Tag Archives: $Bitcoin

Woes and Scraps

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The PMI data is in
And so far, it’s not really been
A sign of great strength
When viewed from arm’s length
No matter the punditry’s spin
 
That said, we are not near collapse
Despite many trade woes and scraps
And stocks keep on rising
So, t’will be surprising
For all when we see downside gaps

 

It was a quieter weekend than we have seen recently in the global arena with no new wars, no mega protests and no progress made on any of the major issues outstanding around the world.  Thus, the US government remains shut down, the war in Ukraine remains apace and the AI buzz continues to suck up most of the oxygen when discussing markets.

With this as background, arguably the most interesting market related news has been the manufacturing PMI data released last night and this morning.  starting in Asia, the story was some weakness as Chinese, Korean and Australian data all fell compared to last month, although India and Indonesia continued along well.  Meanwhile, in Europe, the data improved compared to last month, but the problem is it remains at or below 50 virtually across the board, so hardly indicative of strong economic activity.

                                                                                                      Current         Previous               Forecast

Source: tradingeconomics.com

I don’t know about you, but when I look at the releases this morning, I don’t see a European revival quite yet, not even if I squint.

I guess the other thing that has tongues wagging is Election Day tomorrow with three races garnering the focus, gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia and the mayoral race in New York City.  The first two are often described as harbingers of a president’s first year in office and I think this time will be no different.  But will they impact market behavior?  This I doubt.

So, let’s get right into markets this morning.  Friday’s further new record highs in the US were followed by strength through much of Asia (Tokyo was closed for Culture Day) with China (+0.3%), HK (+1.0%), Korea (+2.8%) and Taiwan (+0.4%) leading the way with only the Philippines (-1.7%) bucking the regional trend as earnings growth in the country continues to disappoint relative to its peers around the region.  Europe, too, has seen broad based gains with the DAX (+1.2%) leading the way higher and gains in the IBEX (+0.45%) and CAC (+0.3%) as well.  I guess the PMI data was sufficient to excite folks and despite Europe’s status as a global afterthought, at least in terms of geopolitical issues, their equity markets have been rising alongside the rest of the world’s all year.  And you needn’t worry, US futures are all higher at this hour (6:50), with the NASDAQ (+0.7%) leading the way.

Perhaps more interesting than equities though is the fact that government bond markets are doing so little.  Treasury yields jumped ~10bps in the wake of the FOMC meeting and, more accurately, Chairman Powell’s ostensible hawkishness.  However, as you can see in the below tradingeconomics.com chart, since then, nothing has happened. 

Recall, the probability of a December rate cut by the FOMC also fell from virtual certainty to 69% now.  In fact, if you think about it, that 30% probability decline translates into about 7.5bps, approximately the same amount as 10-year yield’s rose.  It appears that the market is consistent in its pricing at this point, and when (if?) data starts coming back into the picture, we will see both these interest rates rise and fall in sync.  As to European sovereigns, they continue to track the movement in the US and this morning, this morning, the entire bloc has seen yields edge higher by 1bp, exactly like the US.

Commodities remain the most interesting place, although the dollar is starting to perk up a bit.  Oil (-0.3%) slipped overnight after OPEC+ indicated they were increasing production by another 137K bbl/day, although there would be no more increases for at least three months given the seasonality of reduced oil demand at this point on the calendar.  Something I have not touched on lately is NatGas, which traded through $4.00/MMBtu late last Thursday, and is now up to $4.25.  in fact, in the past month it has risen nearly 27%, which given it is massively underpriced compared to oil (on a per unit of energy basis) should not be that surprising.  Nonetheless, sharp movements are always noteworthy, and this is no different.

Source: tradingeconomics.com

Certainly, part of this is the fact that winter is coming and seasonal demand is rising in the US. 

Combine that with the European needs for LNG, of which the US is the largest provider, and you have the makings of a rally.  (I wonder though, did the fact that Bill Gates changed his tune on global warming no longer being an existential threat signal it is now OK to burn more fossil fuels?)

Turning to the metals markets, the ongoing fight between the gold bugs and the powers that be continues as early in the overnight session, gold was lower by nearly -1% but as I type, just past 7:00am, it is slightly higher (+0.1%) compared to Friday’s closing levels.  Silver (+0.1%) has seen similar price action although copper (-0.5%) appears more focused on the economic story than the inflation story.  

