Monday, August 31, 2009

U.S. Markets flashing strong warning signals

Jeff Nielson

I have always been a fundamentals-oriented investor. My reluctance to embrace “technical analysis” is based upon my extensive background in mathematics and statistics – and an awareness of all the unstated assumptions upon which almost all technical analysis is based.

Two of those (many) assumptions are “perfect information” and “free and open markets”. Even a brief look at these premises reveals they are utterly inapplicable to U.S. markets. Not only do U.S. markets lack “perfect information” (something which isn't truly present in any market), but in many cases investors are denied even “imperfect information”.

It is certainly no secret that U.S. markets are dominated by financial-sector companies (in more ways than one). To begin with, the balance sheets of these companies are saturated with the leveraged bets which these companies have placed in their own, private casino: the derivatives market.

U.S. Markets flashing strong warning signals - Jeff Nielson -- Seeking Alpha

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