Tag Archives: #Canada

Giddy and Squiffed

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The narrative’s starting to shift
As good news is getting short shrift
From ‘Here comes the boom’
To darkness and gloom
Short sellers are giddy and squiffed

In Europe the data is fading
While Covid continues invading
At home in the States
All our interest rates
Are falling amidst active trading

Just two weeks ago, equity markets were pushing higher, and despite the growing resurgence in Covid cases worldwide, it looked like new all-time highs were in store for investors.  After all, there was so much optimism that a stimulus package would be enacted before the election, and there was so much optimism that a vaccine would be approved in short order, with the combination of those events resulting in the final leg of that elusive V-shaped recovery.  There was hope on the Brexit front, and the story of the blue wave in the US election was everywhere, which seemed (for some reason) to be seen as a positive for risk assets.  Ah…the good old days.

But that is soooo two weeks ago!  This morning, the world looks a different place.  Seemingly, every headline revolves around either government reactions to quickly inflating Covid case counts (Curfews in Spain, German restaurants, bars, clubs and gyms to be closed for a month, Chicago closing restaurants for a month), or central bank responses to these issues (Bank of Canada to reiterate lower forever for longer, ECB to describe expansion in PEPP).  And guess what?  Investors are no longer feeling the love of the longest bull market in history.  Risk assets, overall, are being tossed out as quickly as possible and haven assets are in demand.  While yesterday had many risk-off features, today is the textbook definition of a risk-off session.

Let’s dive into the equity market first, the asset class that most associate with risk appetite.  While Asian markets were mixed (Nikkei -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.3%, Shanghai +0.45%), Europe really spit the bit this morning, with the FTSE 100 (-1.7%) the best performer of the lot.  The DAX (-3.2%) and the CAC (-2.9%) are both under significant pressure, as is Spain’s MIB (-2.9%) after the curfew announcement.  Not only have all these markets fallen below key moving averages, but the DAX (-11% from the recent high) and CAC (-9% from recent high) have either entered or are nearing correction territory.  The big difference between European markets and those in the US has been that post-Covid, European markets never came close to regaining the pre-Covid highs.  So, these declines are quite painful.  As to US futures markets, all are much lower, with DOW futures down by more than 1.5%, and even NASDAQ futures down by more than 1.0%.  In other words, equity investors are running scared today.

What about bond markets, you may ask?  We couldn’t have a more classic risk-off session in government bond markets than we are seeing today.  Treasury yields are down 2 basis points in the 10-year, which takes the move since Friday’s highs to 11 basis points.  Perhaps that much steeper curve is not in our immediate future.  Meanwhile, in Europe, Bunds are 2.5bps lower, now trading at their lowest yield (-0.64%) since the spike in March.  But we are seeing buying interest in OAT’s (-1.2bps) and Gilts (-2.3bps) as well.  At the same time, the PIGS are showing their true colors, government bonds that are risk assets, not havens.  This morning, Portugal (+1.4bps), Italy (+4.4bps), Greece (+5.3bps) and Spain (+1.0bps) have all seen selling interest, with the two countries with the biggest debt loads seeing the worst outcome.  I would also note that Canadian Treasury yields have fallen 3 basis points this morning as investors prepare to hear from Governor Tiff Macklem at 11:00, after the BOC announcement, with near universal expectations that he will reiterate the fact that the BOC will not be raising rates for many years to come, as they seek to sustainably achieve 2.0% inflation.

Nobody will be surprised that commodity markets are under pressure this morning, with oil really suffering (WTI -3.8%), and the metals and agricultural complexes also feeling the heat.

Finally, as we turn to the FX market, we once again see classic risk-off behavior, with the dollar higher against all its G10 brethren except the yen (+0.2%).  Leading the way lower is NOK (-1.5%) as the weak oil price is taking a significant toll on the krone, but also SEK (-1.0%), NZD (-0.65%) and GBP (-0.55%) are under serious pressure.  Prior to today’s decline, SEK had rallied more than 5% over the past month and was the top performing G10 currency during that time.  Sweden’s approach to Covid, while blasted in the press back in March, turned out to have been pretty successful, as they are the only country in Europe not suffering a second wave of note.  As such, their economy has outperformed the rest of Europe, and the currency benefitted accordingly.  But not today, when risk is out the window.  As to Kiwi, the news that the government is forcibly removing infected people from their homes and placing them in government run facilities has certainly tarnished the image of the country being a free land.  The resurgence in the UK, and truthfully throughout all of Europe, as well as the government responses is making clear the idea that whatever economic gains were made in Q3, they are likely to be reversed in Q4.  So, while things are no picnic in the US, the situation here seems to be better than there.

