From MarketBeat:
The prevailing view among investors throughout the duration of the post-Bear Stearns recovery rally has been that the U.S. and global economy might continue to weaken, but economic performance would merely be lackluster, not terrible.
Strategists at Societe Generale say nuts to that in commentary today, lowering their recommended weighting for equities to 30% and boosting their weighting for bonds to 50%, saying “we are on the cusp of an equity meltdown that will slash and shred portfolios like Freddie Krueger.”
*Soc Gen strategists have been bearish for about a decade, as they note in their commentary, as they expected equities to go through a period of “valuation de-rating similar to Japan.” Albert Edwards, strategist at the bank, increased his low equity exposure to 45% earlier in the year on expectations of a bear-market rally, but those days are long past as he considers the possibility of a further decline in stocks — and rants against those who would mindlessly advise buying equities....MORE
