The 1.9 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index Friday didn’t made a believer out of Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs Investment Research.
“We’re 100 percent bearish,” he tells Yahoo. “Basically what I am saying is that the black swan is aloft and ready to pounce and kill the Bernanke put."
“Black swan” refers to an unexpected negative event. “Bernanke put” refers to the idea that if financial markets start to tumble, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will ease monetary policy, cushioning the fall for investors.
Editor's Note: See the Disturbing Charts: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Crash, 100% Inflation
The fundamental problem for financial markets is that the federal government spends $100 billion a month more than it collects in taxes and then prints money or borrows to pay for it, Biderman says.
That has put us on a path toward despair, he maintains.
"Unless we change what we’re doing, we’re headed to a very dark, uncomfortable, nasty place,” Biderman says. “No one wants to think that we need to do something real other than just talk about printing money or easing."
He doesn’t think the November elections will make any difference. “Whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House, very little will change."
Many experts share Biderman’s skepticism of Friday’s stock rally.
“I’m not ready to declare victory just yet,” Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partner hedge fund tells The Associated Press. “It’s hard for an economy to expand when banks are on tenterhooks.”
Editor's Note: See the Disturbing Charts: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Crash, 100% Inflation
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