Crash Prophets

Posted In: Crash Prophets, Derivatives, Economy

Yesterday I read an article on MarketWatch that I want to share with you. Mutual funds columnist Paul Farrell wrote “ ‘Pop!’ Bubbles are great for America!” in response to author Daniel Gross’ new book Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy. In all fairness, I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. But from what I’ve heard so far, Gross argues that economic bubbles and their subsequent popping are not to be feared, as innovation and infrastructure are utilized in the bubble’s aftermath to spur new economic growth. Rather than placing a positive spin on this “creative destruction,” Farrell sympathizes with the Main Street investors squashed by the popping of these bubbles. More importantly, he points out several prominent market watchers who are warning us that we are in the midst of economic bubbles today.

Richard Bookstaber, a risk manager and derivatives designer, played a role in the 1987 Wall Street crash and 1998 LTCM collapse. In his new book, A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds and the Perils of Financial Innovation, he says, “The financial markets that we have constructed have become so complex. And the speed of transactions so fast that apparently isolated actions and even minor events can have catastrophic consequences . In the Wall Street Journal on May 18, Bookstaber warned, “The odds are pretty high that we’ll see other dislocations that match the type of turmoil we saw with the crash in 1987 and with the LTCM crisis… Any one derivative, with some exceptions, may be easy to track. But by the time you layer a lot of them one on top of the other, it becomes increasingly complex, so a small, unexpected event can propagate in surprising and nonlinear ways — and there’s no way to anticipate all these possible events.”

Peter Bernstein, a Wall Street legend who encouraged Bookstaber to write his book, is also deeply worried about the threat posed by derivatives. Bernstein, author of the just-released Capital Ideas Evolving and 1992’s Capital Ideas, fears derivatives because of the number of inexperienced investors (speculators) utilizing them. Farrell adds, “Meanwhile, the irrational exuberance of all the inexperienced masses continues blowing the bubble while ‘playing’ with $370 trillion in derivatives worldwide.”

Legendary value investor Jeremy Grantham, chairman of the global investment management firm Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo (GMO), said in a recent letter to shareholders we are now witnessing the first global bubble in history, covering all asset classes. “From Indian antiquities to modern Chinese art; from land in Panama to Mayfair; from forestry, infrastructure and the junkiest bonds to mundane blue chips; it’s bubble time!” Grantham adds, “Everyone, everywhere is reinforcing one another. Wherever you travel you will hear it confirmed that ‘they don’t make any more land,’ and that ‘with these growth rates and low interest rates, equity markets must keep rising,’ and ‘private equity will continue to drive the markets.’ ”

Finally, economist Gary Shilling’s says the United States is fast approaching a financial storm in his INSIGHT newsletter. He notes, “An unusual confluence of five forces in recent years created a virtual world of financial speculation that departed spectacularly from the real economic world, the ‘grand disconnect’ we’ve called it.” The five forces, according to Farrell, are:
1. Global liquidity.
2. Investors’ misguided belief in “20% annual returns each and every year.”
3. Risk desensitization due to recent low volatility and the belief the Fed will “bail them out.”
4. Rampant, aggressive speculation.
5. American consumer spending, highlighted by instant gratification and the inability to save.

And what will trigger the meltdown? According to Farrell, Shilling still sees the subprime debacle as the catalyst. But like Bernstein, Bookstaber and Grantham, he also feels the “speculative excesses” of private equity deals may preempt the subprime blowup. In addition, Bookstaber fears that financial derivatives and hedge funds will prick the bubbles. Regardless, the most important thing to realize is that a number of threats exist simultaneously, thereby increasing the odds for a major financial crisis in the United States and beyond.

To be continued…

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