Tag Archives: #inflation

Here To Stay

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Fed speakers are starting to say
That lower rates are here to stay
It’s not about trade
Instead they’re dismayed
Inflation just won’t go their way

Since the FOMC meeting two weeks ago, we have heard a steady stream of Fed speakers with one main theme, current interest rate policy is appropriate for the economy right now. While the market continues to price in another rate cut for later this year, and economists and analysts are starting to lean in that direction as well, the Fed remains resolute in their conviction that they don’t need to do anything. When asked about the trade situation, they mouth platitudes about how free trade helps everyone. When asked about political pressures, they insist they are immune to any such thing. These responses cannot be any surprise and are what every FOMC member would have said any time during the past century. However, there is one theme that is starting to coalesce that is different; the idea that interest rates are going to be permanently lower in the future than they have been in the past.

NY Fed President John Williams has highlighted the fact that recent research indicates r* (the theoretical neutral rate of interest) for the five main economies (US, UK, Japan, Eurozone and Canada) has fallen to just 0.5% from something more like 2.5% prior to the financial crisis. The implication is that there is no reason for interest rates to rise much further, if at all, from current levels as that would result in tightening monetary policy with a corresponding slowing of economic activity. If this is correct, it bodes ill for central banks abilities to help moderate future economic downturns. After all, if rates are near zero when an economy slows down, interest rate cuts are unlikely to have a material impact on the situation. Of course, this is what led to unconventional policies like QE and forward guidance, and we can only assume that every central bank is trying to think up new unconventional policies as those lose their efficacy. Do not be surprised if legislation appears that allows the Fed to purchase any assets it deems appropriate (stocks, real estate, etc.) in its efforts to address the next downturn. This is also why MMT has gained favor in so many places (although not the Fed) as it removes virtually all restrictions on spending and fiscal policy and reduces the role of monetary policy.

One other thing that seems incongruous is the precision with which the Fed believes is should be able to manage inflation. Inflation is a broad reading of price pressures over millions of items ranging from houses to pencils. Its measurement remains controversial and imperfect, at best. Pricing decisions continue to be made by the sellers of products, not by government fiat, and so the idea that the Fed can use a blunt tool like the general level of interest rates, to fine-tune price changes is, on the face of it, absurd. Is there really a difference between 1.6% and 2.0% inflation? I understand the implications regarding compounding, and of course the biggest issue is that cost of living adjustments in programs like Social Security and Medicare have enormous fiscal consequences and are entirely dependent on these measurements. But really, precision is a mistake in this case. It would be far more sensible, and achievable, for the Fed to target an inflation range like 1.5%-2.5% and be happy to focus on that rather than aiming for a target and miss it consistently in the seven years since it was defined.

Now back to markets. While Asian equity markets continued the US sell-off, it seems that the course has been run for now elsewhere. European shares are higher by between 0.5% and 1.0% this morning, while US futures are pointing to a 0.75% or so rebound at the open. At this point, all the tariff news seems to be in the market, and there continues to be a strong belief that a deal will get done, most likely in June when President’s Xi and Trump meet on the sidelines of the G20 meetings in Japan. The dollar continues to hold its own, although it has not been able to make any general headway higher lately.

In the currency market, this morning shows that risk is being tentatively reacquired as the yen falls (-0.35%) while EMG currencies edge higher (MXN +0.25%, INR +0.3%). The G10 beyond the yen is little changed, although most of those currencies suffered during yesterday’s equity rout. One thing that appears to be ongoing lately is that central banks have been slowly reducing the dollar portion of their holdings, taking advantage of the dollar’s recent strength to diversify their portfolios. That would certainly be a valid explanation for the dollar’s inability to make any substantive gains lately.

On the data front, overnight saw a disappointing German ZEW Index reading of -2.1 (exp +5.0), which implies that the hoped for rebound in Germany may still be a bit further away than the ECB is counting on. At the same time, UK labor markets continue to show robust strength with another 99K jobs created and average earnings continuing to grow at a solid 3.3% pace. However, neither of these data points had any impact on the FX market. In the US, the NFIB Business Index rose to 103.5, slightly better than forecast and demonstrating a resiliency in the small business psyche in this country. However, we don’t see any further data here today, and so if pressed, I would expect the FX market to be uninspiring. If equity markets manage to maintain their rebound, then I would expect a modicum of dollar weakness as investors rush back into the EMG bloc, but I think it far more likely that there is little movement overall.

Good luck
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Rather Wrong

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While Powell said growth may be strong
He still thinks it seems rather wrong
That prices won’t rise
So it’s no surprise
That rates will go lower ‘ere long

After the FOMC left policy largely unchanged yesterday (they did tweak the IOER down by 5bps) and the statement was parsed, it appeared that the Fed’s clear dovish bias continues to drive the overall tone of policy. Growth is solid but inflation remains confusingly soft and it appeared that the Fed was moving closer to the ‘insurance’ rate cut markets have been looking hoping for to prevent weakness from showing up. Stocks rallied and so did bonds with the yield on the 10yr falling to 2.45% just before the press conference while stock markets were higher by 0.5% or so. But then…

According to Powell the story
Is price declines are transitory
So patience remains
The thought in Fed brains
With traders stuck in purgatory

Powell indicated that the majority view at the Fed was that the reason we have seen such weak price data lately is because of transitory issues. These include reduced investment management fees in the wake of the sharp equity market declines in Q4 of last year and the change in the way the Fed gathered price data at retail stores where they now collect significantly greater amounts of data digitally, rather than having ‘shoppers’ go to stores and look at price tags. The upshot is that while he was hardly hawkish in any sense of the word, trying to maintain as neutral a stance as possible, he was far more hawkish than the market had anticipated. Not surprisingly, markets reversed their earlier moves with 10yr yields shooting higher by 6bps, closing higher than the previous day’s close, while equity markets ceded all their early gains and wound up falling about 0.7% on average between the three major indices.

What about the dollar? Well, it followed the same type of trajectory as other assets, softening on the dovish ideas throughout the session before rallying a sharp 0.55% in the wake of Powell’s press conference opening statement. Since then, it has largely maintained the rebound, although this morning it is softer by about 0.1% across the board.

Looking ahead, markets are going to continue to focus on the interplay between the data releases and the central bank comments. Nothing has changed with regard to the overarching dovish bias evident in almost all central banks, but in order for them to act, rather than merely talk, the data will have to be clearly deteriorating. And lately, the best description of the data releases has been mixed. For example, yesterday saw a huge ADP Employment number, 275K, boding well for tomorrow’s NFP report. However, ISM Manufacturing fell sharply to 52.8, well below last month’s 55.3 reading as well as far below the 55.0 market expectation. So, which one is more important? That’s the thing. As long as we see strength in some areas of the economy along with weakness in others, the Fed is almost certainly going to sit on the sidelines. That is, of course, unless the inflation data starts to move more aggressively in either direction. I think it is far better than even money that Fed funds are 2.25%-2.50% on December 31.

But what about other places? Well, the ECB seems stuck between a rock and a hard place as Q1 data has been disappointing overall and they are running out of tools to fight a slowdown. Given the current rate structure, the question being debated in the halls in Frankfurt is just how low can rates go before having a net detrimental impact on the economy. If we see any further weakness from the Eurozone, we are going to find out. That brings us to this morning’s PMI data, where Bloomberg tried hard to put a positive spin on what remains lousy data. Germany (44.4), Italy (49.1) and France (50.0) remain desultory at best. The Eurozone print (47.2) is hardly the stuff of dreams, although in fairness, it was better than analysts had been expecting. So perhaps we are seeing the beginnings of a stabilization in the decline, rather than a continuing acceleration of such. But that hardly gives a rationale for tighter policy. The ECB remains stuck on hold on the rate front and is certainly going to see significant uptake of their new TLTRO’s when they come out. It remains difficult to see a reason for the euro to rebound given the underlying economic weakness in the Eurozone, especially with the ECB committed to negative rates for at least another year.

What about the UK? Well, the BOE met this morning and left rates on hold by a unanimous vote. They also released new economic forecasts that showed reduced expectations for inflation this year, down to 1.6%, with the out years remaining essentially unchanged. They indicated that the delay in Brexit would have a limited impact as they continue to plan on a smooth transition, and their growth forecasts changed with 2019 rising to 1.5% on the back of the inventory led gains in Q1, although the out years remain unchanged. Here, too, there is no urgency to raise rates, although they keep trying to imply that slightly higher rates would be appropriate. However, the market is having none of it, pricing a 30% chance of a 25bp rate cut before the end of next year. The pound chopped on the news, rallying at first, but falling subsequently and is now sitting at 1.3050, essentially unchanged on the day.

Of course, Brexit continues to influence the pound’s movements and recent hints from both PM May and Labour Leader Corbyn indicate that it is possible they are going to agree a deal that includes permanent membership of a customs union with the EU. Certainly, verification of that will help the pound rally back. But boy, if I voted for Brexit and this is what they delivered, it would be quite upsetting. In essence, it destroys one of the main benefits of Brexit, the ability to manage their own trade function. We shall see how it plays out.

This morning brings more data, starting with Initial Claims (exp 215K), Nonfarm Productivity (2.2%) and Unit Labor Costs (1.5%) at 8:30, then Factory Orders (1.5%) at 10:00. The onslaught of Fed speakers doesn’t start until tomorrow, so that’s really it for the day. Equity futures are rallying this morning as the idea that the markets fell yesterday seems more like a mirage than a market response to new information. In the end, you cannot fight city hall, and though Powell tried to sound tough, I didn’t see anything to change the view that the Fed remains biased toward cutting rates as their next move.

