Tag Archives: #euro

Some Whiplash

Posted on by

It seems that the pumping of cash
By China was good for a flash
Of higher stock prices
But there’s still a crisis
So traders there felt some whiplash

In Europe, the same might be said
As traders, Italian debt fled
The EU today
Rome’s budget will weigh
With portents of more strife ahead

Remember how the officially induced rally in the Chinese equity market was going to stabilize markets? Yeah, me neither. It seems that, last night, despite lots more talk and promises of more funding, investors in those equity markets were decidedly unimpressed with the prospects and have resumed their active share selling. Overnight saw the Shanghai composite decline 2.25% and drag the rest of Asian markets lower alongside (Nikkei -2.7%, Hang Seng -2.9%). The impact on the CNY was very much as would be expected, a modest decline of 0.25% as traders test the PBOC resolve of preventing a move to 7.00.

This has also impacted European markets, which are lower across the board, none more so than Germany’s DAX which has fallen 2.0%. Given the ongoing angst over the Italian budget situation, one might have expected the Italian markets to be the worst performers, but Germany revealed its own little secret this morning, Q3 GDP growth there is expected to be 0.0%! That’s right, Europe’s strongest economy is going to suffer a stagnant quarter, and so equity markets have responded accordingly. This is not to imply that all is rosy in Rome, just that the Germans had a bigger surprise today.

Before moving on to the Italian story, let me note that the situation in China needs to be watched carefully going forward for another reason. For the past ten years, central banks around the world have controlled the price action in markets. Whether it was the first QE implementation by Benny the Beard, or Signor Draghi’s “whatever it takes” comments, when central bankers spoke, markets responded as the bankers desired. But lately, those same central banks seem to have lost a little bit of their mojo, as comments they make in an effort to sway markets have a shorter and shorter half-life. The fact that despite a concerted effort by every senior financial official in China, including President Xi, to talk up equity markets, and by reference the health of the Chinese economy, has had such a short lived impact, may well imply that the meme of central banks controlling markets is coming to an end.

And to my mind, that would be a good thing. Ten years of unprecedented monetary policy actions have dramatically distorted price signals in virtually every market. Whether it is the abnormally low spread between high-yield debt and government bonds, or the idea that P/E ratios of 100 are the signs of a good investment, markets no longer offer price discovery. Or perhaps they no longer offer the opportunity to discern value in a price. Keep in mind that there are still more than €5 trillion of debt outstanding that have negative interest rates. But while I may see this as a positive step toward markets regaining their functionality, the central banks are likely to feel very differently. If their words are no longer effective tools to manage markets, they will be forced to enact actual policies, some of which may be contrary to fiscal considerations. ‘Forward guidance’ is much easier to implement (and comes with much less political fallout) than actual policy changes. Just remember, if this thesis is correct, market volatility in every market is going to increase going forward.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. The Italian budget continues to be topic number one in terms of current risks to market stability. Thus far the Italian government has been unwilling to change its plans and the EU is studying them closely to determine if the budget breaks the rules. The problem for the EU is that if they crack down hard, reject the budget and tell Rome what to do, it is likely to further inflame the anti-establishment forces in Italy, and potentially have a bigger detrimental impact on the European Parliament elections to be held early next year. However, if they do nothing, the risk is that Italy finds itself in a situation where it has increased difficulty in refinancing its debt, and that could stress the entire Eurozone project. It was much easier for the EU to act tough with Greece, whose economy was so tiny. Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone , and if they have financing troubles it could quickly lead to problems throughout the continent, and directly impact the euro. In other words, there is no good answer.

