Ever since the equity markets bottomed in March of 2009, prices have moved relentlessly higher. The price trend from the lower left to the upper right marched on without regard to economic growth, job and wage growth (or lack thereof), news flow, international wars/conflicts, etc. For the first time, in a long time, the price of risk assets is beginning to behave differently. So we have to ask ourselves, Has something changed? If so, what is it? Maybe we have reached a turning point. Maybe this is just a pause. One cannot know with certainty a turning point has been reached until after the fact. But we can look for clues in contemporaneous data and news flow. With the risk asset prices at levels consistent with market tops, we take a closer look.
