Meredith Whitney Maintains Her Bearish Stance (XLF, SPY, GLD, GDX)

Strap yourself in, Meredith Whitney is speaking on CNBC. Meredith Whitney is maintaining her bearish stance on the markets. She says the governnment is now out of bullets to support the economy. She says if the economy doesn't slow down now, it will in Q1.

Whitney said nothing has changed other than the banks refinancing themselves. Meredith Whitney's comments could help drive down the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) in the pre-market.

Whitney says the overall market is extended. Meredith said she is 100% confident that the consumer is not getting any better and since 70% of the economy is supported by the consumer, the S&P 500 will likely fall in 2010. She'd make not only a bearish bet on financials such as the XLF or the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: FAZ), commonly referred to as the FAZ, but also on the S&P 500 or an ETF play, SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY).

If Meredith is correct about 2010, investors should look to safe havens like cash and gold. A good way to play gold is to buy gold etfs, such as SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) or the Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE: GDX). The GLD and GDX have already risen 30% and 46% respectively year to date.