Following a flood of warnings in the past week about both the precarious state of markets and the global economy, most recently from the otherwise stoic Howard Marks warning about bubble-like condition in the market (especially when it comes to passive investors), as well as Robert Shiller who explained what "keeps him up at night", we were due for some good news.
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
Bank of America says 9% of European firms have subpar interest coverage. Bloomberg covers the story in its report Zombie Companies Littering Europe May Tie the ECB’s Hands for Years.
Watch out for the zombies.
Just like any good (or mediocre) telenovela, the plot twists at the central banks all over the world aren’t only very predictable, it’s also laughable how the presidents and chairman of the respective banks try to ‘guide’ the market by using specific words.
Authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,
What’s the last big toy you buy when things have been good for a really long time and you already have all the other toys? An RV, of course. A dubious thing to own if you already have a house, but when the good times seem likely to roll on forever, why the hell not?
And what’s the first thing you sell when you lose your job and your stocks are tanking? That very same RV. Which makes new RV sales a useful indicator of our place in the business cycle.
In his latest weekly kickstart, Goldman's chief equity strategist David Kostin (who has maintained his year end S&P price target of 2,400 of -3% from current levels), says that the one topic most confusing (and important) to Goldman's clients in the past week, was what happens to inflation next: "the US inflation outlook and its equity investment implications were key topics of discussion during recent visits with clients in Boston, Chicago, and New York.