Tag Archives: #china

Hawks Would Then Shriek

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Lagarde and Chair Powell both seek
Consensus, when later this week
Their brethren convene
While doves are still keen
To ease more, though hawks would then shriek

Markets are relatively quiet this morning as investors and traders await three key events as well as some important data. Interestingly, neither the Fed nor ECB meetings this week are likely to produce much in the way of fireworks. Chairman Powell and his minions have done an excellent job convincing market participants that the temporary cyclical adjustment is finished, that rates are appropriate, and that they are watching everything closely and prepared to act if necessary. Certainly Friday’s blowout NFP data did not hurt their case that no further easing is required. By now, I’m sure everyone is aware that we saw the highest headline print since January at 266K, which was supported by upward revisions of 41K to the previous two months’ data. And of course, the Unemployment Rate fell to 3.5%, which is back to a 50-year low. In fact, forecasts are now showing up that are calling for a 3.2% or 3.3% Unemployment Rate next November, which bodes well for the incumbent and would be the lowest Unemployment Rate since 1952!

With that as the economic backdrop in the US, it is hard for the doves on the Fed to make the case that further easing is necessary, but undoubtedly they will try. In the meantime, ECB President Lagarde will preside over her first ECB meeting where there are also no expectations for policy changes. Here, however, the situation is a bit tenser as the dramatic split between the hawks (Germany, the Netherlands and Austria) and the doves (Spain, Portugal and Italy) implies there will be no further action anytime soon. Madame Lagarde has initiated a policy review to try to find a consensus on how they should proceed, although given the very different states of the relevant economies, it is hard to believe they will agree on anything.

Arguably, the major weakness in the entire Eurozone construct is that the lack of an overarching continent-wide fiscal authority means that there is no easy way to transfer funds from those areas with surpluses to those with deficits. In the US, this happens via tax collection and fiscal stimulus agreed through tradeoffs in Congress. But that mechanism doesn’t exist in Europe, so as of now, Germany is simply owed an extraordinary amount of money (~€870 billion) by the rest of Europe, mostly Italy and Spain (€810 billion between them). The thing is, unlike in the US, those funds will need to be repaid at some point, although the prospects of that occurring before the ECB bails everyone out seem remote. Say what you will about the US running an unsustainable current account deficit, at least structurally, the US is not going to split up, whereas in Europe, that is an outcome that cannot be ruled out. In the end, it is structural issues like this that lead to long term bearishness on the single currency.

However, Friday’s euro weakness (it fell 0.45% on the day) was entirely a reaction to the payroll data. This morning’s 0.15% rally is simply a reactionary move as there was no data to help the story. And quite frankly, despite the UK election and pending additional US tariffs on China, this morning is starting as a pretty risk neutral session.

Speaking of the UK, that nation heads to the polls on Thursday, where the Tories continue to poll at a 10 point lead over Labour, and appear set to elect Boris as PM with a working majority in Parliament. If that is the outcome, Brexit on January 31 is a given. As to the pound, it has risen 0.2% this morning, which has essentially regained the ground it lost after the payroll report on Friday. At 1.3165, its highest point since May 2019, the pound feels to me like it has already priced in most of the benefit of ending the Brexit drama. While I don’t doubt there is another penny or two possible, especially if Boris wins a large majority, I maintain the medium term outlook is not nearly as robust. Receivables hedgers should be taking advantage of these levels.

On the downside this morning, Aussie and Kiwi have suffered (each -0.2%) after much weaker than expected Chinese trade data was released over the weekend. Their overall data showed a 1.1% decline in exports, much worse than expected, which was caused by a 23% decline in exports to the US. It is pretty clear that the trade war is having an increasing impact on China, which is clearly why they are willing to overlook the US actions on Hong Kong and the Uighers in order to get the deal done. Not only do they have rampant food inflation caused by the African swine fever epidemic wiping out at least half the Chinese hog herd, but now they are seeing their bread and butter industries suffer as well. The market is growing increasingly confident that a phase one trade deal will be agreed before the onset of more tariffs on Sunday, and I must admit, I agree with that stance.

Not only did Aussie and Kiwi fall, but we also saw weakness in the renminbi (-0.15%), INR (-0.2%) and IDR (-0.2%) as all are feeling the pain from slowing trade growth. On the plus side in the EMG bloc, the Chilean peso continues to stage a rebound from its worst levels, well above 800, seen two weeks ago. This morning it has risen another 0.85%, which takes the gain this month to 4.8%. But other than that story, which is really about ebbing concern after the government responded quickly and positively to the unrest in the country, the rest of the EMG bloc is little changed on the day.

Turning to the data this week, we have the following:

Tuesday NFIB Small Business Optimism 103.0
  Nonfarm Productivity -0.1%
  Unit Labor Costs 3.4%
Wednesday CPI 0.2% (2.0% Y/Y)
  -ex Food & Energy 0.2% (2.3% Y/Y)
  FOMC Rate Decision 1.75%
Thursday ECB Rate Decision -0.5%
  PPI 0.2% (1.2%)
  -ex Food & Energy 0.2% (1.7%)
  Initial Claims 215K
Friday Retail Sales 0.4%
  -ex autos 0.4%

Source: Bloomberg

While there is nothing today, clearly Wednesday and Thursday are going to have opportunities for increased volatility. And the UK election results will start trickling in at the end of the day on Thursday, so if there is an upset brewing, that will be when things are first going to be known.

All this leads me to believe that today is likely to be uneventful as traders prepare for the back half of the week. Remember, liquidity in every market is beginning to suffer simply because we are approaching year-end. This will be more pronounced next week, but will start to take hold now.

Good luck
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A Future Quite Bright

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The data from China last night
Implied that growth might be all right
The PMI rose
And everyone knows
That points to a future quite bright!

