Monthly Archives: July 2020

Dreams All Come True

Posted on by

The Minutes explained that the Fed
Was actively looking ahead
Twixt yield curve control
And guidance, their goal
Might not be achieved, so they said

This morning, though, payrolls are due
And traders, expressing a view
Continue to buy
Risk assets on high
Here’s hoping their dreams all come true!

In the end, it can be no surprise that the Fed spent the bulk of their time in June discussing what to do next. After all, they had to be exhausted from implementing the nine programs already in place and it is certainly reasonable for them to see just how effective these programs have been before taking the next step. Arguably, the best news from the Minutes was that there was virtually no discussion about negative interest rates. NIRP continues to be a remarkable drag on the economies of those countries currently caught in its grasp. We can only hope it never appears on our shores.

Instead, the two policies that got all the attention were forward guidance and yield curve control (YCC). Of course, the former is already part of the active toolkit, but the discussion focused on whether to add an outcome-based aspect to their statements, rather than the more vague, ‘as long as is necessary to achieve our goals of stable prices and full employment.’ The discussion centered on adding a contingency, such as; until inflation reaches a certain level, or Unemployment falls to a certain level; or a time-based contingency such as; rates will remain low until 2023. Some would argue they already have that time-based contingency in place, (through 2022), but perhaps they were leading up to the idea it will be longer than that.

The YCC discussion focused on research done by their staff on the three most well-known instances in recent history; the Fed itself from 1942-1951, where they capped all rates, the BOJ, which has maintained 10-year JGB yields at 0.0% +/- 0.20%, and the RBA, which starting this past March has maintained 3-year Australian yields at 0.25%. As I mentioned last week in “A New Paradigm” however, the Fed is essentially already controlling the yield curve, at least the front end, where movement out to the 5-year maturities has been de minimis for months. Arguably, if they are going to do something here, it will need to be in the 10-year or longer space, and the tone of the Minutes demonstrated some discomfort with that idea.

In the end, my read of the Minutes is that when the FOMC meets next, on July 29, we are going to get a more formalized forward guidance with a contingency added. My guess is it will be an Unemployment rate contingency, not a time contingency, but I expect that we will learn more from the next set of Fed speakers.

Turning to today, as the market awaits the latest payroll report, risk assets continue to be on fire. The destruction in so many areas of the economy, both in the US and around the world, is essentially being completely ignored by investors as they continue to add risk to their portfolios amid abundant central bank provided liquidity. Here are the latest median forecasts as compiled by Bloomberg for today’s data:

Nonfarm Payrolls 3.06M
Private Payrolls 3.0M
Manufacturing Payrolls 438K
Unemployment Rate 12.5%
Average Hourly Earnings -0.7% (5.3% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.5
Participation Rate 61.2%
Initial Claims 1.25M
Continuing Claims 19.0M
Trade Balance -$53.2B
Factory Orders 8.7%
Durable Goods 15.8%
-ex Transport 6.5%

Because of the Federal (although not bank) holiday tomorrow, the report is being released this morning. It will be interesting to see if the market responds to the more timely Initial Claims data rather than the NFP report if they offer different messages. Remember, too, that last month’s Unemployment rate has been under much scrutiny because of the misclassification of a large subset of workers which ultimately painted a better picture than it might otherwise have done. Will the BLS be able to correct for this, and more importantly, if they do, how will the market interpret any changes. This is one reason why the Initial and Continuing Claims data may be more important anyway.

But leading up to the release, it is full speed ahead to buy equities as yesterday’s mixed US session was followed by strength throughout Asia (Nikkei +0.1%, Hang Seng +2.85%, Shanghai +2.1%) and in Europe (DAX +1.6%, CAC +1.3%, FTSE 100 +0.6%). US futures are also higher, between 0.4%-0.8%, to complete the virtuous circle. Interestingly, once again bond yields are not trading true to form on this risk-on day, as yields in the US are flat while throughout Europe, bond yields are declining.

But bonds are the outlier here as the commodity space is seeing strength in oil and metals markets and the dollar is under almost universal pressure. For example, in the G10, NZD is the leading gainer, up 0.6%, as its status as a high beta currency has fostered buying interest from the speculative crowd betting on the recovery. But we are also seeing NOK and SEK (both +0.5%) performing well while the euro (+0.3%) and the pound (+0.3%) are just behind them. The UK story seems to be about the great reopening that is due to occur starting Saturday, when pubs and restaurants as well as hotels are to be allowed to reopen their doors to customers. The fear, of course, is that this will foster a second wave of infections. But there is no doubt there is a significant amount of pent up demand for a drink at the local pub.

In the EMG bloc, the ruble is today’s winner, rising 1.2% on the back of oil’s continued rebound. It is interesting, though, as there is a story that Saudi Arabia is having a fight with some other OPEC members, and is close to relaunching a full-scale price war again. It has been the Saudis who have done the lion’s share of production cutting, so if they turn on the taps, oil has a long way to fall. Elsewhere in the space, INR (+0.8%) and ZAR (+0.75%) are having solid days on the back of that commodity strength and recovery hopes. While the bulk of the space is higher, IDR has had a rough session, in fact a rough week, as it has fallen another 0.65% overnight which takes its loss in the past week near 2.0%. Infection rates continue to climb in the country and investors are becoming uncomfortable as equity sales are growing as well.

