Author Archives: fxpoet

Opted To Stay

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The BOE banker named Mark
Whose bite pales compared to his bark
Has opted to stay
To help PM May
Get through a time sure to be stark

It has been a relatively docile FX market in the overnight session with traders awaiting new information on which to take positions. With that in mind, arguably the most interesting news has been that BOE Governor, Mark Carney, has agreed to extend his term in office for a second time, establishing a new exit date of January 2020. This is a relief to Chancellor Phillip Hammond, who really didn’t want to have a new Governor during what could turn out to be a very turbulent time immediately in the wake of the actuality of Brexit, which occurs on March 31, 2019. This is actually Carney’s second extension of his term, as he agreed to extend it originally by one year in the immediate wake of the Brexit vote in 2016. The market response was positive, with the pound bouncing about 0.5% upon the news, but just around 7:00am, it has started to cede those gains and is now actually down 0.3% on the session.

Away from the Carney news, there is precious little new to discuss. Eurozone data was generally softer than expected with IP there falling a worse than expected -0.8% in July. This resulted in the Y/Y figure actually turning negative as well, indicating that growth on the Continent is starting to suffer. In fact, there is another story that explains the ECB economists (not the governing council) have lowered their growth forecasts for the Eurozone during the next three years on the basis of increased trade frictions, emerging market malaise and higher US interest rates driving the global cycle. It will be interesting to see how Signor Draghi handles this news, and whether it will force the council to rethink their current plan to reduce QE starting next month and ending it in December. We will get to find out his thoughts tomorrow morning at the 8:30am press conference following their meeting. If pressed, I would expect that Draghi will be reluctant to change policy, but the increasing dangers to the economy, especially those posed by the escalating trade tensions between the US and China, will be front and center in the discussion. In the end, the euro has fallen slightly on the day, down 0.2%.

Otherwise, it is hard to get overly excited about the market this morning. Emerging market currencies are having a mixed session with INR rebounding, finally, after indications that the RBI is going to address the ongoing rupee weakness with tighter policy and perhaps increased market intervention. TRY is firmer by about 0.9% this morning as the market awaits tomorrow’s central bank news. Current market expectations are for a 300bp rate hike to address both the weakening currency and sharply rising inflation. However, we cannot forget President Erdogan’s distaste for higher interest rates as well as his control over the economy. In fact, this morning he fired the entire governing board of the Turkish sovereign wealth fund and installed himself as Chairman. I am skeptical that the Bank of Turkey raises rates anywhere near as much as the market anticipates. Meanwhile, yesterday saw the Brazilian real fall 1.6% as the presidential election polls show that the left wing candidates are gaining ground on Jair Bolsonaro, the market favorite. Given the virtual certainty there will be a second round vote, and the fact that Bolsonaro, who leads the polls right now, is shown by every poll to lose in the second round, it seems the market is coming to grips with the idea that the politics in Brazil are going to move away from investor friendliness into a more populist scenario. I fear the real may have quite a bit further to fall over time. 5.00 anyone?

Beyond these stories, nothing else is really noteworthy. Looking ahead to today’s US data shows that PPI will be released at 8:30 with the headline number expected at +0.2%, 3.2% Y/Y, and the core +0.2%, 2.7% Y/Y. We hear from two Fed speakers, uberdove Bullard and dovish leaning Brainerd, and then at 2:00pm comes the Fed’s Beige Book.

In the end, the dollar remains strongly linked to Fed policy, and there is no evidence that Fed policy is going to change from its current trajectory. In fact, if anything, it seems more likely that policy tightening quickens rather than slows. Consider the fact that the mooted tariffs of $200 billion of Chinese goods will impact a significant portion of consumer products, and if tariffs on an additional $267 billion are in play, then virtually everything that comes from China will be higher in price. I assure you that inflation will be higher in that event, and that the Fed will be forced to raise rates even more aggressively if that is the case. My point is that the dollar is still going to be the big beneficiary of this process, and my view that it will continue to strengthen remains intact.

Good luck
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Realistic

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As far as the market’s concerned
The mood out of Brussels has turned
They’re quite optimistic
A deal is “realistic”
By early November, we’ve learned

Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator for Brexit has lately changed his tune. Last month, ostensibly at the direction of his political masters, he was playing hardball, shooting down every UK proposal as inadequate and saying there was no negotiating room on the EU’s positions. Not surprisingly, the pound came under pressure during this period, trading to its lowest level in more than a year and approaching the post-vote lows. But a funny thing happened during the past week, Europe suddenly figured out they didn’t really want a no-deal Brexit. The first inkling came from comments by German officials who indicated that compromises were available. That changed the tone of the negotiations and suddenly, as I mentioned last week, it seemed that a deal was more likely. Those comments last week helped the pound rally more than 1%. Then yesterday morning Barnier explained that a deal is both “realistic” and “possible” within 6-8 weeks. It should be no surprise that the pound rallied yet again on the news, jumping another 1% during the US session and maintaining those gains ever since.