Is it just me? Or does there seem to be something of a dichotomy when discussing the situation in China? This morning has a decidedly risk-on tone as equity markets in Asia (Nikkei +1.0%, Hang Seng +0.4%, Shanghai +0.15%) rallied after stronger than expected Chinese PMI data was released Friday night. For the record, the official Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.2, its first print above 50.0 since April, while the non-Manufacturing version rose to 54.4, its highest print since March. Then, this morning the Caixin PMI data, which focuses on smaller companies, also printed a bit firmer than expected at 51.8. These data releases were sufficient to encourage traders and investors to scoop up stocks while they dumped bonds. After all, everything is just ducky now, right?

And yet…there are still two major issues outstanding that have no obvious short-term solution, both of which can easily deteriorate into a much worse situation overall. The first, of course, is the trade fiasco situation, where despite comments from both sides that progress has been made, there is no evidence that progress has been made. At least, there is no timeline for the completion of phase one and lately there has been no discussion of determining a location to sign said deal. Certainly it appears that the current risk profile in markets is highly dependent on a successful conclusion of these talks, at least as evidenced by the fact that every pronouncement of an impending deal results in a stock market rally.

The second issue is the ongoing uprising in Hong Kong. China has begun to use stronger language to condemn the process, and is extremely unhappy with the US for passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act last week. However, based on China’s response, we know two things: first that completing a trade deal is more important than words about Hong Kong. This was made clear when the “harsh” penalties imposed in the wake of the Act’s passage consisted of sanctions on US-based human rights groups that don’t operate in China and the prevention of US warships from docking in Hong Kong. While the latter may seem harsh, that has already been the case for the past several months. In other words, fears that the Chinese would link this law to the trade talks proved unfounded, which highlights the fact that the Chinese really need these talks to get completed.

The second thing we learned is that China remains highly unlikely to do anything more than complain about what is happening in Hong Kong as they recognize a more aggressive stance would result in much bigger international relationship problems. Of course, the ongoing riots in Hong Kong have really begun to damage the economy there. For example, Retail Sales last night printed at -24.3%! Not only was this worse than expected, but it was the lowest in history, essentially twice as large a decline as during the financial crisis. GDP there is forecast to fall by nearly 3.0% this year, and unless this is solved soon, it seems like 2020 isn’t going to get any better. But clearly, none of the troubles matter because, after all, PMI rose to 50.2!
Turning to Europe, PMI data also printed a hair better than expected, but the manufacturing sector remains in dire straits. Germany saw a rise to 44.1 while France printed at 51.7 and the Eurozone Composite at 46.9. All three were slightly higher than the flash data from last week, but all three still point to a manufacturing recession across the continent. And the biggest problem is that the jobs sub-indices were worse than expected. At the same time, Germany finds itself with a little political concern as the ruling coalition’s junior partner, the Social Democrats, just booted out their leadership and replaced it with a much more left wing team who are seeking changes in the coalition agreement. While there has been no call for a snap election, that probability just increased, and based on the most recent polls, there is no obvious government coalition with both the far left and far right continuing to gain votes at the expense of the current government. While this is not an immediate problem, it cannot bode well if Europe’s largest economy is moving toward internal political upheaval, which means it will pay far less attention to Eurozone wide issues. This news cannot be beneficial for the euro, although this morning’s 0.1% decline is hardly newsworthy.

Finally, with less than two weeks remaining before the British (and Scottish, Welch and Northern Irish) go to the polls, the Conservatives still hold between a 9 and 11 point lead, depending on which poll is considered, but that lead has been shrinking slightly. Pundits are quick to recall how Theresa May called an election in the wake of the initial Brexit vote when the polls showed the Tories with a large lead, but that she squandered that lead and wound up quite weakened as a result. At this point, it doesn’t appear that Boris has done the same thing, but stranger things have happened. At any rate, the FX market appears reasonably confident that the Tories will win, maintaining the pound above 1.29, although unwilling to give it more love until the votes are in. I expect that barring any very clear gaffes, the pound will range trade ahead of the election and in the event of a Tory victory, see a modest rally. If we have a PM Corbyn, though, be prepared for a pretty sharp decline.

Looking ahead to this week, we have a significant amount of US data, culminating in the payroll report on Friday:

Today ISM Manufacturing 49.2
  ISM Prices Paid 47.0
  Construction Spending 0.4%
Wednesday ADP Employment 140K
  ISM Non-Manufacturing 54.5
Thursday Initial Claims 215K
  Trade Balance -$48.6B
  Factory Orders 0.3%
  Durable Goods 0.6%
  -ex Transport 0.6%
Friday Nonfarm Payrolls 190K
  Private Payrolls 180K
  Manufacturing Payrolls 40K
  Unemployment Rate 3.6%
  Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (3.0% Y/Y)
  Average Weekly Hours 34.4
  Michigan Sentiment 97.0

Source: Bloomberg

As we have seen elsewhere around the world, the manufacturing sector in the US remains under pressure, but the services sector remains pretty robust. But overall, if the data prints as expected, it is certainly evidence that the US economy remains in significantly better shape than that of most of the rest of the world. And it has been this big picture story that has underpinned the dollar’s strength overall. Meanwhile, with the Fed meeting next week, they are in their quiet period, so there will be no commentary regarding policy until the next statement and press conference. In fact, next week is set to be quite interesting with the FOMC, the UK election and then US tariffs slated to increase two weeks from yesterday.

And yet, despite what appear to be numerous challenges, risk remains the primary choice of investors. As such, equities are higher and bonds are selling off although the dollar remains stuck in the middle for now. We will need to get more news before determining which way things are likely to break for the buck in the near term.

Good luck
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The Final Throes

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Trump said that he now could disclose
Trade talks have reached “the final throes”
We soon will reveal
A fabulous deal
Designed to increase our trade flows

Imagine, for a moment, that you are the leader of the largest nation (by population) on earth and that you run the place with an iron grip. (Or at least you continue to imply to the outside world that is the case.) Imagine, also, that your only geopolitical rival, with far fewer people but far more money, has completely changed the ground rules regarding how business will be transacted going forward, totally upsetting intricately created supply chains that have been hugely profitable and beneficial to your country over the past two decades. And finally, imagine that for the past eighteen months, a series of unforeseen events (increasingly violent protests in a recalcitrant province, devastating epidemic of a virus decimating your nation’s protein supply, etc.) have combined with the rule changes to significantly slow your economy’s growth rate. (Remember, this growth rate is crucial to maintaining order in your nation.) What’s a despot leader to do?

