Rickards: Stock market reality check

``Not surprisingly, this triple-whammy of declining full-time jobs, declining productivity and slowing capital investment means that real wages are stagnant. If workers can't make more, they can't spend more without borrowing. Borrowing is more difficult because home equity has not recovered from the 2007 housing crash and lending standards are the most stringent in years. Companies won't invest in equipment if consumers can't spend... The result is a death spiral of lower consumption, lower investment, declining productivity, stagnant wages, and underemployment all feeding on each other and making the overall economy weaker... the conundrum is complete. Stock indices march to all-time highs while economic fundamentals fall apart. The two will be reconciled either with a spectacular turnaround in growth or a spectacular collapse in stock prices. ''