Regular readers will know that I have been quite bearish on the pound for two reasons; first is the fact that I continue to see the dollar strengthening over the medium term as the Fed’s tighter monetary policy leads all developed nations and will continue to do so. But the other reason was that I have been quite skeptical that a Brexit deal would be agreed and that the initial concern over damage to the UK economy would undermine the currency. However, this change in tone by the EU over Brexit is almost certainly going to have a significant positive impact on the pound’s value vs. both the euro and the dollar. And even though any deal is likely to be short on details, I expect that we will see the pound outperform the euro for the next several months at least. So any dollar strength will be less reflected vs. the pound than the euro, while any dollar weakness should see the pound as the top performer. The thing is, the details of the deal still matter a great deal, and at some point in the future, the UK and the EU are going to need to figure out how they are going to deal with the Irish border situation, even if they have kicked that particular can further down the road for now.

While on the topic of the UK, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the employment situation there remains robust. Unemployment data was released this morning showing the Unemployment Rate remained at 4.0%, the lowest level since 1975, while wage growth accelerated to 2.9%. The latter potentially presages further inflation, as measured productivity in the UK remains quite soft at 1.5% per annum. If this continues, higher wages amid low productivity, the BOE may find itself forced to raise rates regardless of the Brexit situation. Yet another positive for the beleaguered pound. Perhaps the bottom is in after all.

However, away from yesterday’s news on the pound, the FX markets have been quite uninteresting in the past twenty-four hours. Arguably, the dollar is a touch stronger, but the movement has been minute. Even the emerging market bloc has been less active with perhaps the most notable feature the fact that INR continues to trade to new historic lows (dollar highs) every day. As to the group of currencies that has led the turmoil, TRY, ARS and ZAR, all of them are slightly firmer this morning as they continue to consolidate their losses over the past month. In addition, we hear from the central banks of both Argentina (today) and Turkey (tomorrow), with more attention focused on the latter than the former. Recall that Argentine interest rates are already the world’s highest at 60% and no move is anticipated. However, Turkey’s meeting is anxiously awaited as the market is looking for a 300bp rate hike to help stem rising inflation and the currency’s weakness. The problem is that Turkish President Erdogan has been quite adamant that he is strongly against higher interest rates and given his apparent control over the central bank, it is by no means assured that they will act according to the market’s expectations. Be prepared for another leg lower in the lira if the Bank of Turkey disappoints.

As to today’s session, the NFIB Small Business Index was released at 108.8, stronger than expected and a new record high for the release. Despite the trade concerns and the political circus in Washington, small businesses have never been more confident in their future. I will admit that this almost seems like whistling past the graveyard, but for now everything is great. Later this morning we see the JOLTs Job report (exp 6.68M), which should simply reconfirm that the employment situation in the US remains robust.

And that’s really it for today. Equity futures are flat although the 10-year Treasury is continuing its recent trend lower (higher yields), albeit at a slow rate. There is certainly no evidence that the Fed is going to change its path, but for today, it seems unlikely that we will see much movement in either direction beyond what has already occurred. Barring, of course, any surprising new comments.

Good luck
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Soared Like a Jet

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On Friday the jobs report showed
More money, to more people flowed
Earnings per hour
Has gained firepower
So interest rate hikes won’t be slowed

The market response, though, was bleak
With equity prices quite weak
However the buck
Had much better luck
And soared like a jet, so to speak

As the week begins, we have seen the dollar cede some of the gains it made in Friday’s session. That move was a direct result of the payroll data, where not only did NFP beat expectations at 201K, but the Average Hourly Earnings number printed at 0.4% for the month and 2.9% annualized. That result was the fastest pace of wage growth since 2009 and significantly higher than the market anticipated. It should be no surprise that the market response was higher interest rates and a concurrently stronger dollar. Overall, the dollar was higher by a solid 0.5% and 10-year Treasury yields jumped 5bps on the day.

Wage growth has been the key missing ingredient from the economic data for the past several years as economists continue to try to figure out why record low unemployment has not been able to drive wages higher. The Fed reaction function has always been predicated on the idea that once unemployment declines past NAIRU (Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment), more frequently known as the natural rate of unemployment, that wages will rise based on increased demand for a shrinking supply of workers. Yet the Fed’s models have been unable to explain the situation this cycle, where unemployment has fallen to 50 year lows without the expected wage inflation. And of course, the one thing every politician wants (and Fed members are clearly politicians regardless of what they say) is for the population to make more money. So, if Friday’s data is an indication that wage growth is finally starting to pick up, it will encourage Powell and friends to continue hiking rates.

This was made clear on Friday by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, who had been a reliable dovish voice for a long time, when he explained to the WSJ that the Fed’s current pace of quarterly rate hikes was clearly appropriate and that there need to be at least four more before they start to consider any policy changes. There was no discussion of inverting the yield curve, nor did he speak about the trade situation. It should not be surprising that the Fed Funds futures market responded by bidding up the probability of a December rate hike to 81% with the September hike already a virtual certainty.