In the emerging markets, we are also seeing a significant sell-off in most currencies.  TRY (-1.3%), MXN (-1.25%) and RUB (-1.15%) are the worst performers, with the latter two clearly under pressure from declining oil prices while Turkey continues to suffer capital flight as the President Erdogan courts more sanctions from Europe and the central bank is forbidden restricted from raising rates to protect a free-falling currency by the president.  But the weakness is pervasive as the CE4 are all much weaker, led by PLN (-1.1%) and HUF (-1.0%) and the rand (-0.85%) and even KRW (-0.45%) are falling.  LATAM currencies have yet to open, but after yesterday’s performance (BRL -1.45%), they are all called lower at this hour.

Interestingly, there has been no data of note released anywhere in the world, and we are not expecting any here in the US either.  So, this market movement is far more about market positioning and market sentiment, two things which are the direct consequences of the narrative.  We have discussed the record short positions in Treasury bond futures as the narrative had focused on the assumed Biden victory in the election resulting in massive fiscal stimulus and correspondingly massive debt issuance driving bond prices lower and yields higher.  The thing is, the trajectory of recent polls shows that the certainty of a Biden victory is fading, which would naturally change that piece of the narrative.  It is critical to remember, as one is managing risk, that markets move for many reasons, with clear catalysts like data points or election results, driving a minority of the activity.  Most movement comes from narrative shifts and position adjustments as well as particular flows in a currency or other instrument.  The point is, if the narrative is shifting like I described, and I do believe it is doing so, then we have further risk reduction in store.

Good luck and stay safe
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A Good Place

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Said Clarida, “We’re in a good place”
With regard to the policy space
Later Bullard explained
That inflation’s restrained
And a rise above two he’d embrace

“At this point I think it would be a welcome development, even if it pushed inflation above target for a time. I think that would be welcome, so bring it on.” So said St Louis Fed President James Bullard, the uber-dove on the FOMC, yesterday when discussing the current policy mix and how it might impact their inflation goals. Earlier, Vice-chairman Richard Clarida explained that while things currently seem pretty good, the risks remain to the downside and that the Fed would respond appropriately to any unexpected weakness in economic data. Not wanting to be left out, BOE member Silvana Tenreyo, also explained that she could easily be persuaded to vote to cut rates in the UK in the event that the economic data started to slow at all.

My point is that even though the central banking community has not seemed to be quite as aggressive with regard to policy ease lately, the reality is that they are collectively ready to respond instantly to any sign that the current global economic malaise could worsen. And of course, the ECB is still expanding its balance sheet by €20 billion per month while the Fed is growing its own by more than $60 billion per month. Any thought that the central bank community was backing away from interventionist policy needs to be discarded. While they continue to call, en masse, for fiscal stimulus, they are not about to step back and reduce their influence on markets and the economy. You can bet that the next set of rate moves will be lower, pretty much everywhere around the world. The only question is which bank will move first.

This matters because FX is a relative game, where currency movement is often based on the comparison between two nations’ monetary regimes and outlooks, with everyone looking at the same data, and central bank groupthink widespread, every response to a change in the economic outlook will be the same; first cut rates, then buy bonds, and finally promise to never raise rates again! And this is why I continue to forecast the dollar to decline as 2020 progresses, despite its robust early performance, the Fed has more room to cut rates than any other central bank, and that will ultimately undermine the dollar’s relative value.

But that is not the case today, or this week really, where the dollar has been extremely robust even with the tensions in Iran quickly dissipating. I think one of the reasons this has been the case is that the US data keeps beating expectations. As we head into the payroll report later this morning, recall that; the Trade Deficit shrunk, ISM Non-Manufacturing beat expectations, Factory Orders beat expectations, ADP Employment beat expectations and Initial Claims fell more than expected. The point is that no other nation has seen a run of data that has been so positive recently, and there has been an uptick in investment inflows to the US, notably in the stock market, which once again traded to record highs yesterday. While this continues to be the case, the dollar will likely remain well bid. However, ultimately, I expect the ongoing QE process to undermine the greenback.

