Housing: have we reached the "point of maximum pessimism"?

Blanche Evans of Realty Times thinks the most of the bad news in housing has already been built into the market; she was interviewed on iTulip a couple of years ago, predicting a downturn but also saying that housing would be supported by the government, to some extent.

Benjamin Graham said we should “buy from pessimists and sell to optimists”. The smart money has done the second part, maybe it should look out for the first soon.

Peter Schiff using the word "collapse"

Some hot collars in this discussion. But a question does arise for me, which is this: if the US economy has to be rebased on savings and investments, but the sinking dollar raises prices of food, fuel etc, it's going to be very hard to find the money to improve the savings rate. Especially if those who have serious money are doing what Schiff and others would recommend as their financial advisers, i.e. buying foreign stocks and holding foreign currency.

And the same goes for us in the UK, I would think.

Could deflation reduce the price of gold?

Last year, Robert McHugh predicted that the Dow would drop to 9,000, at least in terms of the price of gold. By January 22 this year, that had happened.

But people like Karl Denninger have been saying for a long time that the outcome of the credit crunch will be deflationary, and Mr Denninger is more emphatic than ever about that now. And that's not just the view of a private investor who backs his judgment with his own hard-earned money: the Bank for International Settlements (htp: Michael Panzner) also thinks deflation a serious possibility.

I recently did a little primitive chartism and thought it possible that the Dow might revert to what looks like a longer-term trend line that includes the 9,000 mark.

Turning to the price of gold, it has certainly soared over the past few years, but there's been debate about manipulation. Frank Veneroso thinks central banks have been releasing stocks of gold to keep the price down, yet at the same time it is suspected that speculators have been boosting the price, possibly using leveraging (borrowing extra cash to increase the returns).

So another way for McHugh's prediction to come true (again), would be for both the Dow and the gold price to come down together. The ratio implicit in his prediction (13.51) could imply that the Dow hits 9,000 and gold drops to about $666 per ounce, or about 30% off where it is now.

Not impossible, if leveraged speculators have to disinvest to repay their borrowings in a hurry; and it would still only be a reversion to where gold was two years ago (and even then, nearly double what it had been three years before that).

Investment challenges in a bear market

If you don't believe me, believe a sophisticated investor like Karl Denninger:

One thing to remember folks - the test of your prowess as an investor does not come in a bull market. It's easy to make money in a bull market - you just buy the index.

No, the test is whether you keep your money in a Bear market. Note that I didn't say "make money". I said keep your money.

If you have the same amount of money now in your investment accounts as you did at SPX 1576 in October, you are doing better than 90% of all institutional money managers and 95% of all individual investors. This puts you in the top 5% - and that's just by going to cash in October and sitting on your hands.

If you've actually made money since then, you're in the top 1%.

The potential for Near Eastern industrialisation

Why shouldn't the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean bcome a manufacturing centre to rival any in the world?

• There is still a vast amount of oil in Arabia, but water, too - e.g. under the Judean desert, plus three aquifers under the Sahara.
  
• The dry atmospheric conditions are conducive to the long-term storage of stocks of new cars, planes etc.
• The sunny region would be very suitable for "green" energy systems, too, such as solar updraft towers.
• The Arab leaders have enormous reserves of capital.
• There are many people in those countries who would benefit enormously from the work and wealth if their countries industrialised.
• There is land a-plenty for development.
• The eastern Med is beautifully located for producers to get their goods by sea to Western European and North African markets, and the Red Sea for the Middle and Far East.

I don't see why it couldn't happen, once political peace and good governance are established - and what incentives to do so!

Marc Faber update: take refuge in gold

Dr Faber has become a gold bug again, but is expecting a correction in other commodities. In a climate of low interest rates and high inflation, Adrian Ash seconds the call for gold.

And here's an extract from Faber's monthly "Market Comment" three years ago (July 5, 2005):

... Lastly, think about the following situation. The US manufacturing sector becomes very weak. The housing market falls and consumption declines. But oil goes through the roof because the empire of eternally rising home prices has just bombed Iran (very likely, in my opinion). Now the Fed cuts interest rates and eases massively. Just think what the stock, bond, foreign exchange, and gold market will do? The initial reaction might be a flight to safety – into government bonds and gold, and out of stocks. But, thereafter, a massive sell-off in bonds could occur as inflationary pressures build from sky high energy prices and massive money printing.

I have to confess, that I am not so sure exactly how this situation would play itself out, but it is worth thinking about it.

Worth the US$ 200 annual subscription, you may think. Especially since some of it goes towards the education of poor children in northern Thailand.

Janszen says next bubble will be in energy

A "bubble cycle" instead of a business cycle... house prices to revert to trend and fall 38% from peak... a $12 trillion gap to plug with fresh securities in a different sector as the current bubble collapses... government legislation to clear the way for the speculative rush... $12 tn + an extra $8 tn = $20 tn... it's going to be... ALTERNATIVE ENERGY.

Read iTulip founder Eric Janszen's Harpers article.

"Caloriefornia or bust!" Any views from energy investment specialists (e.g. Nick Drew)?