Mish: Any idea where we might see the bottom of this market? Some of the hedge fund guys I deal with think we might see a 50% or more decline of the DJIA if this problem isn't handled correctly and investors really begin to panic.. And on a lighter note thank you for this wonderful website and all the great posts. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

So far with only a few trading days remaining, the worst December EVER. We are talking worse than 1931, so it is clear that this bubble has burst. Da ship be sinkin'.

Happy Christmas and a merry new year to all!

One of the things that has given strength to stocks over the last decade was programmed buying as baby boomers automatically added to their 401k and/or IRA. Now they are starting to retire, and rather than adding to those, they will begin to withdraw. In preparation for retirement, traditional planning calls for shifting the asset mix away from stocks and into bonds to eliminate risk as people get over the age of 60. At younger ages, the thinking is that they can ride out bear markets, but as they approach retirement, they don't have that luxury.

As Mish is fond of pointing out, if retiring people sell stocks and buy bonds, someone else has to sell bonds (or issue more) and buy stocks. However, those people would want a shift in relative pricing before they are willing to do so, so stocks would be expected to fall in the process.

The stock market is NOT the economy. Therefore it can fall 100% for all I care. Burn baby burn.

I watched this scenario last night into the wee hours last night with the DOW futures up 80 to 120 points, only to check this morning and see that everything went upside down again, this time around 7:00 AM. We have seen this same thing several times this month. Quoting the 'experts: "This time, it's different". Yep it is... it sure is. Until the opening bell.

Robert Reich The Megalomaniac and the Stock Market Monday, December 24, 2018

Trump doesn’t want the public to think the stock market has tanked because of Trump’s government shutdown, his trade war with China, and the $1.9 trillion increase in the nation’s debt caused by his tax cut for corporations and the wealthy. (Actually, these are the major reasons for the market’s drop.)

So he’s blaming the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, for raising interest rates. And he’s ordered his staff to find a legal rationale for removing Powell. (It’s highly unlikely Trump has legal authority to do this, but like every other illegal thing Trump has tried, it may end up in the federal courts.)

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"Mish: Any idea where we might see the bottom of this market?"

I am going to do a post on that, but in the meantime, we are not even close

There is no stock "market" any moar it's the central bank "market" Why are "markets" crashing? The economy is "booming",record low unemployment "rate",GDP "rate"of 3%,inflation "rate" near record lows.so why prey tell are markets collapsing?"markets" should like the economy be "booming",unless ,unless the central banks have decided they would rather get rid of trump,and the quickest most efficient way of doin that is crash the stock "market"

Actually, several stocks are reaching attractive levels, and I will be buying some of these stocks to add to long term positions. I am a long term investor, and I am highly diversified. Unlike Mish, I do not think that the markets will drop too much more, but if they do, I will simply purchase more attractive companies at even lower prices. This has served me well throughout my life.