Quote from Jahajee:
Well, nothing much to prevent a rally except --- tax loss selling, hedge fund redemptions, recession has just begun, big 3 autos may be wiped out, Q4 earnings warnings, unemployment rising, more and more bad news from Main Street... leadership vacuum in Washington...
I think most of the redemptions are done. If anything, redemption money now has to be put to work since it is sitting on the sidelines. Institutions are not going to leave the cash in Treasures earning 0% for long. Hedge funds and mutuals are also sitting on lots of cash, in anticipation of some further redemptions, which will probably not happen if the market bottoms out here.
The auto industry will be bailed out, if there is some sort of plan. It is against our national interest to have all autos (and auto profits) flow to Asian and European countries. The recession has been going on since Jan. of this year - though the government was doing everything it could to cover it up (for election purposes). They failed miserably.
Unemployment will go up much more, but it always does at the bottom of the recession. It is not clear, what will happen 6 months from now, but if the government kick starts the economy with huge capital spending, it would forestall the unemployment issue.
Earning predictions are already abysmal, but of course can get much worse. However, I think certain industries (non-consumer) will benefit greatly from government capital spending, so in certain sectors, earnings my be surprisingly good during the second half of next year, raising yearly earnings so that they look quite good compared to today's projections.
Obama's administration will be very competent compared to the idiots who are running our government now, and we should see lots more confidence. The key is forestalling foreclosures. FDIC Bair is confident her plan can help tremendously. Time will tell, since Obama is certainly going to give her the assistance she needs. Something that the Bush administration refuses to do. Paulsen prefers bailing out his friends.