circumstance just to keep the gears moving. This looks like it will
end in catastrophe for lenders as well as buyers and the job losses
that will ensue will be horrifying once this trend reverses. I am
quite sure the FED knows this and are working hard to come up with
some other twisted scheme to keep us afloat for a little while
longer. Stock market rally......
I believe the real reason they are raising rates is to defend the
dollar at all costs because of our growing need to attract foreign
capital. The recent strength in the dollar has been greatly aided by
the Repatriation Act, but this will end in October of this year.
Then we shall see if the dollar can hold up or continues its slide.
If it resumes its downtrend this will cause the FED to continue to
raise rates regardless of what is happening to our economy. We
cannot afford to let the dollar fall below the 80 level, as this
could cause a tsunami of selling by foreigners and we could have a
real currency crisis and a run on the banks. Therefore, inverting
the yield curve seems inevitable at this point and that is why the
bond market is not capitulating. The bond market is sensing a major
slowdown in the economy and does not care that the FED is being
forced to raise rates in order to defend the dollar. The FED is
running out of options and may now be forced to use unconventional
measures to get the bond market to sell.
We need higher long term rates to keep the housing market from
getting out of control. Too late. But how do you get the bond market
to sell if they don't want to? Higher inflation? yea, that
historically has always done the trick, but we have seen much higher
inflation the past few years and still no capitulation. Shorting the
market won't do it. You could stop issuing the 10 year and only
allow selling, (kidding) as this would cause a bond crash and rate
spike that would send us hurdling into depression. You could re-
issue the 30 year, (in progress) in hopes that more supply will
relieve pressure from the 10 year. Who knows if this will have any
impact at all.
How about a raging bull market in stocks? This would entice bond
investors to sell in search of higher returns in the stock market
and at the same time will cause higher interest rates that will
attract even more foreign capital to our markets which will defend
the dollar and keep inflation contained as we will not have to print
as much money to fund our growing deficits. Seems logical to me. We
need a raging bull market in stocks. This is why I think the stock
market is the next bubble to inflate. The FED will engineer and
encourage this. Seems demented, but recent signs seem to point to
this. It might not be wise to fight the FED. This seems to be what
they need and want. The next question is "How are they going to get
a raging bull market in stocks"?
I have been watching every tick in the market for the past 3 years
and this past few months have been strange. I seem to be noticing a
lot of bizarre market action that has me feeling that there may be a
concerted effort underway to support stocks. What happened after the
London bombings was no fluke. I do not want to be labeled a
conspiracy theorist, but something is clearly happening that I can't
explain. Last year the market was very sensitive to rate hikes and
higher oil prices. Now it seems that this is completely being
ignored and every break of key support levels in the market is met
with rapid buying. Also, reports that some large player is in the
S&P trading pit buying anything at any price. I wonder who that is?
This is no longer a free market. Has anyone noticed all the short
squeezes that have been created on many large cap stocks. Maybe its
just sector rotation into large cap and since small caps may have
peaked maybe this makes sense and can be explained. It feels like
something more to me. Who knows, maybe the Chinese Government, at
the request of the FED, is now purchasing U.S. stocks instead of
Treasuries. Maybe we have told them that the U.S. housing boom may
be over and our consumer will no longer be able to consume Chinese
products unless we can provide another vehicle to provide asset
appreciation to support further consumption. Higher stock market
returns. Maybe China is upset because we would not approve the sale
of Unical and now they are quietly going to purchase our companies
one by one with our own money. All potential possibilities. I guess.
Today, CNBC ran a story about how stock market returns have exceeded
real estate returns over the last 20 years. They were actually
hinting and telling people that it may be time to sell real estate
and put the money into the market. People will probably do it to.
The relentless bullish spin along with recent market action has me
questioning whether this market might go a lot higher. Something may
be brewing?
They want us to move into large cap growth in an attempt to move the
Dow above 11,000. If they can get the Dow above this level it might
have a very big psychological impact on investors and the general
public as well as foreigners. This could unleash the oceans of cash
on the sidelines and in the bond market as well as cause massive
short covering that could get the animal spirits of rampant
speculation going in the market.
