Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wall Street and Fed Overestimate The Recovery

At least money managers are starting to mention that a wall of worry just might exist:

“There’s a little bit of a wall of worry right now, but the market just feels like it wants to go up,” said Michael Mullaney, a Boston-based fund manager at Fiduciary Trust Co., which oversees $9 billion. “There’s going to be a very strong near-term economic rebound greater than expectations. I think we’ll end the year higher.”


The first part of that quote is an understatement. Just a little wall, you think? The second part of the quote makes me sad. Wall Streeters are going to stake a whole bunch of other people's money on the hope for a continued rebound through the Christmas shopping season. They're not alone in their misplaced optimism for a fast recovery; the Fed is planting the same meme in the media:

Federal Reserve officials may signal that the U.S. economy has started to recover while maintaining their pledge to keep the benchmark interest rate near a record low for an “extended period.”


Actions always speak louder than words. The Fed is keeping interest rates low because the economy is not at all out of danger. I'm not shorting anymore because all this stimulus action is pushing stocks into blowoff top territory. I may have been a few weeks premature by calling a market top recently but I'm convinced I'll be vindicated soon enough.