Speaking of the payroll report, here are the latest median expectations according to Bloomberg:

Nonfarm Payrolls 160K
Private Payrolls 153K
Manufacturing Payrolls 5K
Unemployment Rate 3.5%
Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (3.1% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.4
Canadian Change in Employment 25.0K
Canadian Hourly Wage Rate 4.2%
Canadian Unemployment Rate 5.8%
Canadian Participation Rate 65.6%

With the better than expected ADP report, market participants are leaning toward a higher number than the economists, especially given the overall robustness of the recent data releases. At this point, I would estimate that any number above 180K is likely to see some immediate USD strength, although I would not be surprised to see that ebb as the session progresses amid profit-taking by traders who have been long all week. Ironically, I think that a weak number (<130K) is likely to be a big boost for stocks as expectations of Fed ease rise, although the dollar is unlikely to move much on the outcome.

On the Canadian front, they have been in the midst of a terrible run regarding employment, with last month’s decline of 71.2K the largest in more than a decade. While inflation up north has been slightly above target, if we continue to see weaker economic data there, the BOC is going to be forced to cut rates sooner than currently priced (one cut by end of the year) as there is no way they will be able to resist the pressure to address slowing growth, especially given the global insouciance regarding inflation. While that could see the Loonie suffer initially, I still think the long term trend is for the USD to soften.

As to the rest of the world, the overnight session was not very scintillating. The dollar had a mixed performance overall, rising slightly against most of its G10 brethren, but faring less well against a number of EMG currencies, notably the higher yielders. For example, IDR was the big winner overnight, rising 0.6% to its strongest point since April 2018, after the central bank explained that it would not be intervening to prevent further strength and investors flocked to the Indonesian bond market with its juicy 5+% yield. Similarly, INR was also a winner, rising 0.4% as investors chased yield there as well. You can tell that fears over an escalation of the US-Iran conflict have virtually disappeared as these are two currencies that are likely to significantly underperform in the event things got hot there.

On the downside, Hungary’s forint was today’s weakest performer, falling 0.5% after PM Victor Orban explained that Hungary joining the euro would be “catastrophic”. While I agree with the PM, I think the market response is based on the idea that if the Hungarians were leaning in that direction, the currency would likely rally before joining.

On the G10 front, both French and Italian IP were released within spitting distance of their expectations and once again, the contrast between consistently strong US data and lackluster data elsewhere has weighed on the single currency, albeit not much as it has only declined 0.1%. And overall, the reality is that the G10 space has seen very little movement, with the entire block within 0.3% of yesterday’s closes. At this point, the payroll data will determine the next move, but barring a huge surprise in either direction, it doesn’t feel like much is in store.

Payables hedgers, I continue to believe this is a great opportunity as the dollar’s strength is unlikely to last.

Good luck and good weekend
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No Longer Afraid

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This morning twixt Brexit and trade
The market’s no longer afraid
More talks are now set
Though there’s no deal yet
And Parliament’s built a blockade

Yesterday saw a risk grab after the situation in Hong Kong moved toward a positive outcome. This morning has seen a continuation of that risk rally after two more key stories moved away from the abyss. First, both the US and China have confirmed that trade talks will resume in the coming weeks, expected sometime in early October, when Vice-premier Liu He and his team visit Washington. While the current tariff schedules remain in place, and there is no certainty that either side will compromise on the outstanding issues, it is certainly better that the talks continue than that all the news is in the form of dueling tweets.

It should be no surprise that Asian equity markets rallied on the news, (Nikkei +2.1%, Shanghai +1.0%), nor that European markets are following in their footsteps (DAX +0.85%, CAC +0.9%). It should also not be surprising that Treasury yields are higher (+5bps) as are Bund yields (+5bps); that the yen and dollar have suffered (JPY -0.2%, DXY -0.25%) and that gold prices are lower (-0.7%).

Of course, the other big story is Brexit, where yesterday PM Boris Johnson suffered twin defeats in his strategy of ending the mess once and for all. Parliament passed a bill that prevents the government from leaving the EU without a deal and requires the PM to ask for a delay if no deal is agreed by mid-October. Then in a follow-up vote, they rejected the call for a snap election as Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn would not support the opportunity to become PM himself. While Boris plots his next move, the market is reducing the probability of a hard Brexit in the pound’s price thus it has rallied further this morning, +0.7%, and is now higher by more than 2% since Tuesday morning.