Which takes us to the dollar and its continued rally. Using the DXY (+0.1%) as our proxy, it is higher again this morning and pushing back to the psychological 100.00 level.  Now, I have made the case several times that the dollar has done essentially nothing for the past six months, and the chart below, I believe, bears that out.  We have basically traded between 96.5 and 100 since May.

Source: tradingeconomics.com

You will also recall that there is a narrative around about the end of the dollar’s hegemony and how nations around the world are trying to exit the USD financial system that has been in place since Bretton Woods, or at least since the fiat currency world took off when President Nixon closed the gold window.  And there is no doubt that China is seeking to become the global hegemon and thus wants a renminbi-based system to use to their advantage.  However, let’s run a little thought experiment. 

The Trump administration has embraced the cryptocurrency space, and especially the use of stablecoins.  Legislation has been passed (GENIUS Act) to help clarify the legal framework and the SEC has been solicitous in its willingness to ensure that these creations are not securities, thus placing them outside the SEC’s oversight.  When looking at the world of stablecoins, their current total value is approximately $311 billion (according to Grok) of which only ~$1.2 billion are non-USD.  

Now, if stablecoins represent the payment rails of the future, an idea that is readily believable, and the stablecoin market is virtually entirely USD, with massive first mover advantage, is it not possible that economies around the world are going to find it much easier to dollarize than to maintain their own native currency?  While there are calls for Argentina to dollarize, what would the world look like if the EU fell apart (an entirely possible outcome given the inconsistencies in their current energy and immigration policies and the stress within the bloc) and the euro with it?  Would smaller nations opt for their own currency, or would they see the value of having a dollarized economy given the many efficiencies it would present, especially for their export industries?

While I have no doubt that China will never accept that outcome for themselves, is the future a world where there are two currency blocs, USD and CNY, and everything else simply disappears?  Remember, we are merely spit balling here, but if that is the outcome, demand for dollars will continue to rise, and the value of other currencies will continue to decline until such time as they succumb.

Again, this is a thought experiment, but one that offers intriguing possibilities for the future.  And one where the foreign exchange market may ultimately meet its demise.  After all, if there are only two currencies, that doesn’t make much of a market.

One other thing I must note, in the stablecoin realm, there is a remarkable product, USDi (usdicoin.com), which tracks US CPI exactly, yet can fit within those same payment rails.  If you are looking into this space, USDI is worth a peek.

Ok, back to the markets, looking across the FX space, +/-0.2% is today’s theme virtually across the board, with the more important currencies slipping against the dollar (EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, CAD) than rising vs the greenback (MXN, CLP, NOK, CZK), although the magnitudes are similar.

With the government still closed, there is no official data, but we do get ISM Manufacturing (exp 49.5) with the Prices Paid subindex (61.7) released at the same time.  There are two Fed speakers today, Daly and Cook, and then 9 more speeches throughout the week.  We also get the ADP Employment data on Wednesday (exp 24K), but I imagine that will get more press after the election results are learned Tuesday evening.

It is hard to get excited about things today, but nothing points to a weaker dollar right now.

Good luck

Adf

A Year So Dreary

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(With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe)

‘Eighteen was a year so dreary, traders studied hara-kiri
As they pondered every theory, algorithm and z-score.
Interest rates were slowly rising, growth no longer synchronizing,
Brexit’s failures mesmerizing, plus we got a real trade war
Italy, meanwhile explained that budget limits were a bore
Europe looked aghast and swore.

Thus instead of markets booming, (which most pundits were assuming)
What we got was all consuming angst too great to just ignore
Equities reduced to rubble, high-yield bonds saw their spreads double
As the Fed inspired bubble sprung a leak through the back door
Balance sheet adjustment proved to be more harsh than heretofore
Stock investors cussed and swore.

But the New Year’s now commencing, with the markets’, trouble, sensing
Thus predictions I’m dispensing might not be what you wished for
Life’s not likely to get better, ‘specially for the leveraged debtor
Who ought write an open letter to Chair Powell and implore
Him to stop his raising rates so assets grow just like before
Would that he would raise no more.

Pundits far and wide all wonder if Chair Powell’s made a blunder
Or if he will knuckle under to entreaties from offshore
Sadly for mainstream investors, lest our growth decays and festers
Powell will ignore protestors though they’ll raise a great uproar
Thus far he has made it clear that neutral’s what he’s shooting for
Jay, I fear, sees two hikes more.

At the same time Signor Draghi, who’s EU is weak and groggy
Using words in no way foggy, told us QE’s dead, he swore!
Plus he strongly recommended that when summer, this year, ended
Raising rates would be just splendid for those nations at the core
Even though the PIGS keep struggling, this he’s willing to ignore
Higher rates might be in store.

