Saturday, June 21, 2008

A Worldwide Bear Market


While a great deal of attention has focused on U.S. stock market weakness (SPY), we're seeing just as much weakness among European equities, including the U.K. (EWU) and Germany (EWG). China (FXI) is leading the downside with Hong Kong, as inflation forces significant monetary tightening and a soft landing doesn't seem in the cards. Australia (EWA), a resource producer, has been relatively stronger, but the surprise in the bunch is Japan (EWJ), which has held up surprisingly well through the spike in energy and agricultural commodities and the weakness across Asia.

Clearly the picture is one of a worldwide bear market.
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