However, while the news on both fronts is positive right now, remember nothing is concluded and both stories are subject to reversal at any time. In other words, hedgers must remain vigilant.

Turning to the rest of the market, there have been two central bank surprises in the past twenty-four hours, both of which were more hawkish than expected. First, the Bank of Canada yesterday left rates on hold despite the market having priced in a 25bp rate cut. They pointed to still solid growth and inflation near their target levels as reason enough to dissent from the market viewpoint. The market response was an immediate 0.5% rise in the Loonie with a much slower pace of ascent since then. However, all told, CAD is stronger by a bit over 1.1% since before the meeting. If you recall, analysts were less convinced than the market that a cut was coming, but they still have one penciled in by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the market is now 50/50 they will cut in October and about 65% certain it will happen by December.

The other hawkish surprise came from Stockholm this morning, where the Riksbank left rates on hold, as expected, but reiterated their view that a hike was still appropriate this year and that they expected to get rates back to positive before too long (currently the rate is -0.25%). While analysts don’t believe they will be able to follow through on this commitment, the FX market responded immediately and SEK is today’s top performer in the G10 space, rallying 0.9%.

The only data we have seen today was a much weaker than expected Factory Orders print from Germany (-2.7%), simply reinforcing the fact that the country is heading into a recession. That said, general dollar weakness on the risk grab has the euro higher by 0.25% as I type.

In the EMG space, we continue to see traders and investors piling into positions in their ongoing hunt for yield now that overall risk sentiment has improved. In the past two sessions we have seen LATAM, in particular, outperform with BRL higher by 1.8%, MXN up 1.65% and COP up 1.35%. But it is not just LATAM, ZAR is higher by 2.0% in that time frame, and KRW is up 1.3%. In fact, if you remove ARS from the equation (which obviously has its own major problems), every other EMG currency is higher since Tuesday’s close.

On the data front, yesterday’s US Trade deficit was a touch worse than expected at -$54.0B, but still an improvement on June’s data. This morning we see a number of things including ADP Employment (exp 148K), Initial Claims (215K), Nonfarm Productivity (2.2%), Unit Labor Costs (2.4%), Durable Goods orders (2.1%, -0.4% ex transport) and finally ISM Non-manufacturing (54.0). So there’s plenty of updated information to help ascertain just how the US economy is handling the stresses of the trade war and the global slowdown. As to Fed speak, there is nobody scheduled for today although we heard from several FOMC members yesterday with a range of views; from uber-dove Bullard’s call for a 50bp cut, to Dallas’s Kaplan discussing all the reasons that a cut is not necessary right now.

Despite the data dump today, I think all eyes will be on tomorrow where we not only get the payroll report, but Chairman Powell speaks at lunchtime. As such, there is no reason, barring a White House tweet, for the current risk on view to change and so I expect the dollar will continue to soften right up until tomorrow’s data. Then it will depend on that outcome.

Good luck
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Rapidly Falling

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Magnanimous is the EU
Extending the deadline for two
Weeks so that May
Might still get her way
And England can bid them adieu

But data this morning displayed
That Eurozone growth, as surveyed
Was rapidly falling
While Mario’s stalling
And hopes for a rebound now fade

On a day where it appeared the biggest story would be the short delay granted by the EU for the UK to try to make up their collective mind on Brexit, some data intruded and changed the tone of the market. No one can complain things are dull, that’s for sure!

Eurozone PMI data was released this morning, or actually the Flash version which comes a bit sooner, and the results were, in a word, awful.

German Manufacturing PMI 44.7
German Composite PMI 51.5
French Manufacturing PMI 49.8
French Composite PMI 48.7
Eurozone Manufacturing PMI 47.6
Eurozone Composite PMI 51.3

You may have noticed that manufacturing throughout the Eurozone is below that key 50.0 level signaling contraction. All the data was worse than expected and the German Manufacturing number was the worst since 2012 in the midst of the Eurobond crisis. It can be no surprise that the ECB eased policy last week, and perhaps is only surprising that they didn’t do more. And it can be no surprise that the euro has fallen sharply on the release, down 0.6% today, and it has now erased all of this week’s gains completely. As I constantly remind everyone, FX is a relative game. While the Fed clearly surprised on the dovish side, the reality is that other countries all have significant economic concerns and what we have learned in the past two weeks is that virtually every central bank (Norway excepted) is doubling down on further policy ease. It is for this reason that I disagree with the dollar bears. There is simply no other economy that is performing so well that it will draw significant investment flows, and since the US has about the highest yields in the G10 economies, it is a pretty easy equation for investors.

Now to Brexit, where the EU ‘gifted’ the UK a two-week extension in order to allow PM May to have one more chance to get her widely loathed deal through Parliament. The EU debate was on the amount of time to offer with two weeks seen as a viable start. In any case, they are unwilling to delay beyond May 22 as that is when EU elections begin and if the UK is still in the EU, but doesn’t participate in the elections, then the European Parliament may not be able to be legally constituted. Of course, the other option is for a more extended delay in order to give the UK a chance to run a new referendum, and this time vote the right way to remain.

And finally, there is one last scenario, revoking Article 50 completely. Article 50 is the actual law that started the Brexit countdown two years ago. However, as ruled by the European Court of Justice in December, the UK can unilaterally revoke this and simply remain in the EU. It seems that yesterday, a petition was filed on Parliament’s website asking to do just that. It has over two million signatures as of this morning, and the interest has been so high it has crashed the servers several times. However, PM May is adamant that she will not allow such a course of action and is now bound and determined to see Brexit through. This impact on the pound is pretty much what one might expect, a very choppy market. Yesterday, as it appeared the UK was closer to a no-deal outcome, the pound fell sharply, -1.65%. But this morning, with the two-week delay now in place and more opportunity for a less disruptive outcome, the pound has rebounded slightly, up 0.3% as I type. Until this saga ends, the pound will remain completely dependent on the Brexit story.

Away from those two stories, not much else is happening. The trade talks continue but don’t seem any closer to fruition, with news continuing to leak out that the Chinese are not happy with the situation. Government bond yields around the world are falling with both German and Japanese 10-year yields back in negative territory, Treasuries down to 2.49%, there lowest level since January 2018, and the same situation throughout the G10. Overall, the dollar has been the big winner throughout the past twenty-four hours, rallying during yesterday’s session and continuing this morning. In fact, risk aversion is starting to become evident as equity markets are under pressure this morning along with commodity prices, while the dollar and yen rally along with those government bond prices. The only US data point this morning is Existing Home Sales (exp 5.1M) which has been trending lower steadily for the past 18 months. There is also a bunch of Canadian data (Inflation and Retail Sales) which may well adjust opinions on the BOC’s trajectory. However, it seems pretty clear that the Bank of Canada, like every other G10 central bank, has finished their tightening cycle with the only question being when they actually start to ease.

A week that began with the market absorbing the EU’s efforts at a dovish surprise is ending with clarification that dovishness is the new black. It is always, and everywhere, the chic way to manage your central bank!

Good luck and good weekend
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Expansion is Done

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The planet that’s third from the sun
Is learning expansion is done
At least with respect
To growth that’s subject
To what politicians have done

It ought not be much of a surprise that the dollar is regaining its footing this morning and has been doing so for the past several sessions. This is due to the fact that the economic data continue to point to the US as the last bastion of hope for global growth. Yesterday’s data showed that there is still life in the US economy as both Non-Manufacturing ISM (59.7) and New Home Sales (621K) handily beat expectations. At the same time, the data elsewhere around the world continues to show slowing growth.

For example, Australian GDP growth in Q4 printed at a lower than expected 0.2%, with the annual number falling to 2.3%. While RBA Governor Lowe continues to cling to the idea that falling unemployment (a lagging indicator) is going to save the day, the fact remains that the housing bubble there is deflating and the slowdown in China’s economy is having a direct negative impact on Australian growth. In the wake of the report, analysts throughout Asia adjusted their interest rate forecasts to two rate cuts this year even though the RBA has tried to maintain a neutral policy with an eventual expectation to raise rates. Aussie fell sharply, down 0.75% this morning and >2.5% in the past week. It is once again approaching the 0.70 level which has thus far proven to be formidable support, and below which it has not traded in three years. Look for it to crack this time.

