Tag Archives: #PCE

On the Spot

Posted on by

This morning, it’s Core PCE

That markets are waiting to see

If it keeps on falling

More folks will be calling

For rate cuts ere end ‘Twenty-three

But what if the data is hot

That could put the Fed on the spot

Instead of a pause

That reading may cause

At least one more hike than was thought

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, the market is awaiting some more key data points for the Fed’s calculus on inflation.  Today brings a plethora of things as follows (median expectations from Bloomberg):

  • Personal Income (exp 0.4%)
  • Personal Spending (0.5%)
  • Core PCE Deflator (0.3%, 4.6% Y/Y)
  • Durable Goods (-1.0%)
  • -ex Transport (-0.1%)
  • Michigan Sentiment (58.0)

Given the Fed’s preference for the Core PCE as their key inflation indicator, this data point is always a critical feature of the monthly slate.  However, since the FOMC Minutes were released on Wednesday, the market has already adjusted its views on the Fed’s future path.  Since the release, the market has removed another full 25bp cut from the medium-term outlook, with pricing for January 2024 rising from 4.50% to 4.735%.  It appears that the market is truly beginning to believe the Fed that it is going to remain higher for longer.

So, let’s look at the consequences of that policy stance and the market’s grudging acceptance.  Over the course of the past 3 weeks, 10-year Treasury yields have risen from 3.38% to 3.78% after giving up 3bps this morning. Meanwhile, 2-year Treasury yields have risen from 3.89% to 4.49%, increasing the curve inversion again, and highlighting the market view that a recession remains in the not-too-distant future.

Generally speaking, the combination of higher interest rates and recessionary indicators tends to undermine the equity market, but that picture is more nuanced these days as the incredibly narrow breadth of the price leaders has been able to overcome a more general malaise.  For instance, yesterday’s S&P 500 gain of 0.88% was largely the result of just three key tech names, NVDA, MSFT and AVGO, with the rest of the group mostly thrashing around.  This continues the trend of a handful of companies driving the value of the “broad” market indices, a situation that cannot go on forever, but for now, it seems fine.  Of course, the NASDAQ is even doing better since all those high performers are NASDAQ names.

However, one needs to ask, if the Fed continues to tighten policy further, and the market is now pricing a one-third probability that they hike another 25bps next month, and the result is a further slowdown in the economy, can these companies continue to perform?  Maybe they can, but history is not on their side.

Other markets, too, have been impacted by the slow realization that the Fed means what they have been saying all along, higher for longer.  While oil prices (+0.5%) are edging higher today, they have been significant underperformers along with base metals as concerns over future economic growth weigh on the sector.  Both copper and oil have been falling for the last several months as the largest importer of both, China, seems to find itself with its own economic malaise.  This is merely another input into the recession story.

Weakening growth in China and higher interest rates in the West to fight still too-high inflation do not bode well for economic activity for now.  Add to these factors the potential outcome from the debt ceiling negotiations, reduced Federal spending in the US, and you have a trifecta of reasons for a negative equity and risk market outlook.

Speaking of the debt ceiling, this morning’s headlines indicate that the two sides are getting closer, but that spending cuts are part of the process.  Naturally, this is controversial on the left side of the aisle, but the fact that not all the spending cuts included in the bill already passed by the House are going to be seen is controversial on the right side of the aisle.  If anything, this sounds like an excellent outcome, where neither side is happy, but both agree something must be done.  It is certainly no surprise to me that they are getting closer to agreement as this all has been part of the Congressional Kabuki that we regularly see on critical issues.  Remember, though, avoiding a debt default is not a huge positive sign, it is merely the absence of a negative one.

Where does this leave us?  Overall, the data remains mixed at best, with manufacturing indicators weakening, service indicators holding up, inflation remaining stickily high and the Fed continuing to pound its one main tool, the hammer of interest rate hikes on the economy.  Perhaps the most interesting data situation is that of Initial Claims, which yesterday printed at a much lower than expected 229K.  The fairly steady increases in layoffs that had been seen since the beginning of the year seem to be abating now.  In fact, the 4-week moving average of claims data has fallen back sharply to 231.8K, an indicator that the trend higher may be ending.  If this is the case, and the NFP data going forward remains robust, the Fed will have every reason to continue to tighten policy further, much further than is currently priced into the market.  As I have written in the past, I continue to believe that NFP is the most important data point.  As long as Unemployment remains low and jobs are created, the Fed will have all the cover it needs to maintain tight monetary policy.  Just be prepared for some other things to break, à la SVB and First Republic.

