Tag Archives: #dollar

Just Dreams

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Last night saw a rocket attack
On assets, US, in Iraq
The oil price surged
While stocks were submerged
’neath selling by bulls who cut back

This morning, however, it seems
Concerns about war were just dreams
The losses reversed
As traders still thirst
For assets now priced at extremes

What a difference a day makes…or does it? Yesterday saw market participants’ initial evaluation of the threat of escalation in Iran/Iraq as limited with the result that early price action favoring haven assets reversed and most markets closed within a few basis points of Monday’s prices. The one exception to that rule was the dollar, which maintained its bid all day long, actually extending its gains late into the session. Other than the idea that international investors are buying dollars so they can buy US stocks, it is hard to come up with a short term rationale for the dollar’s recent strength. If anything, news this morning that the Fed’s balance sheet has grown even further, to $4.17 trillion, would imply that a weaker dollar is in the offing.

Of course, last night, shortly after the US markets closed, came the news that Iran fired a number of missiles at two different military bases in Iraq that are jointly used by the US and Iraqi militaries. There was a great deal of huffing and puffing from Iran, they announced the attacks themselves on Iranian TV, but in the end, they were nothing more than damp squibs. There was no material damage and no personnel killed, or even severely wounded. (And that is a good thing!) But at the time the news hit the tape, this outcome was not clear and risk assets plunged while haven assets soared. Thus, overnight saw gold trade up to $1610/oz, WTI rise to $65.65 (Brent to $71.75), Treasury yields fall to 1.74% and the yen rise to 107.65 (0.75%). But that price action, and the fear driving it, was quite short-lived. Once it became clear that the Iranian retaliation was completely ineffective, and they announced they were not interested in a major conflict, essentially all of that movement was reversed. So this morning we see gold at $1579/oz, WTI at $62.60, Treasury yields back to 1.82% and the yen actually net weaker on the day, at 108.70 (-0.25%).

This begs the question of how to consider this new potential risk going forward. The first rule of an exogenous market risk is the law of diminishing returns. In other words, even if there is another attack of some sort, you can be sure that the haven rally will be smaller and risk assets will not decline as much as the first time. And since this entire affair is occurring in a locale that, other than oil production, has almost no impact on the global economy, the impact is likely to be even smaller. Now I waved off oil production as though it is not important, but there is no question that the remarkable rise of US oil production has significantly altered the global politics of oil. When the Middle East was responsible for more than 50% of global production, OPEC ruled the roost, and anything that happened there had a global impact. But as oil production elsewhere in the world has grown and OPEC’s market share sinks below 40% (remember, the US is the world’s largest oil producer now), the impact of Middle Eastern conflagrations has fallen dramatically. The point is that short of a major attack by Iran on Saudi oil facilities or attempts to close the Persian Gulf, this situation has probably driven all the market excitement it is going to. In other words, we need to look elsewhere for market catalysts.

With that in mind, if we turn to the ongoing data releases, we find that German Factory Orders once again missed the mark, falling 6.5% Y/Y in November, highlighting that the industrial malaise in the engine of Europe continues. French Consumer Confidence fell more than expected, and Eurozone Confidence indices were almost uniformly worse than expected. It is difficult to look at this data and conclude that the situation in Europe is improving, at least yet. I guess, given this situation it should be no surprise that the euro is lower again this morning, down 0.3%, and actually trading at its lowest point this year (a little unfair, but the lowest level in two weeks). But the dollar’s strength is evident elsewhere in the G10 as the pound remains under pressure, -0.1% today and 0.45% this week. And the same is true pretty much throughout the space.

In the EMG bloc, the results have been a bit more mixed overnight with THB the worst performer (-0.5%) after comments from the central bank decrying the baht’s strength and implying they may do something about it. Remember, too, that APAC currencies, in general, saw weakness on the fear story, which dissipated after those markets closed. On the flip side, ZAR is the day’s biggest gainer, +0.6%, completely recouping its early-session Middle East related losses, as investors apparently focused on the incipient US-China trade deal and how it will benefit the global economy and South African interests.

On the US data front, yesterday saw a smaller than expected Trade Deficit and better than expected ISM data (55.0 vs. 54.5 exp). This morning we are awaiting the ADP Employment numbers (exp 160K) and Consumer Credit ($16.0B) this afternoon. We also hear from Fed Governor Lael Brainerd this morning, but it doesn’t appear as though she will focus on monetary policy as part of her discussion on the Community Reinvestment Act.

In the end, US data has continued to perform well, which thus far has been enough to offset the early impact of the Fed’s (not) QE. However, as the Fed balance sheet continues to grow, I continue to look for the dollar to decline throughout the year. As such, payables receivers should consider taking advantage of the dollar’s early year strength.

Good luck
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No Rapprochement

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The topic du jour is Iran
Where threats, to and fro, carry on
Risk appetite’s fallen
And bears are now all in
That this time there’s no rapprochement

The rhetoric between the US and Iran over the weekend has escalated with both sides threatening retaliation for anything the other side does. Stories of cyber-attacks on the US as well as an attack on a base in Kenya where three Americans were killed seem to be the first steps, but with the US deploying reinforcements to the Middle East, and President Trump promising disproportionate responses to any further actions, the situation has become fraught with danger.

Not surprisingly, financial markets are stressing with risk appetites throughout the world dissipating and haven assets in demand. So, for a second day we have seen equity markets fall around the world (Nikkei -1.9%, Hang Seng -0.8%, DAX -1.6%, CAC -1.1%, FTSE -1.0%) and US futures are following along with all three indices currently lower by approximately 0.8%. Treasuries and German bunds have rallied, albeit Friday’s price action was far greater than this morning’s movement which has seen yields on each fall just one more basis point. Gold has soared to its highest level since April 2013 and is now pressing up toward $1600/oz. Oil continues to rise on supply fears, up another 1.0% this morning and nearly 6.0% since Friday morning. But recall that prior to the US action against Soleimani, oil was up more than 20% since October.

