Monday, May 16, 2022

"Stock Market Meltdown: We Are In The Middle Of The Second Dot-Com Bubble"

Full screen recommended.
"Stock Market Meltdown: We Are In The 
Middle Of The Second Dot-Com Bubble"
by Epic Economist

"The stock market crash has only just begun, and several indicators are signaling that the downfall is about to get a whole lot worse. After years of inflating, it’s getting clear now that the “everything bubble” has finally burst. Over the past few weeks, the stock market went from free and easy to a chaotic mess. Bubbly stocks haven’t experienced such acute levels of destruction since the turn of the century, but the truth is that this stunning meltdown shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone. Wall Street always knew the day of reckoning would come. Market veterans, financial experts, and economists have warned about it incessantly for years. And even though no one could tell for sure when the crash would arrive, everybody could feel that the correction would be brutal. What we’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. A massive sell-off is underway, and in today’s video, we’re going to break down the factors that have been adding to investors’ panic, resulting in breathtaking losses, and marking the end of a historic bullish run.

Over the last few weeks, following the financial markets has felt like watching a horror movie. Fear is the predominant feeling, blood is everywhere, flames are eating up everything on their way, and crowds are running and screaming for the exits. The bull run of the past two years has given us quite non-sensical bubbly assets, such as meme stocks, celebrity cryptos, $2 million monkey pictures, some out-of-reality tech valuations, and a lot more as retail investing became mainstream. Despite the Friday flash rally, everybody’s portfolio is getting massacred. Now, the broader stock market bubble has popped while Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are facing a devastating free-fall. As the era of meme stocks ends, the era of crash memes begins.

Last week, the S&P 500 went down 18% from its January 3 peak, while the Nasdaq tech index has dropped by almost 30% for the year, and the Dow Jones has recorded consecutive losses for seven weeks, the longest losing streak since 1980, according to Reuters data. Many individual stocks have cratered too, with Netflix and Peloton both down about 70%.

Then, there’s the crypto market. Since last fall, Bitcoin’s price has dropped by more than 50%. Last week’s losses have continued to feed a remarkable sell-off cycle that has already wiped out billions in market value. After almost a year of threatening to raise interest rates, the central bank finally did it. Top market veterans are now warning that Wall Street is heading into a summer from hell, and this period of extreme volatility and uncertainty will bring a near-biblical reckoning to the market.

"I think the bear market is just beginning, and I think it gets much worse through the second and third quarters of this year," Michael Pento said. According to his estimates, indexes could drop an additional 30 to 50% by the end of the year. Pento's views illustrate the growing bearish sentiment on Wall Street, and some strategists at major banks are also sounding the alarm about stocks.

Bank of America analysts led by Michael Hartnett said in a note to investors obtained by Bloomberg on Friday that the worst may still be yet to come for stocks. Those dire figures have led Morgan Stanley's Chief US Equity Strategist Mike Wilson to release a note last Monday warning that the bear market in stocks is "far from completed," citing the impact of inflation on corporate earnings and slowing growth ahead. At the beginning of the month, Deutsche Bank economists made a similar call. A punishing combination of still hot inflation, hiked interest rates, a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, lockdowns in China, unprofitable companies facing reality, and recession fears are making it more than clear that this isn't just a short-term correction - it's a pivotal shift for markets. Billions of dollars have just evaporated, and billions more are probably about to disappear as the chaos intensifies."

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