Finally, a word about the dollar, which while modestly softer today remains in a clear uptrend off the lows seen early in the month.  As long as the Fed maintains its current policy stance, one which is still being priced into the market, the dollar has further to rally.  Although other central banks have been tightening policy as well, notably the ECB and BOE, the Fed remains the leader of the pack.  Until the Fed finally halts, those two will lag and the dollar should remain strong.  It is only when the Fed finally reverses course, which may not be until the middle of next year on current pace, when we should see any substantial dollar weakness.  I would not hold my breath.

In the end, it all comes back to inflation.  Until the central banks believe that they have defeated inflation’s threats, barring a calamitous economic collapse, I would look for bond yields around the world to continue to drift higher, for equity markets to struggle, although further gains cannot be ruled out, and for the dollar to maintain its overall strength.

Good luck and good weekend

Adf

Flames of Concern

Posted on by

While Fed commentary is banned
Inflation has certainly fanned
The flames of concern
And soon we’ll all learn
If prices are acting as planned

Meanwhile transitory’s the word
Jay’s used to describe what’s occurred
But most people feel
Inflation is real
And denial is naught but absurd

It is CPI day in the US today and recently the results have gained nearly as much attention as the monthly payroll data.  This seems reasonable given that pretty much every other story in the press touches on the subject, although as is constantly highlighted, the Fed pays attention to PCE, not CPI.  Nonetheless, CPI is the data that is designed to try to capture the average rate of increases in price for the ordinary consumer.  As well, virtually all contracts linked to inflation are linked to CPI.  So Social Security, union wage contracts and TIPS all use CPI as their benchmark.

Of course, the reason inflation is the hot topic is because it has been so hot over the past nine months.  Consider that since Paul Volcker was Fed Chair and CPI peaked at 14.8%, in 1980, there has been a secular decline for 40 years.  Now, for the first time since 1990, we are likely to have four consecutive Y/Y CPI prints in excess of 5.0%.  Although Powell and the FOMC have been very careful to avoid defining ‘transitory’, every month that CPI (and PCE) prints at levels like this serves to strain their credibility.

This is evidenced by a survey conducted by the New York Fed itself, which yesterday showed that the median expectation for inflation in one year’s time has risen to 5.2% and in three years’ time to 4.0%.  Both of these readings are the highest in the survey’s relatively short history dating back to 2013.  But the point is, people are becoming ever more certain that prices will continue rising.  And remember, while inflation may be a monetary phenomenon, it is also very much a psychological one.  If people believe that prices will rise in the future, they are far more likely to increase their demand for things currently in order to avoid paying those future high prices.  In other words, hoarding will become far more normal and expectations for higher prices will become embedded in the collective psyche.

In fact, it is this exact situation that the Fed is desperately trying to prevent, hence the constant reminders that inflation is transitory and so behavioral changes are unnecessary.  This is what also leads to absurdities like the White House trying to explain that except for the prices of beef, pork and poultry, food prices are in line with what would be expected.  Let’s unpack that for a minute.  Beef, pork and poultry are the three main protein sources consumed in this country, if not around the world, so the fact that those have risen in price makes it hard to avoid the idea that prices are rising.  But the second half of the statement is also disingenuous, “in line with what would be expected” does not indicate prices haven’t risen, only that they haven’t risen as much as beef etc.  I’m sure that when each of you heads to the supermarket to stock up for the week, you have observed the price of almost every item is higher than it was, not only pre-Covid, but also at the beginning of the year.  Alas, at this point, there is no reason to expect inflation to slow down.

Median expectations according to Bloomberg’s survey of economists show that CPI is forecast to have risen 0.4% in August with the Y/Y increase declining to 5.3% from last month’s 5.4% reading.  Ex food and energy, the forecasts are +0.3% and 4.2% respectively.  Now, those annual numbers are 0.1% lower than the July readings, which have many economists claiming that the peak is in, and a slow reversion to the lowflation environment we experienced for the past twenty years is going to return.  Counter to that argument, though, is the idea that the economy is cyclical and that includes inflation.  As such, even if there is an ebb for now, the next cycle will likely return us to these levels once again, if not higher.  PS, if the forecasts are accurate, as I mentioned before, this will still be the fourth consecutive month of 5+% CPI, a fact which makes it much easier for the masses to believe inflation has returned.  You can see why Powell and the entire FOMC continue to harp on the transitory concept, they are desperate to prevent expectations from changing because, as we’ve discussed before, they cannot afford to raise interest rates given the amount of leverage in the system.

