Reply #40: Dow theorist says recession may be unavoidable

[54anickel]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-08-16T195710Z_01_N16436439_RTRUKOC_0_US-FINANCIAL-MARKETS-RUSSELL.xml

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Richard Russell is feeling like less of a loner these days.

The founder and scribe of the Dow Theory Letters, which examine stock-market trends, has been warning in recent years that U.S. economic growth would slow far more than anyone could imagine. Many investors and analysts are now coming around to his view, sounding alarm bells about the growing risk of recession in 2007.

Still, Russell differs -- again -- with the masses.

The U.S. economy can hardly avoid such a slump, he said, as it grapples with elevated energy prices and a housing market slowdown in the face of an already indebted consumer.

"We are in for a major recession," Russell said in an interview with Reuters. "I don't think we will get a soft landing in housing. There is just too much debt as far as the consumer goes -- and there have been tons of speculators in the housing market."

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