a Deflationary Depression ahead

America's First Deflationary Depression: Is a Bigger One Ahead?
Social psychology precipitates economic depressions 
November 07, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Don't blame Martin Van Buren for America's first deflationary depression. Social mood rode higher in the saddle than did our 8th President, who only stood 5' 6".
Elected in 1836, by the time Van Buren assumed office in March 1837 a speculative bubble had burst and a banking crisis was at hand (sound familiar?) -- the national mood had turned south and the "Panic of 1837" followed. Van Buren was known as "The Little Magician," but he could not pull an economic recovery out of the hat. He met defeat seeking a second term.
America's first deflationary depression lasted until 1842. Van Buren blamed over-zealous business practices and a credit bubble (sound familiar 2x?). The panic precipitated bank failures; many speculators who bought land to capitalize on railroad expansion lost everything. The depression worsened as Van Buren continued Andrew Jackson's economic policies. Businesses failed and unemployment was widespread. There were even "food riots" in several cities.
(Author's note: Because of substantial revenue inflows into the Treasury during the boom of the early 1830s, the United States government became debt free in 1835. Ironically, this was the very year the depression began. Stock prices fell sharply despite the federal government paying off all of its debt. Conventional wisdom would have us believe reducing the national debt, or paying it off entirely, would lift stock prices. It didn't happen in 1835, so there must be something else at work. That "something else" is social mood.)
The 1837-1842 deflationary depression comprised Supercycle Wave II, the end of which saw the beginning of the biggest economic expansion in history -- Supercycle wave III! The 1929-1933 Great Depression still grabs more attention, but in fact the earlier Supercycle Wave II decline set the stage for the United States becoming the greatest economic and military power the world has ever known.
President Herbert Hoover held office during the 1929 Crash and onset of the Great Depression, a.k.a. Supercycle Wave IV. Yet no U.S. President has thus far been at the helm during a Grand Supercycle market decline. The last decline of that degree had its origin in the South Sea Bubble in 1720, when Great Britain's King George I was on the throne. The rampant speculation of the time spread beyond the financial class, such that porters and ladies' maids had enough money to buy their own carriages. Members of the clergy took part in the mania. Poof! Life savings were wiped out. England's Postmaster General committed suicide. Hundreds of members of Parliament lost money. As for the directors of the South Sea Company itself, they were forced to give up their property and arrested to boot.
Martin Van Buren led the nation during our country's first Supercycle depression -- as President he was powerless to stop it. Who will occupy the Oval Office when the next Grand Supercycle depression develops? This we believe: That individual will be powerless to prevent it. He or she will only be a President.
What is more powerful than a President of the United States? The answer is "social mood." How is this powerful force shaping the economy?
Discover the answer in the 90-page Free Report called the Deflation Survival Guide.

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Now is the time to prepare for a deflationary depression. Start by reading the 90-page free eBook, Deflation Survival Guide, which includes Robert Prechter's most important analysis and forecasts regarding deflation. This guide will help you survive a major deflationary trend, and even equip you to prosper. Download your free eBook, the Deflation Survival Guide, now >>

'Day of Reckoning' Looms

Quadrillion Dollar Debt: 'Day of Reckoning' Looms
What Will Happen as $1,000,000,000,000,000 in Global Debt Winds Down?July 22, 2010

By Elliott Wave International

The biggest balloon in the world is deflating.

This balloon had been inflated with a quadrillion (10¹⁵) dollars, which is to say: This balloon was filled not with air but with debt from around the globe.

What will happen as this global debt winds down? In two words: Deflationary Depression -- the likes of which could be unprecedented in history.

Want to Know How to Prosper in a Deflationary Depression?
If you haven't yet given Robert Prechter's deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Prechter's 60-Page Guide to Understanding Deflation here.

A thousand trillion in debt can't be wished away or swept under the rug. No one can "forgive" the debt. The consequences of unwinding this debt could be as massive as the dollar figure itself.

We've heard plenty about the debt problems of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

But how about the world's second largest economy? Consider this fact reported in the Japan Times (July 8):

"Japan's government debts are the highest the world has ever seen, at 219 percent of gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund."

Then there's the world's sixth largest national economy. In January 2009,  Robert Prechter wrote this in theElliott Wave Theorist:

"British banks have amassed $4.4 trillion worth of foreign liabilities, twice Britain's annual GDP. ... England, moreover, 'has not defaulted since the Middle Ages.' The possibility that it may do so again is yet another indication that the bear market is of ... (larger) degree, exactly as Elliott wave analysts have predicted all along."

Remember, Japan and Great Britain are major world economies. Imagine what the debt totals would look like in a line-item analysis of other nations, regions, states, provinces and municipalities around the world, including the U.S.

De-leveraging will likely lead to a deflationary crash -- a "day of reckoning."

How can you prepare for a deflationary crash?

To start with, keep your money safe. As Bob Prechter mentions in the June 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist:

"Investors should be primarily in greenback cash and Treasury bills."

He also describes holdings which should be strictly avoided.

Want to Know How to Prosper in a Deflationary Depression?If you haven't yet given Robert Prechter's deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Prechter's 60-Page Guide to Understanding Deflation here.

Slope of Hope

Understanding Robert Prechter's 'Slope of Hope'

July 19, 2010

By Elliott Wave International

Almost everybody who follows financial markets has heard about climbing the "wall of worry": the time when prices head up bullishly, but no one quite believes in the rally, so there's more worry about a fall than a rise.

What's the opposite condition in the market?

Bob Prechter named it the "slope of hope," meaning that as prices head down, no one wants to believe the market really has turned bearish, so there's more hope for a rise than fear of a fall.

