Tag Archives: #riskoff

Filled with Frustration

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The Beige Book explained ‘round the nation

That growth was up, as was inflation

As well, we all learned

Of job offers spurned

And businesses filled with frustration

Meanwhile, round the world, PMI’s

Of Services were no surprise

As nations reopen

Most people are hopin’

The world will, at last, normalize

Ahead of tomorrow’s NFP report in the US, one which given last month’s extraordinary miss will be closely scrutinized by both investors and the Fed, most markets appear to be biding their time in narrow ranges.  This was largely true yesterday and so far, remains the case in the Asian and European sessions.  This lull in activity offers an excellent time to consider the supporting data that we have received in the past twenty-four hours, as well as the remainder due this morning.

Starting with the Fed’s Beige Book yesterday, the report highlighted the features of the economy we have been hearing about for the past several months.  The lifting of Covid inspired restrictions has led to strong increases in demand for products and services ranging from houses and cars to hotels and restaurants.  Business owners indicated that a combination of supply chain bottlenecks and increased demand have been forcing prices higher and that they saw no reason for that to end soon.  They also continue to comment on their inability to hire the workers necessary to satisfy demand, especially in lower wage segments of the economy.  The anecdote I feel best illustrates the issue came from St Louis where a job fair held by a dozen restaurants to fill more than one hundred open positions drew only twelve candidates!  It certainly appears as though the ongoing extra Federal unemployment benefits being offered through September are discouraging a lot of people from going back to work.

One of the underlying beliefs regarding the Fed’s transitory inflation story is that supply chain interruptions will quickly resolve themselves.  And it is not just the Fed that believes this will be the case, but virtually every other economist as well.  But I wonder, what prompts their faith in that outcome?  After all, with available labor scarce, who is going to relink those chains?  Consider, as well, industries like mining and extraction of raw materials.  Shortages of copper and iron ore require the reopening of mines or excavating new ones.  One of the impacts of Covid was that not only were current operating mines closed, but capex was drastically cut, so there is a significant disruption in the exploration process.  Add to that the rise of ESG as a business objective, which will, at the very least slow, if not prevent, the opening of new sources of these raw materials, and it becomes quite easy to believe that these bottlenecks will remain for more than just a few months.  In fact, it would not be surprising if it was several years before the supply/demand balance in many commodities is achieved.  Given the current assessment is a lack of supply, you can be certain that prices will continue to rise far longer than the Fed will have you believe.

As to the overnight session, we were regaled with the Services PMI data from around the world.  In Asia we saw Australia solid, at 58.0, and right in line with last month, while Japan, 46.5, did show a marginal increase, but remains well below the growth-contraction line of 50.0.  China’s Caixin data, at 55.1, was disappointing vs. expectations as well as lower by 1.2 points compared to April’s reading.  Is the Chinese economy beginning to roll over?  That is a question that is starting to be asked and would also explain the PBOC’s sudden concern over a too-strong renminbi.  In a strong economy, a rising currency is acceptable, but if things are not as good, currency strength is an unwelcome event.  Finally, the last major Asian nation reporting, India, showed awful data, 46.4, demonstrating the huge negative impact the recent wave of Covid infections is having on the economy there.

The European story was a bit better overall, with Germany (52.8 as expected), France (56.6 as expected), Italy (53.1 better than expected) and the Eurozone (55.2 slightly better than expected) all demonstrating the recovery is underway on the continent.  As well, the UK continues to burn brightly with a 62.9 reading, more than a point higher than forecast.  And don’t forget, later this morning the US releases both the PMI data (exp 70.1) as well as ISM Services (63.2) both demonstrating that the US economy remains the global leader for now.  With that in mind, it is kind of odd that the dollar is so hated, isn’t it?

The other data coming this morning will give us our first hints at tomorrow’s NFP with ADP Employment (exp 650K) released 15 minutes before both Initial (387K) and Continuing (3.614M) Claims.  As well, at 8:30 we see Nonfarm Productivity (5.5%) and Unit Labor Costs (-0.4%), which on the surface would indicate there are no wage pressures at all but continue to be distorted by the past year’s data outcomes.