Once the FED is done raising rates or signaling they are almost
done, the market may explode to the upside. Not based on
fundamentals or any credible economic reasons, but solely based on
momentum and mountains of cash sloshing around the globe. Since when
has the market cared about valuations anyway (BIDU @ 1,500 x
earnings) As the housing sector corrects, I expect to see a
explosion in day trading as millions of of out of work people will
put whatever money they have or maybe even borrow money to get into
the game.
When I look around, I just do not see any other financial vehicle
for the American consumer to inflate to facilitate their consumption
needs. Yes, commodities, energy, gold and silver all have great
fundamentals now, but these great fundamentals might not look so
good if housing turns down in a serious way. With interest rates
rising and a slowing economy and demand for goods slowing, who knows
how this may look in a year? Gold and silver fundamentals seem good
under either scenario as fear and a flight to safety may send metals
much higher. Don't know about commodities or energy though. They
more than likely would fall because demand would fall substantially.
Of course this is just one of many predictions that have been put
forth and I have no specific or insider knowledge to back this up.
Only to say that, this business is about looking into the future and
trying to predict human behavior and then positioning yourself to
gain financially before the masses see what is coming. This is just
my gut instinct for what will happen if the FED inverts the yield
curve and/or is successful in taking down the housing market. I
shutter to think of the amount of jobs that will be affected and
what these people will do to find work to survive. A housing
downturn is inevitable at some point. Housing just can't keep up
this blistering pace forever.
The long term fundamentals of the stock market are terrible and I am
confounded as to why anyone would want to buy stocks given the
historical overvaluations, low dividend yields, problems with Social
Security, Medicare, underfunded pensions, outsourcing and the like
that are getting bigger by the day. But, if you're out of work and
you need to make money, the stock market is a potential source. I
suspect that's why the gambling craze has become so big. Many people
have turned to pure speculation to make ends meet. All these people
are going to have to find work somewhere. Day trading may become the
next big thing.
Unfortunately, I'm sure that if this does happen it will turn out
ugly in the end. I expect a blow off top as the professionals are
distributing stock to the public all the way up and in the end the
public will again be taught a valuable lesson about the treacherous
nature of financial speculation. This time the crash may make the
dot.com bust in 2000 look like a bad hand of poker at Vegas. And the
public will hold for the long term as the 2000 decline and recent
recovery has taught them to hold for the long term because the
market always comes back. Not this time.
I feel strange thinking that this may become a possibility as I have
been such a bear on stocks since 2000. I also know that psychology
of market participants is so important and at major turns the market
has a very efficient way of changing investor sentiment at the very
time when the market is finally about to go your way. Many prominent
bears have defected to the bullish side lately, VIX near record
lows, Bullish sentiment at or near record highs. Unbelievable
complacency. All of these are not good signs of a major kick-off
move to the upside. So, maybe this is just another sign that the
bullish sentiment is coiling up to unleash a downside move that will
make history. WAVE 3 DOWN - PHASE II OF THE BEAR MARKET. We'll see.
But, 2 weeks ago when I bailed out of BIDU at $75 for a $10 gain,
only to watch it trade another $76 points higher, I felt that I had
witnessed a preview of things to come and that this was a
psychological dinner bell for the Wall Street world that the bull is
here to stay and set to begin once the FED is done raising rates. If
we can get through the September, October massacre without any major
dislocations, the market may unleash a rally that this bull cycle
has not seen yet. Anything hot with descent fundamentals or anything
associated with China will be granted license to be bid up to
unimaginable levels.
I plan to cover all shorts during this current correction unless
selling pressure really picks up and support levels break. Lots of
head and shoulders patterns have formed lately and these are the
supposed to be the most reliable patterns. I will be watching
closely to see if whipsaws start to occur or if support fails on
high volume. Keep an eye on large caps for signs that a concerted
effort to rally the heavily weighted percentage stocks in the Dow.
What a strange world we are living in. But if you can't beat'em, I
guess you got to join'em.
Best Regards, Good trading.
© 2005 Peter J. Nelson
by Peter J. Nelson
August 22, 2005
A PREVIEW OF THE POSSIBLE RAMPANT STOCK MARKET SPECULATION TO COME
AS THE UNEMPLOYED HOUSING SECTOR MOVES TO THE STOCK MARKET FOR ASSET
APPRECIATION AND TO EARN A LIVING
Everyone knows that for the last year and change the FED has been
raising rates to contain inflationary pressures. It is also common
knowledge that inverting the yield curve (when short term rates
exceed long-term term rates) has always caused a recession in the
past or some major dislocation in the economy. The yield curve is
now approx. 20 basis points from inversion and the FED is still
claiming that further rate hikes are necessary and they plan to
raise at a measured pace into the future. So, I have to ask
myself, "Why is the FED continuing to raise rates"? and "How high
are they going to go"? "Are they crazy"? "Don't they realize how
many jobs are at stake"?
