Is the Bear market Over?

Is the Bear Market over?

That is the key question these days. I feel it is not so. Some of my reasoning for why it is not so.
I have been talking of a W-shaped recovery since April now. Well, here are some more people talking about the same. Pual Krugman is a Nobel Laureate in Economics. Here is what he has to say.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4879356.cms
He is talking about a W-shaped recovery for the US. We are 1 half through. We are just at the point of the 2nd leg up, from where if the recovery continues it will be a V-shaped recovery or 3rd leg down before the final recovery. The 2nd leg down may not be very bad in terms of economic impact, but the markets have risen up on the assumption that the recession is over. If it’s a W-shape, I expect the Dow to touch 4500-6000 levels by end of the year.

Second point I am making, is of the effect of the drought. The government has said the economy will grow at 5.8-6 pc this year. The government forecast is always beaten on the lower side never on the upper side (Government being the most optimistic entity around). Now, if the impact of drought hits the economy GDP can be shaved of 1-2 pc. Again I am quoting CMIE
http://www.equitymaster.com/5MinWrapup/detail.asp?date=8/14/2009&story=5

This is without factoring any global weakness. If we grow at 3-4 pc (back to the Hindu rate of growth), do we justify P/E multiples of 20+. We are at P/E of 20.72.

Third point I would like to make is of Bear Market Rallies. The current rally bears an uncanny resemblance to the Bear market rally of the Great Depression 1928-1932.
Look at the chart below:
http://images.creditwritedowns.com/2008/06/dow-1928-1932.png
There was a similar rally like these times, with similar time frame.
The 1929-1930 equity ‘rally’ lasted 147 days and shares gained 46%. The rally off the March 6th low this year has been 145 days and gains of 46% have been made.
There have been 23 occasions going back to 1950 when the UK market rose at least 10 days in a row and every time it has been said it was a confirmed bull market.

This reminds me of my favourite quote:”Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.”
The folks who come on CNBC and other channels have a vested interest. They have to sell stocks to people. So they talk about Green shoots and stuff. Naina Lal Kidwai of HSBC in a moment of great honesty said the other day. “ I believe the recovery would be skittish. Government and other private companies should be greedy. They should raise funds while the going is good.”

That is why you will see such mega IPOs. The markets may not crash overnight. There is large scale distribution going on ever since we hit 4693. We are rising on lower volumes and falling on larger volumes.Classical case of strong hands distributing stuff to retail.

To sum up , China wall is alredy cracking. Here is what my favourite writer Yelnick has to say, http://yelnick.typepad.com/
We may well hit 16500 on the sensex before beginning the leg down.Remember the markets can retrace a fall by 61.8%.
All in all, definitely no new buying, and look to book profits.