Significant monetary stimulus, the end of fiscal austerity, a booming housing market, a cheap dollar, record corporate cash balances... BofAML warns - if the US economy does not significantly accelerate in coming quarters, it never will.
Crucially, they note, asset prices will not do as well in the next 5 years, no matter what the “nouveau bulls” say. Central banks will be less generous, corporations less selfish. And when excess liquidity is removed it will get "CRASHy" as we discussed previously [11]. In the meantime, five years after Lehman, Wall Street has soared, but Main Street has soured.
After Lehman...
An unprecedented financial and economic crisis, crystallized by the September 15th 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, was followed by an unprecedented monetary policy response, which in turn has been followed by unprecedented bull markets in bonds, stocks and now real estate. Wall Street has soared, but Main Street has soured. The exceptional “sweet spot” engendered by generous central banks and selfish corporations has been great for owners of capital, but bad for labor.
Wall Street vs Main Street
[12]
The "race to reflate" in the developed world and faltering Chinese macro leadership dictated the winners & losers of the past 5 years: Gold, High Yield, EM debt & Asian equities have been big winners; Commodities, Government Bonds & Japanese equities have been the big losers.
[13]
QE was the prime driver of the ‘09 trough in stocks & the ‘11 trough in real estate, and liquidity withdrawal has driven the jump in global interest rates in 2013. A further rapid, jump in rates would destabilize asset markets, but this threat remains low in coming quarters. The 100 basis point summer surge in the 30-year Treasury yield has tethered the S&P500 index to a tight 1600-1700 range and traumatized many fixed income & emerging markets.
We previously discussed BofAML's CRASH meme here [11] - Conflict (policy, military), Rates (liquidity), Asia, Speculation (forced selling) and Housing are all potential catalysts for a much more contagious autumn market event - it is well worth a reminder.
Source: BofAML