The following scenario is a possible outlook in the next few years
as our economy slips into recession and the housing boom goes bust.
Millions of new unseasoned day trader's all descending on the stock
market in an attempt to earn a living because of losing their jobs
as a result of the downturn in housing and other related sectors.
This could be a very real reality and one possible consequence of a
housing and construction downturn.
We are all aware of the frightening aspects of a real estate bust or
even a 2 year correction. The amount of jobs that are at stake will
dwarf the lost jobs in manufacturing since 2000. Who knows exactly,
but maybe 10's of millions. I never expected real estate to surge in
the first place after 911. I completely missed this one. In fact, I
quit the home building business myself, sold my personal home and
have been renting since. Clearly, that now looks like a huge mistake
as I should have gone all in. I guess we should all be thankful,
because had it not been for the housing boom, we more than likely
would be knee deep in a depression at this point.
But lately, it appears that the seed are being sown by the Fed,
bubblevision and by many market professionals that the next bubble
to inflate will be the stock market. With the FED raising rates and
the media talking housing bubble, the housing boom may be over or
very nearly so as hot markets are showing signs of inventory builds
and the average time to sell is increasing.
The FED clearly engineered the housing boom after 911 with low
interest rates and oceans of cash to keep the wealth affect in tact
to keep the consumer spending. It now seems foolish to think that
they do not have another demented plan to provide another financial
vehicle to carry the baton for the American consumer. Unfortunately,
I do not think they have the commodity and energy markets in mind as
the replacement vehicle. Of course, they may not have a choice as
this will be up to individual investors and market fundamentals.
But, since when did the housing market have good fundamentals to
almost double in the last 5 years? This was engineered and
encouraged....Period!
My point is simple. That the next financial vehicle to inflate has
to be a vehicle that the general public can easily take part in and
where they have a basic understanding: The stock market. The general
population doesn't understand and don't know how to trade the
commodity markets or the metals. This is why I think the stock
market may inflate as millions of displaced construction workers,
real estate agents, lumber salesmen, etc (this list could go on for
a mile) will find themselves in front of their computers online day
trading the market while trying to sell their home to escape the
nightmare that has unfolded on them. The basic necessity to earn a
living will force these people to bid stocks to ever higher
valuations that may exceed the 2000 top and then some. This could be
the next demented plan of the FED to keep the wealth affect in place
and keep the consumer spending. Truth is stranger than fiction.
When the housing market goes bust, what other jobs are going to be
available? Pouring coffee at Starbuck's? Working at Wal-Mart?
Flipping burgers at McDonalds? I don't think so. Most businesses
will be contracting at this time because of slower consumer spending
and lower demand. Also, a lot of these people are very well off and
some have tidy little nest eggs and unless they can find quality
higher-end jobs, they might be forced to turn to the markets for
financial speculation. This might have something to do with
explosion of gambling the last few years as many dot-commers and
unemployed manufacturing working may have turned into professional
gamblers in order to make a living because they were unable to find
jobs. What a world we live in. Here's a job for people. Become a
gambling addiction counselor and you will probably make a fortune in
the future.
For the last 2 years, the FED and bubblevision (Jim Cramer, Larry
Kudlow) seem to be relentlessly trying to herd investors long the
stock market, while at the same time trying to work the commodity
markets lower with rate hikes and statements like "Commodities are
OVER" (Jim Cramer) Commodity prices will go higher and higher unless
they can slow the housing market and the economy to a crawl. They
may succeed. The economy is slowing with every increased rate hike
and we may already be slipping into a recession which would put
major downward pressure on commodity prices for the next year or so
as supplies build and demand slows. Recent market action might be
confirming this. Lumber is down. Oil may be topping. Homebuilders
are down and may be topping. Silver did not confirm gold's rise and
now both are declining. Home Lenders are declining.