Good luck
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More Not Less

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As markets return from vacation
The central banks’ tales of inflation
Continue to stress
They want more, not less
Thus, policy ease is salvation

With the market back to full strength this morning, after a long holiday weekend throughout much of the world, it seems that every story is about the overall change in tone by most major central banks. That tone, of course, is now all about the end of the nascent tightening cycle. Whether considering the Swedish Riksbank, which saw disturbingly higher Unemployment data at the end of last week thus putting the kibosh on their efforts to continue policy normalization and raise rates back up to 0.0%, or the weekend WSJ story that hypothesized how the Fed was reconsidering their framework and trying to determine new lower thresholds for easing policy, all stories point to one thing, central banks have looked in the mirror and decided that they are not going to take the blame for the next recession.

This means that we need to be prepared to hear more about allowing the economy to run hot with higher inflation and lower unemployment than previously deemed prudent. We need to be prepared to hear more about macroprudential measures being used to prevent asset bubbles in the future. But most importantly, we need to be prepared for the fact that asset bubbles have already been inflated and the current monetary policy stance is simply going to help them expand further. (Of course, central banks have proven particularly inept at addressing market bubbles in the past, so the idea that they will suddenly be able to manage them going forward seems unlikely.)

Naturally, there are calls for a switch in the mix of policy initiatives around the G10 with demands for more fiscal stimulus offset by less monetary stimulus. That idea comes right from page one of the Keynesian handbook, but interestingly, when the US implemented that policy last year (tax cuts and four rate hikes) both sets of policymakers got lambasted by the press. Fiscal stimulus at the end of a long growth cycle was seen as crazy and unprecedented while Fed hawkishness was undermining the recovery. These were the themes portrayed throughout the press and the market. When considered in that context, it seems that pundits really don’t care what happens, they simply want to be able to complain about the current policy and seem smart! At any rate, it has become abundantly clear that neither fiscal nor monetary policy is going to tighten anytime soon.

So, what does this mean for markets?

For equity markets, the world is looking incredibly bright. Despite the fact that equity markets have rebounded sharply already this year, (S&P +16%, DAX +15%, Shanghai + 28%, Nikkei +13%), given the clear signals we are hearing from global policymakers, there is no reason to think this should end. One of Keynes’ most important lessons was that ‘markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent’. The point being that even if there is concern that markets have rallied to significantly overvalued levels, there is nothing to stop them from going further in the short run. Another interesting weekend article, this by Kevin Muir, highlighted the dichotomy between current retail enthusiasm for equity markets being so different from professional skepticism in the current situation. His point was one side of the argument is going to be really wrong. My take is that it is more a question of timing with an easily envisioned scenario of a further short-term rally to even more absurd valuation levels before an eventual reversal on some heretofore unseen concern (hard Brexit? US-China trade talks break down? Hot war after Iran tries to shut down the Strait of Hormuz?) The point is, there are still plenty of potential concerns that can derail things, but for now, it is all about easy money!

For bond markets, things are also looking great. After all, if there is no further policy tightening on the horizon, and inflation remains quiescent, government bonds should continue to rally. This is especially so if we see Eurozone economic weakness start to spread more widely. As to corporate bonds, low policy rates and ongoing solid economic activity point to spreads maintaining their current extremely tight levels. The hunt for yield will continue to dominate fixed income investing and that means tighter spreads across all asset classes.

Finally, for the currency markets this is a much more nuanced picture. This is because currencies remain a relative game, not an absolute one like stocks and bonds. So who’s policy is the tightest? Arguably, right now the US. Is that going to change in the near-term? While the Fed has clearly stopped raising rates, and will be ending QT shortly, the ECB is discussing further stimulus, the BOJ is actively adding stimulus, the PBOC is actively adding stimulus and the BOE remains mired in the Brexit uncertainty with no ability to tighten policy ahead of a conclusion there. In other words, the US is still the belle of the ball when it comes to currencies, and there is no reason to expect the dollar to start to decline anytime soon. In truth, given the idea that current policies are ostensibly priced into the market already, and that there are no changes seen in the medium term, I imagine that we are setting up for a pretty long period of limited movement in the G10 space, although specific EMG currencies could still surprise.

On the data front, it is particularly quiet this week, and with the Fed on the calendar for next week, there will be no more speakers until the meeting.

Today New Home Sales 650K
Thursday Initial Claims 200K
  Durable Goods 0.8%
  -ex Transport 0.2%
Friday Q1 GDP (revised) 2.1%
  Michigan Sentiment 97.0

We will see the final data point in this month’s housing story, which has been pretty lousy so far as both Housing Starts and Existing Home Sales disappointed last week. (Anecdotally, I see the slowdown in my neighborhood, where historically there have been fewer than 2 homes for sale at any given time, and there are currently 7, with some having been on the market for at least 9 months.) We also see the second look at Q1 GDP, with a modest downtick expected to 2.1%, still running at most economists’ view of potential, and clearly much faster than seen in either Europe or Japan. As I said, there is nothing that points to a weaker dollar, although significant dollar strength doesn’t seem likely either. I think we are in for some (more) quiet times in FX.