But that was then and this is now. This morning has seen a much less exciting session with the dollar edging slightly lower overall, although still showing strength against its emerging market counterparts. Looking at the G10, the picture is mixed, with the euro and pound both firmer by 0.15% or so. The former looks to be a trading response to Friday’s decline, while the latter is benefitting, ever so slightly, from better than expected GDP data with July’s print at 0.3% and the 3-month rate at 0.6%. We’ve also seen AUD rally 0.25%, as firmer commodity prices seem to be underpinning the currency today. However, both CHF and JPY are softer this morning, with the Swiss franc the weakest of the bunch, down 0.65%.

In the EMG space, however, the picture is quite different, with INR making yet another new historic low as the market continues to respond to Friday’s worse than expected current account deficit. The rupee has fallen a further 0.85% on the day. We’ve also seen weakness in CNY (-0.25%), RUB (-0.45%) and MXN (-0.2%). But some of the biggest decliners of recent vintage, TRY and ZAR, have rebounded from their worst levels, although they are still off significantly this year.

Looking ahead to this week, the data is fairly light with just CPI and Retail Sales in the back half of the week, although we also get the Fed’s Beige Book on Wednesday.

Tuesday NFIB Business Optimism 108.2
  JOLT’s Job Openings 6.68M
Wednesday PPI 0.2% (3.2% Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.8% Y/Y)
  Beige Book  
Thursday Initial Claims 210K
  CPI 0.3% (2.8% (Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.4% Y/Y)
Friday Retail Sales 0.4%
  -ex autos 0.5%
  IP 0.3%
  Capacity Utilization 78.4%
  Michigan Sentiment 96.9

There are also a number of Fed speakers this week, but I have to say that it seems increasingly unlikely that there will be any new views coming from them. The doves have already made their case, and the hawks continue to be in the ascendancy.

Net, I see no reason to believe that anything in the market has really changed for now. Rate expectations remain for higher US rates, and growth elsewhere continues to be okay but not great. Ultimately, things still point to a higher dollar in my view. Not forever, but for now.

Good luck
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Mostly At Peace

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Ahead of the payroll release
The market is mostly at peace
But there is no sign
The recent decline
In values is set to decrease

While I apologize for the double negative, this morning’s price action is a story of consolidation of recent losses across emerging market currencies and their respective equity markets. In fact, the biggest gainers in the FX markets today are some of the currencies that have been suffering the most recently. For example, the South African rand is higher by 1.4% on the day, but still down nearly 3.0% this week. Meanwhile in Brazil, in the wake of the assassination attempt on Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, the real has rebounded 1.75%, essentially recouping the week’s losses, although is still down almost 8.0% this month. The story here is that Bolsonaro, who was leading in the polls and is favored by markets due to his free-market leanings, is expected to receive a sympathy vote along with more press coverage, and has increased his odds of winning the election next month. And of course, everyone’s favorite pair of losers, TRY and ARS, are both firmer this morning as well, by 3.5% and 2.75% respectively, but both remain down substantially in the past month. And there is no sign that policy is going to change sufficiently to have any positive impact in the short term. In other words, while many EMG currencies have performed well overnight, there is little reason to believe that the unfolding crisis in the space has ended.

Turning to the biggest news of the day, the payroll report is due with the following expectations:

Nonfarm Payrolls 191K
Private Payrolls 190K
Manufacturing Payrolls 24K
Unemployment Rate 3.8%
Average Hourly Earnings 0.2% (2.7% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.5

If forecasts are on the mark, it will simply represent a continuation of the current US expansion and cement the case for two more rate hikes by the Fed this year. In fact, we would need to see substantially weaker numbers to derail that process on a domestic basis. And given yesterday’s Initial Claims data of 203K, the lowest print since 1969, it seems highly unlikely that this data will be weak.

A second factor reinforcing the view that the Fed will remain on their current rate-raising path was a comment by NY Fed President John Williams. Yesterday, after a speech in Buffalo, he said that he would not be deterred from raising rates simply because it might drive the yield curve into an inversion. This is quite a turn of events for Williams who had historically leaned more dovish when he was at the San Francisco Fed. In addition, it is exactly the opposite from what we have recently heard from two separate Fed presidents, Atlanta’s Bostic and St Louis’ Bullard, both of who were explicit in saying they would not vote for a rate hike if that would cause an inversion. Of course, neither of them is a voter right now while Williams is, so his voice is even more important.

While it is not clear whether Chairman Powell is of a like mind on this subject, there is certainly no evidence that Powell is going to be deterred from his current belief set that further gradual rate hikes are necessary and appropriate. The one thing that is very clear is that the current Fed is focused almost entirely on the US economy, to the exclusion of much of the rest of the world. And this focus reduces the chance that Powell will respond to further emerging market instability unless it reaches a point where the US economy is likely to be impacted. As far as I can tell, the Fed’s focus remains on the impact of the recent increase in fiscal stimulus and how that might impact the inflation situation.

There is one other thing to keep in mind today, and going forward, and that is that yesterday was the last day of comment period on President Trump’s mooted tariff increase on a further $200 Billion of Chinese imports. If he does follow through by implementing these tariffs, look for significant market impact with the dollar resuming its climb and a much bigger negative impact on equity markets as investors try to determine the impact on company results. Also look for commodity prices to decline on the news.

