Tag Archives: #dollar

Naught But Fool’s Gold

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There once was a story, oft told
That growth round the world would be bold
But data of late
Has shown that the fate
Of that tale was naught but fool’s gold

Instead round the world what we see
Are signs that the future will be
Somewhat less robust
Than had been discussed
Since money is no longer free!

The dollar is strong this morning, rising vs. essentially every other currency after a series of weak data points from China and the EU reinforced the idea that global growth is slowing. As I type my last note of the year, the euro is lower by 0.65%, the pound -0.7% and Aussie has fallen -0.9%. In the emerging market space, the damage is generally less severe, with both CNY and BRL falling -0.4% while MXN and INR have both slipped -0.3%. There are two notable exceptions to this, however, as ZAAR has tumbled 1.5% and KRW fallen -0.8%. In other words, the dollar is in the ascendant today.

What, you may ask, is driving this movement? It started early last evening when China released some closely watched economic indicators, all of which disappointed and indicated further slowing of the economy there. Fixed Asset Investment rose just 5.9%, IP rose just 5.4% and Retail Sales rose just 8.1%. As Chinese data continue to fall below estimates, it increases the odds that the PBOC will ease monetary policy further, thus undermining the renminbi somewhat. But the knock on effect of weakening Chinese growth is that the rest of Asia, which relies on China as a key market for their exports, will also suffer. Hence the sharp decline in AUD and NZD (-1.0%), along with KRW and the rest of the APAC currencies. It certainly appears as though the trade tensions with the US are having a deleterious effect on the Chinese economy, and that may well be the reason that we have heard of more concessions on their part in the discussions. Today’s story is that corn purchases will be restarting in January, yet another rollback of Chinese trade barriers.

But it was not just China that undermined the global growth story; Eurozone data was equally dismal in the form of PMI releases. In this case, Germany’s Manufacturing PMI printed at 51.5, France at 49.7 and the Eurozone as a whole at 51.4. Each of these was substantially below expectations and point to Q4 growth in the Eurozone slowing further. While the French story is directly related to the ongoing gilets jaune protests, Germany is a bigger issue. If you recall, Q3 growth there was negative (-0.2%) but was explained away as a one-off problem related to retooling auto plants for emissions changes in regulations. However, the data thus far in Q4 have not shown any substantive improvement and now call into question the idea that a Q4 rebound will even occur, let alone offset the weak Q3 data.

Adding to the Eurozone questions is the fact that the ECB yesterday confirmed it was ending QE this month, although it has explained that it will be maintaining the size of the balance sheet for “an extended period of time” after its first interest rate rise. Currently, the market is pricing in an ECB rate hike for September 2019, but I am very skeptical. The fact that Signor Draghi characterized economic risks as to the downside rather than balanced should come as no surprise (they are) but calls into question why they ended QE. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the ECB reduced its forecasts for both growth and inflation for 2018 and 2019, hardly the backdrop to be tightening policy. In the end, much of this was expected, although Draghi’s tone at the press conference was clearly more dovish than had been anticipated, and the euro fell all day yesterday and has continued on this morning in the wake of the weak data. And this doesn’t even include the Italian budget mess where Italy’s latest figures show a smaller deficit despite no adjustments in either spending or taxes. Magical thinking for sure!

Meanwhile, the UK continues to hurtle toward a hard Brexit as PM May was rebuffed by the EU in her attempts to gain some conciliatory language to bring back to her Parliament. While I don’t believe in the apocalyptic projections being made about the UK economy come April 1st next year, I do believe that the market will severely punish the pound when it becomes clear there will be no deal, which is likely to be some time in January.

As to the US-China trade situation, this morning there is more fear of tariffs by the US, but the negotiation is ongoing. Funnily enough, my reading of the signs is that China is, in fact, blinking here and beginning to make some concessions. The last thing President Xi can afford is for the Chinese economy to slow sharply and put millions of young men out of work. Historically, excessive unemployed youth can lead to revolution, a situation he will seek to avoid at all costs. If it means he must spin some concessions to the US into a story of strengthening the Chinese economy, that is what he will do. It would certainly be ironic if President Trump’s hardball negotiating tactics turned out to be successful in opening up the Chinese economy and broadly pushing forward a more internationalist agenda, but arguably, it cannot be ruled out. Consider the ramifications on the political debate in the US if that were to be the case!! As to the market implications, I would expect that risk would be quickly embraced, equity markets would rally sharply as would the dollar, while expectations for the Fed would revert to tighter policy in 2019 and beyond. Treasuries, on the other hand, would fall sharply and yields on the 10-year would likely test their highs from early November. We shall see.

This morning brings Retail Sales (exp 0.2%, ex autos 0.2%), IP (0.3%) and Capacity Utilization (78.6%). Data that continues to show the US growing, especially in the wake of the weakness seen elsewhere in the world, should continue to underpin the dollar going forward. While I understand the structural issues like the massive budget and current account deficits should lead to dollar weakness, we are still in a cyclical phase of the market, and the US remains the best place to be for investment, so it remains premature to write off further dollar strength.

Good luck, good weekend and happy holidays to you all.

FX Poetry will return on January 2nd with forecasts for next year, and in regular format starting January 3rd.

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Into the Tank

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The German economy shrank
Japan’s heading into the tank
Italians declared
The budget prepared
Is gospel, and oil just sank

There are a number of stories this morning competing for market attention as investors and traders continue to try to get a reading on growth prospects going forward. Perhaps the most surprising story is that German GDP, which had been expected to print at 0.0% in Q3, actually fell -0.2%, significantly worse than expected. While every pundit and economist has highlighted that it was a confluence of one-time events that drove the data and that expectations for Q4 are far more robust, the fact remains that Q3 growth in Germany, and the whole of Europe, has been much weaker than anticipated. The euro has not benefitted from the news, falling 0.25%, and broadly continuing its recent downtrend.

