We’re really off to the races now. There is absolutely nothing that will bring down this market.
You have to understand the driving power behind this rally. It isn’t hope or nonsense, or in some way, even free money (although the Fed’s $80 billion a month sure doesn’t hurt).
No this rally is actually also being data driven.
It only takes about 4 seconds reading the talking heads on blogs and Twitter to realize that these numbskulls actually think the pickup in activity this Christmas is “gaining steam”. How this is possible is very difficult to fathom, but I think it can be well surmised by saying that these guys just aren’t playing with as much RAM as the rest of us.
Having trouble accessing those memories all the way from last year, guys?
The uptick in data is spurred primarily by the holidays, and is standard noise/seasonal fluctuation. Throw in some promising pricing in housing and a nice recovery in the US auto market in the Midwest, and these guys are now betting big that this upswing will be “the big one.”
It’s unlikely. While there are some pretty decent improvements materializing, the main weight around the global economy’s neck has not been removed – or even addressed, for that matter. We seem to be ignoring the debt and the looming, crushing money flows under the current rules and contracts, which are still very much the largest threat.
Europe is still an enormous problem. Asia is still and enormous problem. Emerging markets are still an enormous problem. And America is about to be an enormous problem.
These aren’t just going to go away. They need to be fixed. The Central Banks seems to be the only ones trying to address them; although their prescription is as much of an ailment…
By Spring, the current rounds of hope making the airwaves will go the way of Green Shoots, Decoupling, Housing Recoveries 1 & 2, and EFSF/ESM Europe Is Fixed.