But that is really it for the day. Ahead of the data there is little reason for much of a move. However, even after the data, assuming the forecasts are reasonably accurate, I would expect the dollar’s consolidation to continue. In the end, though, all signs still point to a stronger dollar over time.

Good luck
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Their Canard

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At last both the Germans and Brits
Realized, nations both, would take hits
If Brexit was hard
So now their canard
Is claiming, details, they’ll omit

The tone of the market changed early yesterday afternoon when a story hit the tape about Brexit indicating that both sides had moved closer to finding an agreement. While some might say this is simply a muddle-through effort (and I would be one of those) the facts seem to be that both sides are willing to move forward with far less specificity than had previously been demanded. In a nutshell, the prior stance had called for a Brexit agreement that was explicit as to the solutions for things like the Irish border issue when the UK leaves the EU. In essence, while both sides agree a transition period is necessary, the EU especially, was demanding to know the details of how things would eventually fall out. Of course, the UK couldn’t discuss those given the amount of internal dissention amongst the May government on the issue. But now, the Germans have said that those details could wait until after the March 2019 exit, and that the future trade agreement can be negotiated in more detail then. This opens the door for a more wishy-washy Brexit agreement, which is likely the only type that can be approved by both the UK Parliament and the EU’s 28 other members.

The market impact was immediate with the pound gapping higher by 1% when the story was released, and although it has given back a portion of those gains, it remains higher overall today. The euro, too, jumped at the same time, albeit not quite as far, with an immediate bump of 0.5%, most of which it has retained. The real question, though, seems to be; is this a temporary situation, or has there been a fundamental change in the FX market?

Certainly there is a valid argument that a positive turn in the Brexit negotiations should lead to further pound strength. After all, while the dollar has appreciated a solid 6% against a basket of currencies since April, the pound has fallen more than 10% over that time. It is not unreasonable to assume that the difference is attributable to the steadily deteriorating views on a positive Brexit outcome. If the Brexit situation becomes less fraught, then a rebound in the pound would be a natural outcome. While one day does not make a trend, we will watch this closely going forward.

But aside from the news on Brexit, the main theme in the markets continues to be the ongoing meltdown in EMG currency and equity markets. Yesterday saw some of the worst behavior we have witnessed in this move, and the term contagion was bandied about in many analyses. This morning, things have settled down a bit, and actually we are seeing several of the worst hit currencies claw back a small portion of recent losses. For example, ZAR, which had fallen nearly 6.0% yesterday, is higher by 0.75% this morning. MXN, which lost 2.5% yesterday at its worst, has since regained about half of that with 0.5% coming this morning. Meanwhile, both TRY and ARS, the leaders of the pack when it comes to collapsing currencies, are both higher by a bit over 1% this morning. Of course, relative to their 20+% declines in the past month, this is small beer. However, the point is that the market feels far more stable this morning than yesterday’s situation.

Despite this morning’s stability, though, the broader issues remain. I assure you that neither Turkey nor Argentina have solved their macroeconomic problems. Inflation remains rampant in both nations and will continue to do so for a while. India, Brazil and Indonesia still have large C/A deficits and the Fed has not yet changed its tune. They will raise rates by 25bps later this month, and the odds are still quite high they will do so again in December. This tells me that today’s price action is a breather as traders and investors prepare themselves for tomorrow’s payroll report. Remember, one of the things we learned from Powell’s Jackson Hole speech was that the Fed is closely watching the data and has concerns about an overheating economy. If tomorrow’s data shows higher than expected hourly earnings, or a dip to 3.7% Unemployment, those could well be the signals that add urgency to their tightening process.

Meanwhile, looking ahead to the rest of the US session, we get quite a bit of data as follows:

ADP Employment 190K
Initial Claims 214K
Nonfarm Productivity 3.0%
Unit Labor Costs -0.9%
Factory Orders -0.6%
ISM Non-Manufacturing 56.8

This week’s ISM data was very strong, and the Trade Deficit has blown out as US growth outpaces that of pretty much every other developed nation. So as far as the data story goes, there is no reason to believe that the Fed is going to pause in the near term, despite concerns over the shape of the yield curve. And given that stance, I remain a firm believer in the dollar’s potential. Until the Fed changes its tune, I see no reason to change mine.

Good luck
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Investor Frustrations

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There once was a wide group of nations
Whose growth was built on weak foundations
Their policy actions
Are seen as subtractions
Increasing investor frustrations

Boy, I go away for a few days and world virtually collapses!!!

Needless to say, a lot has happened since I last wrote on Thursday, with a number of emerging market currencies and their respective equity markets really coming under pressure. It was the usual suspects; Turkey, Argentina, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and China, all of whom had felt significant pressure at various times during the year. But this new wave seems a bit more stressful in that prior to the past few days, each one had experienced a problem of its own, but since Friday, markets have pummeled them all together. This appears to be the contagion that had been feared by both investors and policymakers. The thing is, the unifying theme to pretty much all these markets is the stronger dollar. As the dollar resumes its strengthening trend, both companies and governments in those nations are finding it increasingly difficult to handle their debt loads. And given the near certainty that the Fed is going to continue its steady policy tightening alongside consistently stronger US economic data, the dollar strengthening trend seems likely to remain in tact for a while yet.