Adding to the single currency’s woes is the ongoing Italian budget opera, where the EU huffed and puffed and demanded the Italians change their plans. The Italians, formally, told the EU to pound salt yesterday evening, and now the EU is at a crossroads. Either the emperor has no clothes (EU does nothing and loses its fiscal oversight capability) or is in fact well dressed and willing to flaunt it (initiates procedures to sanction and fine Italy). The problem with the former is obvious, but the problem with the latter is the potential impact on EU Parliamentary elections to be held in the spring. Attacking Italy could easily result in a far more antiestablishment parliament with many of the current leadership finding themselves in the minority. (And the one thing we absolutely know is that incumbency is THE most important aspect of leadership, right?) The point is that there are ample reasons for the euro to remain under pressure going forward.

At the same time, Japanese economic data continues to disappoint, with IP declining -2.5% Y/Y in September and Capacity Utilization falling 1.5%. At the same time, we find out that the BOJ’s balance sheet is now officially larger than the Japanese economy! Think about that, Japan’s debt/GDP ratio has long been over 200%, but now the BOJ has printed money and bought assets equivalent to the entire annual output of the nation. And despite the extraordinary efforts that the BOJ has made, growth remains lackluster and inflation nonexistent meaning the BOJ has failed to achieve either of its key aims. At some point in time, and it appears to be approaching sooner rather than later, central banks around the world will completely lose the ability to adjust market behavior through either words or action. And while it is not clear which central bank will lose that power first, the BOJ has to be the frontrunner, although the ECB is certainly trying to make a run at the title.

Meanwhile, from Merry Olde Englande we have news that a draft Brexit deal has been agreed between PM May and the EU. The problem remains that her cabinet has not yet seen nor signed off on it, and there is the little matter of getting the deal through Parliament, which will be dicey no matter what. On the one hand, it is not wholly surprising that some type of agreement was reached, but as is often the case in a situation as fraught as Brexit, nobody is satisfied, and quite frankly, it is not clear that it will gather sufficient support from either the UK Parliament, or the EU’s other nations. This is made evident by the fact that the pound has actually fallen today, -0.2%, despite the announcement. I maintain that a Brexit deal will clearly help the pound’s value, so the market does not yet believe the story. At the same time, UK inflation data was released at a softer than expected 2.4% in October, thus reducing potential pressure on the BOE to consider raising rates, even if a Brexit deal is agreed. After all, if inflation falls to 2.0%, their concerns will be much allayed.

One other story getting a lot of press has been the sharp decline in the price of oil, which yesterday fell 7.1% in the US, and is now down more than 26% since its high in the beginning of October, just six weeks ago. There is clearly a relationship between commodity prices and the dollar given the fact that most commodities are priced in dollars, and that relationship is consistently an inverse one. The question, that I have yet to seen answered effectively, is the direction of the causality. Does a stronger dollar lead to weaker commodity prices? Or do weaker commodity prices drive the dollar higher? While I am inclined to believe in the first scenario, there are arguments on both sides and no research has yet been able to answer the question effectively. However, it should be no surprise that the dollar continues to rally coincidentally with the decline in oil, and other commodity, prices.

I didn’t even get a chance to discuss the ongoing slowdown in Chinese economic growth, but we can touch on that tomorrow. As for today’s session, this morning we see the latest CPI readings (exp 0.3%, 2.5% Y/Y headline, 0.2% 2.2% core) and then as the FX market gets set to go home, Chairman Powell speaks, although it is hard to believe that his views on anything will have changed that much. In the end, the big picture remains that the dollar should continue to benefit from the Fed’s ongoing monetary policy activities as well as the self-inflicted wounds of both the euro and the yen.

Good luck
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No Real Direction

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Ahead of the midterm election
The dollar’s had no real direction
Once ballots are tallied
The dollar, which rallied
Before, may be due for rejection

It’s Election Day here in the US, as I’m sure everyone is already aware. The current expectations are for the Democrats to capture the House while the Republicans maintain the Senate, with perhaps a larger majority. Of course, many of you may remember the 2016 Presidential election when expectations proved misguided. My point is, nothing is clear to me at this point, and I will not pontificate on any particular outcome. Rather the question at hand is, what will happen to the dollar once the ballots are counted.

If expectations are borne out, a gridlocked government is likely to put forth significantly less in the way of economic policy initiatives. Given the lack of fiscal policy changes, monetary policy will gain in importance. If there is no additional fiscal stimulus, will the Fed feel compelled to continue tightening as quickly as they have been doing? Will the US economy slow more rapidly than currently projected (remember we are already growing well above most economists’ forecasts for sustainability which hover between 2.0% and 2.5%)? If this is the case, then it would be reasonable to expect the dollar to soften going forward since right now, the dollar’s strength can be largely attributed to a Fed that is tightening faster than most of the market had assumed would be the case.

On the other hand, either of the other two scenarios, the Democrats sweep or the Republicans sweep have much clearer implications for the dollar, at least to my mind. In the event of the former, I would expect the dollar to come under immediate pressure. The probability of impeachment proceedings would rise significantly and with that, the chaos that would occur would almost certainly undermine the dollar. One need only look back twenty years, when a Republican House of Representatives sought to impeach Bill Clinton. From September 1998 through the actual vote in December 1998, the dollar declined roughly 10%. Something like that is entirely realistic.

