Jeffrey Saut at Raymond James isn’t happy about the weird weather we’ve been having.
In his latest alert, he comments on the volcanic ash in the atmosphere fostering droughts in Russia and the Amazon, the floods in Australia, and the prospect of an especially cold wet winter in the United States.
The “economic weather” strikes him as odd too, as he lists the following headlines:
1) Swiss central bank refuses Irish debt as collateral
2) FAO’s World Food Price Index hits record highs
3) China’s Yuan may rise 10% in 2011 to fight inflation
4) Emerging markets continue to power world growth
5) Chile’s currency fell 4.5% against the U.S. dollar, its biggest one-day drop in 25 years
6) Forty-two states reported gains in tax collections in 3Q10
7) Some big U.S. banks are starting to boost lending to businesses
8) Bank lending has risen by $16.6 billion over the past three weeks – the biggest three-week gain since Lehman
9) Intuit data for small business shows hiring has increased by 1 million jobs from the 2009 low
10) Toyota’s CEO said the Yen needs to trade at 90 to keep Japan competitive
11) Australia’s record floods are causing catastrophic damage to its infrastructure
All of which leads him to say, “the current ‘buying stampede’ is now 90 sessions long, making it the longest one ever recorded in my notes of more than 40 years. Combine that with many other ‘finger to wallet’ indicators suggesting caution and I am currently just sitting.”