So, this morning will be a tale of the tape. All eyes will be on the data at 8:30 with the odds stacked for a strong risk session regardless of the outcome. If the data shows the recovery is clearly strengthening, then buying stocks makes sense. On the other hand, if the data is disappointing, and points to a reversal of the early recovery, the working assumption is the Fed will come to the rescue quite quickly, so buying stocks makes sense. In this worldview, the dollar is not seen as critical, so further dollar weakness could well be in our future.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

A Vaccine’s Required

Posted on by

Mnuchin and Powell explained
That Congress ought not be restrained
In spending more cash
Or else, in a flash
The rebound might not be maintained

Meanwhile, as the quarter expired
The data show growth is still mired
Within a great slump
And hopes for a jump
Are high, but a vaccine’s required

I continue to read commentary after commentary that explains the future will be brighter once a Covid-19 vaccine has been created. This seems to be based on the idea that so many people are terrified of contracting the disease they they will only consider venturing out of their homes once they believe the population at large is not contagious. While this subgroup will clearly get vaccinated, that is not likely to be majority behavior. If we consider the flu and its vaccine as a model, only 43% of the population gets the flu shot each year. Surveys regarding a Covid vaccine show a similar response rate.

Consider, there is a large minority of the population who are adamantly against any types of vaccines, not just influenza. As well, for many people, the calculation seems to be that the risk of contracting the flu is small enough that the effort to go and get the shot is not worth their time. Ask yourself if those people, who are generally healthy, are going to change their behavior for what appears to be a new form of the flu. My observation is that human nature is pretty consistent in this regard, so Covid is no scarier than the flu for many folks. The point is that the idea that the creation of a vaccine will solve the economy’s problems seems a bit far-fetched. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses have already closed permanently because of the economic disruption, and we are all well acquainted with the extraordinary job loss numbers. No vaccine is going to reopen those businesses nor bring millions back to work.

And yet, the vaccine is a key part of the narrative that continues to drive risk asset prices higher. While we cannot ignore central bank activities as a key driver of equity and bond market rallies, the V-shaped recovery is highly dependent on the idea that things will be back to normal soon. But if a vaccine is created and approved for use, will it really have the impact the market is currently anticipating? Unless we start to see something akin to a health passport in this country, a document that certifies the holder has obtained a Covid-19 shot, why would anyone believe a stranger is not contagious and alter their newly learned covid-based behaviors. History shows that the American people are not fond of being told what to do when it comes to restricting their rights of movement. Will this time really be different?

However, challenging the narrative remains a difficult proposition these days as we continue to see the equity bulls in charge of all market behavior. As we enter Q3, a quick recap of last quarter shows the S&P’s 20% rally as its best quarterly performance since Q4 1998. Will we see a repeat in Q3? Seems unlikely and the risk of a reversal seems substantial, especially if the recent increase in Covid cases forces more closures in more states. In any event, uncertainty appears especially high which implies price volatility is likely to continue to rise across all markets.

But turning to today’s session, equity markets had a mixed session in Asia (Nikkei -0.75%, Hang Seng +0.5%) despite the imposition of the new, more draconian law in Hong Kong with regard to China’s ability to control dissent there. Meanwhile, small early European bourse gains have turned into growing losses with the DAX now lower by 1.5%, the CAC down by 1.4% and the FTSE 100 down by 1.0%. While PMI data released showed that things were continuing on a slow trajectory higher, we have just had word from German Chancellor Merkel that “EU members [are] still far apart on recovery fund [and the] budget.” If you recall, there is a great deal of credence put into the idea that the EU is going to jointly support the nations most severely afflicted by the pandemic’s impacts. However, despite both German and French support, the Frugal Four seem to be standing their ground. It should be no surprise that the euro has turned lower on the news as well, as early modest gains have now turned into a 0.3% decline. One of the underlying supports for the single currency, of late, has been the idea that the joint financing of a significant budget at the EU level will be the beginning of a coherent fiscal policy to be coordinated with the ECB’s monetary policy. If they cannot agree these terms, then the euro’s existence can once again be called into question.

Perhaps what is more interesting is that as European equity markets turn lower, and US futures with them, the bond market is under modest pressure as well this morning. 10-year Treasury yields are higher by more than 2bps and in Europe we are seeing yields rise by between 3bps and 4bps. This is hardly risk-off behavior and once again begs the question which market is leading which. In the long run, bond investors seem to have a better handle on things, but on a day to day basis, it is anyone’s guess.

Finally, turning to the dollar shows that early weakness here has turned into broad dollar strength with only two currencies in the G10 higher at this point, the haven JPY (+0.4%) and NOK (+0.2%), which has benefitted from oil’s rally this morning with WTI up by about 1% and back above $40/bbl. In the emerging markets, only ZAR has managed any gains of note, rising 0.4%, after its PMI data printed at a surprisingly higher 53.9. On the flip side, PLN (-0.6%) is the laggard, although almost all EMG currencies are softer, as PMI data there continue to disappoint (47.2) and concerns over a change in political leadership seep into investor thoughts.

On the data front, we start to see some much more important data here today with ADP Employment (exp 2.9M), ISM Manufacturing (49.7) and Prices Paid (44.6) and finally, FOMC Minutes to be released at 2:00. Yesterday we saw some thought provoking numbers as Chicago PMI disappointed at 36.6, much lower than expected, while Case Shiller House Prices rose to 3.98%, certainly not indicating a deflationary surge.

Yesterday we also heard the second part of Chairman Powell’s testimony to Congress, where alongside Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, he said that the Fed remained committed to doing all that is necessary, that rates will remain low for as long as is deemed necessary, and that it would be a mistake if Congress did not continue to support the economy with further fiscal fuel. None of that was surprising and, quite frankly, it had no impact on markets anywhere.

At this point, today looks set to see a little reversal to last quarter’s extremely bullish sentiment so beware further dollar strength.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf