Monthly Archives: June 2020

Negative Views Have Been Banned!

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It’s not clear why anyone thought
That Covid, much havoc had wrought
At least based on stocks
Who’s heterodox
Response ignores data quite fraught

Thus, once more with bulls in command
The stock market’s flames have been fanned
So, risk is appealing,
The dollar is reeling
And negative views have been banned!

Acquiring risk continues to be at the top of investor to-do lists as, once again, despite ongoing calamities worldwide, stock markets continue on their mission to recoup all the losses seen in March. It remains difficult for me to understand the idea that company valuations today should be the same as they were in February, before the global economy came to a screeching halt. Aside from the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who have been thrown out of work, millions of companies will disappear forever, whether it is JC Penney (long overdue) or your favorite local bistro (a calamity if there ever was one.) The commonality between the two is that both employed people who were also consumers, and sans an income, they will be consuming much less.

Given that consumption represented more than 60% of the global economy (>68% in the US), all those companies that cater to consumers are going to find it extremely difficult to generate profits if there are no consumers. It is why the hospitality/leisure sectors of the economy have been devastated world-wide, and all the industries that service those companies, like aircraft manufacturing or construction, have also been hit so hard. If you remove the rose-tinted lenses, it appears that the ongoing risk acquisition remains painfully ignorant of the reality on the ground, and that a revaluation seems more likely than not.

One other thing to consider is this, tax rates. US equity markets have been a huge beneficiary of the tax cuts from 2018 with corporate earnings broadly exploding higher. However, even if one looks past the abyss of the next several quarters of economic destruction, it seems quite likely that we are going to see some big picture changes around the world with regard to distribution of income, i.e. higher corporate (and personal) tax rates and lower EPS. Again, my point is that even if, by 2021, economic activity returns to the level seen in 2019, the share of that value that will be attributed to the corporate sector is destined to be much lower, and with after-tax earnings declines ordained it will be extremely difficult to justify high valuations. So, yes, risk is in the ascendancy today, but it continues to feel as though its time is coming to an end.

And with that sobering thought, let us look at just how risk is performing today. Equity markets around the world followed yesterday’s modest US rally higher with both the Nikkei and Hang Seng rallying a bit more than 1.1%, although Shanghai managed only a 0.2% gain. Meanwhile, Europe is feeling quite perky this morning as funds from around the world are flowing into the single currency as well as equity markets throughout the region. The DAX is leading the way higher, up 4.0%, as plans for a mooted €100 billion government support program are all over the tape. And this is in addition to the EU plan for a €750 billion support package. Thus, talk of a cash for clunkers program is supporting the auto manufacturers, while increases in childcare subsidies and employment support are destined to help the rest of the economy.

But the rest of Europe is also rocking, with the CAC +2.2% and both Italy and Spain seeing 2.5% gains in their major indices. Surprisingly, the FTSE 100 is the laggard, up only 1.1%, as concerns over a hard Brexit start to reappear. The current thinking seems to be that even if a hard Brexit causes a poor economic outcome, Boris will be able to blame everything on Covid-19 thus hiding the costs, at least to the bulk of the population. After all, it will not be easy to disentangle the problems caused by Covid from those caused by a hard Brexit for the average bloke.

As I type, US futures are also reversing earlier losses and are now higher by roughly 0.5% across the board. Bond markets, once again, remain extremely uninteresting, at least in the 10-year sector, as yields continue to trade in narrow ranges. In fact, since mid-April, the 10-year Treasury has had a range of just 15bps top to bottom, again, despite extraordinary economic disruption. This same pattern holds true for all the haven bonds as central banks around the world control the activity there and prevent any substantial volatility. In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that the signaling effect of government bond yields is diminishing rapidly. After all, what information is available regarding investor preferences if yields are pegged by the central bank?