Could this be one of the ‘unexpected’ consequences of ten years of QE, ZIRP and NIRP? Apparently, despite assurances from esteemed central bankers like Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi (as dovish a triumvirate as has ever been seen), there ARE negative consequences to dramatically changing the way monetary policy is handled, massively expanding balance sheets and driving real interest rates to significant negative levels. While there is no doubt that developed economy stock markets have benefitted generally, it seems like some of those risks are becoming more apparent.

These risks include things like the central bankers’ loss of control over markets. After all, markets around the world have basically danced to the tune of free money for the past decade. As that tune changes, investor behavior is sure to change as well. Another systemic risk has been the increasing inability of investors to adequately diversify their portfolios. If every market rises due to exogenous variables, like zero interest rates, then how can prudent investors manage their risk? Many took comfort in the fact that market volatility had declined so significantly, implying that systemic risk was reduced on net. However, what we have observed in 2018 is that volatility is not, in fact, dead, but had merely been anaesthetized by that free money.

The worrying thing is there is no reason to believe that this process is going to end soon. Rather, I fear that it may just be beginning. There are a significant number of excesses to wring out of the markets, and however much central bankers around the world try to prevent that from happening, they cannot hold back the tide forever. At some point, and it could be coming sooner than you think, markets are going adjust despite all the efforts of Powell, Draghi, Carney, Kuroda and their brethren. Never forget that the market is far bigger than any one nation.

We are already seeing how this can play out in some of the above-mentioned countries. Argentina, for example, has short-term interest rates of 60%, inflation of ‘only’ 31%, and therefore real interest rates are now +29%! But the economy is back in recession, having shrunk 6.7% last quarter, and the current account deficit remains a significant problem. So despite jacking rates to 60%, the currency has fallen 22% this week and 120% this year! And they are following orthodox monetary policy. Turkey, on the other hand, has been unwilling to bend to orthodoxy (when it comes to monetary policy) and has kept rates low such that real interest rates are near zero and heading negative as inflation continues its climb (17.9% in September) while rates remain on hold. So the fact that the lira is down 9% this week and 95% this year should be less surprising.

The point is that the market is losing its taste for discrimination and is beginning to treat all currencies under the rubric ‘emerging markets’ as the same. And they are selling them all. As long as the Fed continues its grind higher in rates, there is no reason to believe that this will end. And if these declines are steady, rather than sharp crashes, it will go on for a while. Chairman Powell will have no reason to stop if a few random EMG markets trend lower. If, however, the S&P 500 starts to suffer, that may be a different story, and one we will all watch with great interest!

In the meantime, turning to G10 currencies, the dollar is stronger here as well this morning, although it has fallen back from its best levels of the morning. In fact, while the pound has been consistently undermined (-0.3% today, -1.5% since Thursday) by what seems to be a worsening saga regarding Brexit, the euro has stabilized for now, although it is down about 1% since Thursday as well. Apparently, CAD is not taking the ongoing NAFTA negotiations that well, as it has fallen 2% since Thursday amid pressure on PM Trudeau to cave into US demands. The BOC meets today and while there had been previous expectations that they may raise rates, that has been pushed back to October now in view of the NAFTA process. This is despite the fact that inflation in Canada is running at 2.9%, well above target.

In the end, as long as the Fed continues along its recent path, expect market volatility to increase further, with more and more dominoes likely to fall.

As to today, the only noteworthy data is the Balance of Trade, where expectations are for a $50.3B outcome, not exactly what the president is hoping for, I’m sure. And as far as the dollar goes, there is no reason to believe that its recent strength is going to turn around anytime soon.

Good luck
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Still No Solution

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On Wednesday it suddenly seemed
That Brexiteers might be redeemed
The EU’d just hinted
A deal could be printed
Like nothing initially dreamed

But subsequent comments made clear
No breakthrough was actually near
There’s still no solution
(Just feared retribution)
On solving the Irish frontier

Yesterday saw the British pound rocket around 10:00am when EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, hinted that there was a chance for a deal with the UK that was different than EU deals with its other near neighbors. The market heard this as the first real attempt at a compromise on the EU side, and so within minutes, the pound was 1.2% higher and back above 1.30 for the first time in almost a month. Certainly, if this is true, it marks a serious breakthrough in the talks and is quite positive. Everything we have heard from the UK so far is that they are willing to adhere to EU rules regarding the trade in goods, but are looking for a different deal in services. Prior to the Barnier comments, the EU had been firm in their stance that it was an all or none decision. Suddenly, it seemed like a deal could occur. On that basis, the pound’s rally certainly makes sense, as the prospects for a no-deal Brexit had lately been clearly weighing on the pound. Alas, subsequent comments by the EU have poured cold water on this thought process as Barnier has reiterated there is no ability to cherry-pick the preferred parts of EU policy. Interestingly, the pound has barely given back any of the gains it managed in the wake of the first statement, as it is actually down less than 0.1% as I type.

