CNBC: Chart Shows Glaring Economic Risk That Could Wipe Out Record Highs

Article by Stephanie Landsman in CNBC financial

Economic forecaster Lakshman Achuthan is warning Wall Street that the market's new highs don't signal a revitalized growth cycle.

Achuthan, co-founder of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, believes it's not an ideal environment for sustainable gains.

"All the optimism is really in these risk-on assets," he said Wednesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "When we look to the hard data, we see the slowdown. There is a deceleration in growth that has been going on. It's continuing actually to occur, and that's the disconnect here."

He takes his case a step further by highlighting a chart that shows industrial output and consumption slowdowns. It illustrates that their growth rates turned down in the second half of last year and never materially recovered.

According to Achuthan, the Street is largely making a faith-based forecast that economic growth will rebound in the year's second half. It's an assumption that could generate a lot of pain, he suggests. He contends the market isn't in the clear from another sharp pullback.

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