In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Charles Hugh Smith discuss:
- The Irrational Altitude of Asset Prices
- Too high, for all the wrong reasons
- Dollar Strength
- The dollar's rise is impacting all assets, some not rationally
- The Cost of Our Failing Policies
- We're diminishing the prosperity of future generations
- Signs A Market Correction Is Beginning
- Which asset classes to watch closely
This week's discussion builds on the thesis out forth by our recent article regarding hedging against a coming market correction. In short, the current height of the stock and bond markets seem concerningly detached from not just fundamentals, but on a technical basis, too. We are seeing what looks like a rounded topping of the S&P (which has not experienced a 10% correction in over 34 months), which if it breaks downwards, could be severe. It's a great time to review your portfolio holdings and consider adding in some insurance (through hedging) if you don't already have a sufficient amount in place.
Chris and Charles discuss how the big driver in market values over the past two months has been the pronounced rise in strength of the US dollar. One large mystery is that a rising dollar is typically bad for US profits (due to weakened demand for exports and unfavorable exchange ratios on foreign revenues), but the market is not reacting as such.
by cmartenson 