And finally, the dollar this morning is…lower. At least mostly that’s the case. In some ways this is quite surprising as the dollar tends to be a haven in its own right, but markets have been known to be fickle prior to today. In the G10 space, the pound is leading the way higher overnight, up 0.5%, which may well be a response to modestly better than expected UK data (New Car Registrations +3.4%, Services PMI 50.0) rather than to the geopolitical risks. Of course, PMI at 50.0 is hardly cause for celebration, but I guess that’s better than further sub-50 readings. The euro has also benefitted this morning, +0.35%, after PMI data across the region was also modestly better than the flash numbers from the week before last. However, based on the latest data, according to most econometric models, GDP for Q1 in the Eurozone is still running at just 0.1%, or less than 0.5% annualized. Again, it’s hard to get too excited about the situation yet.

And then there is the yen, which is essentially unchanged on the day, perhaps the biggest surprise of all. This is because even when the dollar has not run true to course on a risk basis, the yen has been extremely consistent. Granted, since New Year’s Eve, the yen has been the top G10 performer but its 0.5% rally in that time is hardly inspirational. My take is that even heightened rhetoric from either side is likely to see the yen gain further, but remember there are market technicals involved in the trade, with 108.00 having demonstrated strong support since early October. It appears we will need a bit more of a ‘kinetic’ action in Iraq/Iran before the yen takes its next steps higher.

In the EMG bloc, the situation is a bit different, with EEMEA currencies all trading in a tightly linked manner to the euro, and so higher by about 0.35%, but modest weakness seen across most of the APAC region. As to LATAM, CLP is opening much lower (-1.75%) as the central bank backed away from its USD sale program. The bank announced this morning that it would not be selling the $150mm in the spot market it has been executing every day since last autumn. If nothing else, this should be a good indication for hedgers of just how little liquidity exists within that market.

Turning to Friday’s FOMC Minutes, it can be no surprise that the Fed nearly twisted their own arm, patting themselves on the back, for setting policy at just the right place. And then there was the American Economic Association conference this past weekend where the Fed loomed large in the paper production. Former Fed chairs Bernanke and Yellen once again explained that things beyond their control (demographics and technology) were the reason that they could not achieve their policy targets, but both assured us that more of the same policies that have been ineffective for the economy (but great for the stock market) would get the job done! Meanwhile, current Fed members all expressed satisfaction with the current settings, although it is clear there is far more concern over economic weakness than rising price pressures. What is clear is that higher prices are coming to a store (every store) near you.

As to this week, the data parade starts tomorrow and runs through Friday’s payroll report as follows:

Tuesday Trade Balance -$43.9B
  ISM Non-Manufacturing 54.5
  Factory Orders -0.7%
Wednesday ADP Employment 160K
  Consumer Credit $15.8B
Thursday Initial Claims 220K
Friday Nonfarm Payrolls 162K
  Private Payrolls 152K
  Manufacturing Payrolls 5K
  Unemployment Rate 3.5%
  Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (3.1% Y/Y)
  Average Weekly Hours 34.4

Source: Bloomberg

In addition, we hear from five more Fed speakers, with many more doves than hawks slated to discuss their views. In truth, I think it would be more effective if they would simply shut up rather than constantly reiterate their opinion that they have done a great job and will continue to do so unless things change. However, with the reduced risk appetite due to the Iran situation, I guess they feel the need to try to support stock prices at all costs.

In the medium term, I think the dollar will continue to come under pressure. In the short term, I think it is much harder to have a view given the highly volatile nature of the current situation in the Middle East. This is why you hedge; to prevent significant problems, but take care in executing those hedges, markets are skittish on the opening, and market depth may be a bit less robust than normal.

Good luck
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Unease In Iraq

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While yesterday, risk basked in glory
This morning risk-off is the story
Unease in Iraq
Had markets give back
The gains seen in each category

Well, this is probably not the way most of us anticipated the year to begin, with a retaliatory strike against Iran inside Iraq, but that’s what makes markets interesting. So yesterday’s bright beginning, where the PBOC reduced its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.50% to add further liquidity to the Chinese economy which led to broad based positive risk sentiment has been completely reversed this morning. Briefly recapping yesterday’s activity, equity markets around the world soared on the news of further central bank easy money, but interestingly, Treasury bonds rallied (yields declined) and gold rallied as did the dollar. This is a pretty unusual combination of market movements, as generally, at least one of that group would sell off in a given session. Perhaps it speaks to the amount of spare cash on the sidelines looking for investment opportunities to start the year.

However, that was soooo yesterday. At about 7:45 last night the news hit the tape that a senior Iranian general from the QUDS force had been killed by a US drone attack near Baghdad airport. When this was confirmed all of the positive sentiment that had been permeating markets disappeared in an instant. Equity prices went from a strong opening in Asia to closing with declines. The dollar and the yen both rallied sharply as did gold and oil. And not to be left out, Treasury yields have plummeted along with Bund and Gilt yields. In other words, today is a classic risk-off session.

So a quick look at markets as NY starts to walk in shows European equity markets under pressure (DAX -1.65%, CAC -0.5%, FTSE -0.5%) and US futures similarly falling (DJIA -1.2%, Nasdaq 1.5%, SPY -1.3%). In the bond market, Treasury yields are down 7.5bps to 1.80% while German Bunds are down 7bps to -0.30%. Gold prices have rallied a further 1.4% and are back to the highs touched in September at $1550/oz, a level which had not been seen since early 2013 prior to that. Oil prices have rocketed higher, up 3.9%, as fears of supply interruptions make the rounds. Of course, given that the US shale producers have essentially become the swing producers in the market, my sense is that we are not likely to see a permanently higher price level here. Remember, when Iran attacked Saudi oil facilities last September, the oil price spike was extremely short-lived, lasting just a couple of days before settling right back down.