As to the market situation, while equity markets in Asia were mixed (Nikkei +0.4%, Hang Seng -1.1%, Shanghai -0.4%), Europe has turned completely red (DAX -0.5%, CAC -0.4%, FTSE 100 -0.9%) despite the solid PMI data.  This feels far more like some profit taking ahead of tomorrow’s data as well as the upcoming ECB meeting next week.  US futures are also under pressure, with all three major indices lower by between 0.5% and 0.75%.

What is interesting about the market is that despite the selloff in stocks, we are seeing a selloff in bonds as well, with Treasury yields higher by 1.5bps and European sovereigns all higher by at least 1 basis point (Bunds +1.1bps, OATs +1.4bps, Gilts +2.7bps).  This, of course, begs the question, if investors are selling both stocks and bonds, what are they buying?

The answer is not clear at this point.  Oil (WTI -0.1%) while outperforming everything else, is still down on the day, as are gold (-0.65%) and silver (-1.4%).  Base metals?  Well, copper (-1.0%) is clearly not the winner, although aluminum (+0.25%) is the only green spot on the screen.  Well, that and agricultural products with Soybeans (+1.25%), Wheat (+1.0%) and Corn (+0.85%) all quite strong this morning, punctuating the idea that food inflation is running at its highest level in more than a decade according to a just released UN report.  That is something I certainly see every week at Shop-Rite and I imagine so does everyone else.

Finally, a look at the FX market shows the dollar is having a pretty good day all around.  In the G10, the pound (+0.1%) is the only currency to hold its own vs. the greenback, with the rest of the bloc lower by between 0.2% and 0.4%.  Frankly, this simply looks like a risk-off session as investors are selling both stocks and bonds across the G10, and no longer need to hold the local currencies.  In the EMG bloc, the story is largely the same, with only INR (+0.25%) rising and the rest of the bloc under some pressure.  The rupee movement seems to be more technical as alongside weak PMI data, the RBI meeting, coming up tonight, is expected to see policy remain unchanged with a dovish bias given the ongoing Covid problems in the country.  On the downside, while most currencies are lower, aside from TRY (-0.5%) on slightly lower inflation, therefore less need to maintain high rates, the rest of the bloc’s declines are only on the order of -0.2%.  Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention yesterday’s price action in LATAM currencies, where we saw significant strength in BRL (+1.5%) and CLP (+1.1%) which has been a broad continuation of funds flowing back into the region.

We have a few more Fed speakers today, but they all say exactly the same thing all the time, it seems, that they are thinking about considering starting a discussion on tapering.  In this vein, there was a big announcement yesterday that the Fed would be unwinding one of the emergency bond buying programs, the secondary market corporate program, and selling out the $13 billion of bonds and ETF’s they own.  Of course, that is such a tiny proportion of their balance sheet, and of that market in truth, it seems unlikely to matter at all.

My observation lately has been that NY tends to go against the prevailing trend for the day during its session, meaning on a day like today, when the dollar is well bid as NY arrives, I would look for a bit of dollar selling.  We shall see, but in fairness, all eyes are really on tomorrow.

Good luck and stay safe

Adf

Somewhat Dismayed

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The ECB’s somewhat dismayed
That risk appetite, as conveyed
By stocks is excessive
And has made a mess of
Their plans.  Now they’re really afraid

It is interesting that two of the most memorable battle cries in financial markets were coined by men of the driest character and background.  We all remember the beginning of the Eurozone debt crisis, not ten years ago, when the so-called doom loop created by banks in a given country owning excessive amounts of their own government’s debt and when that debt became suspect (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) the banks in those nations went to the wall.  The ECB was forced to step in to save the day, and did so, but things did not calm down until Super Mario Draghi, then ECB President (and now Italian PM) uttered his famous, off-the-cuff, remark of the ECB doing “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

Less of us were involved in the markets in December 1996 when then Fed Chair Alan Greenspan uttered the other famous market expression, “irrational exuberance” while speaking about the inflating of the tech bubble (which inflated for another 3 ½ years) and questioning if prices at that time had run too far ahead of sensible valuations.

In hindsight, both of the problems about which these catch phrases were created were the result of policy failures on the part of governments (debt crisis) or the central bank itself (tech bubble), but in neither case was the speaker able to take an objective view, thus calling out forces beyond their control as the cause of the problem.

Since then, both phrases have become part of the financial lexicon as shorthand for a situation that exists and the willingness of central bankers to address a problem.  This leads us to this morning’s release by the ECB of their Financial Stability Review where a subsection was titled “Financial markets exhibited remarkable exuberance as US yields rose. (author’s emphasis)”  Arguably, the title pales in comparison to ‘irrational exuberance’, but more importantly, it highlights, once again, the inability of a central bank to recognize that the folly of their own policies is what is driving the problems in markets and economies.

Ostensibly they are concerned that a mere 10% decline in US equity markets could result in “…a significant tightening of euro-area financial conditions, similar to around a third of the tightening witnessed after the coronavirus shock in March 2020.”  Wow!  A 10% decline?  If one were looking for a prime example of a fragile economy, clearly the Eurozone is exhibit A.  Once again, what we see is a central bank that is unwilling, or unable, to recognize that the fallout from its own policies is the underlying problem while seeking an alternative scapegoat explanation in order to present themselves in the best possible light.  After all, if the US markets decline, its not the ECB’s fault!

Inadvertently, perhaps, but clearly, the ECB has outlined one truth; given the synchronicity of central bank policies around the world, all economies are more tightly linked together and will rise and fall together.  Although there are those who claim particular markets have better prospects than others, the reality has become that correlations between equity markets around the world are very high, with the only real question how equities correlate to bonds.  It is this last issue where we have seen significant changes lately.  For quite a long time, the correlation between the S&P 500 and the 10-year US Treasury was positive, meaning that both bond and stock prices rallied and fell together.  However, since about February 2021, that relationship has turned around and is now solidly negative, with bond prices rising and stock prices falling.  It is this latter relationship that is the classic risk-on / risk-off meme, something that had gone missing for years.  Apparently, it is coming back, and that terrifies the ECB.

The timing of the report’s release could not have been better as this morning is a very clear risk-off session.  Yesterday afternoon, US equity markets sold off pretty sharply in the last half-hour of the session.  That sell-off has persisted throughout Asia (Nikkei -1.3%, Shanghai -0.5%, Hong Kong was closed) and Europe (DAX -1.3%, CAC -1.1%, FTSE 100 -1.1%).  US futures are also in the red (Dow -0.6%, SPX -0.8%, Nasdaq -1.2%), so the concerns are global in nature.

A bit more interestingly is the bond market’s behavior, where it appears that owning sovereign paper from any nation is unpopular today.  Treasury yields have backed up 2 basis points and we are seeing higher yields throughout Europe as well (Bunds +1.3bps, OATs +0.5bps, Gilts +2.1bps).  Apparently, the bond market concerns stem from the UK’s inflation report which showed that while CPI rose, as expected to 1.5%, RPI (Retail Price Index) rose much more than expected to 2.9% Y/Y.  While both are designed to be measures of average price increases over time, the RPI considers housing prices and mortgages.  Not surprisingly, given the explosion in housing prices, RPI is much higher and rising faster.  It also may represent a more accurate representation of people’s cost of living.  (Here’s a thought experiment: what would US RPI be right now given CPI just jumped to 4.2%?)  At any rate, it appears investors are shunning both stocks and bonds this morning.

Are they buying commodities?  Not on your life!  Prices in this sector are down across the board led by WTI (-1.8%) but seeing Gold (-0.6%) and Silver (-2.0%) suffering along with base metals (Cu -2.4%, Al -0.9%, Zn -0.85%) and foodstuffs (Soy -0.8%, Wheat -1.7%, Corn -0.3%).  Oh yeah, bitcoin, which many believe is a hedge of some sort, is lower by 16% in the past 24 hours and more than one-third in the past week.

