Roubini's Comments Manipulated

Again today we saw another case of the vicious attempt (successful again) by the media to manipulate the stock market higher. I was absolutely SHOCKED to see the market rip 1% late in the day today off a headline "Roubini says worst of economic crisis over, sees end of recession by year end." No story, just a headline. Anyone who has been following Nouriel Roubini knows that he's been pretty skeptical of the recovery (and before that, was super bearish for a long time leading into the collapse.) So I went on over to his blog and looked at his comments from July 14th, which were anything but bullish. Now, as I write this, Roubini has a new post up explaining that the quote was taken out of context!

“It has been widely reported today that I have stated that the recession will be over “this year” and that I have “improved” my economic outlook. Despite those reports - however – my views expressed today are no different than the views I have expressed previously. If anything my views were taken out of context.

“I have said on numerous occasions that the recession would last roughly 24 months. Therefore, we are 19months into that recession. If, as I predicted, the recession is over by year end, it will have lasted 24 months with a recovery only beginning in 2010. Simply put I am not forecasting economic growth before year’s end...

“While the recession will be over by the end of the year the recovery will be weak given the debt overhang in the household sector, the financial system and the corporate sector; and now there is also a massive re-leveraging of the public sector with unsustainable fiscal deficits and public debt accumulation.

“Also, as I fleshed out in detail in recent remarks the labor market is still very weak: I predict a peak unemployment rate of close to 11% in 2010. Such large unemployment will have negative effects on labor income and consumption growth; will postpone the bottoming out of the housing sector; will lead to larger defaults and losses on bank loans (residential and commercial mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, leveraged loans); will increase the size of the budget deficit (even before any additional stimulus is implemented); and will increase protectionist pressures.

“So, yes there is light at the end of the tunnel for the US and the global economy; but as I have consistently argued the recession will continue through the end of the year, and the recovery will be weak and at risk of a double dip, as the challenge of getting right the timing and size of the exit strategy for monetary and fiscal policy easing will be daunting."

You can read Roubini's full post on his blog. File this one under "read the facts before you react."

-KD

full disclosure: short the market (SPY)