There have been some media rumblings - trial balloons, if you will - sent up, all hinting that the U.S. Federal Reserve might stop or slow the pace of the "normalization" that's going to see $50 billion a month come out of the system before it's done.
That's going to lead to a market cataclysm - sooner, not later - because there simply won't be enough precious liquidity in the markets to sustain the kinds of stock prices we've seen in the era of quantitative easing.
Even if the Fed did slow or even halt the pace of systemic withdrawals of cash from the markets, it's just too late.
We've talked about this snowballing disaster of a monetary policy many times before; I've been screaming from the mountaintops, showing you recommendations for getting into a protective, cash-heavy stance. The rally of the last few days has only made the situation worse, increasing the risk for every point the market rises.
And now, it seems, a certain crowd of big market players is getting wise. They've just capped a very busy quarter - a record quarter, in fact - of stock buybacks.
It might not seem like it a first glance, but these buybacks and the sentiment driving them are not only cynical, but also incredibly bearish indicators of things to come...
About the Author
Financial Analyst, 50-year charting expert, finance + real estate pro, and market analyst; published and edited the Wall Street Examiner since 2000.
What the market giveth…the market taketh away…