It can be no real surprise that the US and China are moving closer to completing a phase one trade deal because the importance of completing said deal has grown on both sides of the table. We saw evidence of this earlier in the week when the Chinese changed their tune on IP theft; an issue they had previously maintained did not exist, but are now willing to codify as criminal. And with every lousy piece of Chinese data (last night Industrial Profits fell 9.9%, their largest decline since 2011 and further evidence of the slowing growth trajectory on the mainland) the pressure on President Xi increases to do something to arrest the decline. Meanwhile, though the US economy seems to be ticking along reasonably well (at least according to every Fed speaker and as evidenced by daily record high closings in the US equity markets) the other issues in Washington are pushing on President Trump to make a deal and score a big win politically.

With this as a backdrop, I expect that we will continue to hear positive comments regarding the trade deal from both sides and that prior to the December 15 imposition of new tariffs by the US, we will have something more concrete, including a timetable to sign the deal. And so, there is every reason to believe that risk appetite will continue to be whetted and that equity markets will continue to perform well through the rest of 2019 and arguably into the beginning of 2020.

It is easy to list all the concerns that exist for an investor as they are manifest everywhere. Consider: excess corporate leverage, a global manufacturing recession, anemic global growth, $14 trillion of negative yielding debt globally, and, of course, the still unresolved US-China trade issues and crumbling of seventy years of globalization infrastructure. And that doesn’t even touch on the non-financial, but still economic issues of wealth and income inequality and the growing number of protests around the world by those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder (Chile, Colombia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, and even Hong Kong and France’s gilets jaunes). And yet, risk appetite remains strong.

The point I am trying to make is that there is quite a dichotomy between financial market, specifically equity market, behavior and the economic and political situation around the world. The question I would ask is; how long can this dichotomy be maintained? Every bear’s fear is that there will be some minor catalyst that has an extremely outsized impact on risk pricing causing a significant decline. Bears constantly point to all those things mentioned above, and more, and are firm in their collective belief that the central bank community, which may be the only thing holding risk asset prices higher, is running out of ammunition. Certainly I agree with the latter point, they are running out of ammunition, but as Lord John Maynard Keynes was reputed to have said, “Markets can remain irrational far longer than you can remain solvent.”

As of right now, there is no evidence that any of the above mentioned issues are relevant to market pricing decisions. So what is relevant? Based on the almost complete lack of price movement in the FX market for the past several sessions, I would say nothing is relevant. Every day we walk in and the euro or the yen or the pound or the renminbi is within a few basis points of the previous day’s levels. Trading appetite has diminished and implied volatility continues to track to new lows almost daily. In fact, especially for those hedgers who are paying significantly to manage balance sheet risks, it almost seems like it is not worth the money to continue doing so. But I assure you that it is worth the cost. This is not the first time we have seen an extended period of market malaise in FX (2007-8 and 2014 come to mind) and in both those cases we saw a significant rebound in activity in the wake of a surprising catalyst (financial crisis, oil market crash). Do not be caught out when the current market attitude changes.

With that, rather long-winded, opening, a look at markets today shows that every G10 currency is within 15bps of yesterday’s closing levels. And those levels were similarly close to the previous day’s levels. There has been a distinct lack of data, and really very little commentary by central bank officials. Even in the emerging markets, activity generally remains muted. I will grant that the Chilean peso (-0.6%) has been a dog lately, but that is entirely related to the ongoing protests in that country and the fact that investors are exiting rapidly. But elsewhere, movement remains less than 0.3% except for in South Africa, where the rand has actually gained 0.5% as demand increases for their bond issuance today. In a world where a third of sovereign debt carries negative interest rates, 8% and 9% coupons are incredibly attractive!

On the data front, with Thanksgiving tomorrow, we see a ton of stuff today:

Initial Claims 221K
Q2 GDP 1.9%
Durable Goods -0.9%
-ex Transport 0.1%
Chicago PMI 47.0
Personal Income 0.3%
Personal Spending 0.3%
Core PCE 0.1% (1.7% Y/Y)
Fed’s Beige Book  

We should certainly learn if the growth trajectory in the US remains solid before the morning is over, and I expect that the dollar may respond accordingly, with strong data supporting the greenback and vice versa. But the thing is, given the holiday tomorrow, liquidity will be somewhat impaired, especially this afternoon. So if you still have things that you need to get done in November, I cannot stress strongly enough that executing early today is in your best interest.

Overall, the dollar continues to hold its own despite the risk-on attitude, but I have a feeling that is because we are seeing international investors buy dollars to buy US equities. At this point, there is no reason to believe that process will change, so I like the dollar to continue to edge higher over time.

Good luck and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday
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The Senate’s Blackball

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Near China, an island quite small
Has led to the latest downfall
In equity prices
Because of their crisis
As well as the Senate’s blackball

Risk is decidedly off this morning as equity markets around the world are under pressure and bond markets rally strongly. Adding to the mix is a stronger dollar and Japanese yen as well as an uptick in gold prices. The proximate cause of this angst was the unanimous voice vote in the Senate last night to pass legislation requiring an annual review of Hong Kong’s special trade status with the US, something that was heretofore permanently granted in 1992. The new legislation requires Hong Kong to remain “sufficiently autonomous” in order to maintain that status, which is arguably quite a nebulous phrase. Nonetheless, the Chinese response was immediate, threatening unspecified retaliation if the bill becomes law and calling it illegal and an intrusion in domestic Chinese affairs. While the bill must still be reconciled with a similar House version, that seems likely to be fairly easy. The real question is how the president will manage the situation given the fragility of the ongoing trade talks. Thus far, he has not made his views known, but they would appear to be in sympathy with the legislation. And given the unanimity of voting in both chambers, even a presidential veto would likely be overturned.

