The Beginning of the Endgame

Here is the PDF link to John Mauldin's latest Thoughts from the Frontline newsletters.  I have highlighted a couple passages from his letter that I found to be of interest.

• Yes, I have long made the case that we are in a secular bear market in the US (and much of the developed world). But that simply means that I think equities in general offer little upside potential at today’s valuations. These periods run in very long cycles and to ignore them is simply, well, dumb. So we look for opportunities elsewhere than in index investing. What makes it particularly challenging today is that central banks are pushing interest rates down and forcing investors to work far harder for their returns. Simple bond investing will not give us the returns that most of us need for our retirement and desired lifestyles.
• I am bearish on much of the developed world, because the majority of “developed-nation” governments have simply gone too far in debt creation. By “gone too far” I mean that the debt is now too large for them to grow their way out of it. Dealing with the debt is, at best, going to hurt growth and at worst will result in depressions.