Good luck
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Clearly On Hold

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Though policy’s clearly on hold
Most central banks feel they’ve controlled
The story on growth
And yet they’re still loath
To change their inflation threshold

Amidst generally dull market activity (at least in the FX market), traders and investors continue to look for the next key catalysts to drive markets. In US equity markets, we are now entering earnings season which should keep things going for a while. The early releases have shown declining earnings on a sequential basis, but thus far the results have bested estimates so continue to be seen as bullish. (As an aside, could someone please explain to me the bullish case on stocks trading at a 20+ multiple with economic growth in the US at 2% and globally at 3.5% alongside extremely limited policy leeway for further monetary ease? But I digress.) Overnight saw Chinese stocks rock, with Shanghai soaring 2.4% and the Hang Seng 1.1%. European stocks are a bit firmer as well (DAX +0.6%, FTSE +0.4%) and US futures are pointing higher.

Turning to the central banks, we continue to hear the following broad themes: policy is in a good place right now, but the opportunity for further ease exists. Depending on the central bank this is taking different forms. For example, the Minutes of the RBA meeting indicated a growing willingness to cut the base rate further, and market expectations are building for two more cuts this year, down to 1.00%. Meanwhile, the Fed has no ability to cut rates yet (they just stopped raising them in December) but continues to talk about how they achieve their inflation target. Yesterday, Boston Fed president Rosengren posited that a stronger commitment to the symmetry around their 2.0% target could be useful. Personally, I don’t believe that, but I’m just a gadfly, not a PhD economist. At any rate, the idea is that allowing the economy to run hot without tightening is tantamount to easing policy further. In the end, it has become apparent the Fed’s (and every central bank’s) problem is that their economic models no longer are a good representation of the inner workings of the economy. As such, they are essentially flying blind. Previous relationships between growth, inflation and employment have clearly changed. I make no claim that I know what the new relationships are like, just that 10 years of monetary policy experiments with subpar results is enough to demonstrate the central banks are lost.

This is true not just in the US and Europe, but in Japan, where they have been working on QE for nearly thirty years now.

More ETF’s bought
Will be followed by more and
More ETF’s bought

“It’s vital for the Bank of Japan to continue persistently with powerful monetary easing,” Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said. As can be seen from Kuroda-san’s comments last night in the Diet, the BOJ is a one-trick pony. While it is currently illegal for the Fed to purchase equities, that is not the case in Japan, and they have been buying them with gusto. The thing is, the Japanese economy continues to stumble along with minimal growth and near zero inflation. As the sole mandate for the BOJ is to achieve their 2.0% inflation target, it is fair to say that they have been failing for decades. And yet, they too, have not considered a new model.

In the end, it seems the lesson to be learned is that the myth of omnipotence that the central banks would have us all believe is starting to crack. Once upon a time central banks monitored activity in the real economy and tried to adjust policy accordingly. Financial markets followed their lead and responded to those actions. But as the world has become more financially oriented during the past thirty years, it seems we now have the opposite situation. Now, financial markets trade on anticipation of central bank activity, and if central banks start to tighten policy, financial markets tend to throw tantrums. However, there is no tough love at central banks. Rather they are indulgent parents who cave quite quickly to the whims of declining markets. Regardless of their alleged targets for inflation or employment, the only number that really matters is the S&P 500, and that is generally true for every central bank.

Turning to this morning’s data story, the German ZEW survey was released at a better than expected 3.1. In fact, not only was this better than forecast, but it was the first positive reading in more than a year. It seems that the ongoing concerns over German growth may be easing slightly at this point. Certainly, if we see a better outcome in the Manufacturing PMI data at the end of April, you can look for policymakers to signal an all clear on growth, although they seem unlikely to actually tighten policy. Later this morning we see IP (exp 0.2%) and Capacity Utilization (79.1%) and then tonight, arguably more importantly, we see the first look at Chinese Q1 GDP (exp 6.3%).

If you consider the broad narrative, it posits that renewed Chinese monetary stimulus will prevent a significant slowdown there, thus helping economies like Germany to rebound. At the same time, the mooted successful conclusion of the US-China trade talks will lead to progress on US-EU and US-Japanese talks, and then everything will be right with the world as the previous world order is reincarnated. FWIW I am skeptical of this outcome, but clearly equity market bulls are all-in.

In the end, the dollar has been extremely quiet (volatility measures are back to historic lows) and it is hard to get excited about movement in the near-term. Nothing has yet changed my view that the US will ultimately remain the tightest policy around, and thus continue to draw investment and USD strength. But frankly, recent narrow ranges are likely to remain in place for a little while longer yet.

Good luck
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Progress Is Real

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In Beijing, talks focused on trade
Continue as both sides conveyed
That progress is real
With hopes for a deal
Increasing, or so it’s portrayed

Once again, the market is embracing the idea that a trade deal is coming and coming soon. Talks in Beijing have restarted and while yesterday President Trump indicated he would not be meeting Chinese President Xi by month’s end, as had been suggested last week, this morning, Mr Trump expressed a desire to meet with him “very soon”. Investors have taken this to mean that while a deal may not be completed by the initial March 1st deadline, there will be an extension of the truce and no tariff increases at that time. It should be no surprise that the equity market has taken this news well, with Asian stocks generally rallying (Nikkei +2.6%, Shanghai +0.7%), European stocks following suit (DAX + 1.3%, CAC + 1.1%) and US equity futures pointing higher (DJIA + 0.8%, S&P + 0.7%). Adding to the bullishness has been the news that there is a tentative deal in Congress to avoid a second government shutdown. So, all the stars have aligned for the bulls today.

And yet, the data continues to be lackluster with limited prospect to improve in the short run. A random sampling of recent releases shows that UK growth (as mentioned yesterday) was the weakest in six years and shows no signs of picking up ahead of Brexit. But also, Norwegian inflation is sinking along with Mexican IP and the Australian housing market. South African Unemployment remains near a record 27.5% and even the NFIB Survey here at home has fallen to its lowest level since November 2016 (Trump’s election), although it remains much closer to its historic highs than its lows. The point is that despite soothing words from central bank officials that recent weaker data is temporary, it is looking nothing of the sort. I’m not sure when temporary morphs into long-term, but we are now pushing into our fifth consecutive month of slowing global data and the trend shows no signs of abating.

So, what is an investor or a hedger to conclude from all this? Is the trade deal more important? Or is it the ongoing data story? While both of those may have short-term impacts, the reality remains that it is still the central banks that exert the most influence on markets. The Fed’s complete conversion from hawk to dove in six weeks has been THE dominant force in markets since December. Not only has that conversion helped the US markets, but it has dramatically reduced pressure on other nations to maintain their own hawkishness. This can be seen in the BOE, where earlier talk of needing to hike rates in the event of Brexit has abated. It can be seen in the ECB where the conversation has changed from raising rates in the autumn to what other measures of stimulus can they provide given the current negative rates and bloated balance sheet. (TLTRO’s will absolutely be rolled over.) In Scandinavia, both Norway and Sweden have seen inflation data decline and are now seen as far more likely to leave rates on hold rather than raising them as had been expected just a few months ago. And not to be outdone, the PBOC, which had been in the midst of a two-year program to reduce excess leverage in China, has handily turned far more dovish, injecting significant liquidity and ‘encouraging’ banks to make loans to SME’s there. So, in the end, while the trade story may garner headlines for a few more weeks, it remains a central bank controlled world.

As to today, the dollar is dipping slightly after a continued solid rally during yesterday’s session. This has been more evident in the EMG space than in G10. For example, MXN (+0.4%) and BRL (+0.95%) are leading the way in LATAM while INR (+0.7%) and CNY (+0.3%) have benefitted from the dollar’s lackluster performance. And of course, the dovish turn by the Fed has had an especially beneficial impact on EMG currencies since so many companies located there borrow in dollars. The idea that US rates have stopped rising has been one of the biggest changes we have seen.

However, it is important to remember that on a relative basis, US policy remains tighter than that anywhere else in the world, and as it becomes clearer that other central banks will turn more dovish, the dollar should retain its footing.

We have already seen the NFIB data print weaker than expected, and the only other data point today is the JOLT’s Jobs report (exp 6.90M), however, we do hear from Chairman Powell at 12:45 this afternoon, so all eyes will be on him. The thing is, given the data we have seen since the Fed changed course has continue to be weak, I would argue the only surprise can be dovish. In other words, comments hinting that the Fed will end the balance sheet roll-off, or a reevaluation of the neutral rate lower would be the type of thing to start a big rally. In the event that something like that were to occur, look for equities to rocket and the dollar to fall. But given the sudden increase in stories about prices rising in consumer products (yesterday’s WSJ talking about cat litter and detergent, today’s about Whole Foods raising prices), it seems hard to believe that a more dovish tone is likely.

In the end, the dollar has had a good run over the past two weeks. If that is ending, it is entirely reasonable, but don’t look for a collapse.

Good luck
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Conditions Have Tightened

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The Treasury market is frightened
As risk of inflation has heightened
So 10-year yields jumped
The dollar got pumped
And credit conditions have tightened

The dollar rallied yesterday on the back of a sharp rise in US Treasury yields. The 10-year rose 13bps, jumping to its highest level since 2014. The 30-year rose even more, 15bps, and both have seen those yield rallies continue this morning. The catalyst was much stronger than expected US data, both ADP and ISM Non-Manufacturing were quite strong, and further comments by Chairman Powell that indicated the Fed would remain data dependent and while they didn’t expect inflation to rise sharply, effectively they are prepared to act if it does.