So, what are investors buying?  Pretty much the only thing higher today is the dollar which has rallied vs. every currency we track.  In the G10, NZD (-0.9%) is the laggard followed by NOK (-0.8%) and AUD (-0.7%) with the strong theme there being weakness in the commodity sector.  But the European currencies are all under pressure as well, with EUR (-0.2%) and GBP (-0.3%) suffering.  Even JPY (-0.4%) is not holding up its end of the risk-off bargain, declining vs. a robust dollar.

Emerging markets are seeing similar activity with every currency flat to down led by TRY (-0.6%), ZAR (-0.45%) and MXN (-0.4%), all suffering from commodity weakness.  CE4 currencies are also under pressure, following the euro down while APAC currencies had less angst overnight, sliding on the order of 0.2%.

On the data front, today only brings the FOMC Minutes from the April meeting, which will be scrutinized to see how much discussion on tapering took place, if any, but let’s face it, other than Robert Kaplan of Dallas, it seems pretty clear from everybody else that has spoken, that it is not a current topic of conversation.  As it happens, we will hear from 3 more Fed speakers (Bullard, Quarles and Bostsic) as well, but all of them have been on message since the meeting so don’t look for any changes.

Certainly, based on today’s price action, the idea that 10-year yields are driving the dollar remains alive and well.  If yields continue to back up, the dollar will remain bid, and after all, given its recent decline, it has room to move as a simple correction.  I continue to look at 1.2350 as the critical level in the euro, and by extension the dollar writ large.  A break above there opens the chance for a much more substantial dollar decline.  But that does not appear to be on the cards for today.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

To ZIRP They’ll Adhere

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The sides of the battle are set
Will shortfalls, inflation, beget
Or is it the call
That prices will fall
Because of those trillions in debt

In circles, official, it’s clear
That no one believes past this year
Inflation will heighten
And so, they won’t tighten
But rather, to ZIRP they’ll adhere

It appears that the market is arriving at an inflection point of some type as the question of inflation continues to dominate most macroeconomic discussions.  For those in the deflation camp, rising prices are not nearly enough to declare that inflation is either upon us or coming soon, while inflationistas are quite comfortable highlighting the steady drumbeat of rising prices across both commodities and finished products as evidence of the new paradigm.  Both sides of this discussion recognize that the CPI data released last week was juiced by the base effects of the economic impact of last year’s government lockdowns and the ensuing price declines we saw in March, April and May of last year.  Which means that the entire argument is based on dueling forecasts of the future beyond that.  In other words, until we see the CPI print covering June but released in the middle of July, we will only have speculation as to the future impact.

What is transitory?  Ultimately, that becomes the biggest question in markets as the Fed has been harping on that word for months now.  According to Merriam-Webster, it describes something of brief duration or temporary.  Which begs the question, what is brief?  Is 3 months brief?  6 months?  Longer?  Arguably, brief depends on the context involved.  For instance, 3 months is an eternity when considering a spot FX trading position, while it is but a blink of an eye when considering a pension fund’s time horizon for investments.

There continue to be strong arguments in favor of both sides of the argument.  On the deflationist side the main points are; debt, demographics, technology and globalization, all of which have been instrumental in essentially killing inflation over the past 40 years.  No one can argue with the fact that the massive amount of debt outstanding will lead to an increasing utilization of resources to service that debt and prevent spending elsewhere driving up prices.  As nations around the world age, the strong belief is that individuals consume less (except perhaps healthcare) and thus reduce demand for everyday items.  Technology essentially exists to reinvent old processes in a more efficient form, thus reducing the cost of providing them, while globalization has been the underlying cause for the excess supply of labor, capping wages and any wage/price spiral.  In addition, they argue that inflation is not a one-off price rise, but a constant series of rising prices that feeds through to every item over time.

