Ha, this is only the beginning...
Pessimest!!!!!!! Have faith.
Ha, this is only the beginning...
Pessimest!!!!!!! Have faith.
There is a chance of a crash, but a probability of a correction, IMO.I'm not a Pessimist, I'm a Realist!!!!
Maybe your an optimistic pessimistI'm not a Pessimist, I'm a Realist!!!!
Subprime is going to be contained to the poor bible bashers in backwater USA.
I'm not a Pessimist, I'm a Realist!!!!
Yep, you may be right. Might be all by degrees eventually. If company profits keep going up (see reporting season) then the top end of town may be able to pay their bills, less a few who dabbled in the more speculative and inventive financial services products. Bill Gates can pay out the sub prime bill at the moment.....at least!Although, would I be correct to say that it is the top end of town who lend the most money? In that case, if the poor don't do well and can't repay their mortgage, everyone else suffers as well?
There is a chance of a crash, but a probability of a correction, IMO.
Subprime is going to be contained to the poor bible bashers in backwater USA.
Transfer to the market that really matters will not occur.
Interest rates low, employment high, company profits keep increasing.
The world economy is generally pumping.
BRIC will prop up the world over the next 10-20 years.
Dhukka said:Really? Even though it has spread to Alt-A and prime mortgages
This would be the US middle and upper class who are the biggest consumers I guess. The ones getting sub prime loans are living on the bread line and can't afford second plasmas for the dunny so they matter less, but I'm not saying are are totally insignificant, just far less....and which one would that be?
Has it peaked for the foreseable future? Could it remain at high levels for longer? What is the point where unemployment significantly effects the markets? If employment drops a bit and company earnings ebb, does this create a crash? Earnings growing at 6% or thereabouts isn't even a recession, is it? Didn't GDP growth jump 3.4% last quarter in the US. Hardly the platform for a recession is it? Core inflation did drop sharply I note, but depends on which economist you are as to what's really important, I don't know.Employment has peaked, company profits are still increasing but an ever diminishing rate (6% in the latest quarter in the US) The US earnings cycle has almost run it's course, expect earnings growth to flat-line next year.
Yes, but the paradigm is shifting. China has just taken over from Germany as the second biggest economy and growing at an incredible rate. Japan is comming out of a 10 year recession and set to grow. Is the US consumer en masse, going to all go on holiday at the same time? A proportion of the 31% might, but how much would created a global crash?The US economy accounts for 31% of world GDP. Japan about 14%, the BRIC economies currently contribute 10% of world output. If the US consumer decides to take a vacation the BRIC economies won't be able to prop up the rest of the world.
The current bull market has been underpinned by earnings. The market has gained roughly 140% while earnings have risen 132%. During the 1980's bull-run the market went up 421% but earnings only rose 121%. Hence, P/E expansion was largely responsible for the bull-run in the 80's.
The finance sector offer a forecast yield of 4.50% (ff) and trades on a P/E of about 14x. Earnings growth this reporting season should be at least 10%. The Australian banking sector has little exposure to sub-prime or "No doc lending". Housing lending volumes are reasonably robust while business lending volumes are strong. At the same time, Australian banks are picking up strong growth from their Wealth Management divisions and continue to drive costs lower.
The resource sector has undergone a recent re-rating in P/E but BHP and RIO still only trade on current P/E's of 14x. If commodity prices continue to remain buoyant and indeed head higher (like iron ore, coal and oil are expected to) then the forward P/E's are still likely to be around 10-12x. Earnings growth could conceivably be at least 20% pa for the next few years based on production growth and strong commodity prices.
Investors need to be a little more wary in the Industrial and Property sector for this is where M&A activity has driven up the valuations on many stocks with average earnings growth. Rinker, Alinta, Coles, Flight Centre, Qantas and Investa Property Group are good examples of this recent phenomenon.
So in summary, the conditions for a share-market crash do not seem to be in place. 58% of the market seems to be trading on fairly low valuations, strong yields and have reasonably good prospects of future earnings growth. Yes interest rates are rising but really all we are seeing is the unwinding of historically low rates due to strong economic growth both here and globally. The cash rate is 6.25% while 10 year bonds are 6.0%. These are certainly not overly restrictive and seem reasonably low given underlying inflation is currently 2.75%. The Australian Government is cashed up with a large budget surplus, superannuation flows continue to grow by 10% pa and Company balance sheets are in good shape with gearing low. When you add that the global economy is expected to grow by 4.8% over 2007 and 2008 (even with low US growth) the conditions for a continuation of the bull-market look
in-tact. However, from here it is unlikely that "all ships will rise on a rising tide" investors will need to be in the right sectors and the right stocks.
