Andie Xie: "China's Property Market Is One Of The Biggest Bubbles Ever..."

We really live in very interesting times.....The update comes just in time for todays headline Property prices in China grew at the fastest pace in nearly five years in March.... The "Wall Of Worry" is getting steeper on a daily basis.... For more on the "China Syndrome" see here, here, here , here & here.....

Aufregende Zeiten.......Passend hierzu die heutige Nachricht Property prices in China grew at the fastest pace in nearly five years in March nicht passen....Eine ausführlichere Betrachtung des immer ernster werdenden "China Syndrome" gibt es hier, hier, hier , hier & hier.....

Empty : Though many of the properties in Kangbashi have been sold and a million people were projected to be living in Kangbashi by 2010, the city is still empty.

Ordos,China: A Modern Ghost Town Photo Gallery TIME

H/T The Mess That Greenspan Made

No Room To Relax Andy Xie / China International Business

The central government has unleashed another round of property tightening measures. This time it is focusing on mortgage lending terms: the mortgage interest discount for first-time homebuyers has been reduced; the discount for second-time homebuyers has been abolished and the down payment requirement raised to 40%; and the rate for third-time buyers is being left to the banks' discretion with down payments raised to 60%.

Predictably, sales volumes in both primary and secondary markets have collapsed. But no one is panicking, not even those who live off the property bubble. Why? Aren't they supposed to be terrified of the government's crackdown?

It seems we have seen this movie before. China has launched property-tightening measures several times but it relaxed them just when they began to bite.

The bottom line is that local governments, and the central government through them, depend very much on property for revenue. The market doesn't believe the government will cut off the hand that feeds it.

Local governments and developers are sitting on massive liquidity that they raised last year through land and property sales and borrowings, taking advantage of the "anything goes" window during the stimulus period. They seem to believe that the central government will change its mind before they run out of liquidity. So they are comfortable waiting and not cutting prices.

Cutting prices doesn't make sense if the government is expected to loosen policy again soon. The current lending terms effectively keep second- and third-time homebuyers out of the market. To sell, developers must cut prices to levels affordable to the buyers of first homes, who have low incomes and little wealth. All the players will play by the new rules only if the central government proves its credibility by maintaining the tightening policy until local governments and developers run out of money.

Contrary to the policies' intent, local governments are readying for another round of property inflation. Local governments have been using bank loans to resettle residents, and resettlement costs have skyrocketed since those being moved need enough compensation to buy properties at today's prices. Unless property prices rise considerably, local governments will end up losing money, which they cannot afford to do.

Resettlements played an important role in supporting demand for property last year. The overwhelming majority of end-user purchases probably came from resettled residents who used their compensation money for a down payment.

Resettlement compensation is the biggest transfer of wealth from the government to the household sector since the privatization of public housing at low prices a decade ago. It is probably the most important government action supporting today's economy.

The positive elements of resettlement compensation come with two major negatives. First, it is using a form of leverage to support demand. Local governments borrow to pay the compensation packages, using the land as collateral. The resettled residents use the compensation as down payment for mortgage borrowing; so government debt becomes equity for mortgage debt.

There is no real equity in the financing chain

China's property market is a massive bubble. The stock of residential properties, developers' inventories, and land that local governments have pledged to banks may exceed by three times the gross domestic product.

Get the yuan right, and prove pundits wrong Andy Xie / Caixin

Yuan appreciation hype ignores China's need for higher rates

The intensity and persistence of yuan appreciation expectations point to support for China's vast property bubble. These expectations have increased the concentration of hot money in China, which in turn has caused excess liquidity and speculation, fueling the property bubble.

By all measures (stock value to gross domestic product ratios, inventory value to GDP ratios, new property sales to GDP ratios, price to income ratios, rental yields and vacancy rates), China's property market is one of the biggest bubbles ever. It's probably much bigger than the U.S. property bubble relative to GDP.

Now, the same liquidity that fueled the property bubble is leading to a rapid pickup for consumer price inflation. One just needs to look around to see the seriousness of the inflation picture, regardless of how it's measured. Denying that inflation is serious in China right now is akin to burying one's head in the sand. This sort of denial is how countries in Southeast Asia got into a crisis situation in the past: They kept real interest rates too low and fueled speculation that eventually destroyed their banking systems.

If China's economic stimulus is withdrawn, the property bubble will cool. And it may even burst. This is why so many interest groups consistently argue against higher interest rates. Instead, they support using currency appreciation to cool inflation.

Many analysts argue that raising interest rates would attract more hot money. This is wrong. Hot money comes to China for currency appreciation and asset-bubble reasons, not to chase interest rates. When an interest rate is raised, expectations for property-price appreciation wane and hot money is more likely to fall than rise.

Increasing the yuan's value a bit would certainly trigger more frenzy. Any new property booms that follow may support the economy for a time. But the long-term consequences would be severe. Indeed, a small appreciation could make a crisis inevitable.

UPDATE:

Top ten reasons you know China has a financial bubble on its hands Ed Harrison

Jim Chanos On Charlie Rose - Full Interview ZH

China’s Debt Bubble: When Will the Ponzi Unravel? NC

Chinese consumer credit binge begins FT Alphaville

China - The Mother of All Black Swans ZH

Red hot real estate Economist Free Excahnge

China Bond Risk May Offset Reward WSJ

Profit Margins, Margin Debt & Margin Of Error.......

Combine the data points with the excellent When Risk-Return Makes No Sense: How To Deal With An Overvalued Market and it should be clear that Mr. Market is walking on very thin ice now... I must admit that this is my view since September/October......Cannot help but it at least smells a little bit like "Flucht In Sachwerte"... I still think that the risk / reward is far more favourable in GOLD... ;-)

Wenn man die folgenden Daten mit dem extrem lesenswerten When Risk-Return Makes No Sense: How To Deal With An Overvalued Market kombiniert wird klar das man sich momentan auf sehr dünnem Eis bewegt.... Muß gestehen das ich diese Ansicht seit dem September/Oktober vertrete.... So langsam kann man zumindest unterschwellig das Gefühl haben das zumindest in Teilen eine "Flucht In Sachwerte" eingesetzt hat.....Bin mehr denn je überzeugt das in Sachen Chance/Risiko die Aussichten für GOLD weitaus vielversprechender sind.... ;-)

William Hester / Hussman Funds

While earnings growth expectations are steep, sales growth expectations are more modest. Sales-per-share for S&P 500 companies is expected to grow about 5.5 percent this year and about 7 percent next year, according to forecasts. The difference between the growth rates of the top and bottom lines is implies a forecast for sharply rising operating profit margins. The graph below is updated from an earlier piece, and includes forecasts through the end of 2012. It plots the long-term level of S&P operating margins in blue. In red, I've plotted the operating margins currently being forecasted by analysts based on their projections for sales and earnings. Last October, analysts were about half way to pricing in profit margins that matched the record levels of 2007. Now, they are just about there.