The market impact of this ongoing situation has been a gradual erosion in the euro’s value, which fell about 0.7% yesterday, although it has stabilized this morning. While the German GDP story is obviously a negative for the currency, the reality is that the euro, for now, is beholden to the Italian budget story. If Italy remains recalcitrant, look for further weakness. Meanwhile, the pound, too, suffered yesterday, falling a penny alongside the euro, as the ongoing Brexit story continues to weigh on the currency. Consider that there are essentially five months left to find a compromise and that the problem has not gotten any easier. Despite the lack of progress, I still expect some sort of face-saving deal at the end of the process, but the risk situation is highly skewed. If there is no deal, look for the pound to fall very sharply, maybe another 5% right away, whereas any deal will likely only see a relief rally of 2% or so. Hedgers beware.

And those are really the only stories that matter today. There is a great deal of discussion regarding the US midterm elections, and how any given result may impact markets, but that is well beyond the purview of this note. Generally, risk was tossed overboard yesterday as 10-year Treasury yields fell 5bps, gold rallied and so did the dollar, the yen and the Swiss franc. This morning, there has been less movement in that group of havens, although risk assets remain under pressure. My sense is that given the absence of any US data, the broad risk profile will drive the dollar. To me, all signs point to further equity weakness and therefore more haven buying. I like the dollar in that scenario.

Good luck
Adf

Now She’s Complaining

Posted on by

Remember when Yellen was Chair
And wouldn’t raise rates on a dare?
Well now she’s complaining
They should be constraining
Growth lest prices rise everywhere

Former Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal yesterday and was substantially more plainspoken than during her policymaking years. (Perhaps Chairman Powell’s new style has rubbed off on her). At any rate, she closed ranks with every other central bank chief in the world decrying President Trump’s criticism of the Fed and demanding that central banks remain independent. But more interestingly, she seemed to indicate that higher rates were appropriate, so much so that she was willing to dismiss the shape of the yield curve as being important. When asked about that, her response was, “this time is different.” While that sentiment is understandable given the structural changes of the Fed’s balance sheet and its impact on long term yields, history has shown that ‘this time is never different’! In the end, though, the woman who never saw a bad reason to delay normalizing policy has suddenly turned hawkish. And while this will have no impact on markets, it does speak to the politics involved in central banking, independence be damned. Every government wants to see low rates to help support their economy. Yellen apparently was more than happy to accommodate the Obama Administration’s desires, but suddenly sees the economic rationalization for higher rates today. Go figure!

In the meantime, the dollar is doing little this morning, edging lower in mixed fashion. In the G10 bloc the biggest mover has been the pound, rising 0.5% after wage data showed growth of 3.1% excluding bonuses, the highest pace since January 2009. However, despite this rise, there was no change in the market pricing for the next BOE rate hike. Instead, it is clear that the BOE will remain on the sidelines until the Brexit situation becomes clearer. There is no way Governor Carney can consider raising rates ahead of a possible hard Brexit given the economic uncertainty that would surround that outcome. However, FX traders seem willing to bet that higher rates are eventually in store. That said, there has been no new movement on the negotiations and now all eyes will be focused on the EU meeting tomorrow and Thursday to see if something new is proposed.

Meanwhile, the Italians passed a budget last night, maintaining their 2.4% deficit projection and the EU is duly unhappy. There is now a two-week period where the EU will scrutinize the budget and either accept it or send it back for revision. If the latter, that would be the first time in history it occurred, despite the fact that the French ran budget deficits greater than the 3.0% explicit ceiling for more than a decade. Italian markets are responding favorably this morning, with both bond and stocks there rallying a bit, but there is certainly potential for further discord. Consider the fact that if the EU backs down after their recent declarations that the Italian budget was unacceptable, its ability to persuade any other nation going forward will be dramatically reduced. On the other hand, by acting they may foster a market crisis if the Italian government fights back, which based on their actions to date, they almost certainly will. As this is Europe, I expect there will be some fudge ultimately agreed, but that does not mean there won’t be more damage first. As to the euro, it is little changed on the day, and actually on the month as it has recouped its losses from the first week and seems pretty comfortable trading either side of 1.1600.