We believe that investors should be buying Banking stocks which have been unfairly treated due to negative sentiment over the US housing market.
All of the majors (ANZ, CBA, WBC, NAB, SGB) look to be offering great value with NAB looking particularly attractive at $38.81.
You've got me Dhukka. As I said, I'm no economist, so thanks for your thoughts. Some points however..
Has it? I haven't got any figures but would be interested to see the % of total mortgages that have being affected. From my reading and recollection of TV interviews and reports it's a blip. I defer to your facts if you have them.
This would be the US middle and upper class who are the biggest consumers I guess. The ones getting sub prime loans are living on the bread line and can't afford second plasmas for the dunny so they matter less, but I'm not saying are are totally insignificant, just far less.
Has it peaked for the foreseable future? Could it remain at high levels for longer? What is the point where unemployment significantly effects the markets?
If employment drops a bit and company earnings ebb, does this create a crash? no. Earnings growing at 6% or thereabouts isn't even a recession, is it?
Didn't GDP growth jump 3.4% last quarter in the US. Hardly the platform for a recession is it? Core inflation did drop sharply I note, but depends on which economist you are as to what's really important, I don't know.
Yes, but the paradigm is shifting. China has just taken over from Germany as the second biggest economy and growing at an incredible rate. Japan is comming out of a 10 year recession and set to grow.
Is the US consumer en masse, going to all go on holiday at the same time? A proportion of the 31% might, but how much would created a global crash?
I am not saying that the US is NOT going to go through a slow down, but that doesn't translate to crash, or even SEVERE correction. 10% would be healthy. What is severe anyway? 15%, 20%. A crash might be 20% or more.
As far as Australia goes, we're just responding to the US out of sentiment at the moment, there's nothing really fundamental yet in the effect of a US slow down on us, although, sure, by the time we're feeling the pinch, it'll be too late to act.
I do nate that two hedge funds in two weeks -- first Basis Capital then Absolute Capital -- have frozen redemptions from their funds citing an illiquid market, but two funds out of how many?
I'd be interested to see your figures on that. I have Japan as still the second largest economy.
Yes, is a big risk. This is just for a proportion of people though. Probably those purchasing in the past 10 years. Perhaps the majority of Yanks still have lot of equity in their property.Now that the MEW ATM has been shut off they are turning to credit cards. For how long can that continue? Anyone's guess.
My answer is probably to one and maybe for two. It depends how the rest of the world picks up the slack over the next 2-5 years.Do you think the US earnings cycle is now dead? That earnings can keep rising indefinitely?
Every-time the US economy slows so does ours and so do all other major economies, do you think this time will be different?
If you answer yes to to both these questions or even one of them you belong in the "this time is different" crowd and as we now from history that crowd is often if not always wrong.
To both of you you have provided some very well researched and poignant arguments. Congratulations!
I would like to add my very humble 2c worth in saying that:
Neither of you really mentioned CHina and it's impact on the global economy. I think this is severely underrated! I'm not taking a stance either way. All I'm trying to point out is that maybe the US economy and its cycles are/will be overshadowed by the Chinese Dragon Economy. Thus business cycles may be being redefined.
Have we ever seen the world do so well as we have in the last 5 years? Thats a genuine question?
Maybe the game is changing/has changed.
Cheers guys and once again good work to both of you!
W
In the short term I'm not convinced China or BRIC can 'take up the slack', partly because their financial systems are not up to world standards yet, partly because their manufacturing base is a sham and mostly because of the incestuous relationship it has with the US. It's basically just a massive US dollar recycling machine. If the US consumer pikes it, China takes a big hit, then dominoes down the line.
Why should we expect a market correction? There is a severe problem for the lenders of low doc loans and the like. The mortgage funds are in trouble. That should be a good thing for the stock market as money taken out of the troubled sector has to find a home somewhere.
Therehas been a lot of discussion lately on these forums regarding property vs shares. If money leaves one it usually goes to the other.
Long live the bulls.
Why should we expect a market correction? There is a severe problem for the lenders of low doc loans and the like. The mortgage funds are in trouble. That should be a good thing for the stock market as money taken out of the troubled sector has to find a home somewhere.
Therehas been a lot of discussion lately on these forums regarding property vs shares. If money leaves one it usually goes to the other.
Long live the bulls.
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