David Rosenberg / Gluskin Sheff

As for 2011, the consensus is looking for $97 on S&P 500 operating EPS — we did $95 at the peak of the last cycle when the unemployment rate was at 4.5%, the industry CAPU rate was 81%, private sector credit xpanding at a 16.2% annual rate and nominal GDP at a 4.9% YoY pace.

So the consensus believes that barely two years into the second weakest post-recession recovery in the past six decades that we will actually get back to peak profit levels seems to be a tad outlandish.

Stock Market Rally Explained The Mess That Greenspan Made

Ad in the the Money & Investing section of today’s Wall Street Journal

Factoring in the tight junk spreads right now one must assume that looking at the next chart the "Margin Of Error" is probably "slim"......

Da momentan selbst historisch gesehen recht enge Junk Spreads vorherrschen muß man beim Anblick des nächsten Charts wohl unterstellen das in Sachen "Margin Of Error" wenig "Spielraum" bleibt.....

Investors really ♥ junk. We mean really. FT Alphaville

In most discussions of the high-yield bond market, historical spreads play a major role. But comparing spreads today to those of the past assumes that junk bonds are a constant entity over time. Unfortunately, junk is junkier today, as illustrated by this chart [at left] from last October’s Global Financial Stability Report.

The fraction of CCC or lower-rated bonds approximately doubled from early 2007 to early 2009. And according to a recent report from Fitch, the fraction at the end of 2009 was still 27%.

Debt ranked in the BB category gained 39.1 percent in the past 12 months, underperforming the CCC tier by 66 percentage points, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data.

H/T EconomPicData

The "risk trade" is currently clearly not in the early innings....... Looks like the Mantra Bullish. No Matter What & the "Moon Trade" ( brilliant!) is still alive & kicking.... ;-)

Der sog. "Risikotrade" befindet sich sicher nicht mehr im "Anfangsstadium"..... Sieht so aus als wenn das Motto Bullish. No Matter What sowie Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Trading On The Moon ( brilliant!) momentan noch immer zu greifen scheint...... ;-)+

UPDATE:

PARTS OF THIS MARKET ARE LOOKING IRRATIONAL PragCap

Why Young People Should Buy Stocks on Margin Time H/T Denninger

We just survived the worst debt-fueled binge since the Roaring '20s. Now two professors at Yale University are suggesting we introduce leverage into a new realm of our lives —our retirement portfolios. TIME's Barbara Kiviat asked economists Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff to explain themselves.

You are advocating that people in their 20s and early 30s take all of their retirement savings and buy stocks on margin. Can you explain why that's not as crazy as it sounds?

"It's not as crazy as it sounds because it helps people better diversify risk across time"

Read this twice....

UBS: EQUITY MARKET RISKS APPROACHING EXTREMES PragCap

Irrational Exuberance Is Here: VIX Lowest Since July 2007 As Options Speculation Highest Since Dot Com Days

The VIX has just hit the lowest level since July of 2007 as Sentiment Trader reports that "speculation in the options market has spiked to its highest levels since the spring of 2000."

As i´ve said, not in the early innings.....

Wie gesagt, nicht mehr im Anfangsstadium......

Real Estate "Froth" In Hong Kong & China

"Reassuring" that i havn´t read of any new Ghost Towns (at least for today.......UPDATE: I was WRONG....;-) For more on the "China Syndrome" see here, here , here & here.....

Immerhin ( zumindest heute....UPDATE: Zu früh gefreut... ) keine Meldungen über neue Ghost Towns .... ;-) Mehr zum immer ernster werdenden "China Syndrome" gibt es hier, hier , hier & hier.....



Sun Hung Kai sales yield $541 mln over weekend MW

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. (0016.HK) said Monday it sold 900 flats over the weekend at Yoho Midtown, a residential project in New Territories West, for HK$4.2 billion (US$541 million).

The company sold the units at the project in Yuen Long for an average of HK$5,400 per square foot, project director Amy Teo said.

About 40 units were immediately advertised for sale on the secondary market at a premium of up to 20%, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported Monday, citing property agents.

Yoho Midtown is Hong Kong's biggest housing project to go on sale so far this year. It has eight towers containing 1,890 units ranging in size from 400 to 1,400 square feet

China's building bubble about to burst The Star

Frenzied developers with access to cheap money are creating a glut of premium office space and luxury apartments, priced at about 80 times the average income of the city's residents.

Prospective middle-class homeowners, in panic-buying mode, are snapping up two properties at once, hoping to flip the second one to finance the first. Civic officials are encouraging the building boom.

The sale of vacant lots bolster their municipal coffers

The disturbing phenomenon extends beyond Beijing, where housing prices are far higher than in Dubai's overbuilt property market before that red-hot Persian Gulf economy imploded last year. In December alone, Chinese housing prices rose almost 8 per cent in 70 major Chinese cities, while housing starts leapt by 34 per cent nationwide.

China New Village Makes Chanos See Dubai 1,000 Times Bloomberg

The township of Huaxi in the Yangtze River Delta is a proud symbol of how Chinese communists embraced capitalism to lift 300 million people out of poverty during the past three decades.

Its leaders took a farm community with bamboo huts and ox carts in the 1970s and transformed it into an industrial and commercial powerhouse where today many of its 30,000 residents live in mansions and most have a car. Per-capita income of 80,000 yuan ($11,700) -- almost four times the national average -- allows Huaxi to claim it’s China’s richest village.

Huaxi is also emblematic of the country’s construction and real estate boom. Communist Party officials there are building one of the world’s 30 tallest buildings, a 2.5 billion yuan, 328-meter (1,076-foot) tower(Photo Tower ). The revolving restaurant atop the so-called New Village in the Sky offers sweeping views of paddy fields, fish ponds and orchards, Bloomberg Markets reports in its April issue.

Huaxi has an even more ambitious project coming up: a 6 billion yuan, 538-meter skyscraper that would today rank as the world’s second tallest. The only loftier building is the new Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

If the local government in Huaxi really start the "Babel Project" even the biggest "fan" must admit that Beijing has lost control over the provinces....

Sollte der "Tumbau zu Babel" von der lokalen Regierung tatsächlich vorangetrieben werden muß wohl auch der letzte "Bewunderer" eingestehen das Peking schon längere Zeit die Kontrolle über die Provinzfürsten verloren hat.....

UPDATE:

China regulators halt credit to local-government funds MW

China's banking regulator has ordered lenders to stop granting loans to investment vehicles backed by local governments, the latest move to tighten credit standards amid mounting concerns of bad loans down the road, according to a state-media report Wednesday.

Banks have also been ordered to review existing loans used to finance projects backed by local governments, the report said.

Chinese Banking Financial Strength Rating Is Just Beating Iceland & Kyrgyzstan.....

I must admit that even as a long time sceptic ( see here , here & here for some recent extreme examples of "creative accounting" & "froth") i´m surprised that the ratings are that ugly....... At least the rating are rewarded with the highest price to book ratio......