Given this turn of events, it should be no surprise that risk is under pressure this morning. After all, the promise of a trade deal has been supporting equity and other risk markets for the past six weeks. This is the first thing that could clearly be seen to cause a complete breakdown in the discussions. And if the trade negotiations go into hibernation, you can be sure that risk assets have much further to fall. You can also be sure that the developing narrative that European weakness is bottoming will also disappear, as any increase in US tariffs, something that is still scheduled for the middle of next month, would deal a devastating blow to any nascent recovery in Europe, especially Germany. The point is, until yesterday, the trade story was seen as a positive catalyst for risk assets. Its potential unwinding will be seen as a clear negative with all the risk-off consequences that one would expect.

Beyond the newly fraught trade situation, other market movers include, as usual, Brexit and the Fed. In the case of the former, last night saw a debate between PM Johnson and Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn where Boris focused on reelection and conclusion of the Brexit deal he renegotiated. Meanwhile, Jeremy asked for support so that he could renegotiate, yet again, the deal and then put the results to a referendum in six months’ time. The snap polls after the debate called it a draw, but the overall polls continue to favor Boris and the Tories. However, the outcome was enough to unnerve Sterling traders who pushed the pound lower all day yesterday and have continued the process today such that we are currently 0.6% below yesterday’s highs at 1.2970. It seems pretty clear that in the event of an upset victory by Corbyn, the pound would take a tumble, at least initially. Investors will definitely run from a country with a government promising a wave of nationalization of private assets. Remember what happened in Brazil when Lula was elected, Mexico with AMLO and Argentina with Fernandez a few months ago. This would be no different, although perhaps not quite as dramatic.

As to the Fed, all eyes today are on the release of the FOMC Minutes from the November meeting where they cut rates by 25bps and essentially told us that was the end of the ‘mid-cycle adjustment’. And, since then, we have heard from a plethora of Fed speakers, all explaining that they were comfortable with the current rate situation relative to the economy’s status, and that while they will respond if necessary to any weakening, they don’t believe that is a concern in the near or medium term. In fact, given how much we have heard from Fed speakers recently, it is hard to believe that the Minutes will matter at all.

So reviewing market activity, G10 currencies are all lower, save the yen, which is basically unchanged. The weakest link is NOK, which is suffering on the combination of risk aversion and weak oil prices (+0.4% today but -4.0% this week). But the weakness is solid elsewhere, between 0.2% and 0.5%. In the EMG bloc, CLP is once again leading the way lower, down 1.0% this morning after a 2.0% decline yesterday, with spot pushing back toward that psychological 800 level (currently 795). But pretty much every other currency in the bloc is lower as well, somewhere between 0.2% and 0.4%, with just a few scattered currencies essentially unchanged on the day.

And that really describes what we have seen thus far today. With only the FOMC Minutes on the docket, and no other Fed speakers, my take is the FX market will take its cues from the broader risk sentiment, and the dollar is in a position to reverse its losses of the past week. Barring a shocking change of view by Congress, look for a test of 1.10 in the euro by the end of the week.

Good luck
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Centrists’ Dismay

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In three weeks and some the UK
Will head to the polls and convey
To markets worldwide
If Brexit’s the side
They favor, to centrists’ dismay

In London today, and all week actually, the Confederation of British Industry is having their annual conference. As such, both Boris and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be addressing the largest UK trade association to describe their views of the future based on an electoral victory on December 12. In brief, Boris is promising certainty with regard to Brexit as well as some tax cuts and spending on goodies. Meanwhile, Corbyn is promising to nationalize certain industries (British Telecom to give “free” high speed internet access to everyone in the country and the National Energy Grid to force more green activity and decisions) in order to achieve his party’s goal of poverty equality for all.

However, the weekend’s polls show that Boris is expanding his lead with the average result now showing the Tories with 42%, Labour with 30%, the LibDems at 14% and the rest of the assorted parties making up the balance. Arguably, the biggest weekend news was that every Tory running for a seat has signed a pledge to support the Brexit deal if elected. In essence, the Tories are leading and projected to get a majority, and they have pledged to complete Brexit. The market response has been pretty positive, at least the FX market, with the pound rallying a further 0.5% this morning after having rallied 1.0% last week. In fact, at 1.2950, we are pushing back to the highs seen in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit deal changes. As I have maintained since the election was called, I expect Boris to win and Brexit to go ahead shortly thereafter. At this point, it certainly seems like the UK will be out of the EU by the current January 31 deadline. As to the pound, I think we can see a move to 1.32-1.34, but probably not much more at this point. We will need to see significant progress on the ensuing trade agreement with the EU to see much further strength.

Other weekend news of note showed that the PBOC cut its seven-day repo rate by 5bps, to 2.50%, which despite the tiny movement cheered both traders and investors. Later this week, they will reveal the 1-year Loan Prime Rate, which is their new benchmark interest rate, and anticipation has grown they will be reducing that as well. The lesson here is that managing inflation, which has been rising rapidly due to the explosive growth in food, notably pork, prices, is a secondary concern. Instead, due to the fact that the economy is slowing even more rapidly, as evidenced by last week’s terrible Retail Sales and IP numbers, the PBOC’s marching orders are clearly to support GDP growth. Remember, despite the fact that President Xi is president for life, if GDP growth slows and unemployment rises, he will have some serious problems. In fact, it is this situation which has most pundits certain that a trade deal with the US will get signed. Both presidents need a win, and this is a relatively easy one for both.

Speaking of the trade deal, there was a high-level conversation over the weekend, between Liu He and the tag team of Mnuchin and Lighthizer, and both sides indicated progress continues to be made. That said, there is no indication that an agreement on where the presidents will meet to sign a deal has been reached, let alone an actual agreement on the deal. So, much remains to be done before this process is finished, but I am confident that we will read a string of positive tweets on a regular basis beforehand. Meanwhile, the PBOC’s modest rate cut had only a minor impact on the renminbi, which continues to trade just below (dollar above) the 7.00 level. Until a deal is finalized, it is hard to make a case for a large movement.