Versus the emerging market bloc, however, the dollar is somewhat softer today, falling against virtually all its main counterparts here. While the year-to-date numbers for most of this group show dollar strength, recent price action has been consolidative rather than extensive. This morning’s numbers show strength in ZAR (0.7%), KRW (0.75%), MXN (0.25%) and even CNY (0.2%), with very few decliners. As global equity markets (China excepted) seem to have found a temporary floor this morning, this FX movement appears to be of the relief variety, as investors and traders start to dip their respective toes back into risky markets. If equity markets truly find their footing, then these currencies have room to rebound further. However, another leg lower in stocks will almost certainly be followed by the EMG bloc feeling more pressure.

Turning to the US data picture, yesterday’s Retail Sales numbers were disappointing, with the headline rising only 0.1% (had been expected 0.6%) and the ex-auto number falling -0.1%. Unfortunately, it is unclear what impact Hurricane Florence had on the data, so these numbers may be quite misleading…or not. We just don’t know yet. This morning’s data brings IP (exp 0.2%) and Capacity Utilization (78.2%) along with the JOLT’s Job Openings number (6.945M). However, these numbers are not usually market movers in their own right, but rather form part of a larger pattern. As such, there is every reason to believe that the dollar will be driven by equity markets today, and with futures pointing higher in the US, it seems that risk is being embraced for now. Based on recent activity, that should actually help the dollar, although that is the opposite of what we have known for the past decade.

Good luck
Adf

Ready To Burn

Posted on by

The chances last week of a deal
On Brexit quite clearly seemed real
But Saturday showed
T’is still a long road
Ere both sides, their bad feelings, heal

Meanwhile there’s another concern
In Europe, while Italians spurn
Demands to be sparing
And start in repairing
A fiscal house ready to burn

Thus far today, the evidence is mixed as to whether the equity market rout cum risk-off scenario is truly over, or simply took a breather on Friday. The rebound in stock markets around the world on Friday was met with a collective sigh of relief, but the overnight session saw APAC markets give up almost all of that ground with most closing down between 1.5%-2.0%. Europe opened lower as well although has since traded back to flat as traders everywhere wait for the US session to begin. Currently, futures are pointing lower by 0.4%, but there is a long time between now and the open, so sentiment may shift yet again before then. The key question is will investors, who have not seen a substantial correction in US equity markets in more than nine years, see this as the beginning of the end? Or as a chance to buy the dip? At this point, we can only wait and watch.

In the meantime, there are several stories that are important, but whose market impact has been diluted by the broad risk theme that has exerted itself in the past week. The first is about Brexit, where last week it seemed that a deal would be announced at the EU Summit to be held this Wednesday in Brussels. Alas, over the weekend, intense negotiations broke down and no further ones are slated ahead of that meeting. It seems that the Irish border issue remains intractable for now, as Ireland’s demand of no hard customs border with Northern Ireland cannot fit within the EU framework unless Northern Ireland is essentially separated from England. And neither side has been willing to cave on the issue, which, after all, is entirely about national sovereignty where fudging is far more difficult. Surprisingly, despite this setback, the pound is actually slightly higher on the day, having rallied 0.15%, although the euro has rallied double that. So EURGBP is stronger as the market continues to believe that the UK will be impacted more negatively than the EU in the event of a no-deal outcome.

Keep in mind, though, that both the Germans and Dutch have lately figured out that the UK is one of their top export markets for autos, chemicals and agriculture, and that the direct impact to those two nations is likely to be significantly greater than to most of the rest of the bloc. The point is that if there is no deal, the euro, which has gained some 12% vs. the pound since the initial Brexit vote in 2016, may find itself under more pressure than currently anticipated. In any event, it is hard to get excited about either currency in the short term.

Adding to the euro’s woes is the Italian budget situation, where the government in Rome will submit its budget proposals today. There has been no change to their recent estimates of a 2.4% deficit for next year, and that is based on what are seen as overly optimistic GDP growth forecasts, which means the actual number is likely to be much higher. There is also no indication that either 5-Star or the League are about to sacrifice their hard earned political capital and cave in to the EU’s demands.

You may recall that in Greece, when this situation played out, newly elected PM Alexis Tsipris sounded full of fury when telling his people they would never give in. You may also recall that he caved within a week of the first meeting. The difference this time is that, as the third largest economy in the EU, Italy actually matters to the entire structure there. With that in mind, my forecast is for some mollifying words on both sides but for the Italians to get their way, or at least most of it. While this may be a short-term euro positive, I think it actually undermines the long-term prospects for the currency.

Beyond these two headline stories we continue to hear about the US-China trade situation, which has not improved one iota since last week. Much concern was expressed at the IMF meetings over the weekend, but this is entirely being controlled by President Trump, and will almost certainly continue until at least the mid-term elections are past. At that point, it would not be surprising to see a softening of rhetoric and a deal finally agreed. But while that may make sense, it is by no means certain. In the meantime, the renminbi continues to trade toward the lower end of its recent range although there has been no indication that the PBOC is going to let it slide much further.

And those are the main stories for the session, which quite frankly remains far more focused on the equity markets than the dollar. Data this week brings the latest reading of Retail Sales and a few other things as well:

Today Empire Manufacturing 19
  Retail Sales 0.6%
  -ex autos 0.4%
  Monthly Budget $71.0B
Tuesday IP 0.2%
  Capacity Utilization 78.2%
  JOLT’s Job Openings 6.945M
  TIC Flows $47.7B
Wednesday Housing Starts 1.22M
  Building Permits 1.276M
  FOMC Minutes  
Thursday Initial Claims 212K
  Philly Fed 20
  Leading Indicators 0.5%
Friday Existing Home Sales 5.30M

Interestingly, I don’t think the Minutes will matter that much as we have heard extensively from so many Fed members explaining their views. Rather, today’s Retail Sales is likely to be the most important number of the week, as it could be the first sign the tariffs are having an impact.

In the end, all eyes remain focused on the equity and bond markets (which have been little changed overnight with 10-year yields up just 1bp to 3.15%), and I think the dollar remains secondary for now. But right now it seems risk-off is a dollar negative, so if equities fall, don’t be surprised to see the dollar fall too.

Good luck
Adf

Change Can Come Fast

Posted on by

There once was a market that soared
With tech stocks quite widely adored
The Fed, for eight years
Suppressed any fears
And made sure that rates were kept floored

But nothing, forever, can last
Now ZIRP and QE’s time has passed
Investors are frightened
‘Cause Powell has tightened
Beware because change can come fast!

Many of you will have noticed that equity markets sold off sharply in the past twenty-four hours, and that as of now, it appears there is more room to run in this correction. The question in situations like these is always, what was the catalyst? And while sometimes it is very clear (think Brexit or the Lehman bankruptcy) at other times movements of this nature are simply natural manifestations of a very complex system. In other words, sometimes, and this appears to be one of them, markets simply move because a confluence of seemingly minor events all occur at the same time. Trying to ascribe the movement to yesterday’s PPI reading, or comments from the IMF meetings, or any other specific piece of information is unlikely to be satisfying and so all I will say is that sometimes, markets move further than you expect.

Consider, though, that by many measures equity prices, especially in the US, are extremely richly valued. Things like the Shiller CAPE, or the Buffet idea of total market cap/GDP both show recent equity market levels at or near historic highs. And while the tax cuts passed into law for 2018 have clearly helped profitability this year, 2019 comparisons will simply be that much tougher to meet. There are other situations regarding the market that are also likely having an impact, like the increase in algorithmic trading, the dramatic increase in passive indexing and the advent of risk parity strategies. All of these tended to lead to buying interest in the same group of equities, notably the tech sector, which has been the leading driver of the stock market’s performance. If these strategies are forced to sell due to investor withdrawals, they will do so with abandon (after all, they tend to be managed by computer programs not people, and there is no emotion involved at all) and we could see a substantial further decline. Something to keep in mind.

But how, you may ask, is this impacting the FX markets? Interestingly, the dollar is not showing any of its risk-off tendencies through this move. In fact, it has fallen against almost all counterpart currencies. And while in some cases, there is a valid story that has nothing to do with the dollar per se, in many cases, it appears that this is simply dollar weakness. For example, the euro has rallied 0.5% this morning, after a 0.25% gain yesterday. Part of this has been driven by modestly higher than expected inflation data from several Eurozone countries (Spain and Ireland) while there is likely also a benefit from the story that the Brexit negotiations seem to be moving to a conclusion. However, despite the positive Brexit vibe, the pound has only managed a 0.15% rise this morning. The big winner in the G10 space has been Sweden, where the krone has rallied 1.5% after it also released higher than expected CPI data (2.5%) and the market has priced in further tightening by the Riksbank.

Looking at the EMG space, the dollar has fallen very consistently here, albeit not universally. We haven’t paid much attention to TRY lately, but it has rallied 1.4% today, and 5.5% in the past month. While yesterday they did claim to create some measures to help address the rising inflation there, they appear fairly toothless and I suspect the lira’s recent strength has more to do with the market correcting a massive decline than investor appetite for the currency. But all of the CE4 are rallying today, albeit in line with the euro’s 0.5% move, and there have been no stories of note from the region.

Looking to APAC, the movement has actually been far less pronounced with THB the best performer, rising 0.7% but the rest of the space largely trading within 0.2% of yesterday’s close. In other words, there is no evidence that, despite a significant decline in equity markets throughout the region, that risk-off sentiment has reached dramatic proportions. Now, if equity markets continue their sharp decline today, my best guess is that we will see a bit more activity in the currency markets, likely with the dollar the beneficiary.

Finally, LATAM currencies have had a mixed performance, with MXN rising 0.5% this morning, but BRL having fallen more than 1% on news that the mooted finance minister for Jair Bolsonaro (assuming he wins the second round election) is being investigated for corruption.

Turning to this morning’s session, the key data point of the week is released, with CPI expected to have declined to 2.4% in September (from 2.7%) and the core rate to have risen to 2.3%, up from August’s reading of 2.2%. With every comment from a Fed speaker focused on the idea of continuing to increase Fed Funds until they reach neutral, this data has the opportunity to have a real impact. If the release is firmer than expected, look for bonds to suffer, equities to suffer more and the dollar to find support. However, if this data is weak, then I would expect that the dollar could fall further, maybe back toward the bottom of its recent range, while the equity market finds some support as fears of an overly tight Fed dissipate.

So there is every opportunity for some more market fireworks today. As I believe that inflation remains likely to continue rising, especially based on the anecdotal evidence of rises in wages, I continue to see the dollar finding support. Of course, that doesn’t speak well of how the equity market is likely to perform if I am correct.

Good luck
Adf

Growth Would Be Marred

Posted on by

The IMF’s Christine Lagarde
Explained global growth would be marred
By tariffs imposed
Which keep borders closed
To products that ought not be barred

The dollar has continued its recent ascent this morning, edging higher still against most of its counterparts as US interest rates continue to climb. In fact, as I type, the 10-year Treasury has breached 3.25% for the first time in more than seven years, and quite frankly, there is no reason to think this trend is going to stop. Rather, given the significant amount of new issuance that will be required by the Treasury Department, and the fact that the Fed is reducing the amount of bonds that it purchases as it shrinks its balance sheet, we should expect to see yields continue higher. Back in January I forecast that the 10-year yield would reach 4.00% by the end of the year. For the longest time that seemed impossible, but while still a difficult conclusion, given the speed with which yields have risen recently, it doesn’t seem quite as far-fetched as it used to.

At any rate, the market stories today are largely the same as those from yesterday. Perhaps the key headline was the IMF announcement that they had reduced their estimates for global growth for 2018 and 2019 by 0.2% to 3.7% for both years. The key change since their last estimate was the increased trade tensions between the US and China and the estimated impact those will have on nations around the globe. However, they did not adjust their estimate of US growth, which is likely to encourage the Trump Administration to continue down the path of further tariffs in their negotiation strategy.

Beyond that story, we are still in the grips of the Italian budget situation, where there has been no indication that the coalition government is going to adjust policy to reduce the projected deficit. Given that every one of these situations in Europe turns into a game of chicken, it is probably too early to assume no solution will be found. However, it is important to remember that DiMaio and Salvini, the heads of the 5-Star and League parties respectively, and the real power in the government, are both anti-establishment, and there appears to be a very real chance that they ignore the European Commission and the EU rules. Certainly the Italian stock and bond markets are concerned over that outcome, as 10-year yields there have risen another 10bps while the FTSE MIB has fallen a further 0.5%. This process will continue to weigh on the euro for now so it should be no surprise that the single currency has fallen by 0.5% this morning. But arguably it is not only the Italian situation impacting the euro, we also saw German trade data, which reported a significant decline in imports, -2.7%. While this did result in an increased trade surplus, sharply falling imports is not a sign of economic strength, and so this was likely not seen as a positive. Net, the combination of ongoing tighter US monetary policy and stalling growth in Europe should help underpin the dollar going forward.

Looking at the rest of the G10 space, the dollar is firmer virtually across the board, with the only exception the Japanese yen, which is flat on the day. Though some may argue that slightly better than expected Economy Wathers Survey data helped, this appears to me to be a consequence of a broader risk-off sentiment that is sweeping the markets. A stronger dollar and a stronger yen are natural consequences of this mentality. What is interesting, however, is that two other natural haven assets, gold and Treasuries, are not performing in the same way. I think the explanation for both is the same: higher US short term rates, now above 2.0% across products, is of sufficient attraction to draw frightened investors into Treasury bills rather than taking the risk of a 10-year note. As well, now that cash earns a return, the opportunity cost of holding gold has increased substantially. Given this situation, it appears there is much further to go for the dollar, as fear will drive investors to short term dollar holdings. With this in mind, I suspect we will hear much less about an inverting yield curve for a time. After all, given the sharp rise in 10-year yields and the increased demand for short term assets, it will be very hard for that to occur.

Flipping to emerging markets, the dollar is broadly stronger here as well, across all three regions. In fact, the only noteworthy exception is BRL, which rallied 1.5% yesterday in the wake of the results of Sunday’s presidential election. It is clear that the market remains highly in favor of a President Bolsonaro there, and I expect that as we approach the run-off vote in three weeks’ time the real will continue to perform well. However, this movement has all the earmarks of a ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ scenario, which means that a sharp dollar rally could well result in the wake of the run-off vote no matter who wins. Granted, if Fernando Haddad, the left wing candidate wins, I would expect the real’s decline to be much sharper.

Away from that, USDCNY is trading above 6.93 today as the Chinese continue to try to ease policy domestically without causing too much market turmoil. While the Trump Administration is apparently looking at naming China a currency manipulator in the latest report due shortly, given the dollar’s overall strength, it appears to me that the movement is entirely within the confines of the overall market. Quite frankly, it still seems as though the Chinese are quite concerned about a ‘too-weak’ renminbi as a trigger to an increase in capital outflows, and so will prevent excessive weakness for now. That said, I expect CNY will continue to weaken going forward.

And that’s really it for today. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Report was released at 107.9, softer than expected but still tied for the second highest reading of all time. Confidence in the economy remains strong. All we have for the rest of the day are speeches by Chicago Fed President Evans and NY’s John Williams. However, given what we have heard lately and the dearth of new news likely to change opinions, it beggars belief to think that anything new will come from these comments. In other words, there is nothing standing in the way of the dollar continuing to rise on the back of ever tighter US monetary policy.

Good luck
Adf

Both Flexed Their Muscles

Posted on by

In China more policy ease
Did nothing to help to appease
The stock market bears
Who unloaded shares
Along with their spare RMB’s

Then tempers between Rome and Brussels
Got hotter as both flexed their muscles
The latter declared
The budget Rome shared
Was certain to cause further tussles

This morning the dollar has resumed its uptrend. The broad theme remains that tighter US monetary policy continues to diverge from policies elsewhere around the world, and with that divergence, dollar demand has increased further.

China’s weekend action is the latest manifestation of this trend as Sunday they announced a one-percentage point cut in the Required Reserve Ratio (RRR) for all banks. This should release up to RMB 1.2 trillion (~$175billion) of liquidity into the market, helping to foster further economic activity, support the equity markets and keep a lid on interest rates. At least that’s the theory. Alas for the Chinese, whose markets were closed all of last week for national holidays, the Shanghai Composite fell 3.7% on the day, as they caught up with last week’s global equity market decline. It is not clear if the loss would have been greater without the RRR cut, but one other noteworthy feature of the session was the absence of any official attempts to support the market, something we have seen consistently in the past. It ought not be surprising that the renminbi also suffered overnight, as it fell nearly 0.5% and is now trading through the 6.90 level. If you recall, this had been assumed to be the ‘line in the sand’ that the PBOC would defend in an effort to prevent an uptick in capital outflows. As it is just one day, it is probably too early to make a judgment, but this bears close watching. Any acceleration higher in USDCNY will have political repercussions as well as market ones.

Speaking of political repercussions, the other noteworthy story is the ongoing budget saga in Italy. There has been no backing down by the populist government in Rome, with Matteo Salvini going so far as to call Brussels (the EU) the enemy of Italy in its attempts to impose further austerity. The Italians are required to present their budget to the EU by next Monday, and thus far, the two sides are far apart on what is acceptable for both the country and EU rules. At this point, markets are clearly getting somewhat nervous as evidenced by the ongoing decline in Italian stock and bond markets, where 10-year yields have jumped another 15bps (and the spread to German bunds is now >300bps) while the FTSE-MIB Index is down another 2.5% this morning. Given that this is all happening in Europe, it is still a decent bet that they will fudge an outcome to prevent disaster, but that is by no means a certainty. Remember, the Italian government is as antiestablishment as any around, and they likely relish the fight as a way to beef up their domestic support. In addition to the Italian saga, German data was disappointing (IP fell -0.3% vs. expectations of a 0.4% gain), and the combination has been sufficient to weigh on the euro, which is down by 0.4% as I type.

Beyond these stories, the other big news was the Brazilian election yesterday, where Jair Bolsonaro, the right wing candidate, came first with 46% of the vote, and now leads the polls as the nation prepares for a second round vote in three weeks’ time. The Brazilian real has been the exception to EMG currency weakness over the past month, having rallied nearly 9% during the last month. It will be interesting to see if it continues that trend when markets open there this morning, but there is no question that the markets believe a Bolsonaro administration will be better for the economy going forward.

Otherwise, the stories remain largely the same. Ongoing US economic strength leading to tighter Fed policy is putting further pressure on virtually all EMG currencies throughout the world. And it is hard to see this story changing until we see the US economy show signs of definitive slowing.

Turning to the upcoming week, data is sparse with CPI being the key release on Thursday.

Tuesday NFIB Business Optimism 108.9
Wednesday PPI 0.2% (2.8% Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.5% Y/Y)
Thursday Initial Claims 206K
  CPI 02% (2.4% (Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.3% Y/Y)
Friday Michigan Sentiment 100.5

As to Fed speakers, we have three regional Fed Presidents (Evans, Williams and Bostic) speaking a total of seven times this week. However, it is pretty clear from comments lasts week that there is no indication the Fed is going to relax their view that gradually tighter policy is appropriate for now. The one thing that can derail this move would be much softer than expected CPI data on Thursday, but that just doesn’t seem that likely now. Look for the dollar to continue to trend higher all week.

