The NABE has declared an end to the great recession. Unfortunately, anyone waiting for their grand announcement is about 6 months too late for it to matter. The stock market has rallied 60% and the earnings recession ended in the first quarter of this year when my expectation ratio bottomed. Despite their call for an end to the recession they still see few signs of a robust recovery:
“The Great Recession is over,” according to NABE’s latest survey. “The survey found that the vast majority of business economists believe that the recession has ended but that the economic recovery is likely to be more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines. The NABE panel upgraded the economic outlook for the next several quarters, compared with the previous survey,”said NABE President-elect Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. “Following a sharp 6.4 percent (annual rate) contraction in the first quarter of this year and another 0.7 percent drop in the second quarter, NABE forecasters expect real GDP to rise at an above trend 2.9 percent rate in the second half. The more-than-three-year downturn in the housing market is very close to coming to an end, with substantial growth (from a low base) expected for next year. According to the survey, the key areas of concern involve the large increases in federal debt and unemployment rates that are expected to remain very high through next year. The unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 10 percent in the first quarter of next year and edge down to 9.5 percent by the end of 2010. Inflation is expected to remain contained throughout 2010. The good news is that this deep and long recession appears to be over, and with improving credit markets, the U.S. economy can return to solid growth next year without worry about rising inflation.”
Of course, contrarians will likely love the fact that the NABE first declared the beginning of the recession in the 4th quarter of 2008. Are they ringing the bell at the top?
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.