Adding to the inflation story was the Amazon news about raising the minimum wage at the company to $15/hour, and don’t forget the trade war with China, where tariffs will clearly add upward pressure on prices. All this makes tomorrow’s payroll report that much more important, as all eyes will be on the Average Hourly Earnings number. We have a fairly recent analogy of this type of market condition, the first two weeks of February this year, when the January AHE number jumped unexpectedly, and within a week, equities had fallen 10% while the dollar rallied sharply as risk was jettisoned with abandon. While I am not forecasting a repeat of those events, it is best to be aware of the possibility.

And quite frankly, that has been THE story of the market. It cannot be that surprising that the dollar has been the big beneficiary, as this has turned into a classic risk-off scenario. EMG currencies are under increasing pressure, and even the G10 is suffering, save the yen, which has rallied slightly vs. the dollar. At this point, there is no obvious reason for this trend to stop until tomorrow’s data release. If AHE data is firm (current expectations are for a 0.3% rise on the month translating into a 2.8% Y/Y rise), look for this bond rout to continue, with the concurrent impact of a stronger dollar and weaker equities. But since that is not until tomorrow, my sense is that today is going to be a session of modest further movement as positions get squared ahead of the big news.

Good luck
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Inspired

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good luck and good weekend
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A Charade

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The news there was movement on trade
Twixt China and us helped persuade
Investors to buy
Though prices are high
And it could well be a charade

We also learned wholesale inflation
Was lower across the whole nation
Thus fears that the Fed
Might still move ahead
Aggressively lost their foundation

The dollar is little changed overall this morning, although there are a few outlier moves to note. However, the big picture is that we remain range bound as traders and investors try to determine what the path forward is going to look like. Yesterday’s clues were twofold. First was the story that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has reached out to his Chinese counterpart, Liu He, and requested a ministerial level meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the trade situation more actively ahead of the potential imposition of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports. This apparent thawing in the trade story was extremely well received by markets, pushing most equity prices higher around the world as well as sapping a portion of dollar strength in the FX markets. Remember, the cycle of higher tariffs leading to higher inflation and therefore higher US interest rates has been one of the factors underpinning the dollar’s broad strength.

But the other piece of news that seemed to impact the dollar was a bit more surprising, PPI. Generally, this is not a data point that FX traders care about, but given the overall focus on inflation and the fact that it printed lower than expected (-0.1%, 2.8% Y/Y for the headline number and -0.1%, 2.3% Y/Y for the core number) it encouraged traders to believe that this morning’s CPI data would be softer than expected and therefore reduce some of the Fed’s hawkishness. However, it is important to understand that PPI and CPI measure very different things in somewhat different manners and are actually not that tightly correlated. In fact, the BLS has an entire discussion about the differences on their website (https://www.bls.gov/ppi/ppicpippi.htm). The point is that PPI’s surprising decline is unlikely to be mirrored by CPI today. Nonetheless, upon the release, the dollar softened across the board.

This morning, however, the dollar has edged slightly higher, essentially unwinding yesterday’s weakness. As the market awaits news from three key central banks, ECB, BOE and Bank of Turkey, traders have played things pretty close to the vest. Expectations are that neither the BOE or the ECB will change policy in any manner, and in fact, the BOE doesn’t even have a press conference scheduled so there is likely to be very little there. As to Draghi’s presser at 8:30, assuming there is no new guidance as expected, questions will almost certainly focus on the fact that the ECB staff economists have reduced their GDP growth forecasts and how that is likely to impact policy going forward. It will be very interesting to hear Draghi dance around the idea that softer growth still requires tighter policy.

But certainly the most interesting meeting will be from Istanbul, where current economist forecasts are for a 325bp rate rise to 22.0% in order to stem the decline of the lira as well as try to address rampant inflation. The problem is that President Erdogan was out this morning lambasting higher interest rates as he was implementing new domestic rules on FX. In the past, many transactions in Turkey were denominated in either USD or EUR (things like building leases) as the financing was in those currencies, and so landlords were pushing the FX risk onto the tenants. But Erdogan decreed that transactions like that are now illegal, everything must be priced in lira, and that existing contracts need to be converted within 30 days at an agreed upon rate. All this means is that if the currency continues to weaken, the landlords will go bust, not the tenants. But it will still be a problem.

Elsewhere, momentum for a Brexit fudge deal seems to be building, although there is also talk of a rebellion in the Tory party amongst Brexit hardliners and an incipient vote of no confidence for PM May to be held next month. Certainly, if she is ousted it would throw the negotiations into turmoil and likely drive the pound significantly lower. But that is all speculation as of now, and the market is ascribing a relatively low probability to that outcome.

FLASH! In the meantime, the BOE left rates on hold, in, as expected, a unanimous vote, and the Bank of Turkey surprised one and all, raising rates 525bps to 24.0%, apparently willing to suffer the wrath of Erdogan. And TRY has rallied more than 5% on the news, and is now trading just around 6.00, its strongest level since late August. While it is early days, perhaps this will be enough to help stabilize the lira. However, history points to this as likely being a short reprieve unless other policies are enacted that will help stabilize the economy. And that seems a much more daunting task with Erdogan at the helm.

Elsewhere in the EMG bloc we have seen both RUB and ZAR continue their recent hot streaks with the former clearly rising on the back of rising oil prices while the latter is responding to a report from Moody’s that they are unlikely to cut South Africa to a junk rating, thus averting the prospect of wholesale debt liquidation by foreign investors.

As mentioned before, this morning brings us CPI (exp 0.3%, 2.8% Y/Y for headline, 0.2%, 2.4% Y/Y for core). Certainly, anything on the high side is likely to have a strong impact on markets, unwinding yesterday’s mild dollar weakness as well as equity market strength. This morning we hear from Fed governor Randy Quarles, but he is likely to focus on regulation not policy. Meanwhile, yesterday we heard from Lael Brainerd and she was quite clear that the Fed was on the correct path and that two more rate hikes this year were appropriate, as well as at least two more next year with the possibility of more than that. So Brainerd, who had been one of the most dovish members for a long time, has turned hawkish.

All in all, traders will be focused on two things at 8:30, CPI and Draghi, with both of them important enough to move markets if they surprise. However, the big picture remains one where the Fed is the central bank with the highest probability of tightening faster than anticipated, while the ECB, given the slowing data from Europe, seems like the one most likely to falter. All that adds up to continued dollar strength over time.

Good luck
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Investor Frustrations

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There once was a wide group of nations
Whose growth was built on weak foundations
Their policy actions
Are seen as subtractions
Increasing investor frustrations

Boy, I go away for a few days and world virtually collapses!!!

Needless to say, a lot has happened since I last wrote on Thursday, with a number of emerging market currencies and their respective equity markets really coming under pressure. It was the usual suspects; Turkey, Argentina, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and China, all of whom had felt significant pressure at various times during the year. But this new wave seems a bit more stressful in that prior to the past few days, each one had experienced a problem of its own, but since Friday, markets have pummeled them all together. This appears to be the contagion that had been feared by both investors and policymakers. The thing is, the unifying theme to pretty much all these markets is the stronger dollar. As the dollar resumes its strengthening trend, both companies and governments in those nations are finding it increasingly difficult to handle their debt loads. And given the near certainty that the Fed is going to continue its steady policy tightening alongside consistently stronger US economic data, the dollar strengthening trend seems likely to remain in tact for a while yet.

Could this be one of the ‘unexpected’ consequences of ten years of QE, ZIRP and NIRP? Apparently, despite assurances from esteemed central bankers like Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi (as dovish a triumvirate as has ever been seen), there ARE negative consequences to dramatically changing the way monetary policy is handled, massively expanding balance sheets and driving real interest rates to significant negative levels. While there is no doubt that developed economy stock markets have benefitted generally, it seems like some of those risks are becoming more apparent.

These risks include things like the central bankers’ loss of control over markets. After all, markets around the world have basically danced to the tune of free money for the past decade. As that tune changes, investor behavior is sure to change as well. Another systemic risk has been the increasing inability of investors to adequately diversify their portfolios. If every market rises due to exogenous variables, like zero interest rates, then how can prudent investors manage their risk? Many took comfort in the fact that market volatility had declined so significantly, implying that systemic risk was reduced on net. However, what we have observed in 2018 is that volatility is not, in fact, dead, but had merely been anaesthetized by that free money.

The worrying thing is there is no reason to believe that this process is going to end soon. Rather, I fear that it may just be beginning. There are a significant number of excesses to wring out of the markets, and however much central bankers around the world try to prevent that from happening, they cannot hold back the tide forever. At some point, and it could be coming sooner than you think, markets are going adjust despite all the efforts of Powell, Draghi, Carney, Kuroda and their brethren. Never forget that the market is far bigger than any one nation.

We are already seeing how this can play out in some of the above-mentioned countries. Argentina, for example, has short-term interest rates of 60%, inflation of ‘only’ 31%, and therefore real interest rates are now +29%! But the economy is back in recession, having shrunk 6.7% last quarter, and the current account deficit remains a significant problem. So despite jacking rates to 60%, the currency has fallen 22% this week and 120% this year! And they are following orthodox monetary policy. Turkey, on the other hand, has been unwilling to bend to orthodoxy (when it comes to monetary policy) and has kept rates low such that real interest rates are near zero and heading negative as inflation continues its climb (17.9% in September) while rates remain on hold. So the fact that the lira is down 9% this week and 95% this year should be less surprising.

The point is that the market is losing its taste for discrimination and is beginning to treat all currencies under the rubric ‘emerging markets’ as the same. And they are selling them all. As long as the Fed continues its grind higher in rates, there is no reason to believe that this will end. And if these declines are steady, rather than sharp crashes, it will go on for a while. Chairman Powell will have no reason to stop if a few random EMG markets trend lower. If, however, the S&P 500 starts to suffer, that may be a different story, and one we will all watch with great interest!