Keeping all this in mind, it is easy to understand why the CPI data release has gained so much in importance, even to the Fed, who ostensibly focuses on PCE.  We shall see what the data brings.

In the meantime, the markets overnight have been mostly quiet with a few outlying events.  China Evergrande, the massively indebted Chinese property company has hired two law firms with expertise in bankruptcy.  This is shaking the Chinese markets as given the massive amount of debt involved (>$300 billion of USD debt) there is grave concern a bankruptcy could have significant knock-on repercussions across all sub-prime markets.  It should be no surprise that Chinese equity markets fell last night with Shanghai (-1.4%) and the Hang Seng (-1.2%) both under continued pressure.  However, the Nikkei (+0.7%) rose to its highest level since 1990, although still well below the peak levels from the Japanese bubble of the late ‘80s.  Europe is also mixed with the DAX (+0.1%) managing to eke out some gains while the rest of the continent slides into the red (CAC -0.4%, FTSE 100 -0.3%). US futures are basically unchanged this morning as we all await the CPI data.

Interestingly, despite a lot of equity uncertainty and weakness, bonds are also under pressure with yields rising across the board.  Treasuries (+1.2bps), Bunds (+1.9bps), OATs (+1.6bps) and Gilts (+3.8bps) have all sold off, with only Gilts making some sense as UK employment data was generally better than expected and indicative of a rebound in growth.

In the commodity markets, oil (WTI + 0.6%) continues to rebound as another hurricane hits the Gulf Coast and is shutting in more production.  But metals prices are under pressure led by copper (-1.25%) and aluminum (-1.0%).

As to the dollar, mixed is the best description I can give this morning.  In the G10, AUD (-0.5%) is the laggard after RBA Governor Lowe questioned why market participants thought the RBA would be raising rates anytime soon despite potential tapering in the US and Europe.  Australia is in a very different position and unlikely to raise rates before 2024.  On the plus side, NOK (+0.4%) continues to benefit from oil’s rebound and the rest of the bloc has seen much more modest movement, less than 0.2%, in either direction.

EMG markets are a bit weaker this morning, seemingly responding to the growing risk off sentiment as we see ZAR (-0.65%) and RUB (-0.5%) both under a fair amount of pressure with a long list of currencies declining by lesser amounts.  While declining metals prices may make sense as a driver of the rand, the ruble seems to be ignoring the oil price rally, as traders await the CPI data.  On the plus side, KRW (+0.45%) was the best performer as positions locally were adjusted ahead of the upcoming holiday there.

And that’s really the story as we await the CPI release.  The dollar, while softening slightly from its best levels recently, continues to feel better rather than worse, so I suspect we could see modest further strength if CPI is on target.  However, a miss in the print can have more significant repercussions, with a high print likely to see the dollar benefit  initially.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

Growth’s Pace Declining

Posted on by

Lagarde said, ‘what we have detected’
“More rapidly than [we] expected”
Is growth’s pace declining
And so, we’re designing
New ways for cash to be injected

The pundits were right about the ECB as they left policy unchanged but essentially promised they would be doing more in December.  In fact, Madame Lagarde emphasized that ALL their tools were available, which has been widely interpreted to mean they are considering a cut to the deposit rate as well as adding to their QE menu of APP, PEPP and TLTRO programs.  Interviewed after the meeting, Austrian central bank president, Robert Holtzmann, generally considered one of the most hawkish ECB members, confirmed that more stimulus was coming, although dismissed the idea of an inter-meeting move.  He also seemed to indicate that a further rate cut was pointless (agreed) but that they were working on even newer tools to utilize.  Meanwhile, Lagarde once again emphasized the need for more fiscal stimulus, which has been the clarion call of every central banker in the Western world.