And if the Republicans were to hold the House and grow their Senate majority, the probability of even more fiscal stimulus would simply force the Fed’s hand further, and may see an even tighter policy response, as their fear of inflation would grow commensurately. A more hawkish Fed, especially in the context of what is a clearly slowing global economic picture, should further support the dollar, with a move toward 1.05 in the euro very viable. Not tomorrow mind you, but over time.

At any rate, for today, there is very little else we can do than wait. So looking at the rest of the world, we see that growth in the Eurozone may not have been quite as bad as feared. The flash PMI numbers reported two weeks ago were worse than the finalized ones reported this morning, but they are still the softest readings in more than two years. Yesterday saw the euro edge slightly higher by the end of the day, but in reality, it has done virtually nothing since November 1st. This is the picture of a market biding its time, with the election clearly the event of note.

Meanwhile, the pound continues to creep higher as there seems to be a growing belief that PM May will be able to convince her cabinet to support her with regard to the Brexit deal she is proposing. Having read about the proposed solution, it appears to me that pro-Brexit cabinet members will have a difficult time supporting anything that allows the EU to have a role in future UK decisions. After all, the idea behind Brexit was to end that process. But politics makes strange bedfellows, as they say, and so I wouldn’t rule out anything. In the end, the pound remains hostage to the Brexit outcome, and nothing has changed in that regard overnight.

As to the rest of the G10, we have seen a mixed picture with AUD and NZD both having a nice day (both higher by ~0.3%) on the back of the RBA’s upgraded forecast for economic growth Down Under. Just like in the US, wages continue to lag what historic models would indicate, but the RBA is further behind the cycle than the US, and so expectations are growing that the next move there will be for higher interest rates. At the same time, CAD and the Skandies have softened a bit this morning, but in reality, overall movement has been modest at best.

In the EMG bloc, the dollar is actually rising pretty uniformly, with ZAR (-0.65%), MXN (-0.25%), KRW (-0.25%) and TRY (-0.9%) leading the way. CNY has edged slightly lower but remains well within recent trading bounds. The exception to the rule is IDR, which has rallied 1.2% after data showed that foreign inflows into both the stock and government bond market had increased significantly in the past several weeks, prompted by an economy growing more than 5.0% with inflation remaining moderate around 3.0%. And remember, the rupiah had fallen as much as 12% from the beginning of the year before the recent little rally, so many investors see a real opportunity.

And that is really all there is. Both equity and bond markets are biding their time as well, as everybody awaits the outcome of the US elections. There is no reason to believe that the market will move much ahead of that outcome this evening, so hedgers might want to take advantage of quiet markets to top up hedges in the event of a surprise tonight.

Good luck
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When Tax Cuts Arrive

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The euro has taken a dive
As Italy tries to revive
Its still quite weak growth
By managing both
More spending when tax cuts arrive

It was just earlier this week that pundits were sounding the death knell for the dollar, as they explained the market has already fully priced in Fed rate hikes while other markets, both developed and emerging, were just beginning their turn towards tighter policy. In fact, the convergence trade was becoming all the rage; the idea that as the dollar started to slide, emerging market economies would see reduced pressure on their fundamentals (it would become easier to repay dollar debt) while commodity prices could rebound (most emerging markets are commodity exporters) and so both stock and bond prices in those markets would benefit. At the same time, other developed markets would see a similar, albeit lesser, impact and so market sentiment would get markedly better. Or not.

Yesterday, the market learned that the Italian budget question, something that had been set aside as not really impactful, has become impactful. The announcement by the ruling coalition that they would be targeting a 2.4% budget deficit next year, well above earlier estimates of 1.8% but still below the EU’s 3.0% target, has raised numerous red flags for investors. First, the new budget will do nothing to address Italy’s debt/GDP ratio, which at 131% is second only to Greece within the EU. One of the reasons that the EU wanted that lower target was to help address that situation. The potential consequence of that issue, a larger debt/GDP ratio, is that the ratings agencies may lower their country credit ratings for Italy, which currently stand at Baa2 by Moody’s and BBB by S&P. And given that those ratings are just two notches above junk, it could put the country in a precarious position of having a much more difficult time funding its deficit. It should be no surprise that Italian government bond yields jumped, with 2-year yields spiking 46bps and 10-year yields up 31bps. It should also be no surprise that the Italian stock markets fell sharply, with the FTSE-MIB down 4.1% as I type. And finally, it should be no surprise that the euro is lower, having fallen more than 1.5% since this news first trickled into the market yesterday morning NY time. While this could still play out where the coalition government backs off its demands and markets revert, what is clear is that dismissing Italian budget risk as insignificant is no longer a viable option.

But it’s not just the euro that is under pressure; the dollar is generally stronger against most of its counterparts. For example, the pound is down 0.3% this morning and 1% since yesterday morning after UK data showed weakening confidence and slowing business investment. Both of these seem to be directly related to growing Brexit concerns. And on that subject, there has been no movement with regard to the latest stance by either the UK or the EU. Politicians being what they are, I still feel like they will have something signed when the time comes, but it will be short on specifics and not actually address the issues. But every day that passes increases the odds that the UK just leaves with no deal, and that will be, at least in the short term, a huge pound Sterling negative.

Meanwhile, the yen has fallen to its lowest level vs. the dollar this year, trading through 113.60 before consolidating, after the BOJ once again tweaked its concept of how to manage QE there. Surprisingly (to me at least) the movement away from buying 30-year bonds was seen as a currency negative, despite the fact that it drove yields higher at the back of the curve. If anything, I would have expected that move to encourage Japanese investors to repatriate funds and invest locally, but that is not the market reaction. What I will say is that the yen’s trend is clearly downward and there is every indication that it will continue.