The housing boom may be ending from its own weight and not because
the FED is raising rates. One look at the mortgage statistics tells
the tale as more and more interest only loans and negative
amortization loans are being issued. This clearly shows that the
market is running out of buyers at these lofty prices and is now
scraping the bottom of the barrel to lend to anyone under any
circumstance just to keep the gears moving. This looks like it will
end in catastrophe for lenders as well as buyers and the job losses
that will ensue will be horrifying once this trend reverses. I am
quite sure the FED knows this and are working hard to come up with
some other twisted scheme to keep us afloat for a little while
longer. Stock market rally......
I believe the real reason they are raising rates is to defend the
dollar at all costs because of our growing need to attract foreign
capital. The recent strength in the dollar has been greatly aided by
the Repatriation Act, but this will end in October of this year.
Then we shall see if the dollar can hold up or continues its slide.
If it resumes its downtrend this will cause the FED to continue to
raise rates regardless of what is happening to our economy. We
cannot afford to let the dollar fall below the 80 level, as this
could cause a tsunami of selling by foreigners and we could have a
real currency crisis and a run on the banks. Therefore, inverting
the yield curve seems inevitable at this point and that is why the
bond market is not capitulating. The bond market is sensing a major
slowdown in the economy and does not care that the FED is being
forced to raise rates in order to defend the dollar. The FED is
running out of options and may now be forced to use unconventional
measures to get the bond market to sell.
We need higher long term rates to keep the housing market from
getting out of control. Too late. But how do you get the bond market
to sell if they don't want to? Higher inflation? yea, that
historically has always done the trick, but we have seen much higher
inflation the past few years and still no capitulation. Shorting the
market won't do it. You could stop issuing the 10 year and only
allow selling, (kidding) as this would cause a bond crash and rate
spike that would send us hurdling into depression. You could re-
issue the 30 year, (in progress) in hopes that more supply will
relieve pressure from the 10 year. Who knows if this will have any
impact at all.
How about a raging bull market in stocks? This would entice bond
investors to sell in search of higher returns in the stock market
and at the same time will cause higher interest rates that will
attract even more foreign capital to our markets which will defend
the dollar and keep inflation contained as we will not have to print
as much money to fund our growing deficits. Seems logical to me. We
need a raging bull market in stocks. This is why I think the stock
market is the next bubble to inflate. The FED will engineer and
encourage this. Seems demented, but recent signs seem to point to
this. It might not be wise to fight the FED. This seems to be what
they need and want. The next question is "How are they going to get
a raging bull market in stocks"?
I have been watching every tick in the market for the past 3 years
and this past few months have been strange. I seem to be noticing a
lot of bizarre market action that has me feeling that there may be a
concerted effort underway to support stocks. What happened after the
London bombings was no fluke. I do not want to be labeled a
conspiracy theorist, but something is clearly happening that I can't
explain. Last year the market was very sensitive to rate hikes and
higher oil prices. Now it seems that this is completely being
ignored and every break of key support levels in the market is met
with rapid buying. Also, reports that some large player is in the
S&P trading pit buying anything at any price. I wonder who that is?
This is no longer a free market. Has anyone noticed all the short
squeezes that have been created on many large cap stocks. Maybe its
just sector rotation into large cap and since small caps may have
peaked maybe this makes sense and can be explained. It feels like
something more to me. Who knows, maybe the Chinese Government, at
the request of the FED, is now purchasing U.S. stocks instead of
Treasuries. Maybe we have told them that the U.S. housing boom may
be over and our consumer will no longer be able to consume Chinese
products unless we can provide another vehicle to provide asset
appreciation to support further consumption. Higher stock market
returns. Maybe China is upset because we would not approve the sale
of Unical and now they are quietly going to purchase our companies
one by one with our own money. All potential possibilities. I guess.
Today, CNBC ran a story about how stock market returns have exceeded
real estate returns over the last 20 years. They were actually
hinting and telling people that it may be time to sell real estate
and put the money into the market. People will probably do it to.
The relentless bullish spin along with recent market action has me
questioning whether this market might go a lot higher. Something may
be brewing?
They want us to move into large cap growth in an attempt to move the
Dow above 11,000. If they can get the Dow above this level it might
have a very big psychological impact on investors and the general
public as well as foreigners. This could unleash the oceans of cash
on the sidelines and in the bond market as well as cause massive
short covering that could get the animal spirits of rampant
speculation going in the market.
