Are we heading for Crash II?

In late 2007, as the credit bubble peaked, markets looked pretty much as they do now. So are we going to see another crash?

"It's dj vu all over again," says Ron Coby on Minyanville.com. In late 2007, as the credit bubble peaked, markets looked pretty much as they do now: the dollar was on the slide, oil hit a high for the year and emerging markets were rocketing. And then, as now, the patterns in markets largely boiled down to cheap money.

This time round, money has been very cheap indeed, thanks to rock-bottom interest rates and quantitative easing (printed money). Central bankers' cash has been "frantically seeking a home" because most banks don't want to lend, says Gillian Tett in the FT. So virtually all risky assets are rallying. The rebounds in some debt and derivative markets have been nothing short of "stunning".

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