Lately, though, are growing rumors, that six billion world consumers
Are no longer in good humors, thus are buying less, not more
This result should be concerning for those bankers who are yearning
Rates to tighten, overturning years when rates were on the floor
Could it be what we will see is QE4 as an encore?
Maybe low rates are called for.

What about the budget shortfall, in the States that’s sure to snowball
If our growth rate has a pratfall like it’s done ten times before?
While this would be problematic, growth elsewhere would crash to static
Thus it would be quite pragmatic to assume the buck will soar
Don’t believe those euro bulls that think rate hikes there are in store
Christmas next we’re One-Oh-Four.

Now to Britain where the story of its Brexit’s been so gory
Leaving Labour and the Tories in an all out civic war
Though the deal that’s on the table, has its flaws, it would help cable
But when PM May’s unable to find votes here’s what’s in store
Look for cable to go tumbling well below its lows of yore
Next December, One-One-Four.

Time to focus on the East, where China’s growth just might have ceased
Or slowed quite sharply at the least, from damage due to Trump’s trade war
Xi, however’s not fainthearted, and more ease he has imparted
Trying to get growth restarted, which is really quite a chore
But with leverage so extended, how much more can they pay for?
Not as much as days of yore.

With growth there now clearly slowing, public cash is freely flowing,
Banks are told, be easygoing, toward the Chinese firms onshore
But the outcome’s not conclusive, and the only thing conducive
To success for Xi is use of weakness in the yuan offshore
I expect a steady drift much lower to Seven point Four
Only this and nothing more.

Now it’s time for analyzing, ten-year yields, so tantalizing
With inflation hawks advising that those yields will jump once more
But inflation doves are banking that commodities keep tanking
Helping bonds and Bunds when ranking outcomes, if you’re keeping score
Here the doves have better guidance and the price of bonds will soar
At what yields will they sell for?

Slowing growth and growing fear will help them both throughout the year
And so it’s not too cavalier to look for lower yields in store
Treasuries will keep on rising, and for now what I’m surmising
Is a yield of Two point Five is likely come Aught Twenty’s door
Bunds will see their yields retreat to Zero, that’s right, to the floor
Lower ten-year yields, look for.

In a world where growth is slowing, earnings data won’t be glowing
Red ink will, for sure, be flowing which investors can’t ignore
P/E ratios will suffer, and most firms will lack a buffer
Which means things will just get tougher for investors than before
What of central banks? Won’t they be able, prices, to restore?
Not this time, not like before.

In the States what I foresee is that the large cap S&P
Can fall to Seventeen Fifty by year end next, if not before
Europe’s like to see the same, the Stoxx 600 getting maimed
Two Fifty is where I proclaim that index will next year explore
Large percentage falls in both are what investors all abhor
But its what I see in store.

Oil’s price of late’s been tumbling, which for drillers has been humbling
OPEC meanwhile keeps on fumbling, each chance to, its strength, restore
But with global growth now slowing, storage tanks are overflowing
Meanwhile tankers, oceangoing, keep on pumping ship to shore
And more drilling in the States means lower prices are in store
Forty bucks I now call for.

One more thing I ought consider, Bitcoin, which had folks on Twitter
Posting many Tweets quite bitter as it tumbled ever more
Does this coin have true potential? Will it become influential?
In debates quite consequential ‘bout where assets you may store?
While the blockchain is important, Hodlers better learn the score
Bitcoin… folks won’t pay much for

So instead come winter next, Bitcoin Hodlers will be vexed
As it suffers from effects of slowing growth they can’t ignore
While it might be worth Two Grand, the end result is that demand
For Bitcoin will not soon expand, instead its like to shrink some more
Don’t be fooled in thinking you’ll soon use it at the grocery store
Bitcoin… folks won’t pay much for

Fin’lly here’s an admonition, if these views do reach fruition
Every single politician will blame someone else for sure
I’m not hoping for this outcome, I just fear the depths we might plumb
Will result in falling income and recession we’ll explore
So if risk you’re managing, more hedging now is what’s called for
Fear and risk are what will soar!

For you folks who’ve reached the end, please know I seek not to offend
But rather try to comprehend the state of markets and some more
If you read my thoughts last year, I tried to make it very clear
That economic trouble’s near, and so that caution is called for
Mostly though I hope the time invested has not made you sore
For you, my readers, I adore!

Have a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year
Adf