Bridgewater Associates is the world's largest macro hedge fund firm, meaning they have a good handle on the problems in Europe. Some excerpts from a Bloomberg article on the firm’s current outlook:
These days, the view from Bridgewater is dour. They divide the world into two groups: developed debtor nations that are deleveraging and emerging creditor countries that are leveraging up. After years of overspending financed by borrowing, the former are being forced to lower their debt relative to their income levels, constraining spending levels and employment gains.
Developed debtor countries, including Greece, Spain and Italy, that can't print money to make it easier to service their debts and to make up for slow credit growth will have decade-long depressions and debt defaults.
"We worry about Europe not being able to solve its problems," says Bridegewater’s founder Ray Dalio.
A recent Bloomberg article sheds some interesting light on the current bearish bets in the market. Here are the key points:
U.S. stocks are likely to extend declines because hedge funds have leeway to boost bets against the world's largest equity market, according to Bank of America Corp.'s Mary Ann Bartels.
The adjusted short interest ratio, a measure of potential buying pressure, is 1.5 for the Standard & Poor's 1500 Composite, down from 2.4 at the end of July and below its 10- year average of 2.4, Bartels wrote in a report dated Sept 5.
"Short interest represents a floor," said Bartels, who ranked third among analysts who study price charts in Institutional Investor's 2010 survey. "If you have a lot of shorts, you only fall so much, and we don't have that floor, we don't have a safety net on the market."
"What we're most concerned about is the banking system in Europe," Bartels said. "There is no reason to have a very long position with the positioning of the charts," she said. Still, "the level of shorts is nowhere near where we saw in 2008 and 2009" in terms of potential buying pressure.
The S&P 500 made a higher low in August relative to the summer 2010 lows (see green line in chart below). The indicators shown both made lower lows (red lines), which is bearish from a longer-term perspective. According to Dr. Alexander Elder, author of Trading For A Living:
MACD Histogram (blue bars below) works like headlights in a car - it gives traders a glimpse of the road ahead. If the indicator falls to a new low, it shows that the bears are strong and prices are likely to retest or exceed their latest low. Divergences between MACD-Historgram and price only occur a few times a year, but they are some of the most powerful messages in technical analysis.
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Copyright © 2010 Ciovacco Capital Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chris Ciovacco is the Chief Investment Officer for Ciovacco Capital Management, LLC (CCM). .Terms of Use. This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of CCM. The opinions are subject to change without notice. This article is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. The charts and comments are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Market sectors and related ETFs are selected based on his opinion as to their importance in providing the viewer a comprehensive summary of market conditions for the featured period. Chart annotations are not predictive of any future market action rather they only demonstrate the opinion of the author as to a range of possibilities going forward. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. The information contained herein (including historical prices or values) has been obtained from sources that Ciovacco Capital Management (CCM) considers to be reliable; however, CCM makes no representation as to, or accepts any responsibility or liability for, the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein or any decision made or action taken by you or any third party in reliance upon the data. Some results are derived using historical estimations from available data. Investment recommendations may change and readers are urged to check with tax and investment advisors before making any investment decisions. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. This memorandum is based on information available to the public. No representation is made that it is accurate or complete. This memorandum is not an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned. The investments discussed in this report may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial position. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The price or value of the investments to which this report relates, either directly or indirectly, may fall or rise against the interest of investors. All prices and yields contained in this report are subject to change without notice. This information is based on hypothetical assumptions and is intended for illustrative purposes only. PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. CCM would like to thank StockCharts.com for helping Short Takes create great looking charts Short Takes is proudly powered by WordPress . Entries (RSS)
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Copyright © 2010 Ciovacco Capital Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chris Ciovacco is the Chief Investment Officer for Ciovacco Capital Management, LLC (CCM). .Terms of Use. This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of CCM. The opinions are subject to change without notice. This article is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. The charts and comments are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Market sectors and related ETFs are selected based on his opinion as to their importance in providing the viewer a comprehensive summary of market conditions for the featured period. Chart annotations are not predictive of any future market action rather they only demonstrate the opinion of the author as to a range of possibilities going forward. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. The information contained herein (including historical prices or values) has been obtained from sources that Ciovacco Capital Management (CCM) considers to be reliable; however, CCM makes no representation as to, or accepts any responsibility or liability for, the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein or any decision made or action taken by you or any third party in reliance upon the data. Some results are derived using historical estimations from available data. Investment recommendations may change and readers are urged to check with tax and investment advisors before making any investment decisions. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. This memorandum is based on information available to the public. No representation is made that it is accurate or complete. This memorandum is not an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned. The investments discussed in this report may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial position. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The price or value of the investments to which this report relates, either directly or indirectly, may fall or rise against the interest of investors. All prices and yields contained in this report are subject to change without notice. This information is based on hypothetical assumptions and is intended for illustrative purposes only. PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. CCM would like to thank StockCharts.com for helping Short Takes create great looking charts Short Takes is proudly powered by WordPress . Entries (RSS)
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