Right & Wrong Tracks

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: This year’s first half has been treacherous for most investors; what will the second half bring? Today, we take stock of what’s going right for the economy and financial markets—and may be bullish over the rest of the year—and what could prolong the bearish pain. … Among the bullish: sentiment indicators’ contrarian buy signals, super-low joblessness, strong bank balance sheets, the “CFO Put,” and (counterintuitively) the Fed’s QT. … The main bearish scenario is a familiar fear: Inflation proves so intractable that the Fed tightens to the point of recession, which sets off a credit crunch. And that’s not all that could morph bearish.