And finally, the dollar has rallied sharply this morning against virtually all its counterparts except, naturally, the yen. During the last week of 2019, the dollar sold off broadly, losing about 2.0% against a wide range of currencies as investors and traders seemed to be preparing for a scenario of continued low US interest rates supporting stocks while undermining the dollar’s value. Of course, my view of ‘not QE’ having a significant impact on the dollar has not changed, and although the US economy continues to outperform its G10 peers and US interest rates remain higher than pretty much every other country in that bloc, the history of QE is that it will undermine the dollar this year.

But for right now, long-term structural issues are taking a back seat to the immediacy of growing concern over escalating tensions in Iraq and the Middle East. If a larger conflict erupts, then we are far more likely to see protracted USD and JPY strength alongside weaker equity markets, higher prices for gold and oil and lower Treasury yields. And the thing to remember right now is that traders were establishing short USD positions for the last several weeks, so this sudden reversal could well have further to run on position squaring alone. Markets remain less liquid than normal as most trading desks will not be fully staffed until Monday. So keep that in mind if some hedging needs to be executed today.

With that as an introduction, what else can we anticipate today? Well, we do get a bit of US data, ISM Manufacturing (exp 49.0) and ISM Prices Paid (47.8) as well as Construction Spending (0.4%) and then at 2:00 the FOMC Minutes from the December meeting will be released. Those have garnered a great deal of interest as even though Chairman Powell has essentially told us all that rates are on hold for a long time, all eyes will be searching for further discussion of the repo issue and how the Fed plans to handle it going forward. While they were able to prevent any untoward movement for the year-end turn, they are still buying $60 billion / month of T-bills and the balance sheet has grown more than $400 billion since October. Not coincidentally, equity prices have rallied sharply since October as well. The point is that the Fed remains on a path where they have promised to re-inflate the balance sheet until at least late Spring, and given the direct relationship between the Fed’s balance sheet and equity prices, as well as the demonstrated fear the Fed has shown with respect to doing anything that could be blamed for causing the stock market to decline, it seems awfully likely that ‘not QE’ is going to continue for a very long time. And that is going to weigh on the dollar going forward…just not today.

One more thing to look for this afternoon is a series of comments from a bevy of Fed doves (Brainard, Daly, Evans and Kaplan) who are attending a conference in San Diego. Do not be surprised to hear comments that continue to raise the bar for any possible rate hikes, but allow the idea of rate cuts to filter into the discussion. However, this too, is unlikely to undermine the dollar during a risk-off session. The theme here is that payables hedgers need to consider taking advantage of this short-term dollar strength.

Good luck
Adf

 

Powell at the (Printing) Press

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With apologies to Ernest Lawrence Thayer

The outlook isn’t brilliant for the dollar late this year
As Powell’s pushed his printing press into a higher gear
Just like we’ve seen each time the Fed has started up QE
The consequence is weakness in the greenback you will see

Despite the fact that growth at home is better than elsewhere
It seems Jay feels the need to do some more so just beware
The idea that with stocks at highs the Fed will further ease
Is crazy, but, this President, he feels he must appease

So with this as a start let’s take a look around our orb
And see which things we should ignore and which we need absorb
Our first stop is in Europe where the continent’s a mess
With interest rates still negative and banks under duress

The ECB’s new president, the elegant Lagarde
Will quickly find omnipotence was simply a canard
The toolkit there is empty, while unrest proceeds to build
And likely it is that her goals there cannot be fulfilled

So GDP most surely will remain near one percent
And prices, as they’re measured, will not make a real ascent
As to the euro which has slowly ebbed the past two years
Its time has come to rebound somewhat as QE appears

So come December next if you should gaze upon your screen
Don’t be surprised if what you see is One point Seventeen
North of the Channel is the Kingdom near a century old
Where Boris is Prime Minister and Brexit will unfold

The question now at hand is how that nation will perform
Will growth see sunny days or will there be a thunderstorm?
The Old Lady of Threadneedle now has a brand new boss
Who’ll quickly find his toolkit, too, is mostly filled with dross

And don’t forget that Boris promised by December next
A new trade deal with Europe will be written into text
But what if talks on trade devolve into a great morass?
A not unlikely outcome that could clearly come to pass

Then once again the pound will suffer greatly, like ‘Nineteen
When everybody feared the worst would come on Halloween
While that crisis was dodged, come New Year’s Eve some twelve month’s hence
The pound could once again be subject to some real suspense

But in the end QE is what will drive the dollar’s price
As Boris will not risk collapse of his new paradise
So Christmas next when thinking if, to London, you should go
Look for the pound to trade somewhere near One and point Four-Oh

In Asia two great nations vie to lead the world in trade
Both China and Japan, though, know the sting of Trump’s blockade
In China growth keeps slowing as their exports further sink
As well, the People’s Bank has seen supply of money shrink

And China finds itself with debt exploding nationwide
While bankruptcies are multiplying cross their countryside
The Phase One trade deal’s likely not enough to make a dent
And Xi will surely look for ways, the deal, to circumvent

While tariffs may not rise, much further cutting’s not the call
And even though the Chinese really need the Yuan to fall
The Fed’s QE will dominate the market dialogue
So look for Six point Sixty as investors, dollars, flog

Meanwhile the archipelago where Abe rules supreme
Is desperate to develop an inflationary scheme
QE on steroids hasn’t been enough to change the rate
Nor how people behave there while price levels won’t inflate

The population there is not just aging but reduced
And Abenomics hasn’t been enough, it for to boost
As well Japan continues, C/A surpluses, to run
Which history has shown leads yen to mime a rising sun

Combining this with Powell’s move, the balance sheet to build
A wish for weaker yen this year will just not be fulfilled
A year from now expect to see the yen climb to a peak
Of Ninety-five (or stronger) by the end of Christmas week.