As an aside, when considering central bank activities during the pandemic, the lesson we should have learned is; not only are they not omnipotent, neither are they independent.  The myth of central bank independence is quickly dissipating, and arguably the consequences of this process are going to be long-lasting and detrimental to us all.  The natural endgame of this sequence will be central bank financing of government spending, a situation which, historically, has resulted in the likes of; Zimbabwe, Venezuela and the Weimar Republic.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Meanwhile, this morning brought the first set of European GDP data, following yesterday’s US Q3 print.  By now, you have surely heard that the US number was the highest ever recorded, +33.1% annualized, which works out to about +7.4% rise in the quarter.  While this was slightly better than expected, it still leaves the economy about 8.7% below its pre-Covid levels.  As to Europe, France (+18.2%), Germany (+8.2%), Italy (+16.1%) and the Eurozone as a whole (+12.7%) all beat expectations.  On the surface this all sounds great.  Alas, as we have discussed numerous times in the past, GDP data is very backward looking.  As we finish the first month of Q4, with lockdowns being reimposed across most of Europe, it is abundantly clear that Q4 will not continue this trend.  Rather, the latest forecasts are for another negative quarter of growth, adding to the woes of the global economy.

Keeping yesterday’s activities in mind, it cannot be surprising that the euro was the weakest performer around.  In fact, other than NOK, which suffered from the sharp decline in oil prices, even the Turkish lira outperformed the single currency.  If the ECB is promising to open the taps even wider than they are already, the euro has further to fall.  This has been my rebuttal to the ‘dollar is going to collapse’ crowd all along; whatever you think the Fed will do, there is literally a zero probability that the ECB will not respond in kind.  Europe cannot afford for the euro to strengthen substantially, and the ECB will do everything in its power to prevent that from happening, right up to, and including, straight intervention in the FX markets should the euro trade above some fail-safe level.  As it is, we are nowhere near that situation, but just remember, the euro is capped.

Turning to markets this morning, risk appetite remains muted, at best.  Asian equity markets ignored the US rebound and sold off across the board with the Hang Seng (-1.95%) leading the way lower, but closely followed by both the Nikkei and Shanghai, at -1.5% each.  European markets are trying to make the best of the GDP data, as well as the idea that the ECB is going to offer support, but that has resulted in a lackluster performance, which is, I guess, better than a sharp decline.  The DAX (-0.4%) and FTSE 100 (-0.35%) are both under a bit more pressure than the CAC (+0.1%), but the French index is hardly inspiring.  As to US futures, the screen is dark red, with all three futures gauges down about 1.0% at this hour.  One other thing to watch here is the technical picture.  US equity markets certainly appear to have put in a short-term double top, which for the S&P 500 is at 3600.  Care must be taken as many traders will be looking to square up positions, especially given that today is month end, and a break of 3200, which, granted, is still 3% away, could well open up a much more significant correction.

Once again, bond market behavior has been out of sync with stocks as in Europe this morning we see bonds under some pressure and yields climbing about 1 basis point in most jurisdictions despite the lackluster equity performance.  And despite the virtual promise by the ECB to buy even more bonds. Treasuries, meanwhile, are unchanged this morning, but that is after a sharp price decline (yield rally) yesterday, which took the 10-year back to 0.82%.  With the US election next week, it appears there are many investors who are reducing exposures given the uncertainty of the outcome.  But, other than a strong Blue wave, where market participants will assume a massive stimulus bill and much steeper yield curve, the chance for a more normal risk-off performance in Treasuries, seems high.  After all, while growth in Q3 represented the summer reopening of the economy, we continue to hear of regional shutdowns in the US as well, which will have a detrimental impact on the numbers.

And lastly, the dollar, which today is mixed to slightly softer.  Of course, this is after a week of widespread strength.  In fact, the only G10 currency that outperformed the greenback this week is the yen, which remains a true haven in most participants’ eyes.  Today, however, we are seeing SEK (+0.4%) leading the way higher followed by GBP (+0.3%) and NOK (+0.2%).  Nokkie is consolidating its more than 3% losses this week and being helped by the fact that the oil price, while not really rallying, is not falling either.  The pound, too, looks to be a trading bounce, as it fell sharply yesterday, and traders have taken the Nationwide House price Index data (+5.8% Y/Y) as a positive that the economy there is not collapsing.  Finally, SEK seems to be benefitting from the fact that Sweden is not being impacted as severely by the second wave of the virus, and so, not forced to shut down the economy.