Looking at the data story, yesterday we saw US GDP for Q2 confirmed at 4.2%, while Durable Goods soared at a 4.5% pace in August on the back of strong aircraft orders. For this morning, we are looking for Personal Income (exp 0.4%); Personal Spending (0.3%); PCE (0.2%, 2.3% Y/Y); Core PCE (0.1%, 2.0% Y/Y); and Michigan Sentiment (100.8). All eyes should be on the Core PCE data given it is the number the Fed puts into their models. In addition, we hear from two Fed speakers, Barkin and Williams, although at this stage they are likely to just reiterate Wednesday’s message. Speaking of which, yesterday Chairman Powell spoke and when asked about the flattening yield curve explained that it was something they watched, but it was not seen as a game changer.

In the end, barring much weaker PCE data, there is no reason to believe that the Fed is going to slow down, and if anything, it appears they could fall behind the curve, especially if the tariff situation starts to impact prices more quickly than currently assumed. There is still a tug of war between the structural issues, which undoubtedly remain dollar negative, and the cyclical issues, which are undoubtedly dollar positive, but for now, it appears the cyclicals are winning.

Good luck and good weekend
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Watching With Rigor

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Though Draghi said data of late
May not have appeared all that great
We’re watching with rigor
Inflation that’s vigor-
Ously rising at a high rate

After a multi week decline, the dollar is showing further signs of stabilizing this morning. And that includes its response to yesterday’s surprising comments by ECB President Mario Draghi, who indicated that despite the ECB lowering its forecasts for growth this year and next, and that despite the fact that recent data has been falling short of expectations, he still described the underlying inflation impulse as “relatively vigorous” and reconfirmed that QE would be ending in December with rates rising next year. In fact, several of his top lieutenants, including Peter Praet and Ewald Nowotny, indicated that rates ought to rise even sooner than that. Draghi, however, has remained consistent in his views that gradual removal of the current policy accommodation is the best way forward. But as soon as the words “relatively vigorous” hit the tape, the euro jumped more than 0.5% and touched an intraday high of 1.1815, its richest point since June. The thing is, that since that time yesterday morning, it has been a one-way trip lower, with the euro ultimately rising only slightly yesterday and actually drifting lower this morning.

But away from the excitement there, the dollar has continued to consolidate Friday’s gains, and is actually edging higher on a broad basis. It should be no surprise that the pound remains beholden to the Brexit story, and in truth I am surprised it is not lower this morning after news that the Labour party would definitively not support a Brexit deal based on the current discussions. This means that PM May will need to convince everyone in her tenuous majority coalition to vote her way, assuming they actually get a deal agreed. And while one should never underestimate the ability of politicians to paint nothing as something, it does seem as though the UK is going to be leaving the EU with no exit deal in place. While the pound is only down 0.15% this morning, I continue to see a very real probability of a much sharper decline over the next few months as it becomes increasingly clear that no deal will appear.

There was one big winner overnight, though, the Korean won, which rallied 4.2% on two bits of news. Arguably the biggest positive was the word that the US and Korea had agreed a new trade deal, the first of the Trump era, which was widely hailed by both sides. But let us not forget the news that there would be a second round of talks between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un to further the denuclearization discussion. This news is also a significant positive for the won.

The trade situation remains fascinating in that while Mr Trump continues to lambaste the Chinese regarding trade, he is aggressively pursuing deals elsewhere. In fact, it seems that one of the reasons yesterday’s imposition of the newest round of tariffs on Chinese goods had so little market impact is that there is no indication that the president is seeking isolationism, but rather simply new terms of trade. For all the bluster that is included in the process, he does have a very real success to hang his hat on now that South Korea is on board. Signing a new NAFTA deal might just cause a re-evaluation of his tactics in a more positive light. We shall see. But in the end, the China situation does not appear any closer to resolution, and that will almost certainly outweigh all the other deals, especially if the final threatened round of $267 billion of goods sees tariffs. The punditry has come around to the view that this is all election posturing and that there will be active negotiations after the mid-term elections are concluded in November. Personally, I am not so sanguine about the process and see a real chance that the trade war situation will extend much longer.

If the tariffs remain in place for an extended period of time, look for inflation prints to start to pick up much faster and for the Fed to start to lean more hawkishly than they have been to date. The one thing that is clear about tariffs is that they are inflationary. With the FOMC starting their meeting this morning, all eyes will be on the statement tomorrow afternoon, and then, of course, all will be tuned in to Chairman Powell’s press conference. At this point, there seems to be a large market contingent (although not a majority) that is looking for a more dovish slant in the statement. Powell must be happy that the dollar has given back some of its recent gains, and will want to see that continue. But in the end, there is not yet any evidence that the Fed is going to slow down the tightening process. In fact, the recent rebound in oil prices will only serve to put further upward pressure on inflation, and most likely keep the doves cooped up.

With that in mind, the two data points to be released today are unlikely to have much market impact with Case-Shiller Home Prices (exp 6.2%) at 9:00am and Consumer Confidence (132.0) due at 10:00. So barring any new comments from other central bankers, I expect the dollar to remain range bound ahead of tomorrow’s FOMC action.

Good luck
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Just How He Feels

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On Wednesday the Chairman reveals
To all of us, just how he feels
If dovish expect
Bulls to genuflect
If hawkish, prepare for some squeals

This is an early note as I will be in transit during my normal time tomorrow.

On Friday, the dollar continued its early morning rebound and was generally firmer all day long. The worst performer was the British pound, which fell more than 1.0% after Friday’s note was sent. It seems that the Brexit story is seen as increasingly tendentious, and much of the optimism that we had seen develop during the past three weeks has dissipated. While the pound remains above its lowest levels from earlier in the month, it certainly appears that those levels, and lower ones, are within reach if there is not some new, positive news on the topic. This appears to be an enormous game of chicken, and at this point, it is not clear who is going to blink first. But every indication is that the pound’s value will remain closely tied to the perceptions of movement on a daily basis. Hedgers need to be vigilant in maintaining appropriate hedge levels as one cannot rule out a significant move in either direction depending on the next piece of news.