Given the data released earlier this morning, which was not all that positive (Consumer Credit declined more than expected, Mortgage Lending declined much more than expected and Mortgage Approvals fell more than expected) it seems hard to justify the ongoing strength of the pound. Two possible explanations are 1) the market had built up significant short positions in the pound and while yesterday’s sharp rally forced covering, nobody has looked to reinstate them yet, or 2) investors and traders continue to believe that the UK will get a special deal and so further weakness in the pound is not warranted. Occam’s Razor would suggest that the first explanation is the correct one, as the second one would seem to require magical thinking. And while there is plenty of magical thinking going around, financial markets are one place where it is difficult to retain those thoughts and survive. My gut tells me that once the Labor Day holiday has passed, we will see the pound start to sell off once again.

The other noteworthy story this morning is that there is even more stress in those emerging market currencies that have been feeling stressed during the past month. Today it is Argentina’s turn to lead the way lower, with the peso falling an impressive 7.5% after President Macri announced that he had asked the IMF to speed up disbursements of the $50 billion credit line. The market saw that as desperation, which is probably correct despite strenuous denials by the Argentine government. Meanwhile, the Turkish lira is down by 3.5% because…well just because. After all, nothing has changed there and until the central bank starts to focus monetary policy on solving the nation’s problems, TRY will continue to fall. Overnight we saw INR fall to a new historic low, down 0.4% and now pushing to 71.00, albeit not quite there yet. ZAR is under pressure this morning, down nearly 2% as its current account deficit situation is seen as a significant weight. And despite the positive of completing NAFTA negotiations with the US, MXN has fallen 0.5%. So while the dollar is generally little changed vs. its G10 counterparts, the stress in the EMG bloc remains palpable. Ultimately, I expect the dollar to resume its uptrend, but not until next week, after the holiday.

As to this morning’s data, after yesterday’s upward revision of Q2 GDP, all eyes are on the PCE data this morning. Expectations run as follows: Initial Claims (214K); Personal Income (0.3%); Personal Spending (0.4%); PCE (0.1%, 2.2% Y/Y); and Core PCE (0.2%, 2.0% Y/Y). Again, the biggest market reaction is likely to be caused by an unexpected outturn in Core PCE, which is the number most Fed members seem to regard as the key. A high print should support the dollar, as the implication will be the Fed may be forced to tighten more aggressively, while a low print should undermine the buck as traders back off on their estimates of how quickly the Fed acts. Remember, many traders and investors took Powell’s Jackson Hole speech as dovish, although I’m not so sure that is an accurate take.

At any rate, that pretty much sums up the day. I will be on vacation starting tomorrow and thus there will be no poetry until September 5th.

Thanks and have a good holiday weekend
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A Collective Bronx Cheer

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Some currencies, so far, this year
Received a collective Bronx cheer
Now in the last week
They saw a small peak
But forecasts continue severe

Recent pressure on the dollar has manifested itself against not only the G10 currencies, but also against some of the hardest hit currencies this year. Argentine pesos, Turkish Lira, Brazilian Real and Indian rupee all had received a modest reprieve during the dollar’s recent weakening spell. But that price action has faded into history as all of those currencies have come under renewed pressure during the past two sessions as the dollar seems to have found its footing. Each one seems to have its own domestic reason for distress, but the overarching theme remains that tighter Fed policy and the ensuing reduction in the available USD liquidity in global markets has undermined domestic conditions in these nations and exacerbated weakness in these currencies.

A quick recap shows that in Turkey, significant concerns remain over the central banks unwillingness to address quickly rising inflation by the ordinary method of raising interest rates. That lack of action has resulted in TRY declining by 7.5% in the past two sessions. In Brazil, the real has fallen 2% in the past two sessions as renewed concerns over the upcoming presidential election have arisen, with traders worried about a sharp turn left and a much less favorable investment environment. In India, we have seen a 1.5% decline in the rupee, which has generally been a much less volatile currency of late, as inflation concerns continue to plague the RBI despite its recent action to raise interest rates by 25bps, its second consecutive move and taking rates back to late 2016 levels. Finally, the Argentine economy continues to slow into recession while inflation remains rampant despite 45% interest rates as confidence in the Macri administration becomes more fragile. So every nation has its own problems, but most of these problems are not that new. They have been laid bare, however, by the change in Fed policy. When the Fed allowed USD liquidity to slosh all around the world, it hid many sins that existed.

As to the G10 space, it seems that my sense of continued dollar weakness was misplaced. Rather, what we have seen is a halt to the dollar’s recent slide and consolidation of those moves. For example, after touching a more than one month high at 1.1733 yesterday, the euro has drifted back to 1.1665 as I type, despite a distinct lack of data. Price action resembles that of positions being unwound ahead of the holiday weekend more than anything else.

Actually, within this space, two currencies stand out for their weakness today, AUD and SEK. The former has reacted to the ongoing dichotomy between the RBA’s cash rate, which remains at historic lows of 1.50%, and news that Westpac, one of the big four Australian banks, raised mortgage rates by 14bps in response to the fact that their funding costs continue to rise due to Federal Reserve policy in the US. Once again, the Fed’s actions are having unexpected ramifications around the world.