Finally, turning to the dollar we see another day of virtually universal weakness. AUD is the top G10 performer today after the RBA appeared a tad more hawkish last night, leaving policy unchanged but also describing a wait and see approach before making any further decisions. So, while some are calling for further ease Down Under, that does not appear to be on the cards for now. NOK is next on the list, rallying 0.65% as oil prices continue their strong performance of the past 6 weeks. Then comes the pound, up 0.6% this morning after a more than 1% rally yesterday. This is far more perplexing given the growing concerns over a hard Brexit, which will almost certainly result in the pound declining sharply. Remember, as it currently stands, if there is no agreement between the UK and EU by the end of June to extend the current trade negotiations, then a deal must be done by December 31, 2020 or it’s a hard Brexit. Discussions with traders leads me to believe that we have seen a massive short squeeze in the pound vs. both the euro and the dollar. If this is the case, then we are likely looking at some pretty good levels for hedgers to take advantage.

In the EMG space, the board is almost entirely green as well, with IDR (+1.35%) atop the list with MYR (+1.0%) and MXN (+0.9%) following close behind. The rupiah has gained as Indonesia is preparing plans to reopen the economy as soon as they can, deciding that the economic devastation is worse than the disease. Meanwhile, both MYR and MXN are beneficiaries of the oil rally with the ruble (+0.65%) not far behind. In fact, the entire space save the TWD (-0.15%) is firmer this morning. As an aside, TWD seems to be feeling a little pressure from the ongoing US-China trade spat, but despite its modest decline, it has been extremely stable overall.

There is no US data on the schedule for today, so FX markets will continue to take their cues from equities. At this point, that still points in the direction of a weaker dollar as risk continues to be acquired. Despite the currency rallies we have seen in the past weeks, most currencies are still lower vs. the greenback YTD. If you are convinced that the worst is behind us, then the dollar has further to fall. But any reversion to a risk-off sentiment is likely to see the dollar reassert itself, and potentially quite quickly.

Good luck and stay safe
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Yesterday’s Mess

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As riots engulf the US
The stock market’s feeling no stress
The bond market’s flat
The dollar’s gone splat
And Covid is yesterday’s mess

Risk is on this morning, and it appears that neither riots across most major cities in the US nor increased tensions between the US and China will do anything to dissuade investors from that mantra. I guess TINA is alive and well and living in every major financial center around the world. Of course, she does have a sugar daddy, the central bank community, who continue to spend on her by pumping massive amounts of liquidity into markets while cutting interest rates ever lower. Since April 1st, when lockdowns were beginning to spread rapidly around the world and social distancing became the watchword for personal interactions, every major equity market worldwide is higher, most by double digit percentages. Even Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is higher by 0.5% in that time, despite the fact that China has changed the law regarding the island’s quasi-independent status and certainly undermined a great deal of trust in the sanctity of private property there.

So why should today be any different than what we have seen for the past two months? One thought was all the rioting in the US. While there is absolutely no justification for the behavior of the Minneapolis policeman whose actions triggered this situation, there is also no justification for the looting and destruction of private property across the country. And, consider the timing; just as many businesses were starting to prepare to reopen, along comes a mob with the result being massive destruction of private property. This will certainly slow down the reopening of the economy to everyone’s detriment. I guess using the ‘broken windows’ theory of economics, the repair of all that damage and destruction will increase economic activity and be a net positive. (Alas, in 1850, Frederic Bastiat showed the fallacy in that theory by simply asking what those resources could have been used for had they not been needed to repair something that was perfectly fine beforehand.) The point is, the riots are a clear net negative to the economy.

And yet, after nearly two months of an incapacitated economy, which brought with it record unemployment levels along with record low readings across almost every economic statistic, the idea that equity markets around the world have recouped nearly two-thirds of the losses seen when the impact of Covid-19 was just beginning to be recognized is remarkable. Add to that equation the increasing tensions between the US and China, not merely the Hong Kong situation but also word that China is now halting purchases of US agricultural products and the potential death knell of the phase one trade agreement, and one is left scratching their head as to exactly what basis investors are using to make decisions. Since economic activity is clearly not the current driver, the only other choice is an unshakeable belief that the central banks, notably the Fed, will never allow the stock markets to decline substantially.

