by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
The battle boils down to what controls the market: central banks or fundamentals.
The tug of war between Bull and Bear has rarely been so clearly matched–and the stakes have rarely been so high.
Bulls are confident that central banks have their back in 2016. After all, whatever it takes has successfully pushed equities higher for seven years. Why not an eighth?
Many Bulls also believe the global downturn is over and higher growth is just ahead.
Bears see equities in a multi-year topping process that is remarkably similar to the tops in 2000 and 2008. Bears see sagging profits and stagnant sales as evidence that fundamentals no longer support historically high valuations.