Investing

We have experienced a huge bull market this year but any pundits are calling for the bullish move to end in a sharp downward correction...The bears have a case, historically and cyclically, but I am going to go out on a limb and say things are really different this time. Here are 5 reasons why.

I call on the financial community to take a critical look at the Dow Divisor. If it is retained investors will continue to be deceived with every new transition from one phase to another and the greatest of all Ponzi schemes will have major financial consequences for every investor.

Divergences between fundamentals, confidence and the valuation of markets are large and, as such, cannot last for long. The only question is how - and how quickly - this correction occurs.

The belief is that rising interest rates (as is currently occurring) are a sign that the economy is improving as activity is pushing borrowing rates higher. In turn, as investors, this bodes well for corporate profitability which supports the current valuations of stocks in the market. While this seems completely logical the question is whether, or not, this is really the case?

I don't want to kill the dream of U.S. energy independence but the fact is it won't become a reality overnight. It's entirely possible, however, that the North American continent [Canada, the U.S. and Mexico] can achieve energy independence within the next decade. [Let me explain.]

The collapse in the STA Risk Ratio, which tracks the most common measures of market sentiment, is a clear signal that something has changed in the market and that risk of a broader correction has risen sharply. While this is only one measure of "risk" it does suggest that investors should pay closer attention to their portfolios than normal and implement some risk management practices.

Too often investors focus on the negative, lose confidence in stocks and, as a result, they can miss great bull markets. I believe when it comes to finding investment opportunities it’s all about both monetary and fiscal policy. As such, I encouraged investors to follow the money. With that in mind, here are two of my favorite charts that I believe demonstrate how investors can do exactly that.

I generally shy away from making time-specific economic and stock marketstockcrashimages-1 predictions simply because odds are very low you’ll be correct on both the prediction and the timing. However, there are certain times when the environment is conducive for a prediction that comes along with an expiration date. Today is one of those times.

With the stock market up over 20% since we forecast in July, 2012 that we would see the Dow at 20,000...[by the end of the] decade, our forecast seems less ambitious than back then. US stocks are not overpriced or overleveraged, and remain more attractive than at prior peaks. As such, based on current conditions, we now project that...the Dow will reach 20,000 by late 2018.

According to some pundits, the market is dangerously close to a repeat performance of 1987. Today, I'm going to show you why they're wrong.