HS Dent - Dec 3, 2010 - In brief: What a difference a month makes! The tone of the markets and the economy shifted substantially in October. Third-quarter GDP came in at 2.0%, slightly higher for the first time since late 2009. August and September retail sales came in stronger than expected, as did the October employment report. Most importantly, the Fed announced an aggressive quantitative easing (QE) policy for injecting $600 billion plus reinvesting maturing bond holdings, resulting in as much as $900 billion purchases of Treasury bonds into mid-2011. The markets clearly shifted from what looked like a strong corrective bounce to a more bullish rally that has already reached highs in excess of the April highs in all of the major markets. Now the pattern is much more likely to be a five-wave c-wave that would include a fourth wave downward just ahead. This wave is likely to be followed by a final fifth wave that could peak as early as late December, but is more likely to peak later—as late as between March and August 2011, at 1,280 to as high as 1,440 on the S&P 500 and 12,000 to 13,200 on the Dow. Such a pattern would complete a B-wave or bear market rally top that began in early March 2009.

Harry S. Dent - Posted: 22 Nov 2010 11:01 AM PST - Ben Bernanke must be feeling a lot like Peter Pan.  Apparently, his efforts to restart our moribund economy are being hampered by the investing public’s lack of faith in his ability to steer the markets.  Specifically, Bernanke and company put billions of newly created dollars to work last week and we simply didn’t care enough to buy treasuries along side the Fed; instead, we sold them, pushing yields higher and valuations lower.  This shows the irrationality of investors, at least it does in the eyes of those critiquing such things.  The WSJ ran an article today entitled “Criticism Hinders Fed’s Plan,” which attempts to lay the blame for the Fed’s ineffectiveness at the feet of anybody else.

Howard Voyles - HousingMatrix - 26 Nov 2010 - Here are a few takes on the economy in a recent article titled US Macro Outlook Risks Cloud Better Fundamentals by Mark Zandi of Economy.com

POSITIVE SIGNS:

“It’s not that the economy’s growth is significantly accelerating, but rather that it’s no longer decelerating.”

“Hiring, consumer spending, the housing market, and financial conditions are looking a bit better.”