North of our border, nervousness has much increased of late
As GDP is slowing and employment feels the weight
Of interest rates now higher even than in the US
While housing debt keeps growing, an old sign of new distress

The central bank has paused its modest path toward tighter rates
But not yet seen the light that everybody advocates
By late this year you can be sure the BOC will cut
Alas the Loonie will already have increased somewhat

Twixt QE here and tightness there the thing that I contrive
Is that come Boxing Day CAD will trade One point Twenty-Five
Next turn your gaze south of the border, to old Mexico
Where growth is nearly stagnant but inflation, too, is low

The central bank’s been cutting rates, though they remain quite high
And I would look for four more cuts ere we wave ‘Twenty bye
As well the prospects for investment there have just improved
As USMCA, in all its glory’s, been approved

Thus higher rates, investment flows and QE will all mix
To drive the peso higher, think Eighteen point Twenty-Six
Two other nations further south, Australia and Brazil
Bear watching, too, as many of you hedges need fulfill

Down Under growth continues, on the Chinese, to rely
As well as on the prices of the metals they supply
The RBA has only two more rate cuts to support
Their growth, which means that QE might just be their last resort

But they will wait till rates are nought ere buying Aussie debt
While Jay is wasting no time growing balance sheet assets
Despite their slowing growth, you ought not be too thunderstruck
When Aussie finishes the year Three Quarters of a buck

The largest nation in LATAM, Brazil, is working hard
To pass reforms in order, Socialism, to discard
Their growth has suffered lately and employment’s been a drag
Encouraging the central bank to cut rates, with a lag

But pundits everywhere believe with rates at record lows
No further cuts are coming lest a black swan moment shows
This leads me to believe that like most currencies around
The Real will get stronger as the dollar still heads down

So, Summer Solstice in Sao Paolo, next, don’t be dismayed
When Three point Six real you get for each greenback you trade
While that completes the currencies, I’d like to spend some time
On equities and bonds and gold, in this new paradigm

The Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq all seem overpriced
With stock buybacks supporting EPS and the zeitgeist
And with the Fed still adding cash to help expand reserves
Most pundits see a market rally and steeper yield curves

And while this seems quite reasoned for the first part of the year
Inflation moving higher will have consequence, I fear
As summer wanes, election nears, and chill invades the air
Don’t be surprised if equities have turned from bull to bear

The Dow begins the decade nearly, thousand, Twenty-nine
But I fear it is set for a nine thousand point decline
As well, the 10-year trades right now at One point Nine percent
But when inflation rises look for quite a sharp ascent

The Fed has shown they’ve lost control of money market rates
With repo volatility a cause of great debates
So as QE evolves to coupons from its T-bill start
Beware a steeper curve as bullish bets all fall apart

At Christmas do not be surprised if 10-year Treasuries
Are yielding Two point nine percent completing a short squeeze
And finally there’s gold which will see growth in its demand
As dollars are debased and stocks sink into a quicksand

Though modernists and technophiles all will say pooh-pooh
Our history has shown that even central banks accrue
The barbarous relic as part of assets that they hold
So at year end Two Thousand ought to be the price of gold

And so complete my current thoughts on how, will, markets trend
A weaker dollar, weaker stocks, is how I fear we’ll end
Regardless, though I want to say I do appreciate
Your readership throughout the year, to me, you all are great!

Good luck and have a very happy, healthy and successful 2020!
Adf

 

Wind At His Sails

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In England and Scotland and Wales
Young Boris has wind at his sails
A thumping great win
To Labour’s chagrin
Has put Brexit back on the rails

As well, from the US, the news
Is bears need start singing the blues
The trade deal is done
At least for phase one
Thus more risk, investors did choose

An historic victory for PM Boris Johnson yesterday has heralded a new beginning for the UK. Historic in the sense that it is the largest majority in Parliament for either party since Margret Thatcher’s second term, and historic in the sense that the Labour party won the fewest seats since 1935. One can only conclude that Jeremy Corbyn’s vision of renationalization of industry and high taxes was not the direction in which the UK wants to head. Perhaps the only concern is the Scottish National Party winning 49 of the 58 seats available and will now be itching to rerun the Scottish independence referendum. But that is an issue for another day, and today is all about a huge relief rally in equities as the threat of a hard Brexit essentially disappears, while the pound has also benefitted tremendously, rising 1.7% from yesterday’s closing level and having traded almost a full percent higher than that in the early aftermath of the results. So here we are this morning at 1.3390, right at my forecast for the initial move in the event of a Johnson victory. The question of course, is where do we go from here?

Before I answer, I must also mention the other risk positive story, about which I’m sure you are already aware, the news that President Trump has signed off on terms of a phase one trade deal with China. The details thus far released indicate China has promised to buy $50 billion of agricultural products from the US, and will be more vigilant in protection of IP rights, while the US is set to reduce the tariff rates already imposed and delay, indefinitely, the tariffs that were due to come into effect this Sunday. Not surprisingly, equity markets around the world rallied sharply on this news as well while haven investments like Treasuries, Bunds and the yen (and the dollar) have all fallen.

So everyone is feeling good this morning and with good reason, as two of the major political uncertainties that have been hanging over the market have been resolved. With this in mind, we can now try to answer the question of what’s next in the FX markets.