One last noteworthy item is from South Africa, where S&P has changed its outlook to negative from neutral. This is often a precursor for a ratings cut, and given S&P already has the country firmly in junk territory, at BB, Moody’s decision to maintain its investment grade rating last month seems more and more out of place. The rand is under pressure this morning, down 0.4%, although it remains closer to the top of its recent trading range than the bottom. What that means is there is ample opportunity for the rand to decline more sharply if there is any hint that Moody’s is going to move. The problem for South Africa is that if Moody’s changes them to junk, the nation’s debt will fall out of the MSCI global bond index and there could be as much as $15 billion of net sales. The rand would not receive that warmly, and a quick move back to the 15.50 level is to be expected in that case.

And those are the big stories this morning. Generally, I would characterize the markets as in a modest risk-on mode, with the dollar slightly softer, the yen and Swiss franc as well, while Treasury yields have edged higher and equity markets have edged higher as well. But, overall, it is pretty dull.

Looking ahead to the data releases this week, there is nothing of major consequence with Housing the focus:

Tuesday Housing Starts 1320K
  Building Permits 1381K
Wednesday FOMC Minutes  
Thursday Philly Fed 6.0
  Initial Claims 218K
  Leading Indicators -0.2%
  Existing Home Sales 5.49M
Friday Michigan Sentiment 95.7

While we do see the Minutes on Wednesday, given the onslaught of Fed speakers and consistency of message we have received since the last meeting, it seems hard to believe that we will learn anything new. One thing to watch closely is the Initial Claims data, which last week printed at 225K, higher than expected and where another higher than expected print could easily kick off a narrative of slowing employment, something that has much larger implications. There are a few Fed speakers, with uber-hawk Loretta Mester regaling us twice this week, although, again, it seems we have already heard everything there is to hear.

So today is shaping up to be quiet, with the modest risk-on behavior likely to continue to soften the dollar. We will need something bigger (e.g. a successful trade deal confirmed by both sides) in order to shake things up in my view.

Good luck
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Decidedly Slowed

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In China they’ve reached a crossroad
As growth has decidedly slowed
The knock-on effects
Are not too complex
Watch markets, emerging, erode

Once again, the overnight data has disappointed with signs of further slowing in the global economy rampant. The headline was in China, where their big three data points; Fixed Asset Investment (5.2%), Industrial Production (4.7%) and Retail Sales (7.2%) all missed expectations badly. In fact, all of these are at or near historic low levels. But it was not just the Chinese who exposed economic malaise. Japanese GDP printed at just 0.2% in Q3, well below the expected 0.9% outcome. And how about Unemployment in Australia, which ticked higher to 5.3%, adding to concern over the economy Down Under and driving an increase in bets that the RBA will cut rates again next month. In fact, throughout Asia, all the data was worse than expected and that has had a negative impact on equity markets as well as most commodity markets.

Of course, adding to the economic concern are the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, which seemed to take a giant step forward (backward?) with more injuries, more disruption and the resulting closure of schools and work districts. Rumors of a curfew, or even intervention by China’s armed forces are just adding to the worries. It should be no surprise that we have seen a risk off attitude in these markets as equity prices fell (Nikkei -0.75%, Hang Seng -0.95%) while bonds rallied (Treasuries -5bps, JGB’s -3bps, Australian Treasuries -10bps), and currencies performed as expected with AUD -0.75% and JPY +0.3%. Classic risk-off.

Turning to Europe, Germany managed to avoid a technical recession, surprising one and all by releasing Q3 GDP at +0.1% although they did revise Q2 lower to -0.2%. While that is arguably good news, 0.4% annual growth in Germany is not nearly enough to support the Eurozone economy overall. And the bigger concern is that the ongoing manufacturing slump, which shows, at best, slight signs of stabilizing, but no signs of rebounding, will start to ooze into the rest of the data picture, weakening domestic activity throughout Germany and by extension throughout the entire continent.

The UK did nothing to help the situation with Retail Sales falling 0.3%, well below the expected 0.2% rise. It seems that the ongoing Brexit saga and upcoming election continue to weigh on the UK economy at this point. While none of this has helped the pound much, it is lower by 0.1% as I type, it has not had much impact overall. At this point, the election outcome remains the dominant story there. Along those lines, Nigel Farage has disappointed Boris by saying his Brexit party candidates will stand in all constituencies that are currently held by Labour. The problem for Boris is that this could well split the Tory vote and allow Labour to retain those seats even if a majority of voters are looking for Brexit to be completed. We are still four weeks away from the election, and the polls still give Boris a solid lead, 40% to 29% over Labour, but a great deal can happen between now and then. In other words, while I still expect a Tory victory and Parliament to pass the renegotiated Brexit deal, it is not a slam dunk.

Finally, it would not be appropriate to ignore Chairman Powell, who yesterday testified to a joint committee of Congress about the economy and the current Fed stance. It cannot be a surprise that he repeated the recent Fed mantra of; the economy is in a good place, monetary policy is appropriate, and if things change the Fed will do everything in its power to support the ongoing expansion. He paid lip service to the worries over the trade talks and Brexit and global unrest, but basically, he spent a lot of time patting himself on the back. At this point, the market has completely removed any expectations for a rate cut in December, and, in fact, based on the Fed funds futures market, there isn’t even a 50% probability of a cut priced in before next June.

The interesting thing about the fact that the Fed is clearly on hold for the time being is the coincident fact that the equity markets in the US continue to trade at or near record highs. Given the fact that earnings data has been flattish at best, there seems to be a disconnect between pricing in equity markets and in interest rate markets. While I am not forecasting an equity correction imminently, at some point those two markets need to resolve their differences. Beware.