In the meantime, turning to G10 currencies, the dollar is stronger here as well this morning, although it has fallen back from its best levels of the morning. In fact, while the pound has been consistently undermined (-0.3% today, -1.5% since Thursday) by what seems to be a worsening saga regarding Brexit, the euro has stabilized for now, although it is down about 1% since Thursday as well. Apparently, CAD is not taking the ongoing NAFTA negotiations that well, as it has fallen 2% since Thursday amid pressure on PM Trudeau to cave into US demands. The BOC meets today and while there had been previous expectations that they may raise rates, that has been pushed back to October now in view of the NAFTA process. This is despite the fact that inflation in Canada is running at 2.9%, well above target.

In the end, as long as the Fed continues along its recent path, expect market volatility to increase further, with more and more dominoes likely to fall.

As to today, the only noteworthy data is the Balance of Trade, where expectations are for a $50.3B outcome, not exactly what the president is hoping for, I’m sure. And as far as the dollar goes, there is no reason to believe that its recent strength is going to turn around anytime soon.

Good luck
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The Tempo of Growth

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The President keeps on complaining
That higher Fed rates are constraining
The tempo of growth
But Powell is loath
To change things til prices are waning

Over the weekend, the President registered his dismay over recent Fed policy moves, apparently calling out Chairman Powell for raising rates too swiftly. His complaints centered on the fact that the Fed’s gradual removal of policy accommodation is helping to support the dollar and has been responsible for its recent strength. Recall that since the middle of April the dollar had rallied more than 8% before its recent modest pullback. So even with a 2% decline in the past week, the dollar remains far stronger than earlier this year. And that is what has the President upset. He sees the dollar’s strength through the lens of his trade policy and it is effectively undermining the tariff process.

Now, this is not the first time that the President has complained about the strong dollar (that occurred shortly after his election in 2016), but for some reason, the market has become far more concerned this time that it may impact the Fed’s actions. Perhaps adding to that sentiment was a speech yesterday by Atlanta Fed President, Rafael Bostic, where he explicitly stated that he would not knowingly vote for rate hike that would invert the yield curve. He is now the fourth Fed President to discuss that issue, although he is the only member of that group with voting privileges this year. The point is that there has been an increase in the discussion of whether the Fed will continue on its current rate hiking path which still seems slated for a hike in both September and December of this year and three more next year. Interestingly, though the dollar responded to the discussion, Fed funds futures remain unmoved and are still pricing in the same probabilities as last week, 90% for September and 60% for December.

So the question has become, will Powell ignore the President and act as he sees fit, or will he bow to political pressure? My money, at this point, remains on Powell. There has been no indication, as yet, that the US economy is doing anything but expanding at a solid clip. And more importantly, when looking at the Fed’s dual mandate, the current issue is clearly on the stable prices side rather than the unemployment side. While the Fed has decreed PCE is the key policy data point, there can be no mistake that Powell, an experienced pragmatist, is abundantly aware that CPI is running at its hottest level in more than a decade. The point is that inflation pressures continue to build and the Fed is not likely to ignore that situation. In fact, that is why Powell’s speech on Friday in Jackson Hole is arguably the most important news for the week. Everyone is waiting to hear if he has changed his tone, let alone his tune, about the economy and the proper Fed policy going forward.

Until then, though we will have to make do with tomorrow’s FOMC Minutes, where analysts will be looking for how much the trade story impacted their deliberations, and housing data tomorrow and Thursday.

Turning to the overnight session, the dollar has continued yesterday’s weakness and is lower by a further 0.35% this morning. The movement has been fairly uniform through the G10, with all of those currencies rallying between 0.2%-0.5%. And this has been a dollar story as there has been virtually no data of note from any one of those nations. In truth, the only G10 news of any sort came from Australia, where the Minutes from the last RBA meeting highlighted that increasing trade tensions could have a negative impact on the economy and currency, and that interest rates Down Under were unlikely to move at all during the next year.

Turning to the EMG bloc, we also see generic dollar weakness with just a few outliers. The Turkish lira continues to suffer, falling just under 1% this morning despite the dollar’s overall weakness, and we saw the Korean won slide 0.5% as well. But the rule has been a softer dollar today.

Given there is no US data to be released this morning, and there are no scheduled Fed speakers, it seems that the day is likely to follow the overnight pattern of mild further dollar weakness. Of course, given the apparent catalyst for this move, and the President’s penchant for doubling down, it would not be surprising to hear more from him if he felt it could push the dollar lower. However, history has shown that political wishes are just that, and the market will respond to policy changes, not talk. So even though further commentary by President Trump could lead to modest extra dollar weakness, as long as Chairman Powell maintains his current stance, this dollar move should be faded. Hedgers, take advantage of the opportunity to add to hedges at current levels, as my sense is that nothing at the Mariner Eccles building has changed. Higher US rates are on the way.

Good luck
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