Monday, August 26, 2013

Hussman Weekly Market Comment: The Outlook Will Shift as Conditions Shift


Market conditions will change, not least because the belief in some “monetary put option” itself is superstition (see Following the Fed to 50% Flops), and not least because the Fed has announced – in what should be no uncertain terms – that it intends to taper this policy going forward. Moreover, despite the view that economic factors are the Fed's sole consideration and that small disappointments will cause the Fed to “flinch,” the members of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee have become increasingly aware of the diminishing effectiveness and growing distortions resulting from QE. This is evident in recent speeches even by “dovish” members. The FOMC has also noted that “an ongoing evaluation of the efficacy, costs, and risks of asset purchases might well lead the Committee to taper or end its purchases before it judged that a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market had occurred.”