History has shown that while macroeconomic factors have some impact on the relative value of currencies, that impact is driven by the corresponding interest rates in each nation. So a nation that has strong economic growth and relatively tighter monetary policy is likely to see a strong currency while the opposite is also true. Now this correlation is hardly perfect, and financial theory cannot be completely ignored regarding a country’s fiscal balances (current account, trade and budget), where deficits tend to lead to a weaker currency, at least in theory, and surpluses the opposite. Obviously, one need only look at the dollar these days to recognize that despite the US’s significant negative fiscal position, the dollar remains relatively quite strong.

But ever since the financial crisis, there has been another part of monetary policy that has had a significant impact on the FX market, namely QE. As I’ve written before, when the US was implementing QE’s 1, 2 and 3, the dollar fell markedly each time, by 22%, 25% and 17% over a period of 9 months, 11 months and 22 months respectively. Clearly that pattern demonstrates the law of diminishing returns, where a particular action has a weaker and weaker effect the more frequently it is used. Of course, in each of these cases, the Fed funds rate was at 0.00%, so QE was the only tool in the toolbox. This brings us to the current situation; positive interest rates but the beginning of QE4. I know that none of us think 1.5% is a robust return on our savings, but remember, US interest rates are the highest in the G10, by a lot. In addition, the economy seems to be doing pretty well with GDP ticking over above 2.0%, Unemployment at 50 year lows and wage gains solidly at 3.0% or higher. Equity markets in the US make new highs on a regular basis and measured inflation is running right around 2.0%. And yet…the Fed is clearly looking at QE despite all their protestations. Buying $60 billion per month of T-bills with the newly stated option of extending those purchases to coupons is clearly expanding the balance sheet and driving risk accumulation further. And that is QE!

So with the knowledge that the Fed is engaged in QE4, and the history that shows the dollar has fallen pretty significantly during each previous QE policy, my view is that we are about to embark on a reasonable weakening of the US dollar for the next year or so. Now, clearly the initial conditions this time are different, with positive growth and interest rates, but while that will likely limit the dollar’s decline to some extent, it won’t prevent it. If pressed, I would say that we are likely to see the dollar fall by 10% or so over the next 12-18 months. And that is regardless of the outcome of the US elections next year. In the event that we were to see a President Warren or President Sanders, I think the dollar would suffer far more aggressively, but right now, removing the effect of the election still points to a slow decline in the buck. So for receivables hedgers, it is likely to be a situation where patience is a virtue.

Turning to the data story, last night we saw the Japanese Tankan report fall to 0, below expectations of 3 and down from its previous reading of 5. But the yen’s 0.35% decline overnight has more to do with risk appetite than that particular number. However, I’m sure PM Abe and BOJ Governor Kuroda are not thrilled with the implications for the economy. Otherwise, there has been precious little else of note released leaving us to ponder this morning’s Retail Sales data (exp 0.5%, 0.4% ex Autos) and wait to hear pearls of wisdom from NY Fed President Williams at 11:00. Of course, given the fact the Fed just finished meeting and there appears very little uncertainty over their immediate future course, my guess is the only thing he can try to defend is ‘not QE’ and how they are on top of the repo situation. But today is a risk on day, so while we may not extend these movements much further, I feel we are likely to maintain the gains vs. the dollar across the board.

In a final note, this will be the last poetry until January as I will be on vacation and then will return with my prognostications for 2020 to start things off.

Good luck, good weekend and happy holidays to all
Adf

 

A New Paradigm

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In Germany for the first time
In months, there’s a new paradigm
The pundits are cheering
A rebound that’s nearing
As data, released, was sublime

Perhaps sublime overstates the case a bit, but there is no doubt that this morning’s German ZEW data was substantially better than forecast, with the Expectations index rising to 10.7, its highest level since March 2018. This follows what seems to be some stabilization in the German manufacturing economy, which while still under significant pressure, may well have stopped declining. It is these little things that add up to create a narrative change from; Germany is in recession (which arguably was correct, albeit not technically so) to Germany has stabilized and is recovering on the back of solid domestic demand growth. On the one hand, this is good news for the global growth story, as Germany remains the fourth largest economy in the world, and if it is shrinking that bodes ill for the rest of the world. However, for all those who are desperate for German fiscal stimulus, this is actually a terrible number. If the German economy is recovering naturally, it beggars belief that they will spend any more money than currently planned.

It is important to remember that the Eurozone fiscal stimulus argument is predicated on two things: the fact that monetary policy is now impotent to help stimulate growth throughout the Eurozone; and the belief that if the German government spends more money domestically, it will magically flow through to those nations that really need help, like Italy, Portugal and Greece. Alas for poor Madame Lagarde, this morning’s data has likely lowered the probability of German fiscal stimulus even more than it was before. The euro, however, seems to like the data, edging higher by 0.15% this morning and working its way back to the levels seen just before the US payroll report turned the short-term crowd dollar bullish. There was other Eurozone data released, but none of it (French and Italian IP) was really that interesting, printing within a tick of forecasts. On the euro front, at this point all eyes are on the ECB to see what Lagarde tells us on Thursday. Remember, the last thing she wants is to come across as hawkish, in any manner, because the ECB really doesn’t need the added pressure of a strong euro weighing on already subpar inflation data.

With two days remaining before the UK election, the polls are still pointing to a strong Tory victory and a PM Boris Johnson commanding a majority of Parliament. At this point, the latest polls show the Tories with 44%, Labour with 32% and the LibDems with just 12%. The pound is higher by 0.2% on the back of this activity, despite a mildly disappointing GDP reading of 0.0% (exp 0.1%). A quick look back at recent GBP movement shows that since the election was called on October 30, the pound has rallied 1.8%. While that is a solid move, it isn’t even the largest mover during that period (NZD is higher by 2.45% since then). In fact, the pound really gained ground several weeks earlier after Boris and Irish PM Leo Varadkar had a lunch where they seemed to work out the final issues for Brexit. Prior to that, the pound had been hovering in the 1.22-1.24 area, but gained sharply in the run up to the previous Brexit deadline.

I guess the question is; just how much higher the pound can go if the polls are correct and Boris wins with a Tory majority. There are two opposing views, with some analysts calling for another solid leg higher, up toward 1.40, as the rest of the market shorts get squeezed out and euphoria for UK GDP growth starts to rebound. The other side of that argument is that the shorts have already been squeezed, hence the move from 1.22 to 1.32 in the past two months, and that though finalization of Brexit will be a positive, there are still numerous issues to address domestically that will prevent a sharp rebound in the UK economy. As I’m sure you are all aware, I fall into the second camp, but there is certainly at least a 25% probability that a larger move is in the cards. The one thing that seems clear, though, is that market implied volatility will fall sharply past the election if the Tories win as uncertainty over Brexit will recede quickly.

Turning south of the border, it seems that the USMCA is finally making its way through Congress and will be enacted shortly. The peso has been the quiet beneficiary of this news over the past week as it has rallied 2% in the past week in a very steady fashion, although so far, this morning, it is little changed. One other thing of note regarding the Mexican peso has been the move in the forward curve over the past three weeks. For example, since November 19, 1-month MXN forwards have fallen from 1030 to this morning’s 683. In the 1-year, the decline has been from 10875 to this morning’s 10075. The largest culprit here appears to be the very large long futures position, (>150K contracts) that need to be rolled over by the end of the week, but there is also a significant maturity of Mexican government bonds that will require MXN purchases. At any rate, added to the USMCA news, we have a confluence of events driving both spot and forward peso rates higher. It is not clear how much longer this will continue, so for balance sheet hedgers with short dated exposures, this is probably a great opportunity to reduce hedging costs.

Beyond these stories, there is far less of interest in the market. This morning’s US data consists of Nonfarm productivity (exp -0.1%) and Unit Labor Costs (3.4%) neither of which is likely to move the needle. This is especially so ahead of tomorrow’s FOMC meeting and Thursday’s ECB meeting and UK election. Equity markets are pointing lower this morning, but that feels more like profit taking than a change of heart, as bonds are little changed alongside oil and gold. In other words, look for more choppy markets with no direction ahead of tomorrow’s CPI data and FOMC meeting.

Good luck
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A Paean to John Maynard Keynes

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The positive vibe still remains
Encouraging stock market gains
Likewise bonds are sold
With dollars and gold
In paeans to John Maynard Keynes

As the market walks in ahead of today’s jobs report, once again poor data has been set aside and the equity bulls are leading the parade to acquire more risk assets. Stock markets are rallying, bond markets selling off and there is pressure on gold and the dollar. Granted, the moves have not been too large, but the reality is that the default market activity is to buy stocks regardless of valuation.

Let’s start with a quick look at current data expectations:

Nonfarm Payrolls 183K
Private Payrolls 179K
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

These are all pretty good numbers, and if the forecasts are right, it would certainly reinforce the idea that the US economy is ticking over nicely. Of course, the problem is that we have seen some pretty bad data in the past week which may call this evaluation into question. Recall Monday’s terrible ISM Manufacturing data, as well as Wednesday’s double whammy of ISM Non-Manufacturing and ADP Employment, both of which sharply disappointed. While yesterday’s Durable Goods was right on the mark, I would argue that based on the data seen this week, the US economy is clearly slowing down into the fourth quarter.

Adding to the general gloom is the data we have seen from elsewhere, notably Europe, where this morning’s German IP report (-1.7%) was the worst monthly print since April and took the year on year decline to -5.3%, the slowest pace since the financial crisis in 2009! Remember, Factory orders in Germany were awful yesterday, and the PMI data, while not as bad as expected regarding manufacturing, was much worse than expected in the service sector. The point is Europe is clearly not going to be driving the global economy higher anytime soon.

And of course, the other main engine of growth, China, has continued to present a picture of an economy in slow decline with excess leverage and financial bubbles still abundant, and with a central bank that is having trouble deciding which problem to address, excess leverage or slowing growth.

With this as a starting point, it is easy to see why there are so many bears in the market. But there is an antidote to this unrequited bearishness…the Fed! While Chairman Powell has repeatedly explained that the FOMC’s current practice of purchasing $60 billion per month of Treasury bills is NOT QE, it is certainly QE. And remember, the Fed is not just purchasing T-bills, they are also adding liquidity through overnight, weekly and monthly repo operations on a regular basis. In fact, they are taking all the collateral offered and lending money against it, not even targeting an amount they want to add. It certainly appears that they are simply adding as much liquidity to the markets as possible to prevent any of those bears from gaining traction. So in reality, it is no real surprise that risk assets remain in demand.

In fact, the Fed’s ongoing active stance in the money markets has me reconsidering my long-held views on the dollar’s future. The macroeconomic story remains, in my estimation, a USD positive, but one need only look at the dollar’s performance during QE1, QE2 and QE3 where we saw dollar declines of 22%, 25% and 16% respectively to force one to reconsider those views. ‘Not QE’ could easily undermine the dollar’s strength and perhaps, despite the ECB’s ongoing efforts, drive the dollar much lower. In conversations with many clients, I have been hard pressed to come up with a scenario where the dollar falls sharply, short of another shocking US electoral outcome where, as a nation we vote for left wing populism, à la Senator Warren or Senator Sanders, rather than our current stance of right wing populism. However, if the Fed maintains its current stance, expanding the balance sheet and adding liquidity with abandon to the money markets, there is every reason to believe that the dollar will suffer. After all, we continue to run a massive current account deficit, alongside our trade and budget deficits, and we are flooding the markets with newly issued Treasury debt. At some point, and perhaps in the not too distant future, the market may well decide the US dollar is no longer the haven asset that it has been in the past. In any case, while I consider the issues, it would be sensible, in my estimation, for hedgers to consider them as well.

And with that cheery thought, let us look forward to this morning’s market activity. My sense is that the combination of modestly higher than expected Initial Claims data during the survey week, as well as weak ISM employment sub-indices, and of course, the weak ADP number, will result in a disappointing outcome today. I fear that we could see something as low as 100K, which could see a knee-jerk reaction lower in the dollar as expectations ratchet up for more Fed monetary ease.

One other thing to keep in mind is that as we approach year-end, market liquidity starts to dry up. There should be no problems today, nor next week, I expect, but after that, trading desks see staffing thin out for vacations and risk appetite for the banks shrinks significantly. Nobody wants to risk a good year, and nobody will overcome a bad one in the last week of the year. So to the extent possible, I strongly recommend taking care of year end activity by the end of next week for the best results.

Good luck and good weekend
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Started To Fade

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On Monday, the data released
Showed growth in the US decreased
As well, hope ‘bout trade
Has started to fade
And snow overwhelmed the Northeast

In a word, yesterday sucked. At least that’s the case if you were bullish on essentially any US asset when the session started. Early equity market gains were quickly reversed when the ISM data printed at substantially worse than expected levels. Not only did the headline release (48.1) miss expectations, which was biased toward a modest improvement over the October readings, but all of the sub-indices along with the headline number actually fell further from October. Arguably the biggest concern came from the New Orders Index which printed its lowest level (47.2) since the financial crisis. Granted, this was the manufacturing sector and manufacturing represents only about 12% of the US economy, but still, it was a rout. The juxtaposition with the green shoots from Europe was not lost on the FX market either as the dollar fell sharply across the board. In fact, the euro had its best day since early September, rallying 0.6%.

This morning, the situation hasn’t improved either, as one of the other key bullish stories for equity sentiment, completion of the phase one trade deal with China, was dealt a blow when President Trump explained that he was in no hurry to complete the deal and would only do so when he was ready. In fact, he mused that it might be better to wait until after the 2020 elections before agreeing a deal with China, something that is clearly not priced into the market. When those comments hit the tape, US equity futures turned around from small gains to losses on the order of 0.3%. Bullishness is no fun yet.

Perhaps it’s worth a few moments to consider the essence of the bullish US case and determine if it still holds water. Basically, the broad consensus has been that despite its sluggish pace, growth in the US has been more robust than anywhere else in the developed world and that with the FOMC having added additional stimulus via 75 bps of interest rate cuts and, to date, $340 billion in non-QE QE, prospects for continued solid growth seemed strong. In addition, the tantalizing proximity of that phase one trade deal, which many had assumed would be done by now or certainly by year end, and would include a reduction in some tariffs, was seen as a turbocharger to add to the growth story.

Now, there is no doubt that we have seen some very positive data from the US, with Q3 GDP being revised higher, the housing market showing some life and Retail Sales still solid. In fact, last week’s data releases were uniformly positive. At the same time, the story from Europe, the UK, China and most of the rest of the world was of slowing or non-existent growth with central banks having run out of ammunition to help support those economies and a protracted period of subpar growth on the horizon. With this as a backdrop, it is no surprise that US assets performed well, and that the dollar was a key beneficiary.

However, if that narrative is going to change, then there is a lot of price adjustment likely to be seen in the markets, which arguably are priced for perfection on the equity side. The real question in the FX markets is, at what point will a risk-off scenario driven by US weakness convert from selling US assets, and dollars by extension, to buying US dollars in order to buy US Treasuries in a flight to safety? (There is a great irony in the fact that even when the US is the source of risk and uncertainty, investors seek the safety of US Treasury assets.) At this point, there is no way to know the answer to that question, however, what remains clear this morning is that we are still in the sell USD phase of the process.

With that in mind, let’s look at the various currency markets. Starting with the G10, Aussie is one of the winners after the RBA left rates on hold, as widely expected, but sounded less dovish (“global risks have lessened”) than anticipated in their accompanying statement. Aussie responded by rallying as much as 0.65% initially, and is still higher by 0.35% on the day. And that is adding to yesterday’s 0.85% gain taking the currency higher by 1.2% since the beginning of the week. While the longer term trend remains lower, it would not be a surprise to see a push toward 0.70 in the next week or so.

The other major winner this morning is the British pound, currently trading about 0.4% higher after the latest election poll, by Kantar, showed the Tories with a 12 point lead with just nine days left. Adding to the positive vibe was a modestly better than expected Construction PMI (45.3 vs. 44.5 expected) perhaps implying that the worst is over.

Elsewhere in the G10, things have been far less interesting with the euro maintaining, but not adding to yesterday’s gains, and most other currencies +/- a few bps on the day. In the EMG bloc, the noteworthy currency is the South African rand, which has fallen 0.55% after a much worse than expected Q3 GDP release (-0.6% Q/Q; 0.1% Y/Y). The other two losing currencies this morning are KRW and CNY, both of which have suffered on the back of the Trump trade comments. On the plus side, BRL has rallied 0.4% after its Q3 GDP release was better than expected at +0.6% Q/Q. At least these moves all make sense with economic fundamentals seeming to be today’s driver.

