Are you getting nervous?

Looking for signs of a market top – how about this headline:

• MarketWatch – Blackstone CEO throws himself ‘party of the century’ complete with camels, Gwen Stefani

Or this?

or this?

• MarketWatch – Updated Tesla could decide to tap capital markets as its shares rally, analyst says

Should any of this make you nervous?  If you have a brain – yes!

• Pension Partners – Three signs of excess in today’s market.
• MarketWatch – Bond traders fear Janet Yellen is planning a ‘St. Valentine’s Day Massacre’
• ZeroHedge – Stockman: “What’s Going On Today Is Complete Insanity”

The U.S. stock market valuation as a share of GDP is at its highest level since the data series began in 1989 (see chart below).

I did the math for setting up a hedge with S&P 500 put contracts to protect my equity holdings thru September 2017 – $6,450.00. Seems awful high, especially with the VIX below 12 – might have to cut back a little more on my actual holdings – taking profit is preferable to burning cash.

Extra – for better or worse, artificial intelligence technology is getting cheaper:

• Businessweek – Here’s Why This Cat-Spotting AI Is Different