New Bull Market Surge Underway?
by: taipan
Total views: 1
Word Count: 656
One might wonder if a new bull market surge underway will be lasting as the stock market has put on quite a performance over recent trading sessions.
Last Friday's trading sessions on the NYSE and the NASDAQ were attention getting amazing. CitiGroup reported a huge $13 billion write down for the first quarter and that it was cutting 9,000 jobs. That was taken as good news as it might be the last of the bad news and Citi's stock surges. What optimists the current largely untested in a bear market group of money managers are.
Google then reports that earnings for the first quarter were better than expected and the stock takes off and closes 20% higher,Google's best one day performance in over two years. Another 4650 job cuts are announced by AT&T and this is taken as more good news as it means that AT&T is taking action in the face of a recession. For the day the Dow is up over 200 points and is closing in on Dow 13,000.
What is happening here? An investor who is looking at the stock market performance of late may draw all of the wrong conclusions. He might think that the real estate market has suddenly recovered, that the subprime mortgage fiasco is over, that the 45 trillion dollars or so of weird unmarketable derivatives sitting on the books of the world's major financial institutions are solid AAA investments, and that the US recession will be over before we know it.
It would be easy to think all of these things based upon the stock market's performance since Helicopter Ben and Hammering Hank Paulson engineered the Bear Sterns rescue plan and opened up the Fed overnight window to brokerage firms. Countless billions of low cost money was suddenly made available to the brokerage firms.
And therein probably is our answer to the stock market's new life. With fresh multi billions injected into the banking and stock brokerage communities who can doubt that a significant part of it has fueled the recent stock advances? Bravo for Ben and Paul, both heroes of Wall Street.
However, at what cost? The billions of dollars that Bernanke is pouring into the financial system must come from somewhere and they do. The Fed's high speed printing presses must be smoking hot these days.
Money is being spent by the Fed and the US government like they really have it to spend. Sadly they do not. As the world's largest debtor nation the US is digging itself into such a deep hole with it's borrow and spend policies that it may never fully recover.
M3, which the government stopped reporting some time ago, has been growing about 15% until recently. Currently M3 is estimated to be expanding at a rate greater than 20%. This printing of fiat currency is going to cost the US dearly over the long run. Inflation is already climbing fast as prices for energy, food, healthcare, and hard commodities soar as monetary inflation gains ground.
Make no mistake about it. A perfect financial storm is brewing and the helicopter money for everybody who is a fat cat in America tactics of Bernanke and Paulson in dumping buckets full of money on Wall Street are going to contribute to the storm's intensity.
Once inflation really kicks in at double digit numbers, which will likely be all too soon, the Fed will have to start increasing interest rates. Raising rates in a weak economy will bring Wall Street back to earth. In the end the tricky Big Mean Bear will have his way.
Don't forget to sell the rally. It might be your last chance to move out of stocks at attractive prices for a long while. It seems to me that this is a last gasp bull market rally before the market heads lower in a horrifying manner.
About the Author
Taipan is the pen name used by a retired forex trader and portfolio manager who worked in Asia for over 20 years. The nickname was acquired in Hong Kong and is now used for a number of financial related blogs. One of them is at http://taipaninvestor.info/blog
View PDF |
Print View
Rating:
Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.
Add Comment
You do not have permission to comment. If you
log in, you may be able to comment.
Next Article -
Stock Trading Made Too EasyPrevious Article -
Tips For Stock Market Trading- Beginners' Guide
More Related Articles In This Category
1:
What are Bull Markets and Bear Markets?
2:
What Causes Stock Prices To Go Up And Down?
3:
Option Trading - As Risky As The Reputation?...
4:
Online Trading; Why I Hate Economists!
5:
Online Stock Trading - Is It Right For You?...
6:
Is a Financial Market Last Straw Event on the Way?
7:
Who Sets a Stock's Price?
8:
Compound Stock Earnings Programs - Caveat Investor
9:
Stock Exchanges - An Introduction
10:
Day Trading The Extreme Sport Of Investing
11:
The Fall of the Bond Markets
12:
For Stock, Futures and Forex Traders The Biggest Battle To Succeed Is Within, But Why?
13:
Do You Run With the Stock Market Herd?
14:
Ethanol Producing Companies as Stock Investments
15:
Stock Trading Made Too Easy
16:
New Bull Market Surge Underway?
17:
Tips For Stock Market Trading- Beginners' Guide
18:
What's The Difference Between Technical and Fundamental Investing?
19:
What is Short Selling and How to Benefit From It?
20:
Setting Specific Investing Goals
21:
There Is No Place For Emotions In The Stock Market
22:
You Will Never Make Money Trading Stocks, Futures Or Forex Part 4
23:
Is Insider Trading Illegal?
24:
Painful First Quarter for World Financial Markets
25:
You Can Be A Stock Market Investor
For WebMasters
Link This Article - HTML Code -
Link This Article - BBcode -
Copy This HTML Code To Put This Article In Your Web Site.
Article URL : New Bull Market Surge Underway?
Article Category : Stock Market Investing
Article Author : taipan