Yesterday’s CPI data was interesting as core was softer than expected at 2.3% on the back of reduced rent rises, while headline responded to higher oil prices last month and was higher than expected at 1.8%. As to this morning, PPI (exp 0.3%, 0.2% core) and Initial Claims (215K) is all we get, neither of which should move the needle. Meanwhile, Chairman Powell testifies to the House Budget Committee and seven more Fed speakers will be at a microphone as well. But given all we have heard, it beggar’s belief any of them will change from the current tune of everything is good and policy is in the right place.

As to the dollar, it is marginally higher overall this morning, and has been trading that way for the past several sessions but shows no signs of breaking out. Instead, I expect that we will continue to push toward the top end of its recent trading range, and stall lacking impetus for the next leg in its movement. For that, we will need either a breakthrough or breakdown in the trade situation, or a sudden change in the data story. As long as things continue to show decent US economic activity, the dollar seems likely to continue its slow grind higher.

Good luck
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Pledges Bestowed

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In China, the pace of growth slowed
Which highlighted how hard the road
Is going to be
For President Xi
To live up to pledges bestowed

With the Brexit situation now up to Boris Johnson’s domestic political machinations, finding the required 326 votes to pass his agreed deal with the EU, the market’s attention has turned elsewhere. It should be no surprise that China is the topic, this time based on the data released last night. While the trajectory of growth in China has been slowing quite consistently for the past ten years, last night’s 6.0% GDP result was weaker than expected and indicates that perhaps, that slowdown is accelerating. Alongside the GDP data, the other three key monthly data points; IP (5.6% YTD), Fixed Asset Investment (5.4% YTD), and Retail Sales (8.2% YTD) showed a mixed bag versus expectations, although generally all point to continuing slower growth. The trend in China is downward. On the one hand, this should not be surprising. After all, the larger the base size of an economy, the harder it is to grow rapidly. On the other hand, despite significant government control over the entire economy, it is becoming clear that the combined fiscal and monetary stimulus measures China is using are, so far, not up to the job of upholding President Xi’s targets.

Regarding the trade talks, this simply adds to pressure on Xi to find a deal. Despite his title as President for Life, there are clearly still many domestic political issues with which he must deal, and failure to bring about promised growth will be quite problematic. As many pundits have already described, the reality is that both sides need a deal given the fact that the eighteen month long trade spat has started to drag down both the US and China in terms of GDP growth. Interestingly, the PBOC fixed the renminbi stronger last night, although both the onshore and offshore yuan are trading weaker by about 0.1% this morning. Overall, though, the trend for the renminbi has been for modest weakening over time. Regardless of promises to manage the currency, the reality remains that China needs their currency to weaken as a relief valve for internal pressures. An interesting aside is that there is some evidence based on the errors and omissions portion of the Chinese accounts, that capital continues to flow out of China pretty aggressively, despite the capital controls imposed in the summer of 2015. Eventually, if that is true, USDCNY is going to go higher. I continue to look for an eventual move toward 7.40, but it may take longer than the end of this year as I previously thought.

However, beyond the Chinese data story, FX has been a pretty uneventful place to be overnight. G10 currencies are generally slightly firmer vs. the dollar, but we are only looking at the biggest mover, SEK, having rallied 0.3% this morning after a more substantive 1.3% rally yesterday. It seems that despite higher than expected unemployment data, there is concern that data may be faulty and the Riksbank may still have room to raise interest rates at their next meeting, or by the end of the year at the very least. But away from that story, there is nothing of real note in the G10 space.

And in truth, that is pretty much the situation in the EMG space as well. TRY is the leading gainer, higher by 0.85% after the cease-fire on the Syrian border went into effect. Elsewhere, both ZAR and KRW are firmer by 0.5% with the won benefitting from comments by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin that he may request an auto tariff exemption for South Korea. Meanwhile, the rand is the beneficiary of profit-taking after recent weakness in the currency, as traders and investors await the latest information on the Eskom situation in a government briefing later today.

For the rest of the day, while we wait to hear any tidbits from the UK, there is only one data point, Leading Indicators (exp 0.0%), and then we hear from three more Fed speakers, the uber-hawk, Esther George, as well as Richard Clarida and Robert Kaplan. So far this week we have heard the consistent message that the FOMC is watching the data closely but has not yet made up their mind if another cut is necessary right away.

In truth, it is shaping up to be an uneventful day to finish the week. The dollar is a bit soft, equity futures are little changed, as are equity markets throughout Europe, and Treasury yields are within 1bp of yesterday’s levels. Unless there is a tape bomb, it is hard to see a reason for a big more from current levels.

Good luck and good weekend
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Lost Their Zeal

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While yesterday Brexit seemed real
As both sides looked close to a deal
This morning we hear
A deal’s not so near
As Ireland’s North lost their zeal

Meanwhile from the Far East, the news
Is that China just might refuse
To buy pork and grain
Unless we refrain
From publicly airing our views

While the same two stories remain atop the leaderboard, the score has clearly changed. This morning, much of yesterday’s Brexit optimism has dissipated as the DUP, Boris Johnson’s key Northern Irish ally in Parliament, explained they could not support the deal that Johnson has been furiously negotiating over the past few days. Remember, DUP stands for Democratic Unionist Party, and the Union of which they speak is that of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. As such, they cannot countenance the idea of a soft border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. They want to be treated exactly the same. At the same time, they don’t want a hard border between themselves and the Republic of Ireland, so it seems that they are the ones that need to make up their collective mind. As time is very clearly running out, the conversation has reached a very delicate phase. Remember, the Benn Act requires PM Johnson to request an extension by this Saturday if there is no deal agreed, and of course, Boris has said he “would rather be dead in a ditch” than request such an extension.

From what I have read, it appears that the soft border would be time limited, and so in the end, I think the pressure on the DUP will be too great to bear and they will cave in. After all, they also don’t want to be the ones responsible for the failure of reaching a deal. The pound, after having traded as high as 1.2800 yesterday, has been extremely volatile this morning, trading in a more than 1.0% range and having touched both the highs at 1.2790 and the lows near 1.2660 twice each. As I write, the pound is lower by 0.3% on the day, but at this point, it is entirely headline driven. The one thing that is clear is that many of the short positions that had been built up over the past year have been reduced or eliminated completely.