Good luck
Adf

Southeast of France

Posted on by

The nation that’s southeast of France
Seems willing to leap at the chance
Of increasing spending
While also descending
Into a black hole of finance

Today’s markets have been dominated by a renewed fear that Italy may become Quitaly, quitting the euro in an effort to regain control of their finances. This view came about when Claudio Borghi, the chairman of the lower house budget committee (analogous to the House finance committee in the US), said that the euro was “not sufficient” to solve Italy’s fiscal issues. That was seen as an allusion to the idea that if Italy ditched the euro and returned to the lire, they would have more flexibility to implement the fiscal policies they wanted. In this case, flexibility can be understood to mean that Italy would be able to print and spend more money domestically, while allowing the lire to depreciate. The problem with the euro, as Italy sees it, is since they don’t control its creation, they cannot devalue it by themselves. There can be no surprise that the euro declined, falling 0.6% after a 0.3% decline yesterday. Of course, Italian stock and bond markets have also suffered, and there has been a more general feeling of risk aversion across all markets.

In the meantime, the latest Brexit news covers a new plan to allegedly solve the Irish border issue. It seems that PM May is going to offer up the idea that the UK remains in the customs union while allowing new checks on goods moving between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. The problem with this idea, at least on the surface, is that it will require the EU to compromise, and that is not something that we have seen much willingness to embrace on their part. Remember, French President Macron has explicitly said that he wants the UK to suffer greatly in order to serve as a warning to any other members from leaving the bloc. (Funnily enough, I don’t think that either Matteo Renzi or Luigi Di Maio, the leaders of the League and Five-Star Movement respectively in Italy, really care about that.)

For now, the market will continue to whipsaw around these events as hopes ebb and flow for a successful Brexit resolution. While it certainly doesn’t seem like anything is going to be agreed at this stage, my suspicion remains that some fudge will be found. The one caveat here is if PM May is ousted at the Conservative Party conference that begins later this week. PM Boris Johnson, for instance, will tell the Europeans to ‘bugger off’ and then no deal will be found. In that case, the pound will fall much further, but that seems a low probability event for right now. With all of that in mind, the pound has fallen 0.6% this morning and is back below 1.30 for the first time in three weeks.

In fact, the dollar is higher virtually across the board this morning, with AUD also lower by 0.6% after the RBA left rates unchanged at 1.50% while describing potential weakening scenarios, including a slowdown in China. Even CAD is lower, albeit only by 0.15%, despite the resolution of the NAFTA replacement talks yesterday.

Emerging markets have fared no better with, for example, IDR having fallen nearly 1.0% through 15,000 for the first time in twenty years, despite the central bank’s efforts to protect the rupiyah through rate hikes and intervention. We have also seen weakness in INR (-0.6%), ZAR (-1.3%), MXN (-0.6%), TRY (-1.9%) and RUB (-0.7%). Stock markets throughout the emerging markets have also been under pressure and government bond yields there are rising. In other words, this is a classic risk-off day.

Yesterday’s ISM data was mildly disappointing (59.8 vs. 60.1 expected) but continues to point to strong US economic growth. Since there are no hard data points released today (although we do see auto sales data) my sense is the market will turn its focus on Chairman Powell at 12:45, when he speaks at the National Association of Business Economics Meeting in Boston. His speech is titled, The Outlook for Employment and Inflation, obviously the exact issues the market cares about. However, keeping in mind the fact that Powell has been consistently bullish on the economy, it seems highly unlikely that he will say anything that could derail the current trend of tighter US monetary policy. Combining this with the renewed concerns over Europe and the UK, and it seems the dollar’s rally may be about to reignite.

Good luck
Adf

 

When Tax Cuts Arrive

Posted on by

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
Adf

Watching With Rigor

Posted on by

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
Adf

 

Inspired

Posted on by

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
Adf