But away from the pound, the story was much more about lightening positions ahead of the weekend, and arguably ahead of this week’s FOMC meeting. The pattern from earlier in the week; a weaker dollar along with higher equity prices around the world and higher government bond yields, was reversed in a modest way. US equity markets closed slightly softer, the dollar, net, edged higher, and 10-year Treasury yields fell 2bps.

The big question remains was the dollar’s recent weakness simply a small correction that led to the other market moves, or are we at the beginning of a new, more significant trend of dollar weakness? And there is no easy answer to that one.

Looking ahead to this week shows the following data will be released:

Tuesday Case-Shiller House Prices 6.2%
  Consumer Confidence 312.2
Wednesday New Home Sales 630K
  FOMC Decision 2.25%
Thursday Initial Claims 208K
  Goods Trade Balance -$70.6B
  Q2 GDP 4.2%
Friday PCE 0.2% (2.3% Y/Y)
  Core PCE 0.1% (2.0% Y/Y)
  Personal Income 0.4%
  Personal Spending 0.3%
  Chicago PMI 62.5
  Michigan Sentiment 100.8

So clearly, the FOMC is the big issue. It is universally expected that they will raise the Fed funds rate by 25bps to 2.25%. The real question will be with the dot plot, and the analysis as to whether the sentiment in the room is getting even more hawkish, or if the CPI data from two weeks ago was enough to take some of the edge off their collective thinking, and perhaps even change the median expectations of the path of rate hikes. I can virtually guarantee you that if the dot plot shows a lower median, even if it is because of a change by just one FOMC member, equity markets will explode higher around the world, the dollar will fall and government bond yields will rise. However, my own view is that the data since we have last heard from any Fed speaker has not been nearly soft enough to consider changing one’s view. Instead, I expect a neutral to hawkish statement, and a little pressure on equities.

But the big picture narrative does seem to be starting to change, and so any dollar benefit is likely to be short lived. Be ready to hear a great deal more about the structural deficits and how that will force the dollar lower. One last thing, tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports go into effect on Monday, which will only serve to add upward pressure to inflation data, and ultimately keep the FOMC quite vigilant. I remain committed to the idea that the cyclical factors will regain their preeminence, but it just may take a few weeks or months for that to be apparent. In the meantime, look for the dollar to slowly slide lower.

Good luck
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A Terrible Day

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The UK’s Prime Minister May
Last night had a terrible day
Her plans for a deal
Were seen as unreal
As hawks in the EU held sway

But elsewhere the market’s embraced
The concept that fear was misplaced
Instead, stocks they’re buying
And so, fortifying
The idea, for risk, they have taste

Arguably, the key headline this morning was the extremely poor reception British PM May received from her 27 dinner companions at the EU dinner last night. She continues to proffer the so-called Chequers deal (named for the PM’s summer residence where the deal was agreed amongst Tory members several weeks ago), which essentially says the UK will toe the EU line when it comes to manufactured and agricultural goods, but wants a free hand in services and immigration. French President Macron was quick to dismiss the notion as he remains adamant that leaving the EU should be seen as a disaster, lest any other nations (Italy are you watching?) consider the idea. At any rate, while the pound had been rallying for the past week, reaching its highest level since early July, that all came a cropper last night. The growing hope that a Brexit deal would be found has been shattered, at least for now, and it should be no surprise that the pound has suffered for it. This morning, it is leading the way lower, having fallen 0.6% from yesterday’s closing levels.

However, while the dollar is modestly firmer this morning across the board, my strong dollar thesis is being severely tested of late. We have seen the dollar fall broadly all week despite the resumption of the march higher in US yields. Or is it because of that movement that the dollar is falling? Let’s consider the alternatives.

Several months ago I wrote about the conflicting cyclical and structural aspects of the market that were impacting the dollar’s value. The cyclical factors were US growth outpacing the rest of the world and the Fed tightening monetary policy faster than any other central bank. This combination led to higher US rates and a better investment environment in the US than elsewhere, and consequently, an increase in dollar buying for global investors to take advantage of the opportunities. Thus higher short-term interest rates led to a higher US dollar, along with a flatter yield curve.

On the other hand, the structural questions that hang over the US economy consist of the impact of late cycle fiscal stimulus in the form of both tax cuts and increased spending. The fact that this was occurring at the same time the Fed was reducing the size of its balance sheet meant that at some point, it seemed likely that increased Treasury supply would find decreased demand. The growing budget and current account deficits would in turn pressure the dollar lower while the excess Treasury supply would push long-term yields higher ending up with a weaker dollar and a steeper yield curve.

Starting in April, it became clear that the cyclical story was the primary market driver, with strong US growth pushing up short-term rates as well as US corporate earnings. Investors flocked to the US to take advantage with the dollar rallying sharply while US equity markets significantly outperformed their foreign counterparts. This was especially notable in the EMG space, where a decade of QE had forced funds to the highest yielding assets they could find, which happened to be those EMG markets. But now that there was an alternative, those funds were quick to return to the US, driving EMG equity markets lower and hammering those currencies as well. There was also a great deal of concern that if the divergence in markets continued, it could result in much more significant losses elsewhere that would eventually come back to haunt US markets.