But it is not just problems Down Under. In fact, the much bigger issues are in Europe, where the OECD has just released its latest forecasts for GDP growth with much lower numbers on the table. Germany is forecast to grow just 0.7% this year, the UK just 0.8% and of course, Italy which is currently suffering through a recession, is slated to grow just 0.2% this year! Tomorrow Signor Draghi and his ECB colleagues meet again and there is a growing belief that a decision on rolling over the TLTRO bank financing will be made. I have been pounding the table on this for several months and there has certainly been nothing lately to change my view. At this point, the market is now pricing in the possibility of the first ECB rate hike only in mid 2020 and my view is it will be later than that, if ever. The combination of slowing growth throughout the Eurozone, slowing growth in China and still absent inflation will prevent any rate hikes for a very long time to come. In fact, Europe is beginning to resemble Japan in this vein, where slowing growth and an aging population are the prerequisites for NIRP forever. Plus, the longer growth remains subpar, the more call for fiscal policy ease which will require additional borrowing at the government level. As government debt continues to grow, and it is growing all around the world, the ability of central banks to guide rates higher will be increasingly throttled. When you consider these issues it become very difficult to be bullish on the euro, especially in the long-term. But even in the short run, the euro is likely to feel pressure. While the euro has barely edged lower this morning, that is after a 0.35% decline yesterday which means it is down just over 1.0% in the past week.

In the UK, meanwhile, the Brexit debate continues but hope is fading that the PM will get her bill through Parliament this time. Thus far, the EU has been unwilling to make any concessions on the language of the Irish backstop, and despite a herculean effort by May, it is not clear she can find the votes. The vote is scheduled for next Tuesday, after which, if it fails, Parliament will look to pass some bills preventing a no-deal Brexit and seeking a delay. However, even those don’t look certain to pass. Just this morning, Governor Carney said that a no-deal Brexit would not, in fact, be the catastrophe that had been earlier forecast as many companies have made appropriate plans to handle it. While the underlying thesis in the market continues to be that there will be a deal of some sort, it feels like the probability of a hard Brexit is growing somewhat. Certainly, the pound’s recent performance would indicate that is the case. This morning it is down a further 0.3% which takes the move to -1.75% in the past week.

One last central bank story is that of Canada, where the economy is also slowing much more rapidly than the central bank had believed just a few weeks ago. Last week we learned that inflation is lower than expected, just 1.4%, and that GDP grew only 0.1% in Q4, actually falling -0.1% in December. This is not a data set that inspires optimism for the central bank to continue raising rates. Rather, it should become clear that the BOC will remain on hold, and more importantly likely change its hawkish slant to neutral at least, if not actually dovish. As to the Loonie, it is lower by 0.3% this morning and 2.0% since the GDP release on Friday.

Add it all up and you have a story that explains global growth is slowing down further. It is quite possible that monetary policy has been pushed to its effective limit with any marginal additional ease likely to have a very limited impact on the economy. If this is the case, it portends far more difficulty in markets ahead, with one of the most likely outcomes a significant increase in volatility. If the global economy is now immune to the effects of monetary policy anesthesia, be prepared for a few more fireworks. It remains to be seen if this is the case, but there are certainly some indications things are playing out that way. And if central banks do lose control, I would not want to have a significant equity market position as markets around the world are certain to suffer. Food for thought.

This morning we get one piece of data, Trade Balance (exp -$57.9B) and we hear from two more Fed speakers, Williams and Mester. Then at 2:00 the Fed’s Beige Book is released. It seems unlikely that either speaker will lean hawkish, even Mester who is perhaps the most hawkish on the FOMC. Comments earlier this week from other speakers, Rosengren and Kaplan, highlighted the idea of patience in their policy judgements as well as potential concern over things like the extraordinary expansion of corporate debt in this cycle, and how in the event the economy slows, many more companies are likely to be vulnerable. While fear is not rampant, equity markets have been unable to rally the past several sessions which, perhaps, indicates that fear is beginning to grow. And when fear is in vogue, the dollar (and the yen) are the currencies to hold.

Good luck
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Good Times Will Endure

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Elections are out of the way
The outcome caused little dismay
Investors seem sure
Good times will endure
With stocks set to rally today

The dollar, however, is weak
Some pundits claim we’ve seen the peak
Still folks at the Fed
See rate hikes ahead
Which could, on those views, havoc wreak

The midterm elections are now past, with expectations largely fulfilled. The Democrats will run the House, while the Senate’s Republican majority has actually grown by four seats to a 53-47 count. At least that’s what appears to be the case at this time, although there are some runoff elections that need yet to be completed in the next weeks. The traditional view of a political split is that gridlock will ensue and very little in the way of new policy will come out of the next Congress. However, in this case, things may not actually work out that way. Consider the fact that President Trump’s populist leanings may well dovetail with Democratic priorities, especially on spending. It wouldn’t be that surprising if the next budget is even more stimulative than the last, especially as by next summer it is highly likely that the US growth impulse will be slowing down somewhat as the effects of the last stimulus fade away. And through it all, there is no indication that the Fed is going to stop raising interest rates, so I might argue that things haven’t changed all that much.

