Natively, I tend to be an optimist.  The present environment has given thin gruel for optimism, so I haven’t been as perky as I might otherwise be.  Here are a few reasons for optimism:

• Credit spreads have been declining, and more corporate bond deals are getting done in the credit markets.
• Commodity prices have fallen and stabilized.
• The balance sheet of the Federal Reserve is shrinking.
• Money market and other short duration funds seem to be safe.
• Equities might be cheap relative to cash, but are still expensive relative to junk and low investment grade bond yields.

On that last point I want to quote Doug Kass, who I respect as an investor:

On multiple fronts, equities appear to have incorporated the bad news and are undervalued both absolutely and relative to fixed income:

1. The risk premium, the market’s earnings yield less the risk-free rate of return, is substantially above the long-term average reading.
2. Using reasonably conservative assumptions (most importantly, a near 50% peak-to-trough earnings decline, which is over 3x the drop in an average recession), the market has discounted 2009 S&P 500 earnings of about $47.
3. Valuations are low vis-à-vis a decelerating (and near zero) rate of inflation. Indeed, the current market multiple is consistent with a 6% rate of inflation.
4. Stock prices as a percentage of replacement book value stand at 1x, well below the 1.4x long-term average.
5. The market capitalization of U.S. stocks vs. stated GDP has dropped dramatically, to about 80%, now at the long-term average. Warren Buffett was recently interviewed in Fortune Magazine and observed that this ratio was evidence that stocks have become attractive.
6. The 10-year rolling annualized return of the S&P is at its lowest level in nearly 75 years, having recently broken below the levels achieved in the late 1930s and mid 1970s.
7. A record percentage of companies have dividend yields that are greater than the yield on the 10-year U.S. note. At 46% of the companies, that is over 4x higher than in 2002 and compares against only 5% on average over the last 30 years.

On point 1, I will say that equities are cheap to cash and Treasuries, but not Corporate bonds and bank debt.

For point 2, we have gone through a massive levering up; it would be no surprise to see a leveraging down.

Point 3 — I don’t get it.  Inflation has a small effect on valuations.

Point 4 — This is true but it could go lower because there is no one that wants to buy and hold at present.

Point 5 — In this environment, where there is a lack of buy and hold capacity, why are we satisfied with normal valuations?

Point 6 — True for Treasuries, wrong for corporates.

Point 7 — The 10-year Treasury is artificially low.   It is not a good metric for dividend yields.

Mr. Kass is a bright man, and probably a better investor than me, but there are reasons to be concerned in this economic environment.  Be careful, and don’t make rash moves in this volatile environment.