But a funny thing happened last week, US CPI printed lower than expected. Now you might not think that a 0.1% miss on a number would be that important, but essentially what that signaled to markets was that the Fed would be more likely to ease back on the pace of tightening, thereby slowing the rise in the short-term interest rate structure. It also indicated that US growth may not be as robust as had been previously thought, and therefore, opportunities here, while still excellent, needed to be weighed against what was going on elsewhere in the world. At the same time, elsewhere in the world we have seen continued central bank rhetoric about removing policy accommodation, with ECB President Draghi’s press conference seen as mildly hawkish, while the BOJ seems to be in stealth taper mode. We have also seen the trade situation get pushed to the back of the collective market’s mind as the US imposed a lower tariff rate than expected on Chinese goods, and has not yet moved forward on any other tariffs.

But wait, there’s more!, after four months of selling off, EMG assets have suddenly started to look like they represent a ‘value’ play, with the first buyers tentatively dipping their toes back into those markets. And finally, remember that the speculative long dollar position has been building for months and reaching near record levels. Adding it all up leads to the following conclusion: there is room for the dollar to continue this decline in the medium term. Continued fund movement into EMG markets combined with the reduction of the long dollar positions will be more than sufficient to continue to drive the dollar lower.

That combination is what has taken place this week, and despite the break today, it seems quite viable that we will continue to see this pattern for a bit longer. In the end, I don’t think that the market will completely ignore the cyclical dollar prospects, but for now, the broad structural story is holding sway. Add to this the idea that market technicians are going to get excited about selling dollars because it has reached levels below the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, and thus is ‘breaking out lower’, and we could be in for a couple of months of dollar weakness. If this is true, while individual currencies could still underperform, like the pound if the Brexit situation collapses, it is entirely possible that Chairman Powell could find himself in the best position he could imagine, continuing to remove policy ease while the dollar falls, thus ameliorating the President’s concerns. But it’s not clear to me that is such a good thing overall. We shall see.

Good luck and good weekend
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Rate Hikes to Condone

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Today’s UK data has shown
The pace of price rises has grown
Surprising most folks
And likely to coax
Mark Carney, rate hikes to condone

The British pound is outperforming today, currently up 0.35%, as the market responds to a higher than expected inflation reading released this morning. CPI printed at 2.7%, well above the 2.4% consensus view and perhaps signaling that UK inflation, after a summer reprieve, is set to return to its post-Brexit peak of 3.1%. This has traders increasing their estimates of rate activity by the BOE, starting to price in tighter policy despite the ongoing uncertainty created by Brexit. As such, it should not be too surprising that the pound is firmer.

But the pound is by no means alone in its performance characteristics this morning, with the dollar weaker against virtually all comers. In fact, only two of the G10 bloc has suffered today, CHF (-0.45%) and JPY (-0.1%), the two haven currencies. The implication is that risk-taking is back. Certainly equity markets have been holding up their end of that bargain, with US markets strong performance yesterday feeding into strength throughout most of APAC last night led by Shanghai’s 1.1% gains and the Nikkei’s 1.0% rally. European shares, however, have seen a less positive reaction, as they are up at the margin, but only a few basis points, with some markets, notably Italy, actually suffering. (Italy, however, is feeling the effects of the imminent budget deadline with no cogent plan in place and significant differences between the government’s election promises and the fiscal restraint imposed by the EU.) But the other haven asset of note, US Treasuries, has also sold off, with the 10-year yield now trading at 3.05%, its highest level since late May. All told, despite the ongoing trade tensions, it seems that market participants are increasingly comfortable adding to their risk profiles.

More proof of this concept comes from the huge leveraged debt financing completed yesterday by Blackstone Group, where they borrowed $13.5 billion to purchase 55% of a Thompson-Reuters data company called Refinitiv (who comes up with these names?) At any rate, despite ratings of B- by S&P and Caa2 by Moody’s, and a leverage ratio of between 7x and 8x of EBITDA, the deal was massively oversubscribed with yields printing at, for example, 8.25% for 8-year unsecured notes, down from an initial expectation of 9.00%. High leverage, covenant lite debt is all the rage again. What could possibly go wrong?

But I digress. Back in the currency world, the dollar’s weakness has manifested itself in the EMG bloc as well as G10. For example, despite a softer than expected inflation reading from South Africa, where the headline fell to 4.9% while core fell to 4.2%, the rand is firmer by 1.8% this morning. The story here is confusing as some pundits believe that the central bank may be forced to raise rates in order to help protect the rand, which despite today’s rally is still lower by 10% this year. We have seen this type of behavior from Russia, India and Indonesia, three nations where domestic concerns have been outweighed by their currency’s weakness. However, there is a large contingent that believe the SARB will stay on the sidelines as they seek to encourage growth ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for the middle of next year.

It is not just the rand, however, that is showing strength today, but a broad spectrum of EMG currencies. These include MXN (+0.35%), INR (+0.45%), TRY (+1.5%), RUB (+0.5%) and HUF (+0.25%); as wide a cross-section as we are likely to see. In other words, this has much more to do with broad trends than specific data or stories. And with that in mind, it is hard to fight the tape.

It has become increasingly clear that most markets have made peace with the idea that the trade situation is not going to improve in the short run. Next week the US will impose 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports and the administration is already preparing its list for an additional $267 billion of goods to be taxed. No economist believes that this will enhance the pace of growth; rather the universal assumption is that global growth will slow amid this process. And yet investors and traders have simply decided to ignore this outcome, with a large contingent explicitly declaring that they believe these are simply negotiating tactics and that there will be no long-term impact. While I hope they are correct, I fear this is not the case, and that instead, we are going to see this process carry on for an extended period of time, driving up prices and inflation and forcing the Fed to tighten policy more than currently priced by markets. If I am correct, then the likelihood of a significant repricing of risk is quite large. But again, that is only if I am correct.

As to today’s session, we see our first real data of the week with Housing Starts (exp 1.23M) and Building Permits (1.31M) as well as the reading on the Current Account (-$103.5B). But with risk-on today’s theme, these data would have to be drastically weak, sub 1.0M, to have an impact. Instead, it appears that the dollar will remain under pressure today, and perhaps through the rest of the week into next as the market awaits the Fed rate hike next week, and more importantly the statement describing their future views. Until then, this seems to be the theme.

Good luck
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Things Went Awry

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A decade has passed since the day
That Lehman collapsed all the way
It sank several banks
And brought us Dodd-Frank
In effort to curb foul play

And during those ten years gone by
A number of things went awry
Some xenophobes won
And they’ve overrun
Attempts, good ideas, to apply

The upshot is markets worldwide
Have started to feel the downside
Of higher Fed rates
While there are debates
If euros or dollars will slide

Despite a number of ongoing stories that may ultimately impact markets, notably the US-China trade situation, Italian budget discussions and Brexit negotiations, movement overnight in the FX market has been benign. This morning, the broad dollar index is lower by about 0.25%, with most G10 currencies having strengthened by similar amounts, but the EMG bloc remains under pressure with TRY (-1.5%), INR (-0.75%), KRW (-0.5%) and ZAR (-0.5%) all leaning in the other direction. However, when stepping back to get perspective, the situation can fairly be summed up by saying EMG currencies have been weakening pretty consistently for the past six plus months, while the G10 has barely moved at all since the end of May when the dollar’s sharp rise came to a halt.

Given the relatively uninteresting state of markets this morning, and the fact that there is virtually no data of note until Wednesday this week, I thought I might take a short retrospective look at how things have changed since the financial crisis ten years ago.

Remarkably, last Friday was the tenth anniversary of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing. The ensuing ten years has brought about significant changes in the way markets behave, regulators oversee things and investors approach the process. Arguably, the bigger question is what will the next ten years look like. And while there is no way to be sure, there do seem to be several trends that have further to run.

The hardest thing to understand is how a debt fueled crisis resulted in policies designed to increase debt further. While during the immediacy of the extremely deep recession in 2009 there were few complaints about central bank policy trends, which were seen as emergency measures, the first eyebrows were raised when interest rates went negative in Sweden, and then followed throughout Europe and then finally in Japan. But even that would likely have been seen as generally reasonable if the interest rate cycle had been of a more normal duration. Instead, central bankers around the world collectively decided that expanding global money supply inexorably for ten years was the prudent thing to do. Consider that despite global growth chugging along at about 3.5%, global money supply has risen more than 100% since 2008, which means it has grown at nearly an 8% annual clip. As evidenced by the large gap between economic and monetary growth, it is clear that some great portion of that new money found a home outside the ‘real’ economy.

In fact, it is this situation that has defined market activity since 2008, while simultaneously confusing half the economic community. That money has found a home in global debt and equity markets, causing massive inflation there, while only trickling into the real economy and thus allowing measured price inflation, like CPI or PCE, to remain subdued. Most market analysts understood this concept within months of the process beginning, but mainstream economists and policymakers claimed to be puzzled by the lack of inflation, and so were willing to maintain ‘emergency’ policy for ten years, despite rebounding global growth. Now, clearly through this period there were areas in the world that had slowdowns (notably Europe in 2011 and China in 2015), but the idea that flooding the market with funds and then leaving them in place for nigh on ten years was economically prudent seems hard to swallow.

And of course, there were real consequences to these actions, not simply numeric arguments. Income and wealth inequality exploded, as those already rich were the main beneficiaries of the global stock and bond market rallies. At the same time, lower skilled labor found themselves under enormous pressure from a combination of technological improvements in production, reducing the demand for labor and globalization increasing the supply of labor. In hindsight, it should be no surprise at all that we have seen a significant increase in the number of nationalists being elected around the world, especially in the G10. After all, it is much easier to demonize foreign workers than industrial robots, especially since they don’t vote.

The thing is that while the Fed has, at least, made some strides to finally reduce the money supply, both raising rates and allowing their balance sheet to actually shrink, they remain the only central bank doing so. And even though the ECB is slowing its QE purchases, they are still adding funds, while both China and Japan continue to add money to the system indefinitely. Current forecasts show that global money supply will not start to shrink until the end of next year at the earliest based on current policy trajectories and expectations. However, that makes the heroic assumption that when money supply starts to shrink, financial markets will be unaffected. And that seems highly unlikely given how crucial those excess funds have been to financial market performance for the past decade.

Summing up, the Lehman bankruptcy triggered a global crisis that was built on excessive leverage, notably in the US housing market. The crisis response was to cut short-term interest rates dramatically while flooding the markets with cash in order to drive down long-term interest rates. The consequences of this policy, which was repeated around the world once the Fed led the way, was a massive rally in both equity and fixed income markets, and a modest rebound in economic growth. Financial engineering became the norm (issue cheap debt to repurchase shares and drive up EPS and stock prices while increasing balance sheet leverage), whereas R&D and Capex shrank in comparison. The dollar, meanwhile, initially rallied sharply as a safe haven, and despite periodic bouts of weakness, it has continued its long-term uptrend, thus pressuring export industries to move production offshore. And the result of all that economic and financial change has been the rise of nationalist political parties around the world as well as significant pressure on the global free trade movement amongst nations.

There is a great irony in the fact that for many years after the crisis, central bankers were terrified of global deflation, and sought aggressively to push inflation higher. Well, now they have done so in spades, and it will be quite interesting to see how they respond to this more traditional monetary phenomenon. As the Fed continues on its current policy path, we are seeing an increasing number of EMG central banks forced to raise rates as well, despite suspect economic growth, as inflation is breaking out all over the bloc. Friday saw Russia raise rates in a surprise, and all eyes are on Brazil and South Africa this week. My fear is that ten years of emergency monetary accommodation has left the world in a precarious position, one where the future will see even bigger problems than the crisis ten years ago. Ask yourself this, how will global markets respond to a debt “jubilee”, where debt is simply erased from the books and investors are left in the lurch? Don’t think it can’t happen.