In the emerging markets, the picture is mixed, with about a 50:50 split in performance.  Gainers of note are ZAR (+0.7%), which seems to be a combination of trading rebound and the benefit from gold’s modest rebound, and CNY (+0.4%), which continues to power ahead as confidence grows that the Chinese economy is virtually back to where it was pre-pandemic.  On the downside, TRY (-0.5%) continues to be troubled by President Erdogan’s current belligerency to the EU and the US, as well as his unwillingness to allow the central bank to raise rates.  Meanwhile, RUB (-0.35%) is continuing its weeklong decline as, remember, Russia continues to get discussed as interfering in the US elections and may be subject to further sanctions in their wake.

Once again, we have important data this morning, led by Personal Income (exp +0.4%) and Personal Spending (+1.0%); Core PCE (1.7% Y/Y); Chicago PMI (58.0) and Michigan Sentiment (81.2).  Arguably, the PCE data is what the Fed will be watching.  It has been rising rapidly, although this month saw CPI data stall, and that is the expectation here as well.  Now, the Fed has been pretty clear that inflation will have to really pick up before they even think about thinking about raising rates, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention, nor that the market won’t respond to an awkwardly higher print.  If inflation is running hotter than expected, it has the potential to mean the Fed will be less inclined to ease further, and that is likely to help the dollar overall.  However, barring a sharp equity market decline today, and given the dollar’s strength all week, I expect we will see continued consolidation with very limited further USD strength.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
Adf

More Sales Than Buys

Posted on by

The virus has found a new host
As Trump has now been diagnosed
Investors reacted
And quickly transacted
More sales than buys as a riposte

While other news of some import
Explained that Lagarde’s come up short
Seems prices are static
Though she’s still dogmatic
Deflation, her ideas, will thwart

Tongues are wagging this morning after President Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania have tested positive for Covid-19.  The immediate futures market response was for a sharp sell-off, with Dow futures falling nearly 500 points (~2%) in a matter of minutes.  While they have since recouped part of those losses, they remain lower by 1.4% on the session.  SPU’s are showing a similar decline while NASDAQ futures are down more than 2.2% at this time.

For anybody who thought that the stock markets would be comfortable in the event that the White House changes hands next month, this seems to contradict that theory.  After all, what would be the concern here, other than the fact that President Trump would be incapacitated and unable to continue as president.  As vice-president Pence is a relative unknown, except to those in Indiana, investors seem to be demonstrating a concern that Mr Trump’s absence would result in less favorable economic and financial conditions.  Of course, at this time it is far too early to determine how this situation will evolve.  While the President is 74 years old, and thus squarely in the high-risk age range for the disease, he also has access to, arguably, the best medical attention in the world and will be monitored quite closely.  In the end, based on the stamina that he has shown throughout his tenure as president, I suspect he will make a full recovery.  But stranger things have happened.  It should be no shock that the other markets that reacted to the news aggressively were options markets, where implied volatility rose sharply as traders and investors realize that there is more potential for unexpected events, even before the election.

Meanwhile, away from the day’s surprising news we turn to what can only be considered the new normal news.  Specifically, the Eurozone released its inflation data for September and, lo and behold, it was even lower than quite low expectations.  Headline CPI printed at -0.3% while Core fell to a new all-time low level of 0.2%.  Now I realize that most of you are unconcerned by this as ECB President Lagarde recently explained that the ECB was likely to follow the Fed and begin allowing inflation to run above target to offset periods when it was ‘too low’.  And according to all those central bank PhD’s and their models, this will encourage businesses to borrow and invest more because they now know that rates will remain low for even longer.  The fly in this ointment is that current expectations are already for rates to remain low for, essentially, ever, and business are still not willing to expand.  While I continue to disagree with the entire inflation targeting framework, it seems it is becoming moot in Europe.  The ECB has essentially demonstrated they have exactly zero influence on CPI.  As to the market response to this news, the euro is marginally softer (-0.25%), but that was the case before the release.  Arguably, given we are looking at a risk off session overall, that has been the driver today.