And that’s really it for the day. There is no US data this morning, although we get plenty the rest of the week culminating in Friday’s payroll report. Given the lack of economic catalysts, it feels like the dollar will remain under general pressure for the time being. The short term narrative is that things in the US are not as good as previously had been thought which is likely to weigh on the buck. But for receivables hedgers, this is an opportunity to add to your hedges at better levels in quiet markets. Take advantage!

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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Most Concerning

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While cities worldwide keep on burning
The news for which markets are yearning
Revolves around trade
Is phase one delayed?
If so, that would be most concerning

This morning it seems that everything is right with the world, at least based on market behavior. After all, equity markets are rallying, Treasury yields are rising and haven currencies are falling, the perfect description of a risk-on day. And what has everyone so optimistic this morning? Why, for the umpteenth time, the White House has indicated that the US and China are close to signing that elusive phase one trade deal. By all accounts, this deal is basically a swap of Chinese promises to purchase more agricultural products from the US, allegedly upwards of $50 billion worth, while the US will roll back the tariffs most recently put in place and will not impose new ones come December 15th. And don’t get me wrong, that would be great if it helped relieve some uncertainty in both markets and business planning. But I would conservatively estimate that this is the tenth time that optimism on a trade deal has led to increased risk appetite in the past three months, and we still don’t have a deal in place. My point is we’ve seen this movie before and we know how it ends…no deal and the opportunity to see it yet again in another few weeks’ time. I challenge anyone to show me evidence that this time is different!

And yet, it continues to be effective insofar as these constant announcements have helped maintain optimism in the market. The biggest risk is that the next story describes a complete breakdown in the trade talks and the chance of a deal, even a phase one deal, being completed disappears. Risk assets would not take that lightly. But another risk is that the deal is signed, and it is as modest as it appears to be. While that would be good news initially, it would remove one of the key market supports, the prospect of that deal. I fear we would see a classic sell the news outcome in that event as well. Something to keep in mind.

Meanwhile, the world is literally burning; at least a great number of large cities are besieged by mass protests with fire a constant result. Perhaps the best known situation is in Hong Kong, where things have gone from bad to worse, the protesters’ demands are being studiously ignored and the threat of China intervening directly grows by the day. Hong Kong’s economy has been severely impacted, falling into a recession in Q3, and the official forecast for GDP growth next year is now -1.3% by the Hong Kong government.

But Hong Kong is hardly alone. Santiago, Chile has been the sight of major demonstrations, with estimates of more than one million people turning out recently. That is more than 5% of the population! In the past week, in the wake of the news that the government wanted to scrap the current constitution and write a new one, the currency collapsed 12% and the local equity market fell 6%, taking its losses since mid-October to 15%. But this morning things are looking up there as Congress has come to an agreement on how to go about this process, with the evidence leaning toward a constitutional convention that will include many voices. When the FX market opened this morning, the CLP rebounded 2.5%. Of all the protests ongoing around the world, this may be the first where a solution is being created.

These two are just the most well-known situations, but the gilets jaunes continue to protest in France more than a full year after they started. And a quick survey shows ongoing protests, a number of which are quite large and disruptive, in Peru, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Haiti and Israel. The point is there are a lot of very unhappy people in the world, and much of their collective angst seems to be driven by a sense of inherent unfairness in the way those (and most) countries’ are run. This is a background issue generally, but as can be seen on a daily basis in the US and the UK, these issues can have much broader impacts on economies as a whole. After all, one could argue that both the Brexit vote and the election of President Trump were protest votes as well. And certainly, the US-China trade war is a consequence of those outcomes. My point is that while most of these things may not have a daily impact, they are important to recognize as part of the fabric of the market background.

Turning to today’s markets, though, as I mentioned, rose-colored glasses are the order of the day. Equity markets are generally higher gains in Asia (Nikkei +0.7%, Australia +0.85% and South Korea +1.05%) although Shanghai actually fell 0.65% after the PBOC did not cut rates as many had hoped/expected in the wake of yesterday’s very weak data outturn. European indices are also generally doing well this morning (DAX +0.2%, CAC +0.4%) although the FTSE 100 in the UK is having a rough go, down 0.4%, because of a sharp decline in British Telecom which has fallen 2% after Jeremy Corbyn promised to nationalize the company and give everyone in the UK free broadband access. It is remarkable what politicians will say in an effort to get elected!

Bond markets have fared less well as risk has been acquired since havens are no longer needed. So Treasury yields have bounced 3bps with Bunds following suit. And in the FX market, haven currencies are also under pressure. Overall, the dollar is softer, as is the yen, which has fallen 0.3% and the Swiss franc, which has fallen 0.25%. On the positive side in G10 is NOK, which has rallied 0.65% after a stronger than expected Trade Balance helped burnish optimism that GDP growth would maintain its recent solid performance and the Norgesbank would not need to join most other central banks and ease policy. In the emerging markets, aside from CLP mentioned above, we have seen broad-based, but modest strength across most of the rest of the space, with no real stories to note.

Yesterday we heard from a whole bunch of Fed speakers and to a wo(man) they explained that the economy was in good shape (the star performer according to Powell) and that there was no need to adjust policy at this time. Data yesterday showed that Initial Claims jumped more than expected, to 225K, which is not concerning if it is a one-time situation, but needs to be carefully monitored as a precursor to a deterioration in the labor market.

This morning we see Empire Manufacturing (exp 6.0), Retail Sales (0.2%, ex autos 0.4%), IP (-0.4%) and Capacity Utilization (77.0%). All eyes will be on the Retail Sales data as last month’s surprising decline has some on edge that the US economy is starting to show some cracks. But assuming an in-line outcome, I expect the dollar to soften modestly through the rest of the day as risk is accumulated further.

Good luck and good weekend
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