1) We don’t like the smell of fish. This rally began with a ‘leaked’ memo from Citigroup announcing a return to profitability and was given legs by banks’ bogus quarterly earnings. Washington has added to the stench with its fudge tests for banks, its PPIP proposal and its active campaigning to relax mark-to-market accounting rules.

2) Much of the buying was caused by short sellers covering their positions (a massive “short squeeze”).

3) “Junk” stocks have been leading the rally. The real winners have been beaten-down stocks with the riskiest outlooks. They generally have had the highest level of debt and the lowest return on equity.

4) Historically, sucker’s rallies are the norm, not the exception. Sharp crashes are often followed by sharp, but short lived, bear market rallies. The 2000–2002 bear market had three, with the Dow gaining an average of 21%. The 1929 to 1932 bear had six, with an average gain of 47 per cent. Even the poor Japanese have suffered their head fakes. The Nikkei has seen about 14 false downs since it crashed in 1991.

5) Generally, bottoms don’t feel like this. Bear markets typically end with a whimper rather than a bang. A recent study by Hussman Econometrics analysed numerous US market bottoms and bear market rallies. It revealed that, with the exception of the 1987 crash, the month before the lowest point of a downturn saw a gradual descent.

6) Stocks are still too expensive. As Yale University professor Robert Shiller says, all four big bubbles of the 20th century troughed at between 5 and 8 times earnings. Stocks did not even fall below 11 times earnings in the recent low.

7) Insiders have been selling the rally. According to TrimTabs, April saw the lowest level of insider buying ever recorded, with insider selling 14 times as high. And companies sold 64% more shares than they bought.

Sentiment isn’t low enough yet for our taste. As Russell Napier says in Anatomy of a Bear , “For the great bear market bottoms, you need a society-wide revulsion with equities. It just doesn’t smell like the big one yet.”

9) The risk of corporate bond defaults is at highs unseen since the Great Depression. Moody’s expects the corporate default rate in the US to reach 14.6% by year end – a near doubling from the first quarter’s default rate of 7.4%.

10) Corporate earnings continue to suffer. Earnings weren’t as bad as expected last quarter. But they are expected to continue to decline until sometime next year.

11) The S&P 500 remains under its 20-month moving average. Every sustainable bull market has been marked by the S&P rising above its 20 month average.

Suffice it to say, we’re sticking to our guns. As Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg recently counseled, “For those that missed the big nine-week move, don’t worry. Be patient. The story was right – the tortoise always wins the race.”

This from Fleet Street Daily:

I attended a most interesting lecture last night at the London School of Economics. It left me feeling that anyone who rushes back into the stock market now must be barking mad (you’ll see why in a moment).

Entitled ‘The Subprime Crisis’, it was given by Professor Robert Shiller of Yale. Shiller’s well worth hearing on this stuff. A former advisor to new US Treasury boss Tim Geithner (“He had no idea this was coming”), Shiller forewarned of both the dotcom bubble and the more recent one in housing.

The lecture kicked off with a quick recap of how we got to where we are. These were the highlights:

• Psychological factors played a huge role. Irrational exuberance (a term coined by Alan Greenspan and borrowed by Shiller for the title of his 2000 book) caused bubbles to appear all across the world . Word spread that by simply buying stocks, or a house, you can become effortlessly wealthy. You can’t.
• Genuine financial advice was only available to the wealthy. Anyone who gives you free or “affordable” advice isn’t really advising you at all. They’re trying to sell to you. Hence many subprime borrowers got in over their heads – basic questions like “Can you afford this?” “What if interest rates rise, or you lose your job?” were left unasked.
• Individuals fell victim to Groupthink. Groupthink is where it’s in the interests of individuals to subordinate what they really think to what is acceptable to the consensus. Imagine a rating agency employee in 2006 saying to his boss: “I want to downgrade this debt. I think we’re going to have another Great Depression…” Not exactly a smart career move!

We were then shown charts of stock indices, p/e ratios and volatility going all the way back to 1870. Let’s start with the volatility.

There are only three points in history where we observe extreme volatility. One is right now. The others are 1987 and 1929.

The real terms p/e ratios chart was even scarier. The big bubble run up from 1982 to 2000 appears like the Matterhorn rising out of some hillocks. This, of course, is the bubble that’s now being corrected.

In percentage terms, we’ve only ever seen such a bubble once before since 1870. Yep, you guessed it…before 1929!

Why you should remain wary of equities

Shiller told us that, in real terms, the S&P fell 80% in the 1930s. So far it is only down 54%.

This means you still have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lose a lot of money very quickly. Will you take it? I for one hope you don’t…

Most of us have never been in this position at any time before throughout our lifetimes. Who alive today has first-hand experience of investing during a prolonged, worldwide, stock market and real economy Depression?

All we have to go on is the lesson from history. And that lesson says…stay out! Keep your cash as cash.

Why some will try to lure you back in…and why they might succeed

I believe we’re seeing a lot of Groupthink in the financial sector right now. Finance types make their living from stocks markets. So it’s in their interests to talk the best stock market game they feel they can get away with.

They did it during the bubble, happily perpetuating the notion that stocks generally go up so go ahead and fill your boots.

That nonsense won’t fly now. But there’s another nonsense that will – the idea that the correction thus far has left an unprecedented number of “screaming bargains” for you to put your money into. Thanks to Groupthink, many commentators are now crowding round this dangerous consensus.

Right now is not a time to speculate. It’s a time to protect your money. The best way to do that is to hang onto it.

It’s tempting to feel ‘contrarian’…to think that you could be among the financially savvy if only you’re brave enough. That’s why this consensus will enjoy some success… for a bit.

But it’s a thin line between bravery and foolhardiness. Do you wish to gamble that you’ll fall on the right side?

Another reason investors might be suckered back in early is that they worry about missing the boat. But I’m going to paraphrase a much smarter bear than my average self – Albert Edwards of SocGen. Investors needn’t worry about missing the party this time.

You can afford to be late.

Source: This Man’s Message Could Save You From Financial Ruin