Finally, let’s turn to what is upcoming this morning, the NFP report along with the rest of the day’s data.  Expectations are as follows:

Nonfarm Payrolls 875K
Private Payrolls 875K
Manufacturing Payrolls 35K
Unemployment Rate 8.2%
Average Hourly Earnings 0.2% (4.8% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.6
Participation Rate 61.9%
Factory Orders 0.9%
Michigan Sentiment 79.0

Source: Bloomberg

Once again, I will highlight that given the backward-looking nature of this data, the Initial Claims numbers seem a much more valuable indicator.  Speaking of which, yesterday saw modestly better (lower) than expected outcomes for both Initial and Continuing Claims.  Also, unlike the ECB, the Fed has a different inflation issue, although one they are certainly not willing to admit nor address at this time.  For the fifth consecutive month, Core PCE surprised to the upside, printing yesterday at 1.6% and marching ever closer to their (symmetrical) target of 2.0%.  Certainly, my personal observation on things I buy regularly at the supermarket, or when going out to eat, shows me that inflation is very real.  Perhaps one day the Fed will recognize this too.  Alas, I fear the idea of achieving a stagflationary outcome is quite real as growth seems destined to remain desultory while prices march ever onward.

A quick look at other markets shows that risk appetites are definitely waning today, which was the case even before the Trump Covid announcement.  The Asian markets that were open (Nikkei -0.7%, Australia -1.4%) were all negative and the screen is all red for Europe as well.  Right now, the DAX (-1.0%) is leading the way, but both the CAC (-0.9%) and FTSE 100 (-0.9%) are close on its heels.  It should be no surprise that bond markets have caught a bid, with 10-year Treasury yields down 1.5 basis points and similar declines throughout European markets.  In the end, though, these markets remain in very tight ranges as, while central banks seem to have little impact on the real economy or prices, they can manage their own bond markets.

Commodity prices are softer, with oil down more than $1.60/bbl or 4.5%, as both WTI and Brent Crude are back below $40/bbl.  That hardly speaks to a strong recovery.  Gold, on the other hand, has a modest bid, up 0.2%, after a more than 1% rally yesterday which took the barbarous relic back over $1900/oz.

And finally, to the dollar.  This morning the risk scenario is playing out largely as expected with the dollar stronger against almost all its counterparts in both the G10 and EMG spaces.  The only exceptions are JPY (+0.35%) which given its haven status is to be expected and GBP (+0.15%) which is a bit harder to discern.  It seems that Boris is now scheduled to sit down with EU President Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow in order to see if they can agree to some broad principles regarding the Brexit negotiations which will allow a deal to finally be agreed.  The market has taken this as quite a positive sign, and the pound was actually quite a bit higher (+0.5%) earlier in the session, although perhaps upon reflection, traders have begun to accept tomorrow’s date between the two may not solve all the problems.

As to the EMG bloc, it is essentially a clean sweep here with the dollar stronger across the board.  The biggest loser is RUB (-1.4%) which is simply a response to oil’s sharp decline.  But essentially all the markets in Asia that were open (MYR -0.3%, IDR -0.2%) fell while EEMEA is also on its back foot.  We cannot forget MXN (-0.55%), which has become, perhaps, the best risk indicator around.  It is extremely consistent with respect to its risk correlation, and likely has the highest beta to that as well.

And that’s really it for the day.  The Trump story is not going to change in the short-term, although political commentators will try to make much hay with it, and so we will simply wait for the payroll data.  But it will have to be REALLY good in order to change the risk feelings today, and I just don’t see that happening.  Look for the dollar to maintain its strength, especially vs. the pound, which I expect will close the day with losses not gains.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
Adf

Leavers Cheer

Posted on by

The Governor, in his last meeting
Said data, of late, stopped retreating
There’s no reason why
We need to apply
A rate cut as my term’s completing

Yet all the news hasn’t been great
As Eurozone stats demonstrate
Plus Brexit is here
And though Leavers cheer
The impact, growth, will constipate

Yesterday saw a surprising outcome from the BOE, as the 7-2 vote to leave rates on hold was seen as quite a bit more hawkish than expected. The pound benefitted immensely, jumping a penny (0.65%) in the moments right (before) and after the announcement and has maintained those gains ever since. In fact, this morning’s UK data, showing growth in Consumer Credit and Mortgage Approvals, has helped it further its gains, and the pound is now higher by 0.2% this morning. (As to the ‘before’ remark; apparently, the pound jumped 15 seconds prior to the release of the data implying that there may have been a leak of the news ahead of time. Investigations are ongoing.) In the end, despite the early January comments by Carney and two of his comrades regarding the need for more stimulus, it appears the recent data was sufficient to convince them that further stimulus was just not necessary.

