Apart from a minority of smart economies the world is currently carrying massive debt, a lot of which is highly toxic and still yet to be realised.
With that said, are we headed into the unknown, starring into to the abyss so to speak., a black hole we are all continuing to poor good money after bad. Or is this just an over pessimistic view of a bounce in world economies, that are now back on track and mending themselves.
The US people I am following (slightly contrarian/alerted me to the coming depression in 07) have this to say about some of the issues you are concerned with.....Granted , it's US centric.
From a conversation in March.
I have been following this thread for a while and am enjoying all the posts by ZBoy, but am not convinced this rally runs past mid april. Unemployment numbers will be what wipes this rally out, followed by dollar worries/manipulations.
I disagree. Investors have already prepared for maximum gloom, therefore even if the unemployment numbers are horrid, that will be exactly what investors were already expecting, therefore it won't be a shock. As the saying goes, the market climbs a "wall of worry". And we've got plenty of "worry" to fuel the climb.
Also, it's important to remember that the markets behave in such a way as to benefit the least number of participants. Because most amateur and retail investors still don't trust this rally, it will continue until they do. Then once they jump in and complacency starts to set in, that's when the reversal will be at hand.
In the meantime, in keeping with the concept of benefiting the least number of participants, along the way there will be some sharp pullbacks to headfake traders and investors. But until we see a sentiment shift, the larger trend for the next few months or longer is likely up.
In addition, all the inflationary moves being done by the government and Fed will insure that Treasuries will continue lower, and equities will continue higher.
I didn't say the reports would cause the market to turn back just stop continuing at its current velocity. I have a suspicion this is more market volatility for the sake of money making. Investors were sick of 6500 wanted a buying signal got it bought in and are either pulling or about to pull the trigger on selling.
Depends on which investors you're referring to. As always, you want to be on the same side as the corporate insiders. And while most amateur and retail investors were capitulating in November and again at the beginning of March and selling out at multi-decade bottoms, corporate insider buying vs. insider selling was at a multi-decade extreme. Couple that with a VIX and VXO above 50, and you have just about the most glaring buy signal you could ask for.
There will be pullbacks and sharp dips along the way, nothing goes straight up. But until we see corporate insider selling vs. buying turn the other way and VIX and VXO approach 20 or below, the correct side of the market to be on will be the long side.
What is the current opinion on the hyper-inflation subject? Is this still possible in the near term or will we expect to see a few more tremors and then some easing in the situation?
I believe hyper-inflation is inevitable, but is still a couple years away. If things continue to unfold as expected, we'll see a short term breakout of temporary inflation this year, which will cause stocks, commodities and precious metals to rally strongly and Treasuries and the Dollar to reach new lows. The Fed will likely overcorrect the other way (that's pretty much all the Fed ever does, is overcorrect), which will bring about true deflation, not just the deleveraging that we've seen the past 6 months.
We'll probably be caught in a deflationary spiral for 12-24 months, during which time the stock market and real estate will move to new all time lows, precious metals will pull back to current levels, and Treasuries and the Dollar will rally strongly once again.
The government and Fed will be hell bent on reversing the deflation, and in the process will print and borrow more money than anyone can conceive. Of course, the monster will rage out of control, and the result will be hyper-inflation. The Dollar will finally collapse, and gold and silver will reach their true peaks, probably some time around late 2011-2012.