Ich muß gestehen das selbst ich als alteingesessener Skeptiker ( siehe hier, hier & hier für die letzten Auswüche an "kreativer Bankenbilanzierung" & "leichten Übertreibungen" ) doch überrascht bin das die Ratings so desaströs ausfallen.....Paßt hervorragend in die Zeit das genau diese Institute weltweit die mit Abstand höchsten Bewertungen erzielen......

Fitch Scratches an Itch WSJ

That's one interpretation of Fitch Ratings' decision to downgrade China Merchants Bank and China Citic Bank. Fitch is worried about the strain that a lending splurge last year is putting on their capital positions, even though CMB, for one, is in the process of raising $3.2 billion via a rights issue.

In truth the downgrades are more of a catch-up exercise for Fitch, placing CMB and Citic on the same footing as most Chinese banks. Eleven of the 16 Chinese banks to which it gives an individual rating are now ranked "D'; the others are rated below that.

And Fitch has for some time come across as bearish on the sector. Its analysts have raised concerns about practices like the repackaging of loans into wealth management products, and the way Chinese banks classify loans.

But it's not alone in showing what might seem a surprising caution about the Chinese banks' prospects. Moody's average rating for their financial strength is D-. On that scale, onlysix countries are worse off, including Iceland and Kyrgyzstan.

The concern all the agencies share is whether recent improvements in the way Chinese banks are run have been enough to match the huge increase in risk on their balance sheets as a result of last year's lending boom. None are expecting immediate answers: dire warnings of a large rise in non-performing loans at Chinese banks are based on the assumption that the music will stop, and their vulnerabilities will be revealed all at once.

In reality, the process could take some time: true recognition of nonperforming loans will likely be delayed by tactics such as rollovers or extra lending to pay off loans gone bad, the sort of practices Fitch has often highlighted.

Fitch

D: A bank that has weaknesses of internal and/or external origin.

There are concerns regarding its profitability and balance sheet integrity, franchise, management, operating environment or prospects. Banks in emerging markets are necessarily faced with a greater number of potential deficiencies of external origin.

To be sarcastic i would argue that this definition is probably true for most banks worldwide.. ;-) No wonder the regulators are a bit nervous.... It wouldn´t surprise me if we will see some monster ( i don´t mean a few billions here & there ) captital increases in the not so distant future....... Probably in large part funded via several goverment controlled entities.... I repeat myself but if you want to get the best insight on China the blog from Michael Pettis is a must read!

Böse formuliert würde ich behaupten das die Definition von Fitch auf die meisten Banken weltweit zutrifft... ;-) Kein Wunder das die Offiziellen doch leicht nervös werden..... Ich denke es stehen uns in China demnächst einige Monsterkapitalerhöhungen ins Haus.... Rede da nicht von einstelligen Mrdbeträgen...... Würde mich wundern wenn das zum großen Teil aus privaten Mitteln finanziert wird...Wer einen erstklassigen und vor allem zeitnahen Blick auf das Geschehen in China haben möchte für den sollte China Financial Markets von Michael Pettis Pflichtlektüre sein....

Update:

Nonperforming Loans in China Rise to "Trillions of Renminbi Mish

China's financial system / Red mist Economist

Perhaps the only Western equivalents of a Chinese bank are the two American housing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—vast institutions with political mandates to expand credit, and protection from the consequences of their role in fostering bad debt.

China’s metropoli bubble fear FT Alphaville

We believe that we now have a bubble in many cities, particularly the big ones

Visualizing "Froth" In China.......

Fits perfectly to the last post on the "China Syndrome".....



Paßt hervorragend zum letzten Post in Sachen "China Syndrome"...



H/T The Mess That Greenspan Made







In this context it really will be interesting how much of the recent credit bonanza will go bad... Here is one rough estimate....



Nachdem man den Clip gesehen hat dürfte klar sein das ein nicht unwesentlicher Teil der letzten Kreditexoplosion eher früher als später in die Kategorie "problematisch" fallen dürfte.... Hier kommt eine grobe Einschätzung....



WSJ

But 2009's lending has surely stored up some problems for China's banks. If, say, 20%of 2009's new loans go bad, and 10% of likely new loans in 2010 also run into trouble, total nonperforming loans would reach $381 billion, or 8% of China's 2009 GDP, UBS economist Tao Wang calculates. Nor has China ever truly resolved the bad debts it shifted off banks' balance sheets a decade ago.

Chanos: China Bubble Ready to Burst





With China the main driver of global markets it´s no wonder why i´m "sceptical" when it comes to China, the sustainability of the recent recovery & risk / reward ratios in almost any asset class.... ?



Thanks to the "Volcker Rule" Wall Street Finest can spin any correction of this overvalued / priced for perfection & overbought market on Washington / Obama.... In reality this is only the catalyst aka excuse to sell ( based in part on the "shocking" conclusion that the times for easy bailouts are finally over! > "Power To The People" ) ..... Can´t blame them ( except WSJ see bottom of the post ) ...... At least there is now a good chance that some of the "froth" & "complacency" will be "fleeing" the market.... ;-)



Wenn man jetzt in Betracht zieht das China den bisherigen Aufschwung an den Märkten zu einem ganz gewichtigen Teil geschultert hat verwundert es nicht das ich seit geraumer Zeit eine "skeptische" Sichtweise im Hinblick auf China, Nachhaltigkeit des Aufschwungs & Chance / Risikoverhältnis habe.... ?



Immerhin haben so die Strategen der Wall Street dank der "Volcker Rule" jetzt einen Anlaß gefunden diesen bereits seit einiger Zeit anfälligen ( weil bis zur Perfektion gepreist, überkauft & extrem bullishen Sentiment) Markt abzuverkaufen und den "Schwarzen Peter" Washington / Obama ( und der schockiernden Erkenntnis das die Zeiten der bedenkenlosen Bailouts vorbei sind > "Power To The People" ) zuzuschieben.....Kein Vorwurf ( mit Ausnahme des WSJ, siehe Ende des Postings ) ...... Immerhin dürften damit die Zeiten der extremsten "Übertreibungen" & fehlender "Wachsamkeit" zumindest für einige Tage der Vergangenheit anhören..... ;-)



WSJ Spin Barry Ritholtz

But it doesn’t take much looking to see other, more plausible, less politically motivated explanations than the floated Volcker/Obama proposal.

The market’s biggest losers were not finance related issues, but rather were commodity-related stocks.



While the financial sector suffered a 3% decline after some disappointing earnings from various banks, it was the commodities sector that got whacked 4.3%. China made a major announcement they were restricting bank lending to cool inflation and slow the economy.



The WSJ article? Never so much as mentioned China or commodities.

Oh boy.....WSJ goes Yellow Press......When i meant Wall Street Finest would spin the correction i had folks like Cramer, Strategist, Analysts, Guest on Bubblevision etc in mind.....