But that is where we are this morning, with equity markets in Asia having rallied after Friday’s presidential press conference made only vague threats about US retaliation for China’s actions regarding Hong Kong. In fact, the Hang Seng was the leading gainer, up 3.35%, but Shanghai (+2.2%) and the Nikkei (+0.85%) also enjoyed gains. Europe has generally followed along with both the CAC and FTSE 100 higher by 1.1% this morning. However, the DAX is having a more difficult session, falling 1.6% after final May PMI data showed Germany is lagging the Eurozone’s overall growth response. Meanwhile, US futures are basically flat on the day although they have rallied back from earlier losses in the overnight session.

Bond markets are behaving as one would expect in a risk-on session, with yields generally higher (Treasury +1bp, Bunds +3bps) but risk bonds, like Italian BTP’s seeing buying interest and declining yields (-3bps). In fact, another possible explanation for the DAX’s difficulties is the growing realization that Germany is going to be supporting all of the rest of Europe financially, which likely means that German companies may see less government support.

Finally, FX markets are really showing the diminished concerns regarding risk across all markets. Remember, during the peak of the concerns in March, foreign companies and countries were desperate to get access to dollars to continue servicing the trillions of dollars of USD denominated debt they had outstanding. As the basis moved further against them, they ultimately simply bought dollars in the FX market to satisfy those claims. Naturally, the dollar rallied strongly on all that demand. But to the rescue rode Jay Powell and his $4 trillion of liquidity and, voilá, the need to hoard dollars disappeared. So, with that in mind, one cannot be surprised that the dollar is softer across the board this morning.

Starting with the G10, Aussie is leading the way higher, up 0.95%, after its PMI data printed slightly better than expected and the market turns its attention to the RBA’s meeting this evening, where expectations are for no further policy ease for the time being. But we are also seeing strength in CAD (+0.5%), NZD (+0.4%) and GBP (+0.3%), as a combination of firming commodity prices and modest upward revisions to PMI data have helped underpin sentiment. The rest of the bloc is actually higher, but by 0.1% or less, and hardly worth mentioning.

In the EMG bloc, KRW (+1.1%) leads the way after announcing a $62 billion economic support package to help further mitigate the impact of Covid on the economy. That news was seen as far more important than the fact that their export data continues to crater amid ongoing slowdowns in global trade. But we are also seeing strength in RUB (+0.9%) and MXN (+0.75%) with the ruble benefitting from government encouragement for citizens to vacation in Russia rather than traveling abroad (thus reducing supply of RUB on the market) while the peso seems to simply be following its recent strengthening trend (+11.5% in May) amid an overall sense of dollar weakness. But here, too, the entire bloc is in the green, with the dollar simply under pressure universally.

Turning to the data front, this will be a big week as Friday brings the latest employment picture. But leading up to that, we have plenty to see as follows:

Today ISM Manufacturing 43.7
  ISM Prices Paid 42.0
Wednesday ADP Employment -9.0M
  Factory Orders -14.2%
  ISM Non- Manufacturing 44.5
Thursday Initial Claims 1.8M
  Continuing Claims 19.04M
  Trade Balance -$49.1B
Friday Nonfarm Payrolls -8.0M
  Private Payrolls -7.65M
  Manufacturing Payrolls -400K
  Unemployment Rate 19.6%
  Average Hourly Earnings 0.9% (8.5% Y/Y)
  Average Weekly Hours 34.3

Source: Bloomberg

In addition to this data, tonight we hear from the RBA and Thursday brings the ECB, where expectations are for a €500 billion increase in the PEPP program to go along with the EU’s €750 billion spending program. Meanwhile, the Fed is in their quiet period ahead of the June 10th meeting, so, mercifully, we will not hear from any Fed speakers all week. Obviously, all eyes will be focused on Friday’s employment report in the US, but I sense that the ECB is really this week’s biggest event. Until then, the momentum certainly seems to be in favor of more risk, and accordingly, a softer dollar this week.

Good luck and stay safe
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