Marc Faber, the author of "The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report," says investors need to brace for a drop of 20% or more by the time 2013 closes, predicting a market fallout similar to what was seen in 1987.
"In 1987, we had a very powerful rally, but also earnings were no longer rising substantially, and the market became very overbought," Faber said Thursday on CNBC. "The final rally into Aug. 25 occurred with a diminishing number of stocks hitting 52-week highs. In other words, the new-high list was contracting, and we have several breaks in different stocks."October 1987 marks a period no investor could easily forget. The S&P 500 SPX -1.29% is up around 20% for 2013 so far. Faber compares that to 1987, when stocks rose more than 30% up to the same point. But it was in the latter half of 1987 that things fell apart. On "Black Monday," Oct. 19, 1987, the S&P 500 fell 20.4% in the biggest single-day loss for Wall Street in history. It marked the end of a five-year bull market, and stocks ended up just about where they'd started that phase.
He noted that during a two-day period this week, as the S&P 500 nears an all-time high of 1,709, there have been 170 new 52-week lows. That means just a relatively few companies are driving the market higher.
"The only way this market can go up is if the 10 or 50 stocks that are very strong continue to drive the market higher, with the majority of stocks having actually peaked out."Of course, the 1987-crash theme is not a new one for Faber. He made similar predictions in May and February. So how many times is Faber going to cry wolf before we see this happen? Well, ZeroHedge says he may be on to something, if you look at a Hindenburg cluster that's been happening over the last four days. This indicator warns when more than 2.2% of traded issues are hitting new highs, while another 2.2% or more are making new lows. (Read more on the Hindenburg Omen.)
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