WSJ auf Bildzeittungsniveau.... Muß gestehen das ich mit der Behauptung das die überfällige Korrektur von den "Experten" Washington in die Schuhe geschoben wird eher an die üblichen Verdächtigen wie Volkswirten, Analysten, Strategen und regelmäßigen Gesten in den Medien gedacht habe.....

Chinese Banks Already Lend Out 20% Percent Of Targeted Loan Growth For 2010 Withing The First Two Weeks Of January

Does anybody remember my post from last week....? Thank god there are almost no ( other ) signs of "froth" & "complacency".... ;-)

Habe eigentlich meinem Posting von letzter Woche wenig hinzuzufügen.....Gottseidank sind ja ansonsten weit und breit keinerlei Anzeichen von "Übertreibungen" & fehlender "Wachsamkeit" zu erkennen.... Ansonsten könnte einem doch glatt Angst und Bange werden... ;-)

China Asks Some Banks to Limit Lending on Insufficient Capital Bloomberg

China has told some banks to limit lending and will restrict overall credit growth in the nation to 7.5 trillion yuan

ICBC, Bank of China and other lenders have effectively stopped granting new loans after the banking system extended about 1.5 trillion yuan in new credit during the first two weeks of this month, Market News International reported today

This equals almost 30% of the total 2008 volume.....Looks like China still needs more Ghost Towns .... ;-)

Die o.g. Zahl entspricht ca. 30% der Kreditvergabe die im gesamten Jahr 2008 stattgefunden hat... Sieht so aus als wenn China noch nicht genügend Ghost Towns in die Steppe gesetzt hat.... ;-)

Update: FT Alphaville

.....but the latest figures, issued Tuesday, show that full-year property sales in China zoomed by 75.5 per cent from a year ago to Rmb4,399.5bn($644bn), with residential sales jumping a whopping 80 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Sounds fairly bubbly to us, particularly considering that Chinese home prices rose nearly 8 per cent in December alone, the fastest growth in 18 months, despite new attempts by Beijing to cool speculative zeal.

Shanghai mortgages rise 1,600% in 2009 China Economic Review

Banks lent out US$14.58 billion in new mortgages in Shanghai in 2009, a 1,600%increase from the previous year, the South China Morning Post reported.

Of the total, US$5.7 billion went to buyers of new properties and US$8.88 billion to those buying second-hand properties, according to the People's Bank of China.

Average prices of Shanghai homes rose 68% from 2008

WSJ

"With exports facing hard times, real estate has become an important pillar of China's economic growth," said Ji Zhu, professor of economics at Beijing Technological and Business University. "No one wants to see housing prices fall," he argued— not investors, not property developers, and certainly not government officials.

HERDING......

Goldman: World Markets Teetering At Post Crisis Highs, All Betting On China BI



HORDING

What really drove Chinese commodity imports? FT Alphaville

Further to the suspicion that much in the way of Chinese metals imports are related to schemes to game the cheap money there by circumventing capital controls – -whether in order to bet on Yuan appreciation or commodity price rises

Havn´t heard the word "SUSTAINABLE" for a long long time.......

Habe merkwürdigerweise den Begriff "SELBSTRAGEND" bzw. "NACHHALTIG" lange nicht mehr im Zusammenhang mit den Märkten zu hören bekommen......

Does Anyone Detect A Hint Of Complacency?

What a fascinating market and via FT Alphaville comes another good indicator of how "extreme" investor sentiment has become. Joshua Brown in Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Trading On The Moon (!) has so far the best & funniest transcription of the latest market behavior....

As i have written in the past few days in Don´t Call It A Bubble.... & "Anti Spin" i´m a very sceptical ( more bearish than ever ) that this kind of market level is sustainable.... Especially in the face of a "spiking" Sovereign Misery Index .....To be honest i´m thinking this since October.... Make sure you watch the following clip.... Nice to see that Saluzzi still isn´t drinking the kool aid....

Bin jeden Tag aufs neue fasziniert wie der Markt auf die Nachrichtenlage reagiert. Meiner Meinung nach Joshua Brown in Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Trading On The Moon (!) die bisher beste und lustigste Analyse zu Papier gebracht.

Ich bin wie in Don´t Call It A Bubble.... & "Anti Spin" geschrieben "skeptisch" ( höflich umschrieben ) was die Nachhaltigkeit der Kursanstiege angeht. Und all das im Angesicht eines täglich steigenden Sovereign Misery Index .....Meiner Meinung nach ist das Chance/Risikoprofil so unvorteilhaft wie selten....Die Skepsis steigt momentan tagtäglich und erreicht geradezu schwindelerregende Höhen.... ;-) Der nachfolgende Clip von Saluzzi liefert eine weitere gute Bestandsaufnahme in Sachen aktuelle Marktstimmung.....

Chilled markets FT Alphaville

Markets move on the interaction of news with flows of greed and fear among investors. When fear is lowest, the danger of a fall is greatest.

Especially when other sentiment indicators are considered:

Another great contrarian indicator is the survey of sentiment by the American Association of Individual Investors. Last week, this showed the lowest proportion of self-described “bears” since February 2007 – when volatility first started to spike as investors at last began to grasp the severity of the subprime mortgage crisis in the US.

Bearishness in this survey hit an all-time high in March last year when the current rally first started, showing how much money can be made by betting against extremes of sentiment.

But it’s not just the retail punter who’s bullish.

The Pros are too.

From Bloomberg:

Investors forecast gains in each of the nine countries represented in the Bloomberg Professional Confidence Survey for the first time since the data began in 2007.

The sentiment measure for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 35 percent to 54.37. That’s only the second time the reading exceeded 50, signaling participants anticipate a rally in the next six months.

The responses from 4,101 Bloomberg users were gathered Jan. 4-8 as the MSCI World Index added 2.6 percent.

The Bloomberg sentiment indexes for the U.S., Japan and Spain rose above 50 and reached all-time highs.

The U.K. gauge topped 50 for the first time since October, while Switzerland climbed to a record.

Spain exceeded 50 for the first time, adding 17 percent to 51.41.

Confidence in Switzerland climbed 3.6 percent to 60.89, and the U.K. index surged 22 percent to 55.61. The measures for Italy, France and Germany increased 14 percent, 3.7 percent and 2.4 percent to 62.61, 57.77 and 53.33, respectively.

Does anyone detect a hint of complacency?

FUND MANAGER BULLISHNESS COULD BE WARNING SIGN PragCap

The latest survey showed the highest surge in Merrill’s Risk & Liquidity(46%) indicator since May of 2006. In the past, this indicator has served as a fairly good contrarian indicator.

This survey is showing some contrariansell signals. Just 45% of fund managers are protecting themselves against a downturn versus 52% in December. The survey also shows a strong appetite for risk and high beta names

Faber on complacency & investor sentiment......



EXCELLENT!

