In a recent interview, Dr. Marc Faber, the author and publisher of the Gloom Boom and Doom report, talked about his near-term gloomy outlook for equities. This article discusses his views and lays down further reasons to remain cautious on equities in the near-term.

According to Faber -

What was the trigger of the '87 crash when markets fell 21 per cent in one day? What was the trigger of the Nasdaq crash in 2000? What was the trigger of Japanese crash of 1989? What was trigger of 2007 crash that brought global stocks down 50 per cent? We don't know these things ahead of time, but something will always move markets up and something will always move them down. I would guess at the present time, given markets from the 2009 lows have in many cases increased by as much as 100 per cent, that they are

The adjusted monetary base, which is an indicator of expansionary or restrictive policies, topped $3 trillion as of May 2013. The U.S. monetary base has grown by $2.2 trillion since the crisis started as policymakers expand the Fed's balance sheet in order to bail out banks and also to keep bond yields relatively suppressed through the bond purchase program. This article discusses the monetary base trend, the inflation trend and investment ideas considering the current scenario.

As the chart below shows, the adjusted monetary base has surged since 2008 and there has been a renewed surge in the monetary base in the last few months.

(Click to enlarge)

With the policymakers aggressively expanding the balance sheet, it is very likely that inflation concerns will be high. On the contrary, deflation concerns are high and the policymakers are still struggling to meet the FOMC target of 2% inflation.

The chart below

After trailing the broader markets for most of the year, energy sector stocks and exchange traded funds are finally leading the charge.

Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) has been outperforming the S&P 500 since mid-April.

The energy sector shows attractive valuations, with component holdings in the XLE at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, compared to the 16.4 P/E of SPY.

The energy sector was the second-best performing sector, slightly behind technology stocks, last week as the strengthening oil market and better jobs report help push the S&P 500 to record highs.

"The oil market has broken out and the jobs report is the biggest catalyst," said Jeff Grossman, president of BRG Brokerage and a New York Mercantile Exchange floor trader, said in a Bloomberg article. "The stock market is strong and everything is going higher."

"People had been a bit nervous about oil demand and economic