Of course, that pales in comparison, at least historically, with today’s activity, when at 11:00pm GMT, the UK will leave the EU. With Brexit finally completed all the attention will turn to the UK’s efforts to redefine its trading relationship with the rest of the world. In the meantime, the question at hand is whether UK growth will benefit in the short-term, or if we have already seen the release of any pent-up demand that was awaiting this event.

What we do know is that Q4 was not kind to the Continent. Both France (-0.1%) and Italy (-0.3%) saw their economies shrink unexpectedly, and though Spain (+0.5%) continues to perform reasonably well, the outcome across the entire Eurozone was the desultory result of 0.1% GDP growth in Q4, and just 1.0% for all of 2019. Compare that with the US outcome of 2.1% and it is easy to see why the euro has had so much difficulty gaining any ground. It is also easy to see why any thoughts of tighter ECB policy in the wake of their ongoing review make no sense at all. Whatever damage negative rates are doing to the Eurozone economies, especially to banks, insurance companies and pensions, the current macroeconomic playbook offers no other alternatives. Interestingly, despite the soft data, the euro has held its own, and is actually rallying slightly as I type, up 0.1% on the day.

It may not seem to make sense that we see weak Eurozone data and the euro rallies, but I think the explanation lies on the US side of the equation. The ongoing aftermath of the FOMC meeting is that analysts are becoming increasingly dovish regarding their views of future Fed activity. It seems that, upon reflection, Chairman Powell has effectively promised to ease policy further and maintain a more dovish overall policy as the Fed goes into overdrive in their attempts to achieve the elusive 2.0% inflation target. I have literally seen at least six different analyses explaining that the very modest change in the statement, combined with Powell’s press conference make it a lock that ‘lower for longer’ is going to become ‘lower forever’. Certainly the Treasury market is on board as 10-year yields have fallen to 1.55%, a more than 40bp decline this month. And this is happening while equity markets have stabilized after a few days of serious concern regarding the ongoing coronavirus issue.

Currently, the futures market is pricing for a rate cut to happen by September, but with the Fed’s policy review due to be completed in June, I would look for a cut to accompany the report as they try to goose things further.

Tacking back to the coronavirus, the data continues to get worse with nearly 10,000 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths. The WHO finally figured out it is a global health emergency, and announced as much yesterday afternoon. But I fear that the numbers will get much worse over the next several weeks. Ultimately, the huge unknown is just how big an economic impact this will have on China, and the rest of the world. With the Chinese government continuing to delay the resumption of business, all those global supply chains are going to come under increasing pressure. Products built in China may not be showing up on your local store’s shelves for a while. The market response has been to drive the prices of most commodities lower, as China is the world’s largest commodity consumer. But Chinese stock markets have been closed since January 23, and are due to open Monday. Given the price action we have seen throughout the rest of Asia when markets reopened, I expect that we could see a significant downdraft there, at least in the morning before the government decides too big a decline is bad optics. And on the growth front, initial estimates are for Q1 GDP in China to fall to between 3.0% and 4.0%, although the longer this situation exists, the lower those estimates will fall.

Turning to this morning’s activity, we see important US data as follows:

Personal Income 0.3%
Personal Spending 0.3%
Core PCE Deflator 1.6%
Chicago PMI 48.9
Michigan Sentiment 99.1

Source: Bloomberg

Arguably, the PCE number is the most important as that is what is plugged into Fed models. Yesterday’s GDP data also produces a PCE-type deflator and it actually fell to 1.3%. If we see anything like that you can be certain that bonds will rally further, stocks will rally, and rate cut probabilities will rise. And the dollar? In that scenario, look for the dollar to fall across the board. But absent that type of data, the dollar is likely to continue to take its cues from the equity markets, which at the moment are looking at a lower opening following in Europe’s footsteps. Ultimately, if risk continues to be jettisoned, the dollar should find its footing.

Good luck and good weekend
Adf

Mere Nonchalance

Posted on by

On Friday we learned the US
Grew faster, but not to excess
The market response
Was mere nonchalance
In stocks, but the buck did depress

This morning in Europe, however,
The outcome did not seem as clever
Growth there keeps on slowing
Thus Mario’s going
To need a new funding endeavor

If you needed a better understanding of why the dollar, despite having declined ever so modestly this morning, remains the strongest currency around, the contrasting data outcomes from Friday in the US and this morning in the Eurozone are a perfect depiction. Friday saw US GDP in Q1 rise 3.2% SAAR, significantly higher than expected, as both trade and inventory builds more than offset softer consumption. Whatever you make of the underlying pieces of the number, it remains a shining beacon relative to the rest of the G10. Proof positive of that difference was this morning’s Eurozone sentiment data, where Business Confidence fell to 0.42, its weakest showing in nearly three years while Economic Sentiment fell to 104, its sixteenth consecutive decline and weakest since September 2016.

