BofA: 'Code Red..Risk Of Sell-Off Is High'

Matthew Boesler|Aug. 25, 2012

Yesterday, BofA’s top North America economist Ethan Harris penned a bearish note on the the U.S. economy, writing that it “is in the eye of the storm” and that a number of troubling headwinds loom on the horizon.

BofA strategists Arjun Mehra and Cheryl Rowan have a warning more precisely aimed at the stock market. In a note to clients entitled Code Red, Mehra and Rowan claim there is “limited upside from here” and the “risk of a sell-off is high.”

The strategists point out that stocks have managed to rally even in spite of one of the worst earnings seasons in years and growth slowing in the U.S. and around the world. They think the explanation is the “Bernanke Put;” in other words, investors are expecting more monetary easing in the form of QE3.

But in spite of the dovish language from the Fed this past week, Mehra and Rowan are concerned that the central bank may disappoint.
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