"Enron-Esque Characteristics" Hiding An Even More Explosive Credit Growth In China

Ob boy......Looks like the Chinese have learnt quite a bit from their western rivals....;-) All this confirms my "sceptical" view on the sustainability of the recent recovery in China...... Nice to see that this kind of creative accounting is rewarded with a big valuation premium.... You really cannot make this up..... For an up to date inside view on China i highly recommend the blog China Financial Markets from Michael Pettis. A must read.

Sieht so aus als wenn die Chinesen in Sachen Bankenbilanzierung schnell vom Westen gelernt haben.....;-) All das bestätigt mich in meiner "skeptischen" Sichtweise das was momentan in China abgeht nachhaltig ist.... Immerhin ist es nett zu sehen das solch "Kreativität" momentan mit einem gewaltigen Bewertungsaufschlag gehandelt wird..... Paßt hervorragend zum sonstigen Marktgeschehen.... ;-)Wer einen erstklassigen und vor allem zeitnahen Blick auf das Geschehen in China haben möchte für den sollte China Financial Markets von Michael Pettis Pflichtlektüre sein....

Then and now: Banks and their book value Graph FT Alphaville

China Cracks Down on Banks' Loan-Sale Practice WSJ
BEIJING—China's banking regulator has quietly cracked down on banks selling their loans to trust companies, taking aim at a little-understood category of transactions that had fueled concerns about transparency in the banking system.

The transactions at issue had enabled banks to move loans off their balance sheets by temporarily selling them to Chinese trusts, lightly regulated companies that then repackaged the loans into financial instruments for clients.

The banks promised to repurchase the loans any time between a few weeks and a few years later.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission issued a notice banning banks that sell loans to trusts from removing the loans from their balance sheets, said an executive in the risk management department of a Chinese bank who has seen the document. The notice was issue Dec. 24, but wasn't made public.

Banks have been unwilling to discuss the trust deals publicly, but analysts who had studied the transactions say the banks were using them to report lower loan totals at a time when China's government was indicating concern about credit expansion and pushing lenders to increase their capital ratios as a precaution against bad loans.

While no official data on the loan-sale practice is publicly available, Shanghai Benefit Investment Consulting, a research company, estimates that 734 billion yuan ($107.53 billion) of bank loans were packaged into trust products in 2009.

About 80% of that was issued in the second half of the year, as Beijing's concern about loan growth mounted

The volume of new bank loans more than doubled in 2009, as Chinese lenders-almost all of which are majority owned by the state—assisted government efforts to stimulate the economy.

Not all the loans sold to trusts fall into the category barred by the CBRC notice, but the order appears to have nearly halted such transactions. According to Shanghai Benefit, only seven new trust products backed by banks loans have gone on sale this month, compared with 465 for the whole of December.

The regulatory change could add to difficulties for some Chinese banks that were already facing constraints on their lending this year by the declines in their capital-to-loan ratios as a result of last year's credit explosion.

Still, analysts say it's likely to be another banner year for bank lending in China, with many forecasting 2010's new loans will be between seven trillion and eight trillion yuan, down from around 9.5 trillion last year but far above the annual average for previous years.

> To put this number into perspective the loan figure for a booming 2008 was under 5 trillion Yuan......

> Um das in Verhältnis zu setzen muß man wissen das im Boomjahr 2008 unter unter 5 Billion Yuan an Krediten vergeben worden sind....

UPDATE:

> Looks like they have already "achieved" almost 8% percent of their 2010 lending target ( 12% of the 2008 loans....) within the first week.... Second UPDATE: Chinese Banks Already Lend Out 20% Percent Of Targeted Loan Growth For 2010 Withing The First Two Weeks Of January & Visualizing "Froth" In China....... Hey, but "Don´t Call It A Bubble"...... ;-)

> Sieht ganz so aus als wenn die chinesischen Banken bereits knapp 8% der für 2010 ( oder 12% der im Jahr 2008 ausgegebenen Kredite ) "vorgesehenen" Kreditvergaben in der ersten Januarwoche ausgekehrt hätten......"Don´t Call It A Bubble"...... ;-) Zweites UPDATE Chinese Banks Already Lend Out 20% Percent Of Targeted Loan Growth For 2010 Withing The First Two Weeks Of January & Visualizing "Froth" In China....... ....Bernanke würde jetzt sagen "Don´t Call It A Bubble"......

Between January 4 and 8, commercial banks issued loans worth 600 billion yuan, a new high in years. Caing.com

It seems that China's commercial banks have slowed the lending pace due to warnings from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and banking regulator. However, new statistics showed that the pace actually accelerated during the first week of 2010.

New lending by banks reached 600 billion yuan, with the five biggest banks accounting for 280 billion yuan, according data obtained by Caixin Media.

> Let´s hope that at least a small part from the staggering amount is related to the reintegretaion from the "funny" off balance sheet structures.....

> Bleibt nur zu hoffen das zumindest ein kleiner Teil der unglaublichen Summe darauf zurückzuführen ist das einiges wieder in die Bilanz eingegliedert worden ist.....

Update:

China Hits Brakes on Economic Stimulus WSJ

China, which for more than a year has been pushing its banks to pump out cash to offset the global downturn, abruptly reversed course Tuesday, in the clearest sign yet that Beijing has turned its attention to controlling the repercussions of that credit explosion.

Starting Monday, most Chinese commercial banks will be required to put 16% of their deposits on reserve, an increase of a half percentage point.

The new rate will effectively lock up 300 billion yuan, or around $44 billion, that might otherwise have been lent, according to Tom Orlik, China analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates.

Next to the 40 trillion yuan or more in loans outstanding and a 24 trillion yuan stock market, that is a small amount.

> Sweet Babystep... Too little and definitely way too late.....

> Wie niedlich..... Bestenfalls ein Anfang und definitv erheblich zu spät.....

Don´t Call It A Bubble........

After the introduction of the "Pay-If-You-Can-Loans" the comeback of Toggle/PIK Bonds are more than early warning signs that something is at least a little bit "frothy"...... The same is true for numerous stock markets ( see the following chart Mexican Stock Market Back To All Time Highs WOW!)

Nachdem ja vor kurzem die "Pay-If-You-Can-Loans" ins Leben gerufen worden sind ist die noch vor wenigen Monaten undenkbare Wiederaufersteheung der Toggle/PIK Bonds ein weiteres Anzeichen, das nennen wir es mal vorsichtig, eine leichte "Überhitzung" eingetreten ist.... Leider sieht es in etlichen Aktienmärkten nicht bedeutend anders aus ( siehe nachfolgden Chart Mexican Stock Market Back To All Time Highs WOW! )

Treasurers Embrace Pay-in-Kind Bonds as Ghost of Lehman Fading
( Bloomberg ) Companies are selling debt with terms last seen before credit markets froze, showing why the world’s biggest bond fund manager says another bubble may be brewing.