Once the FED is done raising rates or signaling they are almost
done, the market may explode to the upside. Not based on
fundamentals or any credible economic reasons, but solely based on
momentum and mountains of cash sloshing around the globe. Since when
has the market cared about valuations anyway (BIDU @ 1,500 x
earnings) As the housing sector corrects, I expect to see a
explosion in day trading as millions of of out of work people will
put whatever money they have or maybe even borrow money to get into
the game.
When I look around, I just do not see any other financial vehicle
for the American consumer to inflate to facilitate their consumption
needs. Yes, commodities, energy, gold and silver all have great
fundamentals now, but these great fundamentals might not look so
good if housing turns down in a serious way. With interest rates
rising and a slowing economy and demand for goods slowing, who knows
how this may look in a year? Gold and silver fundamentals seem good
under either scenario as fear and a flight to safety may send metals
much higher. Don't know about commodities or energy though. They
more than likely would fall because demand would fall substantially.
Of course this is just one of many predictions that have been put
forth and I have no specific or insider knowledge to back this up.
Only to say that, this business is about looking into the future and
trying to predict human behavior and then positioning yourself to
gain financially before the masses see what is coming. This is just
my gut instinct for what will happen if the FED inverts the yield
curve and/or is successful in taking down the housing market. I
shutter to think of the amount of jobs that will be affected and
what these people will do to find work to survive. A housing
downturn is inevitable at some point. Housing just can't keep up
this blistering pace forever.
The long term fundamentals of the stock market are terrible and I am
confounded as to why anyone would want to buy stocks given the
historical overvaluations, low dividend yields, problems with Social
Security, Medicare, underfunded pensions, outsourcing and the like
that are getting bigger by the day. But, if you're out of work and
you need to make money, the stock market is a potential source. I
suspect that's why the gambling craze has become so big. Many people
have turned to pure speculation to make ends meet. All these people
are going to have to find work somewhere. Day trading may become the
next big thing.
Unfortunately, I'm sure that if this does happen it will turn out
ugly in the end. I expect a blow off top as the professionals are
distributing stock to the public all the way up and in the end the
public will again be taught a valuable lesson about the treacherous
nature of financial speculation. This time the crash may make the
dot.com bust in 2000 look like a bad hand of poker at Vegas. And the
public will hold for the long term as the 2000 decline and recent
recovery has taught them to hold for the long term because the
market always comes back. Not this time.
I feel strange thinking that this may become a possibility as I have
been such a bear on stocks since 2000. I also know that psychology
of market participants is so important and at major turns the market
has a very efficient way of changing investor sentiment at the very
time when the market is finally about to go your way. Many prominent
bears have defected to the bullish side lately, VIX near record
lows, Bullish sentiment at or near record highs. Unbelievable
complacency. All of these are not good signs of a major kick-off
move to the upside. So, maybe this is just another sign that the
bullish sentiment is coiling up to unleash a downside move that will
make history. WAVE 3 DOWN - PHASE II OF THE BEAR MARKET. We'll see.
But, 2 weeks ago when I bailed out of BIDU at $75 for a $10 gain,
only to watch it trade another $76 points higher, I felt that I had
witnessed a preview of things to come and that this was a
psychological dinner bell for the Wall Street world that the bull is
here to stay and set to begin once the FED is done raising rates. If
we can get through the September, October massacre without any major
dislocations, the market may unleash a rally that this bull cycle
has not seen yet. Anything hot with descent fundamentals or anything
associated with China will be granted license to be bid up to
unimaginable levels.
I plan to cover all shorts during this current correction unless
selling pressure really picks up and support levels break. Lots of
head and shoulders patterns have formed lately and these are the
supposed to be the most reliable patterns. I will be watching
closely to see if whipsaws start to occur or if support fails on
high volume. Keep an eye on large caps for signs that a concerted
effort to rally the heavily weighted percentage stocks in the Dow.
What a strange world we are living in. But if you can't beat'em, I
guess you got to join'em.
Best Regards, Good trading.
© 2005 Peter J. Nelson
wayneL
VIVA LA LIBERTAD, CARAJO!
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MARKETWAVES said:
Hooray!
Volatility cometh once more!
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Maybe ride the wave up while profit taking and then using the profits to buy gold ingots to stash under the matress. 
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