The risks to this view are if the new Democratic majority in the House chooses to use their power to rehash the battles from 2016 or, more disconcertingly for markets, decide that they want to proceed with an Impeachment process against the President. Two things about this issue are that, first, with the Republicans in control of the Senate, there is essentially zero probability that the President would be removed from office, so it would all be for show. But second, as I mentioned yesterday, the last time we saw this movie, in the autumn of 1998, the dollar fell sharply during the proceedings. This is just something to keep in mind as headlines start to flow going forward.

Enough about the elections. The market response overnight showed equity markets feeling a little better, with Europe higher and US futures pointing in the same direction, although APAC markets were largely flat. Meanwhile, the dollar has come under pressure across the board. The latter seems a little counterintuitive, although I guess it is simply a result of the embrasure of risk by investors. There is no need to flock to dollars, or yen for that matter, if expectations turn positive. And that’s what we seem to have seen.

Focusing on the FX market, the dollar is down pretty sharply across the board. Both the euro and the pound are higher by more than 0.5% despite what I would argue was some mildly negative news. In the Eurozone, while German IP was a touch firmer than expected at +0.2%, Retail Sales data throughout the Eurozone was actually quite weak, with both Italian and Austrian data showing contraction while the French managed to just hold on to an unchanged result, and all three coming well short of expectations.

Meanwhile, the pound continues to trade on hopes that a Brexit breakthrough is coming, despite the fact that yesterday’s widely publicized cabinet meeting produced exactly nothing. PM May has two potential problems here; first is the question of actually coming up with a deal that her cabinet can agree to support that also has EU support, a task that has thus far been out of reach. Second, remember that May has a coalition partner, not a majority in Parliament, and the Labor Party is now coming on record that they will vote against any deal. If that is the case, it is entirely possible that it all falls apart and the UK leaves the EU with no deal in place. While the pound has rallied nicely over the past week, up more than 3.5%, I continue to see the downside risks being significantly greater than the upside. Certainly the rally on a deal announcement would be much smaller in magnitude than the decline in the event of a hard Brexit. Hedgers must keep this in mind as they manage their risks.

As to the rest of the G10, the dollar has fallen even further than the euro and pound, with 0.7% pretty common across virtually the entire bloc. The only two exceptions are JPY, with a more modest 0.3% rally and CAD with a similar gain. My sense is the former is all about risk reduction mitigating some of the dollar weakness, while the latter is related to the fact that oil prices continue to fall, having come down nearly 20% from their highs reached in early October.

In the EMG bloc, there is broad dollar weakness as well with IDR leading the way (+1.5%) and ZAR jumping a solid 1.25%. We discussed the IDR story yesterday as investment flows continue to find their way back to the country given its continued strong growth and low inflation. ZAR, on the other hand, has benefitted from the combination of broad dollar weakness and gold’s recent strength, with the “barbarous relic” having rallied more than 4% in the past month. But it is not just those two currencies showing strength this morning; it is a universal dollar down day, with most freely traded currencies rising more than 0.5%.

And that’s really the day overall. There is no US data to be released today, and the Fed is just starting its two-day meeting, although there is no expectation that there will be any policy change regardless of the fact that it has been pushed back a day in deference to Election day yesterday. There is certainly no reason to believe that the dollar will reverse course in the near term, unless we see a significant uptick in US data that might cause the Fed to step up their pace of activity. However, that is not going to happen today, no matter what, and so I would look for the dollar to continue the overnight move and sell off modestly from this morning’s levels. Although I do not believe that the big picture has changed, any dollar strength is likely to be fleeting in the near future.