JohnsonDiversey Holdings Inc., a Sturtevant, Wisconsin, maker of cleaning supplies, and Wind Acquisition Holdings Finance SpA, parent of Italy’s third-largest mobile-phone company, sold bonds that can pay interest in new debt instead of cash, the first such deals since 2007, according to Bloomberg data.

Goodman Global Inc. raised $320 million to pay its owner, leveraged buyout firm Hellman & Friedman, a dividend, one of at least seven similar offerings since November

Two years after credit markets seized up, treasurers are luring investors to junk bonds that returned a record 58 percent last year, as measured by Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. U.S. sales of $162 billion beat the all-time high of $149 billion in 2006, Bloomberg data show.

“Six months ago I wouldn’t have imagined being able to do this deal,” said Karim-Michel Nasr, head of corporate development in Paris at Weather Investments SpA, Wind’s holding company.....

Capital Access

At least two dozen borrowers since November have asked lenders to change terms of debt agreements to permit bond sales, extend loan maturities or pay dividends to their owners, Bloomberg data show.

Access to capital means defaults will likely drop to 3.9 percent by November from 12.7 percent a year earlier, New York-based Moody’s Investors Service says.

Speculation that companies will have less difficulty making payments has led investors to accept lower interest rates and looser borrowing terms. The extra yield demanded on junk bonds instead of Treasuries narrowed to 6.39 percentage points at the end of 2009 from almost 19 percentage points on March 9, Merrill Lynch indexes show. Speculative grade debt is rated below Baa3 by Moody’s and BBB- by Standard & Poor’s.

‘We Forget’

“I’m looking at some of the things that are being priced and I’m saying, ‘Wow, how quickly we forget,’” said JohnsonDiversey Chief Financial Officer Joseph Smorada. The market is “starting to get a little dangerously aggressive,” he said.

The company sold $250 million of so-called toggle debt due in May 2020 on Nov. 20 that allows it to pay a 10.5 percent interest rate either in cash or notes for the first five years.

The first pay-in-kind bonds since 2007 were part of a $2.6 billion recapitalization in which New York-based LBO firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc. agreed to buy a 46 percent equity interest in the company.

Moody’s gave the notes its fifth-lowest ranking of Caa1, saying the debt is five times more than adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization costs. It has had negative free cash flow the past three years, though it’s expected to break even in 2010, Moody’s said.

‘Dangerously Aggressive’

“In early 2009, I don’t think we could have borrowed a nickel if our life depended on it,” Smorada said. Investors submitted bids for almost four times the amount of notes offered, he said.

Investors haven’t lost discipline and companies are mainly selling bonds to refinance or cut interest expenses, said William Cunningham, the head of credit strategy and fixed-income research at State Street Corp.’s investment unit in Boston.

Wind Acquisition of Luxembourg raised $1.1 billion last month selling 7.5-year, 12.25 percent notes in dollars and euros that allow it to pay interest with more debt until 2014. Wind, controlled by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and the parent of Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, boosted the offering 50 percent as demand rose.

The investment flood has undercut efforts to toughen restrictions that protect investors, said Alexander Dill, senior covenant officer at Moody’s in New York. Many covenants are “largely replicating” rules from 2006 and 2007, Dill said in a Dec. 10 report.

TRW Automotive Inc., the world’s biggest supplier of vehicle-safety equipment, sold $250 million of eight-year notes in November rated Caa1 with covenants “substantially unchanged” from its 2007 indenture for debt graded four steps higher at Ba3, according to the Moody’s report. The Livonia, Michigan-based company said Dec. 22 it raised $400 million in term loans as lenders amended and extended its revolving credit facility.

FT Alphaville

Global high yield debt volume for the week of January 11th totaled $11.7 billion, the biggest week for high yield debt on record. The previous record was set during the week of November 5, 2006 when $11.4 billion was raised. With $14.4 billion raised so far this month, it is the best all-time start for the high yield markets since records began in 1980.

Update High Yield Bonds Continue To Do Well Bespoke

Over the past month or so, the only area of the bond market that has done well is junk. Both Treasuries and investment grade corporates have struggled, while high yield bonds have continued to surge. Below we highlight a six-month performance chart of the high yield bond ETF (HYG) and the investment grade corporate bond ETF (LQD).

Mortgage-Bond Leverage Reaches 10-to-1

Wall Street firms are loosening terms of their lending to mortgage-bond investors as markets heal, an RBS Securities Inc. executive said.

Repurchase agreement, or repo, lending against the debt has expanded so much since freezing in late 2008 that some banks now offer as much as 10-to-1 leverage and terms as long as one year on certain securities backed by prime jumbo-home loans

Update

Bubble warning ( Economist )

Once again, cheap money is driving up asset prices ( Economist )

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Trading On The Moon :-) Reformed Broker

Anti Spin From Rosenberg

Time for a reality check ....Especially with markets at new highs, priced for perfection, investor sentiment ( Chart from December ) & complacency at "extreme" levels & quite a steep "Wall Of Worries" (H/T Zero Hedge) signalling at least not insignificant headwinds ..... UPDATE: Not a Positive Economic Picture M. Panzner .....

"Rosenberg Warning" ..... Make sure you don´t miss Know Your Market Bears – A Field Guide via The Reformed Broker...Hilarious :-)!

Denke die Zeit für einen Realitätscheck .... Gilt besonders da der Start ins Jahr 2010 neue Rekorde gebracht hat und die Bewertung nahe ( jenseits ) der Perfektion gepreist ist, die Stimmung der Investoren ( Chart aus dem Dezember ) & "Selbstzufriedenheit" schon leicht "euphorische" Tendenzen anzeigt und etliche andere Faktoren zukünftig zumindest erheblichenGegenwind versprechen......UPDATE: Not a Positive Economic Picture M. Panzner

Verweise weil es sich um Rosenberg handelt "warnenderweise" :-)! auf Know Your Market Bears – A Field Guide via Reformed Broker....Wunderbar :-) !

Breakfast With Dave 102609 Top

David Rosenberg

"So this remains the Houdini rally — no jobs; no pricing power; no broad participation; and no volume "

Hussman

"Over the past decade, the stature of the market as an effective discounting mechanism has gradually eroded. The observation and analysis of potential risks – though essential to long-term investing and loss avoidance – is far less actionable than one might expect. Investors will evidently speculate as long they have dice in their hands and the casino is not visibly on fire."

Bob "The Bear" Janjuah FT Alphaville

Well I clearly underestimated the ability & willingness of the Public Sector, notably in the UK, US, parts of periph Europe and Japan, to take huge risks with their sovereign balance sheets, AND IMPORTANTLY, I over-estimated the ability & willingness of the Financial Sector/Market to see things for what they are (Another Debt Fuelled Bubble/Ponzi).

The THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO 2010 INVESTMENT PREDICTIONS AND OUTLOOKS compilation from PragCap gives numerous market calls from the "Who Is Who" and is a must read! Brilliant!

