Hussman Sees Weak Profit Margins

Discussion in 'Economics' started by pspr, Jun 9, 2009.

  1. pspr

    pspr

    http://www.hussman.net/weeklyMarketComment.html

    There is a far weaker prospect for a return to 2007-like profit margins than investors seem to recognize. Economic expansions are paced not by major growth in consumption (which tends to be fairly smooth even during economic downturns), but instead by gross investment in capital goods, technology and housing, as well as debt-financed durables such as autos. Yet our policy makers have aggressively crowded out private investment through this bailout policy, which allocates good capital to the worst stewards, and they have done virtually nothing to abate the housing downturn. Add deleveraging pressure to that mix, and an absence of opportunity for mortgage equity withdrawals (which fed GDP growth during the last expansion), and we have an economy that is likely to produce a very stagnant recovery even if one has begun – of which I am also skeptical.
    By John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
    President, Hussman Investment Trust