Good luck
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Compromising

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It cannot be very surprising
That Canada is compromising
Their views about trade
Thus now they have made
A deal markets find stabilizing

This morning, as the fourth quarter begins, arguably the biggest story is that Canada and the US have agreed terms to the trade pact designed to replace NAFTA. Canada held out to the last possible moment, but in the end, it was always clear that they are far too reliant on trade with the US to actually allow NAFTA to disintegrate without a replacement. The upshot is that there will be a new pact, awkwardly named the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which is expected to be ratified by both Canada and Mexico quite easily, but must still run the gauntlet of the US Congress. In the end, it would be shocking if the US did not ratify this treaty, and I expect it will be completed with current estimates that it will be signed early next year. The market impact is entirely predictable and consistent with the obvious benefits that will accrue to both Canada and Mexico; namely both of those currencies have rallied sharply this morning with each higher by approximately 0.9%. I expect that both of these currencies will maintain a stronger tone vs. the dollar than others as the ending of trade concerns here will be a definite positive.

There is another trade related story this morning, although it does not entail a new trade pact. Rather, Chinese PMI data was released over the weekend with both the official number (50.8) and the Caixin small business number (50.0) falling far more sharply than expected. The implication is that the trade situation is beginning to have a real impact on the Chinese economy. This puts the Chinese government and the PBOC (no hint of independent central banking here) in a difficult position.

Much of China’s recent growth has been fueled by significant increases in leverage. Last year, the PBOC unveiled a campaign to seek to reduce this leverage, changing regulations and even beginning to tighten monetary policy. But now they are caught between a desire to add stability to the system by reducing leverage further (needing to tighten monetary policy); and a desire to address a slowing domestic economy starting to feel the pinch of the trade war with the US (needing to loosen monetary policy). It is abundantly clear that they will loosen policy further as the political imperative is to insure that GDP growth does not slow too rapidly during President Xi’s reign. The problem with this choice is that it will build up further instabilities in the economy with almost certain future problems in store. Of course, there is no way to know when these problems will manifest themselves, and so they will likely not receive much attention until such time as they explode. A perfect analogy would be the sub-prime mortgage crisis here ten years ago, where leading up to the collapse; every official described the potential problem as too small to matter. We all know how that worked out! At any rate, while the CNY has barely moved this morning, and in fact has remained remarkably stable since the PBOC stepped in six weeks ago to halt its weakening trend, it only makes sense that they will allow it to fall further as a pressure release valve for the economy.

Away from those two stories though, the FX market has been fairly dull. PMI data throughout the Eurozone was softer than expected, but not hugely so, and even though there are ongoing questions about the Italian budget situation, the euro is essentially unchanged this morning. In the past week, the single currency is down just under 2%, but my feeling is we will need to see something new to push us away from the 1.16 level, either a break in the Italy story or some new data or comments to alter views. The next big data print is Friday’s payroll report, but I expect we might learn a few things before then.

In the UK, while the Brexit deadline swiftly approaches, all eyes are now focused on the Tory party conference this week to see if there is a leadership challenge to PM May. Given that the PM’s ‘Chequers’ proposal has been dismissed by both the EU and half the Tory party, it seems they will need to find another way to move forward. While the best guess remains there will be some sort of fudge agreed to before the date, I am growing more concerned that the UK is going to exit with no deal in place. If that is what happens, the pound will be much lower in six-months’ time. But for today, UK Manufacturing PMI data was actually a surprising positive, rising to 53.8, and so the signals from the UK economy continue to be that it is not yet collapsing.

Away from those stories, though, I am hard pressed to find new and exciting news. As this is the first week of the month, there is a raft of data coming our way.

Today ISM Manufacturing 60.1
  ISM Prices Paid 71.0
  Construction Spending 0.4%
Wednesday ADP Employment 185K
  ISM Non-Manufacturing 58.0
Thursday Initial Claims 213K
  Factory Orders 2.0%
Friday Nonfarm Payroll 185K
  Private Payroll 183K
  Manufacturing Payroll 11K
  Unemployment Rate 3.8%
  Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (2.8% Y/Y)
  Average Weekly Hours 34.5
  Trade Balance -$53.5B

On top of the payroll data, we hear from eight Fed speakers this week, including more comments from Chairman Powell tomorrow. At this point, however, there is no reason to believe that anything is going to change. The Fed remains in tightening mode and will raise rates again in December. The rest of the world continues to lag the US with respect to growth, and trade issues are likely to remain top of mind. While the USMCA is definitely a positive, its benefits will only accrue to Mexico and Canada as far as the currency markets are concerned. We will need to see some significant changes in the data stream or the commentary in order to alter the dollar’s trend. Until then, the dollar should maintain an underlying strong tone.

Good luck
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