Turning to China, the story is about Beijing’s anger over two bills passed by the House of Representatives in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese are adamant that anything that happens in Hong Kong is a domestic affair and that everybody else, especially the US, should keep their noses out of the discussion. In fairness, it is a Chinese territory legally, unlike the situation in Taiwan where they claim ‘ownership’ with less of a legal claim. Nonetheless, they are quite serious and are threatening retaliation if any law addressing Hong Kong is passed by the US. Now a bill passing the House is a far cry from enacting a law, but this does seem to be something where there is bipartisan support. Remember, too, that the standoff with China is one of the few things where the Democrats and President Trump see eye to eye.

At the same time, somewhat behind the scenes, the PBOC injected CNY 200 billion into its money markets last night, surprising everyone, as a measure of further policy ease. Thursday night the Chinese will release their Q2 GDP data and while the median forecast is for a 6.1% annualized outcome, there are a number of forecasts with a 5 handle. That would be the slowest GDP growth since at least 1992 when records started to be kept there. At any rate, the cash injection helped weaken the renminbi with CNY falling 0.3% in the overnight session. One thing to remember here is that part of the ostensible trade deal is the currency pact, but if that deal falls apart because of the Hong Kong issue, it opens the door for CNY to weaken a bit more.

It ought not be surprising that the change in tone on those two stories has dampened overall market enthusiasm and this morning can clearly be described as a risk-off session. In the G10, the dollar is stronger against everything except the yen and Swiss franc (both higher by 0.1%). In fact, both NOK (-0.9%) and NZD (-0.7%) lead the way lower with the former responding to oil’s ongoing weakness as well as the potential negative impact of a hard Brexit. Meanwhile, the kiwi has suffered after the RBNZ reiterated that lower rates were likely still in store despite CPI printing a tick higher than expected last night at 1.5%.

In the EMG space, things have been less dramatic with ZAR today’s weakest component, falling 0.5% after news that the troubled utility, Eskom, will be forced to create rolling blackouts, further highlighting its tenuous financial position and putting more pressure on the government to do something (read spend money they don’t have) to fix things. Without a solution to this issue, which has been hanging over the economy for several years, look for the rand to continue its broad move lower. While at 14.97, it is well off the lows seen in August, the trend remains for the rand to continue falling. Otherwise, this space has been far less interesting with KRW dipping just 0.25% overnight after the BOK cut rates by 25bps. The thing is, comments from BOK members indicated a reluctance to cut rates much further, thus limiting the downward movement.

This morning brings us Retail Sales (exp 0.3%; -ex autos 0.2%) and Business Inventories (0.2%). Then, at 2:00 the Fed’s Beige Book is released with analysts set to look for clues about economic activity to drive the Fed’s next activity. We also hear from three Fed speakers, Evans, Kaplan and Brainard, who all lean to the dovish side of the spectrum. With European equities under pressure and US futures pointing lower, it seems that risk will remain out of favor, unless there is a change of heart in the UK. But for now, think risk-off as a guide to today’s activity.

Good luck
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Calm’s Been Restored

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Remarkably, though oil soared
Responding to Yemen, who roared
Most markets of note
Have taken a vote
And seen to it calm’s been restored

Of course the big news over the weekend was the attack on Saudi oil production by a number of unmanned drones on Saturday. It was quite successful, at least in terms of the attackers (Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility) seeming goals, as it shut down half of Saudi production for an unspecified period. That means that 5% of the world’s oil production is off-line, although between reserves stored around the globe and the ability of US producers to ramp up production, the impact seems to be less substantial on world markets. Naturally oil prices are higher, with WTI currently +8.25%, although that is well off the initial highs which showed a 15% jump. And Treasury prices are higher as well, with the 10-year higher by half a point and yields falling 6.5bps. Gold is up 1.0%, and equity markets are softer, but not that much with only Italy’s market down even 1.0% and the rest of Europe lower by somewhere on the order of 0.6%. APAC stocks were also modestly softer, and US futures are pointing to a softer opening, but none of this speaks to any panic.

Finally, the dollar can only be described as mixed, at least at this point in the session. Granted, APAC currencies were mostly softer, led by INR’s 0.85% decline, which is directly attributed to the jump in oil prices (India imports virtually all their oil.) But that is actually the largest move on the day. Remember, in the wake of the ECB meeting last week, the euro rallied more than 1.0%! The point is, the FX market is not hugely concerned about this situation and seems unlikely to become so unless there are more attacks and the supply situation changes far more dramatically and permanently.

The only conclusion I can draw from this price action is that the market is still entirely focused on central bank activity with this week the culmination of a series of meetings. By Thursday, we will have heard from the Fed, the BOJ, the BOE, Bank Indonesia and the Norgesbank regarding any new policy actions. Expectations are as follows:

Wednesday FOMC Cut 0.25%
Thursday BOJ No rate change
  Bank Indonesia Cut 0.25%
  Norgesbank No rate change
  BOE No rate change

But in reality, the only one that matters is the Fed, which is driving the entire global conversation. If you recall, it was only a few weeks ago when expectations were rampant that they would cut 50bps. Treasury yields had fallen to 1.45% and there was a growing belief that recession was on its way. But then the US employment data was decent, Retail Sales were strong and CPI came in higher than expected for the third consecutive month. It became much harder with that economic backdrop for the doves to be squawking about adding stimulus aggressively. And remember, in July, there were already two dissensions, so the concept of unanimity has long been missing. At this point, the question is more about Chairman Powell’s press conference and whether or not he puts forth a dovish message. (Arguably, anything that is not outright dovish will be seen as hawkish by the market.)

While the Fed and ECB are clearly in different places, it is also important to remember that as much as the market is focused on the Fed, the same was true of the ECB right up until last week, when it became clear the ECB had run out of ammunition. It is every central banker’s greatest fear to find themselves with no ability to impact the market and push it in the direction they choose. My sense is that day is coming soon for many major central banks. Other than the ECB, it has not yet arrived, but trust me; it is coming sooner than you might think.