Wer einen fast kompletten Überblick von allen wesentlichen Adressen der Finanzwelt in Sachen Ausblick haben möchte der sollte THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO 2010 INVESTMENT PREDICTIONS AND OUTLOOKS von PragCap nicht verpassen. Fantastisch!

But with Bernanke, Geithner, goverments, regulators & central banks around the globe playing the moral hazard card almost on a daily basis ( The Fed Is Preparing QE 2.0, MBS-Only Edition) without being punished significantly from bond & currency markets the party can easily continue for a while..... One of many many reason why i´m a GOLD-BUG .... ;-)

Da Bernanke, Geithner, Aufsichtsbehörden, Regierungen und Zentralbanken rund um den Globus die "Moral Hazard" Karte praktisch tagtäglich ( siehe The Fed Is Preparing QE 2.0, MBS-Only Edition ) in den Ring werfen ohne ernsthaft vom Anleihe und Währungsmarkt "getadelt" zu werden ist nicht auszuschließen das die Party noch ne Zeit lang weitergeht...... Einer von etlichen Gründen warum ich als GOLD-BUG durchgehe .... ;-)

Market Quotes From Rosenberg & Hussman

The quotes along with the cartoon reflect pretty much my market outlook ...... Be very careful if you are long ( congratiolations to the courage ) this market...... I´m still sticking with my view that from a risk/reward perspective it makes no sense ( Goldman & BofA Merrill Lynch & JP Morgan & John Paulson beg to differ...... ) to invest ( long term exception Gold, short term it looks a little bit crowded ) in this market. Most Insiders ( Ratio 98:1 ) are also a lot more "cautious"......... And everybody pointing out to the "strong" jobs report on Friday as a sign that fundamentals are playing catch up with this "priced for v-shaped-perfection market" again should take a look at this amusing clip :-)

Die beiden Zitate zusammen mit dem Cartoon geben ziemlich genau meinen Marktausblick wieder.... Denke das jeder der momentan noch investiert ist ( Glückwunsch für den Mut ) sehr wachsam sein sollte...... Ich bleibe dabei das es bereits seit einiger Zeit unter Chance/Risikogesichtspunkten keinen Sinn ( Ausnahme langfristig Gold, kurzfristig sieht es allerdings etwas überhitzt aus ) mehr macht in diesen Märkten zu investieren ( Ganz im Gegenteil zu Goldman & BofA Merrill Lynch & JP Morgan & John Paulson .... ). Die Insider schließen sich bei einen es bei einem Verhältnis von 98 zu 1 eher meiner Meinung an.......Für alle die im Arbeitsmarktbericht vom Freitag die Wende zu besseren Fundamentaldaten erkannt haben wollen die dringenst benötigt werden um den bis zur perfekten V-Shaped Erholung bewerteten Markt auf ein noch steileres "V" zu treiben dem empfehle ich einen Blick auf diesen wirklich gelungenen Clip werfen ;-)

David Rosenberg

"So this remains the Houdini rally — no jobs; no pricing power; no broad participation; and no volume "

Hussman

"Over the past decade, the stature of the market as an effective discounting mechanism has gradually eroded. The observation and analysis of potential risks – though essential to long-term investing and loss avoidance – is far less actionable than one might expect. Investors will evidently speculate as long they have dice in their hands and the casino is not visibly on fire."

"Pay-If-You-Can-Loans"

At least they have to pay the interest in cash and not aluminium.....;-) Even when this is in part an Kreml lead attempt to save the oligarchs but the"Pay-If-You-Can-Loans" are close to kick theToggle/PIK Bonds from the top spot of "innovations".... ;-) Michael Panzner with his comment "return of irrational exuberance in the credit markets" is spot on. ZH with this summary The High Yield Market Has Officially Topped, With Bondholders Eager To Cash Out Existing Equityholders In The Crappiest Of Names & Distressed debt on the wane in US markets confirms the view that memories are short............

Immerhin müssen wohl noch die Zinsen gezahlt werden......Selbst wenn ein Teil dieser Praxis dem Kreml indirekt dazu dient die Oligarchen zu retten schafft es die Art der Kreditvergabe bzw. Restrukturierungen doch fast inzwischen legendären Toggle/PIK Bonds vom Spitzenplatz der Innovationen zu vertreiben... ;-) Denke das Michael Panzner mit seiner Bemerkung"return of irrational exuberance in the credit markets" der Wirklichkeit ziemlich nahe kommt..... ZH mit einer Auflistung an "Absurditäten" aus dem Kreditbereich ( sieheThe High Yield Market Has Officially Topped, With Bondholders Eager To Cash Out Existing Equityholders In The Crappiest Of Names & Distressed debt on the wane in US markets) bestätigt die Ansicht das hier etwas erheblich aus dem Ruder gelaufen zu sein scheint.....


Bankers Say Deal Is Near to Restructure Rusal’s Debt NYT

Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, which is struggling under $17 billion in debt, is close to an agreement with about 70 banks to restructure its loans on terms considered favorable to the company and its billionaire owner, bankers said on Wednesday

The banks will allow Rusal to operate essentially under a pay-as-you-can agreement, though pegged to aluminum prices, according to terms made public this year. The company will be permitted to roll missed payments into the capital and begin repaying principal only when the global economy recovers, and with it prices for aluminum.

Rusal signs comprehensive debt restructuring deal MW

Russian aluminum giant Rusal said Thursday it has signed a deal on the comprehensive restructuring of its debt of $16.8 billion. The restructuring of $7.4 billion debt to international lenders will be split into two phases, the company said. During the initial four-year period, principal repayments will be made on a "pay-if-you-can" basis predicated on the performance of the business, while the second phase will involve the refinancing of the remaining debt by current lenders for an additional three years.

Rusal has also signed agreements on the restructuring of $2.1 billion of debt with its Russian lenders. It has also agreed with Onexim, a Russian investment fund, to restructure $2.7 billion in debt and to convert $1.82 billion of debt into a 6% shareholding in Rusal. The remaining $880 million of debt will be restructured on the same terms as applicable to the international lenders, with the accumulated interest thereon to be paid in cash.

Rusal's CEO Oleg Deripaska said Rusal "is ready to focus on implementing its new strategic objectives." There has been media speculation in recent weeks that Rusal is preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, though the company hasn't confirmed these reports ( Deripaska plays down Rusal delay > no quick "pump & dump"....)

Rusal Gains Approval for Hong Kong Listing WSJ

But the green light was given on the condition that it won't sell the deal to retail investors, in a bid to "protect" Hong Kong's retail investors from the complexities of the deal ( No "pump & dump" )

I urge everybody to read page 6 from the following High Hendry report about the outlook of the aluminium market ( after he met with management of Norsk Hydro ).....I´m pretty sure the banks have "calculated" this "rosy" outlook in their "pay-if-you-can" repayment shedule..... The clip Prime Minister Putin Bitch Slaps Oleg Deripaska also taken from the report is "hillarious"!