Sweden, however, has a different issue, and that is domestic politics. It is the latest nation where the establishment political parties have lost significant support, and in the mold of much of Eastern Europe, Italy, the UK and even the US, Sweden has seen the rise of a nationalist focused group, the Sweden Democrats, that is set to become the largest party in Parliament at next week’s election. This has generated significant concern within the marketplace that Sweden’s recent robust economic performance will be negatively impacted and that the Riksbank will refrain from raising interest rates as previously expected. The upshot is that while today’s decline is just 0.3% vs. the dollar, the big move has been vs. the euro, where the krone has been falling steadily for the past two months, lopping 5% from its value.

This morning’s data showed that Q2 growth in the US was actually revised higher to 4.2% amid improvements in investment by businesses. However, the dollar has shown little reaction to the numbers, maintaining its overnight gains but not extending them. Treasury prices, however, have fallen in the wake of the print and are now showing 10-year yields higher by 3bps. For the rest of the day, there is little in the way of news expected that is likely to move markets, so my best guess is that we will continue to see the dollar consolidate.

Good luck
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A deal Has Been Made

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The story is once again trade
As news that a deal has been made
Twixt Mex and DC
Helped traders agree
The dollar would slowly degrade

Right now, there are two essential stories that the market is following; the Fed and US trade negotiations. While Friday’s news was all about the Fed (with a small dose of PBOC), yesterday we turned back to trade as the key market driver. The announcement that a tentative agreement had been reached between the US and Mexico regarding NAFTA negotiations was hailed in, most quarters, as a positive event. It is beyond the scope of this discussion to opine on the merits of the actual negotiation, only on its market impact. And that was unambiguous. Equity markets rallied everywhere while the dollar continued its recent decline. In fact, the dollar has now fallen for seven of the past eight sessions and is trading back at levels not seen in four weeks. So much for my thesis that continued tighter policy by the Fed would support the buck.

But I think it is worth examining why things are moving the way they are, and more importantly, if they are likely to continue the recent trend, or more likely to revert to the longer run story.

Earlier this year, as the narrative evolved from synchronous global growth to the US leading the way and policy divergence, buying dollars became a favored trade, especially in the hedge fund community. In fact, it grew to be so favored that positioning, at least based on CFTC figures, showed that it was near record levels. And while the dollar continued to rally right up until early last week, everybody carrying that position was happy. This was not only because their view was correct, but also because the current interest rate market paid them to maintain the position, a true win-win situation.

In the meantime, another situation was playing out at the same time; the increasingly bombastic trade rhetoric, notably between the US and China, but also between the US and Mexico, Canada and Europe. With the imposition of tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports by the US, and the reciprocal tariffs by China, the situation was seen as quite precarious. While there was a mild reprieve when the US delayed imposing tariffs on imported European autos last month, a key issue had continued to be the ongoing NAFTA renegotiations. These stories, when highlighted in the press, typically led to risk-off market reactions, one of which included further USD strength.

So between the two stories, higher US rates and increasing risk on the trade front, there were two good reasons to remain long dollars. However, one of the oft-mentioned consequences of the stronger dollar has been the pressure it applies to EMG economies that were heavy dollar borrowers over the past ten years. Suddenly, their prospects dimmed greatly because they felt the double whammy of less inward investment (as USD investments became more attractive due to higher US rates) and a weaker currency eating up a greater proportion of local currency revenues needed to repay dollar debt and its interest. This led to increasing angst over the Fed’s stated views that gradual rate hikes were appropriate regardless of the international repercussions. This also led to significant underperformance by EMG equity markets as well as their currencies, forced the hands of several EMG central banks to raise rates to protect their currencies, and completely decimated a few places, notably Argentina and Turkey.

But that all started to change in earnest last Friday. While the dollar had been retracing some of its recent gains prior to the Jackson Hole meeting, when Chairman Powell hinted that he saw no reason that inflation would continue much beyond the Fed’s target level (although without the benefit of a rationale for that view), the market interpreted that as the Fed ‘s rate hiking trajectory would be shallower than previously thought, and that four rate hikes this year was no longer a given. In fact there are those who now believe that September may be the last rate hike for several quarters (I am not in the group!) Now adding to that the positive news regarding trade with Mexico, with the implication that there is an opportunity to avoid a truly damaging trade war, all of those long dollar positions are feeling far less confident and slowly unwinding. And my sense is that will continue for a bit longer, continuing to add pressure to the dollar. What is interesting to me is that the euro, for example, has retraced back above 1.17 so quickly (remember, it was trading at 1.13 just two weeks ago) and it is not clear that many positions have been cleared out. That implies that we could see further dollar weakness ahead as long as there is no other risk-off catalyst that arises.

