The VIX has recently flirted with its all-time closing low, analysts worry that volatility has been so low for so long that analysts are worried that the next sizable negative shock will cause investors to panic and dump their holdings.
With elites increasingly sounding the alarm about the state of the stock market, and various market participants fearing the complacency is masking the fragility of the market's true character; it is no surprise that Baupost's recently named President and Head of Public Investments, Jim Mooney, has joined the chorus.
While Mooney (and Klarman's) warning regarding market volatility is not new, perhaps the most interesting nuance is the 'difference this time'.
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.
Via The Ron Paul Liberty Report,
Let's start at the beginning. Bubbles and Busts are both created by The Federal Reserve.
Presidents are merely along for the ride. They like to credit themselves for the bubbles, and then look for scapegoats, usually the (non-existent) free market during the busts.
But it is The Fed that creates them both.
By Dana Lyons of J. Lyons Fund Management
Stocks have recently witnessed an unprecedented cluster of new highs occurring on negative volume.