I empfehle allen die Seite 6 des folgenden Reports von Hugh Hendry zu lesen. Der hatte ein eingehendes Gespräch mit Norsk Hydrdo zum Zustand der Aluminiumindustrie......Bin mir sicher das die Banken diesen "überragenden" Ausblick gewohnt konservativ in Ihre "pay-If-You-Can" Kreditkalkulationen mit einberechnet haben.....Aus dem Report auch der Clip Prime Minister Putin Bitch Slaps Oleg Deripaska den man gesehen haben sollte..... ;-)

Hugh Hendry Eclectica Nov09

Reckless Myopia - Hussman

"Banana Republic", "Disaster", "Reckless", "Unconstitutional Breach" ...... Uh ? When Hussman ( one of the best mangers out there > Performance Hussman 2000-2009 ) is using this kind of words it clearly qualifies for a rant..... Needless to say that i think he is spot on...... Just a few reasons why i´m long term bullish on Gold ( short term it looks a little bit crowded )....Along with Rosenberg, Faber one of my long time favourites......

Wenn ein ansonsten sehr besonnener und überaus erfolgreicher ( siehe Performance Hussman 2000-2009 ) Zeitgenosse wie Hussman zu solch drastischen Worten wie "Bananenrepublik", "Desaster", Verfassungswidrig" usw. greift sollte man aufhorchen..... Und das sind nur einige der gewichtigen Gründe warum ich langfristig bullisch für Gold bin ( kurzfristig sieht es allerdings etwas überhitzt aus ).... Wer meinen Blog etwas länger verfolgt weiß, das ich zu 100% übereinstimme.....

Reckless Myopia

From a long-term perspective, my record is very comfortable. But clearly, I was wrong about the extent to which Wall Street would respond to the ebb-and-flow in the economic data – particularly the obvious and temporary lull in the mortgage reset schedule between March and November 2009 – and drive stocks to the point where they are not only overvalued again, but strikingly dependent on a sustained economic recovery and the achievement and maintenance of record profit margins in the years ahead.

I should have assumed that Wall Street's tendency toward reckless myopia – ingrained over the past decade – would return at the first sign of even temporary stability. The eagerness of investors to chase revailing trends, and their unwillingness to concern themselves with predictable longer-term risks, drove a successive series of speculative advances and crashes during the past decade – the dot-com bubble, the tech bubble, the mortgage bubble, the private-equity bubble, and the commodities bubble. And here we are again.

We face two possible states of the world. One is a world in which our economic problems are largely solved, profits are on the mend, and things will soon be back to normal, except for a lot of unemployed people whose fate is, let's face it, of no concern to Wall Street. The other is a world that has enjoyed a brief intermission prior to a terrific second act in which an even larger share of credit losses will be taken, and in which the range of policy choices will be more restricted because we've already issued more government liabilities than a banana republic, and will steeply debase our currency if we do it again. It is not at all clear that the recent data have removed any uncertainty as to which world we are in.

What I do think is that over the past decade, investors (including people who hold themselves out as investment professionals) have become far more susceptible to reckless myopia than I would have liked to believe. They have become speculators up to the point of disaster.

Frankly, I've come to believe that the markets are no longer reliable or sound discounting mechanisms.

The repeated cycle of bubbles and predictable crashes over the recent decade makes that clear. Rather, investors appear to respond to emerging risks no more than about three months ahead of time.

Worse, far too many analysts and strategists appear to discount the future only in the most pedestrian way, by taking year-ahead earnings estimates at face value, and mindlessly applying some arbitrary and historically inconsistent multiple to them.

Discounting the markets three month ahead of time..... ? This is probably only true when they are sniffing around for the next dose of QE or some kind of bailout, subsidy, stimulus etc ...But to do that you don´t need to be a rocket scientist... Washington & the Fed have a 100 percent track record in bailing out anything.....Unlike in Dubai ....;-) I think here is Hussman way too kind........

Vorwegnehmen ?. Denke das die Vergangenheit bewiesen hat das die Märkte und besonders Wall Street Finest hier keinesfall im Vorwege Probleme kommen sehen.... Die Fähigkeit etwas vorwegzunehmen trifft wohl am ehesten zu, wenn es darum geht den nächsten Bailout usw zu erahnen ( der kommt ja bekanntermaßen bestimmt ).... Hier kommt zwischenzeitlich mal wieder der "alte" höfliche Hussman durch.... ;-)

In part, the market's increasing propensity toward speculation reflects the increasing lack of fiscal and monetary discipline from our leaders. Policy makers who seek quick fixes and could care less about long-term consequences undoubtedly encourage investors to embrace the same value system.

Paul Volcker was the last Fed Chairman to have any sense that discipline and the acceptance of temporary discomfort was good for the nation.

In my estimation, there is still close to an 80% probability (Bayes' Rule) that a second market plunge and economic downturn will unfold during the coming year. This is not certainty, but the evidence that we've observed in the equity market, labor market, and credit markets to-date is simply much more consistent with the recent advance being a component of a more drawn-out and painful deleveraging cycle.

As Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg noted last week, “Even if the recession is over, the historical record shows that downturns induced by asset deflation and credit contraction are different than a garden-variety recession induced by Fed tightening and excessive manufacturing inventories since the former typically induce a secular shift in behavior and attitudes towards debt, asset allocation, avings, discretionary spending and homeownership. The latter fades more quickly.

Larger / Vergrößerte Version via VOX EU

> On this topic comes another excellent report ( see Charting The Great World Trade Collapse ) via VOX EU

> Empfehle in diesem Zusammenhang einen Blick auf Charting The Great World Trade Collapse ( ebenfalls von VOX EU ) zu werfen.....

“This is why people didn't figure out that it was the Great Depression until two years after the worst point in the crisis in the 1930s; and why it took decades, not months, quarters or even years, for the complete transition to the next sustainable economic expansion and bull market.

... It is truly mind-numbing that a moment after a temporary surge of trillions of dollars, borrowed and tossed out of a helicopter (though to specific corporations and private beneficiaries), analysts would hail a subsequent improvement in corporate results as evidence of “resilience.”

What matters is sustainability, and unfortunately, it is clear that credit continues to collapse.....

Emphatically, the trillions of dollars spent over the past year were not in the interest of protecting bank depositors or the general public. They went to protect bank bondholders.

Instead of taking appropriate losses on those bonds (which financed reckless mortgage lending), those bonds are happily priced near their face value, for the benefit of private individuals, thanks to an equivalent issuance of U.S. Treasury debt. But that's not enough. Outside of a very narrow set of institutions that are subject to compensation limits, just watch how much of the public's money – which benefitted several major investment banks following a very direct route – gets allocated to Wall Street bonuses in the next few weeks.

AMEN......

UPDATE:

Guest Post: Dividends Are Still Trending Worse Than The Great Depression ZH