The thing is, I don’t think this has changed the long run picture for the dollar, which I think will continue to outperform over time, as while the Fed may slow its trajectory, it is not stopping any time soon. And the reality is that the ECB is still well over a year away from raising rates, with Japan further behind than that. Meanwhile, the PBOC is actively easing as the Chinese economy continues to slow. In the end, the dollar remains the best bet in the medium term. But in the short run, I think the euro could well trade toward 1.19 before stalling, with other currencies moving a similar amount.

As to today’s session, there has been a decided lack of data from either Asia or Europe, and nothing really on the cards for the US. We remain in a lackluster holiday week, as US trading desks remain lightly staffed ahead of the Labor Day holiday next Monday. So to me, momentum is pointing to continued dollar weakness for now, and I expect that is what we will see for the rest of the week.

Good luck
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And what has happened as that angst has grown, and fears of a repeat of the EMG crisis of 1998-9 were raised?

 

A Weakening Buck

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Said Powell, we’ve had quite some luck
Inflation’s apparently stuck
Right at two percent
So I won’t lament
If we see a weakening buck

You likely noticed the dollar’s sharp decline on Friday, which actually began shortly before Chairman Powell spoke in Jackson Hole. For that, you can thank the PBOC who reinstated their Countercyclical Factor (CCF). The CCF was the fudge the PBOC created in January of last year to help them regain control of the USDCNY fixing each day. Prior to that, the goal had been to slowly allow the FX market establish the fixing rate in their efforts to internationalize the yuan. But then, market turmoil upset the apple cart and they were no longer pleased with the yuan’s direction. In fact, that was the last time USDCNY made a move toward 7.00. But once they instituted the CCF, which is claimed to include market parameters, they essentially resumed command of the currency and at that time, simply walked it higher over the course of the ensuing year. At that point, they felt things were under control, and early this year they abandoned the CCF as unnecessary. Until Friday, when after the yuan made yet another attempt at 7.00, they decided it was time to reestablish control of the currency. And so, Friday, the yuan rallied in excess of 1.5% and has now stabilized, at least temporarily, around 6.80. With the PBOC’s thumb on the scale, I expect that we are going to see a reduction in CNY volatility, and arguably, a very mild appreciation over time.

Which leads us to discuss the other catalyst for dollar weakness on Friday, Chairman Powell’s speech. In it, he basically said that although inflation has reached their 2.0% target, there is limited reason to expect it to continue to go higher. The market’s take on those comments was that the Fed was likely to slow the trajectory of rate hikes, thereby undermining the dollar. The broad dollar index fell about 0.6% during the speech and has retained those losses since. One of the interesting things is that nobody has accused Powell of succumbing to pressure from Trump with regard to changing his tone. But economists around the world are clearly happier.

Their joy stems from the following sequence of events. In the decade since the financial crisis, when interest rates were pushed to zero or below by developed country central banks, there was a huge expansion of US dollar debt taken on by EMG countries and companies within them. As long as rates were low, and the dollar remained on the soft side, those borrowers had limited issues when it came to rolling over the debt and paying the interest. But once the Fed started to tighten policy, both raising rates and shrinking the available number of dollars in the global system, the dollar rebounded. This was a double whammy for those EMG borrowers because refinancing became more expensive on a rate basis, and it took more local currency to pay the interest, hurting their local currency cash flows as well. This has been a key underlying issue for numerous EMG nations like Argentina, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and India. It has exacerbated their currency weakness and expanded their current account deficits.

So now, if Powell and the Fed are going to slow down their efforts on the basis of the idea that inflation is not going to continue to rise, it will reduce the pressure on all of those nations and more. Hence the joy from economists. I guess the only thing that can derail this is if inflation doesn’t actually slow down. Remember, despite the fact that the Fed follows PCE, CPI has been rising sharply lately, and they cannot ignore that fact. If that trend continues, and there is a fair chance that it will, look for PCE to follow and for Powell to have to walk back those comments. I guess we shall see.

As to the overnight session, the dollar is little changed from Friday’s closes as we begin the week leading up to the Labor Day holiday in the US. We actually saw our first substantive data release in more than a week overnight, with the German IFO index rising for the first time in nine months to a much better than expected 103.8. But the euro has been unable to take advantage of the news and is essentially unchanged on the day, along with everything else. As to the US data calendar, it remains on the quiet side, although we do see the latest reading of the aforementioned PCE data.

Tuesday Case-Shiller Home Prices 6.5%
  Goods Trade Balance -$68.6B
Wednesday Q2 GDP 2nd Est 4.0%
Thursday Initial Claims 214K
  Personal Income 0.3%
  Personal Spending 0.4%
  PCE 0.1% (2.2% Y/Y)
  Core PCE 0.2% (2.0% Y/Y)
Friday Chicago PMI 63.0
  Michigan Sentiment 95.5

I expect that unless something remarkable happens to the GDP data on Wednesday, that all eyes will be on the Income and Spending data on Thursday. But in the end, there is a new tone to the market, one which is decidedly less dollar bullish, and given the number of dollar long positions that remain in place, I expect that we may see the dollar nursing its wounds for quite a while. This is a plus for receivables hedgers, as it does appear the dollar has stopped rallying for now. Just don’t get greedy!

Good luck
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