With all that in mind, the narrative has quickly moved beyond oil and is now back to discussing the FOMC meeting. Other than that, we have a bit of data, and after the meeting a number of Fed speakers.

Today Empire Manufacturing 4.0
Tuesday IP 0.2%
  Capacity Utilization 77.6%
Wednesday Housing Starts 1250K
  Building Permits 1300K
  FOMC Rate Decision 2.00% (-0.25%)
Thursday Initial Claims 213K
  Philly Fed 10.0
  Leading Indicators 0.1%
  Existing Home Sales 5.37M

So all in all, not too exciting. I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight that Chinese data overnight was uniformly awful, with the big three indicators; Retail Sales (7.5%), IP (4.4%), and Fixed Asset Investment (5.5%) all falling short of estimates and all reaching levels not seen since records began to be kept. And this was data from August, before the latest round of tariffs kicked in. Growth in China is slowing rapidly and the PBOC has not been able to adjust policy sufficiently to offset it. The renminbi weakened a bit, but in line with today’s general lack of movement, the 0.25% decline is hardly significant.

And that’s really all there is. The modest risk-off scenario seems likely to remain in place, but it is hard to see a significant extension of the overnight moves absent another catalyst. And right now, there is none on the horizon. Look for a dull day, with limited movement from the opening levels.

Good luck
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Another False Dawn

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Will Mario cut rates again?
And if so, by twenty or ten
Plus when will he start
To fill up his cart
With more bonds to piss off Wiedmann

Today is all about the ECB which will release its policy statement at 7:45 this morning. Then at 8:30, Signor Draghi will hold his press conference where reporters will attempt to dig deeper. At this stage, markets have priced in a 0.10% cut in the base rate, to -0.50%, with a 32% chance of a 0.20% cut. Just last week markets had priced in a 50% chance of that larger cut, so clearly the commentary from the hawks had an impact. At the same time, 80% of analysts surveyed are expecting a restart to QE with estimates of €30B – €35B per month as the jumping off point. This remains the case despite the vocal opposition by German, Dutch and French central bankers. Clearly, Draghi will have a lot of convincing to do in order to get his way. As I mentioned yesterday, bond prices have retreated driving yields higher which in the case of Bunds and other European paper implies a somewhat lower expectation of more QE.

It is also important to see what type of forward guidance we get as this has become one of the most powerful tools in central bank toolkits. Promises of a continuation in this policy until a specific inflation target is met would be quite powerful. Similarly, any indication that the ECB’s self-imposed limits on QE are under review would also be seen as quite bond bullish with both of these messages sure to undermine the euro. And perhaps that is the interim goal, weakening the euro such that the Eurozone can import a little inflation. Of course with Chinese prices declining and the huge trade uncertainty restricting business investment thus keeping a lid on growth, even a weak euro doesn’t seem that likely to drive inflation higher. At least not the time being. But central bankers remain convinced that they must do something, even if they know it will be ineffective. Finally, you can be sure there will be further pleas for fiscal stimulus to help address the current economic malaise. (Of course, Brussels will still seek to prevent the Italians from adding stimulus, of that you can be sure.)

The US-Chinese rapprochement
Has bolstered the Chinese yuan
Thus equities rose
Although I suppose
This could be another false dawn

It wouldn’t be a complete day without some new trade story and today’s is clearly on the positive side. President Trump delayed the imposition of the additional 5% tariffs on Chinese goods by two weeks, so they will now not go into effect until October 15. This gesture of good will is allegedly to allow the Chinese to celebrate their founding day without new clouds. The Chinese were appreciative and indicated they were now looking at imports of agricultural items, something they have purposely shunned in an attempt to pressure President Trump politically. Of course, given the swine fever that has decimated more than half the Chinese hog population, it seems likely that they are pretty keen to import US pork. At any rate, look for the next round of trade talks to occur during the first half of October while the détente is ongoing. The market response was immediately positive with the Nikkei and Shanghai indices both closing higher by 0.75%, although Eurozone equity markets are little changed, clearly waiting the ECB decision. Perhaps even more impressively, the renminbi has rallied 0.4% to its strongest level since August 23 and closing the gap on the charts that opened up when China last raised tariffs on US goods. At this point, market technicians may get involved as there is an island top in place on the charts. Don’t be surprised if USDCNY falls back to at least 7.00 before this move is over, and perhaps below if the trade situation seems to be easing.

Finally, the last of our big 3 stories, Brexit, has seen more political machinations and an uproar in the UK as the government was forced to release its planning document for a no-deal Brexit. Despite the fact that there were several potential scenarios, all the focus was on the worst-case which described massive potential shortages of food, fuel and medicine along with potential rioting. I have not seen the probability estimates for that scenario, and I’m pretty sure that no news source that favors Remain (all of them?) will publish one. However, despite the uproar in the papers, the pound is unchanged on the day. Remember, parliament is not in session, nor will it be until October 14. It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out. As to the pound, it remains a binary play; hard Brexit leads to 1.10 or below; any deal agreed leads to 1.30-1.35. Place your bets!

This morning we see the most important data of the week, CPI (exp 1.8%, 2.3% ex food & energy) as well as the weekly Initial Claims number (215K). If we see the recent trend continue, where CPI edges higher (was as low as 1.5% in February), that could well give pause to the FOMC. After all, cutting rates when inflation is rising and growth is stable at trend is much tougher to justify. That said, if the FOMC doesn’t cut I would expect a market bloodbath and a cacophony from the White House that would be unbearable, especially if Mario somehow manages to be extremely dovish.

Finally, a short time ago the Central Bank of Turkey cut rates more than expected to 16.5%, with new Central Bank head, Murat Cetinkaya, clearly accepting President Erdogan’s view that high rates cause inflation. At any rate, the lira has been the best performer of the day, rallying 1.1% as I type. Broadly, the dollar is softer ahead of the ECB, but that is simply position squaring before the decision. All the action will come after that.

Good luck
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