It is extremely difficult to look at the Eurozone data and conclude that the ECB is not going to open the taps again soon. In fact, while the official line remains that no decisions have been made regarding the terms of the new TLTRO’s that are to be offered starting in June, it is increasingly clear that those terms are going to be very close to the original terms, where banks got paid to borrow money from the ECB and on-lend it to clients. The latest comment came from Finnish central bank chief Ollie Rehn where he admitted that hopes for a rebound in H2 of this year are fading fast.

With that as the backdrop, this week is setting up for the chance for some fireworks as we receive a great deal of new information on both the economic and policy fronts. In fact, let’s take a look at all the information upcoming this week right now:

Today Personal Income 0.4%
  Personal Spending 0.7%
  PCE 0.2% (1.6% Y/Y)
  Core PCE 0.1% (1.7% Y/Y)
Tuesday Employment Cost Index 0.7%
  Case-Shiller Home Prices 3.2%
  Chicago PMI 59.0
Wednesday ADP Employment 181K
  ISM Manufacturing 55.0
  ISM Prices Paid 55.4
  Construction Spending 0.2%
  FOMC Rate Decision 2.5% (unchanged)
Thursday BOE Rate Decision 0.75% (unchanged)
  Initial Claims 215K
  Unit Labor Costs 1.4%
  Nonfarm Productivity 1.2%
  Factory Orders 1.5%
Friday Nonfarm Payrolls 181K
  Private Payrolls 173K
  Manufacturing Payrolls 10K
  Unemployment Rate 3.8%
  Participation Rate 62.9%
  Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (3.4% Y/Y)
  Average Weekly Hours 34.5
  ISM Non-Manufacturing 57.0

So, by Friday we will have heard from both the Fed and the BOE, gotten new readings on manufacturing and prices, and updated the employment situation. In addition, on Friday, we have four Fed speakers (Evans, Clarida, Williams and Bullard) as the quiet period will have ended.

Looking at this morning’s data, the PCE numbers continue to print below the Fed’s 2.0% target and despite recently rising oil prices, there is no evidence that is going to change. With the employment situation continuing its robust performance, the Fed is entirely focused on this data. As I wrote on Friday, it has become increasingly clear that the Fed’s reaction function has evolved into ‘don’t even consider raising rates until inflation is evident in the data for a number of months.’ There will be no more pre-emptive rate hikes by Jay Powell. Inflation will need to be ripping higher before they consider it. And in fact, as things progress, it is entirely possible that the Fed does cut rates despite ongoing solid GDP growth, if they feel inflation is turning lower in a more protracted manner. As of Friday, the futures market had forecast a 41% probability of a Fed rate cut by the end of 2019. In truth, I am coming around to the belief that we could see more than one cut before the year ends, especially if we see any notable slowing in the US economy. (At this point, the Fed’s only opportunity to surprise the market dovishly is if they do cut rates on Wednesday, (although in the wake of the GDP data, that seems a little aggressive.)

The real question is if the Fed turns more dovish, will that be a dollar negative. One thing for certain is that it won’t be an equity negative, and it is unlikely to have a negative impact on Treasuries either, but by rights, the dollar should probably suffer. After all, a more dovish Fed will offset the dovishness emanating from other nations.

The problem with this thesis is that it remains extremely expensive for speculators to short the dollar given the still significantly higher short-term rates in the US vs. anywhere else in the G10. And so, we are going to need to see real flows exiting the US to push the dollar lower. Either that, or a change in the narrative that the Fed, rather than being on hold, is getting set to take rates back toward zero. For now, neither of those seem very likely, and so significant dollar weakness seems off the table for the moment. As such, while it was no surprise that the dollar fell a bit on Friday as profit taking was evident after a strong run higher, the trend remains in the dollar’s favor, so hedgers need to take that into account. And for all you hedgers, given the significant reduction in volatility that we have witnessed during the past several months, options are an increasingly attractive alternative for hedging. Food for thought.

Good luck
Adf