As investors have become accustomed to sputtering economies and massive government intervention....

"As investors have become accustomed to sputtering economies and massive government intervention, episodic "risk-on" and "risk-off" behaviors drive the capital markets. Unexpected bad news means risk off. A stopgap solution to the crisis du jour is offered -- i.e., a bailout, a rescue, a Band-Aid deal, QE(n) -- and risk on resumes. We have been on a roller-coaster ride for the last four years and counting, with no meaningful recovery, no feasible solutions, and ineffectual leadership. Investors conditioned to the short-term trading mentality are increasingly ill prepared for policy changes. What will happen when the Fed declares, as it someday must, that the era of low interest rates is at an end? What if governments holding trillions of dollars of sovereign debt and other securities stop buying and begin to sell? Or if another serious crisis -- economic, political, international -- materializes and governments have insufficient ammunition to intervene? The content, though not the timing, of the next chapter in market history is quite predictable. Few will say they saw it coming, though, in fact, everyone could have seen it if they had only chosen to look." (Seth Klarman 2012 year end letter)