And with that as a backdrop, let’s quickly look ahead to a very limited week of data as follows:

Today Empire Manufacturing 23.0
Tuesday TIC Flows $65.1B
Wednesday Housing Starts 1.23M
  Building Permits 1.31M
Thursday Initial Claims 210K
  Philly Fed 16.5
  Existing Home Sales 5.36M

With the FOMC meeting next week, all eyes are going to turn in that direction. While expectations are universal for a 25bp rate hike, the question is how hawkish or dovish will they sound. The interesting thing is that recent comments by Fed speakers have been far more focused on the potential of the ongoing trade issues to negatively impact the economy. (Secretly I believe that they are actually quite happy with this as if things turn south they will be able to blame someone else and the market will accept that explanation.) At any rate, the data of late has been mixed, with the wage data showing stronger than expected growth, while CPI was actually soft. Given the dearth of important data this week, I expect that the dollar will continue its recent wishy-washy performance, with some days of modest rallies and some days of modest declines, but no new trend evolving.

Good luck
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Inspired

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It seems that inflation here’s not
Exploding, nor running too hot
That news has inspired
Stocks getting acquired
The dollar, meanwhile, went to pot

Yesterday’s CPI reading was surprisingly mild, with the headline rate rising 2.7% and the core just 2.2%. Both those readings were 0.1% below expectations and the market reaction was swift. Equity futures rallied immediately, with those gains maintained, and actually increased, throughout the session. At the same time the euro jumped 0.6%, as the CPI data moderated expectations of an ever more aggressive Fed. In other words, Goldilocks is still alive and well.

The employment situation in the US remains remarkably robust (Initial Claims were just 204K, the lowest level since December 1969!), while inflation seems to be under control. If you recall Chairman Powell’s comments from Jackson Hole, he remains data dependent, and clearly does not feel beholden to any particular economic model that defines where interest rates ought to be based on historical constructs. Rather, he seems willing to be patient if patience is required. Certainly the market understands that to be his view, as this data has helped flatten the trajectory of rate hikes further out the curve. While there is no doubt that the Fed will move later this month, and the probability of a December move remains high, next year suddenly looks much less certain, at least right now. Given this new information, it is no surprise that the dollar remains under modest pressure. And if the data starts to point to a slowdown in US growth and continued moderation in inflation, then the dollar ought to continue to suffer. But one data point does not make a trend, so let’s be careful about extrapolating this too far.

Beyond the CPI data, we also heard from Signor Draghi at the ECB press conference. He was remarkably consistent despite the reduction in GDP growth forecasts made by his staff economists. QE will wind down as advertised, with €30 billion of purchases this month and then €15 billion for the rest of the year, ending in December. And rates will remain where they are “through summer” which has widely been interpreted to mean until September 2019. Consider that one year from now, US interest rates are very likely to be at least 75bps higher than the current 2.00% and possibly as much as 150bps higher, which means that the spread will be at least 315bps in favor of the dollar. I understand that markets are forward looking, but boy, that is a very wide spread to ignore, and I expect that the dollar will continue to benefit accordingly.

Last night we also saw important data from China, where Fixed Asset Investment rose at its slowest pace (5.3%) since the data series began in 1996. This is somewhat surprising given Beijing’s recent instructions to regional governments to increase infrastructure investment as President Xi attempts to address a slowing economy. From the Chinese perspective, this is also an unwelcome outcome for the ongoing trade dispute with the US as it may give the appearance that China is more motivated for a deal and encourage President Trump to press harder. But for our purposes, the risk is that a slowing Chinese economy results in a weaker renminbi and there is clearly concern in Beijing that if USDCNY trades to 7.00, it could well encourage a more significant capital flight from the country, something that the PBOC wants to avoid at all costs. Now, last night it fell just 0.2% on the news and has actually recouped those losses since then, but that fear remains a driving force in Chinese policy.

The other stories that continue are in Turkey, where it should be no surprise that President Erdogan was extremely disappointed in the central bank for its surprisingly large rate hike yesterday morning. While the lira has held on to the bulk of its early gains, given Erdogan’s unpredictability, it is easy to contemplate further changes in the central bank governance that would be seen as quite negative for TRY. In Italy, the budget battles continue with no outcome yet, but this morning’s spin being somewhat less positive than yesterday’s, with concerns FinMin Tria will not be able to prevent a breech of the EU’s 3.0% budget deficit limit. And finally, BOE Governor Carney, in a closed door briefing with the PM and her cabinet, indicated that one possible scenario if there is no Brexit deal would be for crashing house prices but rising interest rates, a true double whammy. And on that subject, there has been no indication that a deal is any closer at this time. But all of these have been secondary to the CPI story, which seemed to change the tone of the markets.

This morning brings a raft of US data as follows: Retail Sales (exp 0.4%, 0.5% ex autos); IP (0.3%); Capacity Utilization (78.3%); Business Inventories (0.6%); and Michigan Consumer Sentiment (96.7). Arguably, the Retail Sales data will be the most closely watched as investors try to get a better understanding of just how the US economy is performing, but quite frankly, that number would need to be quite strong to alter the impressions from yesterday. Finally, we hear from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, which could be interesting based on the CPI data’s change to impressions. In the end, though, I expect a relatively quiet session. It’s Friday and traders will want to reduce exposures.

Good luck and good weekend
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