Want to Know How to Prosper in a Deflationary Depression?If you haven't yet given Robert Prechter's deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Prechter's 60-Page Guide to Understanding Deflation here.

The market has been rising recently, following a bearish decline from late April through the end of June, which makes now the perfect time to learn more about the slope of hope.

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Excerpted from The Elliott Wave Theorist by Robert Prechter, published June 18, 2010

According to polls, economists are virtually unanimous in the view that the “Great Recession” is over and a recovery is in progress, even though “full employment will take time,” etc. Yet mortgage writing has just plunged to a new low for the cycle (see Figure 1), and housing starts and permits just had their biggest percentage monthly drop since January 1991, which was at the end of a Primary-degree recession. But the latest “recession” supposedly ended a year ago. How can housing activity make new lows this far into a recovery? The answer is in the subtitle to Conquer the Crash, which includes the word depression. The subtleties in economic performance continue to suggest that it “was” not a “recession.” It is a depression, moving forward, in punctuated fashion, slowly but inexorably.

Despite this outlook, keep in mind what The Elliott Wave Theorist said last month: “Even though the market is about to begin its greatest decline ever,the era of hope is not quite finished.” For as long as another year and a half, there will be rallies, fixes, hopes and reasons to believe in recovery. Our name for this phase of a bear market is the Slope of Hope. This portion of the decline lasts until the center of the wave, where investors stop estimating upside potential and start being concerned with downside potential. Economists in the aggregate will probably not recognize that a depression is in force until 2012 or perhaps beyond. That’s the year the 7.5-year cycle is due to roll over (see April 2010 issue). Stock prices should be much lower by then, but optimism will still dominate, and it will show up in the form of big rallies and repeated calls of a bottom.

Want to Know How to Prosper in a Deflationary Depression?If you haven't yet given Robert Prechter's deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Prechter's 60-Page Guide to Understanding Deflation here.

Black Monday: Ancient History Or Imminent Future?

October 29, 2009

By Nico Isaac

The following article includes analysis from Robert Prechter’s Elliott Wave Theorist. For more insights from Robert Prechter, download the 75-page eBook Independent Investor eBook. It’s a compilation of some of the New York Times bestselling author’s writings that challenge conventional financial market assumptions. Visit Elliott Wave International to download the eBook, free.
Once upon a time, the term "Black Monday" was to Wall Street what the name "Lord Voldemort" was to Hogwarts. It turned the air freezing cold and sent traders flinching around every corner in fear of a repeat of the October 19, 1987 or October 28, 1929 meltdown.
Case in point: The 2008 "Black Monday" anniversary. At the time, the U.S. stock market was locked in a ferocious downtrend that included regular, triple-digit daily declines of 400 points and more. Needless to say, when the final two Mondays of October arrived, the least superstitious investors surrounded their portfolios with more good-luck talismans than a Bingo player. See October 19, 2008 AP headline below:

"Black Monday: Stocks Sink As Gloom Seizes Wall Street. Prolonged Economic Turmoil" is seen.

That was then. Today, the usual dread surrounding the back-to-back string of "Black Mondays" is nowhere to be found. In its place, media reports abound of a new, global bull market "shrugging off," "ignoring," and "making a distant memory" of the event.
For one, "gloom" hasn't "seized" the U.S. stock market in quite a while; from its March 2009 low, the Dow has risen more than 50% to above the psychologically important 10,000 level. For another, the mainstream experts insist that today's financial animal is unrecognizable to that of 1987, and especially 1929. In their eyes, it's a completely different -- i.e. safer, smarter, and sounder system.
We beg to differ.
See, while the usual experts want to put as much mental distance between today's market and those that facilitated the 1987 recession and 1929-1932 Great Depression -- the physical similarities are impossible to ignore; more so, in fact, to the latter scenario.
Here, the October 2009 Elliott Wave Financial Forecast presents the following news clip from the October 25, 1929 New York Daily Investment News.

Now, take a look at these headlines from the week of October 12-17, 2009:

"The Great Recession Is Over." (Reuters) --- "80% of Economists Say The Worst Is Behind Us." (CNN Money) --- "The Bull Is Back" (AP) --- "The Economic Recovery Is Well Underway" (Wall Street Journal)

They're interchangeable -- Eighty years later.
Along with a similar extreme in bullish sentiment, the performance of stocks between now and the 1929 situation is cut from the same cloth. After an initial plunge from August 1929 through late October 1929, the US stock market enjoyed a powerful rally well into the following year. NOW: After a steep freefall from its October 2007 peak, the US stock market is once again enjoying the fruits of a powerful rally back to new highs for the year.
Also, on closer examination, the October 19 Elliott Wave Theorist (EWT, for short) uncovers an even deeper parallel between the 2009 rally and the 1929-30 one. Here, EWT presents the following snapshot of the Dow during the Depression-era advance:

As Bob Prechter points out -- in 1930, stocks rallied to the level of the preceding year's gap. Bob then reveals that the same level has been reached now.
So, we all know how the 1930 rally ended. The question is whether the 2009 advance will experience the same fate. As Bob explains in the Theorist, the only way to know for certain is to "look at the reality of the situation."

For more information, download Robert Prechter’s free Independent Investor eBook. The 75-page resource teaches investors to think independently by challenging conventional financial market assumptions.

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Robert Prechter, Chartered Market Technician, is the world’s foremost expert on and proponent of the deflationary scenario. Prechter is the founder and CEO of Elliott Wave International, author of Wall Street best-sellers Conquer the Crash and Elliott Wave Principle and editor of The Elliott Wave Theorist monthly market letter since 1979.