Merrill Lynch Predicts Recession

Merrill Lynch Predicts Recession

Two major Wall Street firms have finally thrown in the towel and are now calling for a recession. For a variety of reasons, Wall Street is usually late to call downturns, so this probably means that 1) we're already beginning to come out of the recession, or 2) this recession is going to be a doozy (the more likely explanation, in our opinion).

The pessimism of Jan Hatzius at Goldman prompted Ben Stein to call him a lightweight, conflicted shill who was just "selling fear" to help Goldman's proprietary trading desk. We therefore look forward to Stein's explanation for the pessimism of Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg:

"The US consumer is on the precipice of experiencing its first recessionary phase since 1991 - the last time we had the combination of high, punishing energy prices; weakening employment conditions; real estate deflation and tightening credit conditions...

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