The S&P 500 and the Nifty were up last week. Indicators are bullish for the week. Deflation is in the air despite the recent inflationary spike. Feels like a 2000 style recession trade has begun. The recent rebound will likely run into resistance. (My views don’t matter, kindly pay attention to the levels). The S&P 500 closed below the 200 DMA recently, after spending a very long time above it. Monthly MACD’s on most global markets have gone negative after a long time. This spells trouble ahead and opens up a significant downside ahead.

We got a bounce that reached the 200 DMA without capitulation. This suggests the lows may not be in. Markets have been making new highs amid loads of divergences and risky assets are breaking to the downside. Earnings revisions have been average, but any significant upward revisions appear unlikely. Typical late-cycle Fed put stuff has led to a taper tantrum following the recent taper announcement from the Fed and a likely top. Tail risk has skyrocketed recently. The market is about to begin an epic correction. Deflationary busts often begin after inflationary scares (the market is calling the Fed’s bluff) and long bonds are telegraphing just that. 

While tail risk has abated a bit and the transports are leading, The Dollar, market breadth, corporate bonds, and high yield bonds, are still flashing major warning signs. The epic correction signal is alive and well with retail, hedge funds, and speculators all in, despite the recent melt-up, suggesting a major top may be in. The moment of reckoning is very near.  Technicals are tracking fundamentals and have turned bearish. The market is yet to price in one of the worst earnings decline periods in stock market history. With extremely high valuations, a crash is on the menu. Extremely low volatility suggests complacency and downside ahead.

We rallied 46% right after the great depressions (1930s) first collapse and we have rallied over 120% in our most recent rally of the lows in the last 2-year period. After extreme euphoria for the indices, a highly probable selloff to the 4000 area is emerging on the S&P 500, and 15000 should arrive on the Nifty in the next few months. The Fed is repeating the Japan experiment and the 3 lost decades in Japan (1989-2019) are set to repeat across the globe.

The recent global virus epidemic (black swan) has dented global GDP significantly and will usher in depression much faster than most think. The trend is changing from bullish to bearish and the markets are about to get smashed by a strong dollar. Looking for significant underperformance in the Nifty going forward on rapidly deteriorating macros.

Tail risk has been very high of late, as yield curves are about to invert yet again reflecting a major recession. The critical levels to watch for the week are 4475 (up) and 4450 (down) on the S&P 500 and 17350 (up) and 17200 (down) on the Nifty. A significant breach of the above levels could trigger the next big move in the above markets.  High beta / P/E is getting torched as expected. Gold is increasingly looking like the asset class to own in the upcoming decade. You can check out last week’s report for a comparison. Love your thoughts and feedback.