Inflationists see the world in a different manner post-Covid, as they highlight the breakdown of globalization with regulations preventing international travel and efforts to reduce the length of supply chains.  In addition, they point to the extraordinary growth in the money supply, with the added fact that unlike in the wake of the GFC, this time there is significant fiscal spending which is pushing that money beyond the confines of financial markets and manifesting itself as rising prices.  We continue to see company after company announce price hikes of 7%-15% for everyday staples which is exactly they type of situation that gets people talking about inflation.  Inflationists highlight the fact that there are shortages of commodity products worldwide and that because of the dramatic shutdowns last year from Covid, capex in mining and energy exploration was decimated thus delaying any opportunity for supply to catch up to current demand, which, by the way, is growing rapidly amidst the fiscal support.  As they are wont to say, the Fed can’t print copper or corn.  The point is, if there are basic product shortages for more than a year and prices continue to rise, is that still transitory?

Right now, there is no clear answer, which is what makes the discussion both entertaining and crucial to the future direction of financial markets.  By now, you are all aware I remain in the inflationist camp and have been for a while.  I cannot ignore the rising prices I see every time I go into a store.  But the deflationists make excellent points.  This argument discussion will rage for at least another two months and the July CPI release.  Until then, the one thing that seems clear is that market volatility is likely to remain significant.

As to markets today, while Asia had a mixed equity session (Nikkei -0.9%, Hang Seng +0.6%, Shanghai +0.8%), Europe has come under pressure as the morning has progressed.  At this time, we are seeing all red numbers led by the FTSE 100 (-0.7%), with the CAC (-0.4%) and DAX (-0.3%) both slipping as well.  US futures, which had been essentially unchanged all night are starting to slip as well, with all three major indices currently lower by 0.3%.

Interestingly, bond yields are edging higher this morning, at least edging describes Treasury yields (+0.2bps) while in Europe, sovereign markets are selling off pretty aggressively.  Bunds (+2.2bps), OATs (+3.1bps) and Gilts (+2.1bps) are all lower, while Italian BTPs (+5.5bps) continue to see their spread vs. bunds widen rapidly, up more than 20bps in the past 3 months.

Commodity prices are having a more complicated session with oil essentially unchanged, gold (+0.3%) and silver (+0.75%) both firmer along with base metals (Cu +0.5%, Al +0.9%, Sn +0.6%) while agricultural products are more mixed (Soybeans +0.4%, Wheat -0.8%, Corn +0.75%).

Finally, the dollar is mixed with gainers and losers across both G10 and EMG blocs.  Even though commodity prices are holding up reasonably well, the commodity bloc in the G10 is weak this morning, led by NZD (-0.7%), NOK (-0.6%) and AUD (-0.3%).  Much of this movement seems to be on the back of positioning rather than fundamental news.  On the plus side, JPY (+0.2%), and EUR (+0.2%) are the leading gainers, but it is hard to get excited about such small movements.

EMG currencies have seen a bit more variance with APAC currencies under pressure (IDR -0.6%, KRW -0.5%, SGD (-0.3%) as concerns grow over another wave of Covid inspired lockdowns slowing recovery efforts in the economies throughout the region.  CNY is little changed after overnight data showed Retail Sales (17.7%) much weaker than the expected 25.0% gain although the other key data points, Fixed Asset Investment (19.9%) and IP (9.8%) were both pretty much in line.  On the positive side we see TRY (+1.0%) on the back of easing Covid restrictions alongside a healthy C/A surplus in April, and HUF (+0.7%) after a central banker intimated that they could be raising interest rates to fight inflation as soon as next month.

Not a ton of data this week, but here is what we see:

Today Empire Manufacturing 23.9
Tuesday Housing Starts 1705K
Building Permits 1770K
Wednesday FOMC Minutes
Thursday Initial Claims 455K
Continuing Claims 3.64M
Philly Fed 41.9
Friday Existing Home Sales 6.08M

Source: Bloomberg

The Fed speaking calendar is a bit less full this week with only four different speakers although they will speak seven times in total.  Vice-Chair Clarida is the most important voice, but we already know that he is going to simply defend the current policy regardless of data.

With all that in mind, it appears that the dollar remains beholden to the Treasury market, so today’s limited movement, so far, in the 10-year has seen mixed and limited movement in the buck.  This goes back to the opening discussion; if you think inflation is coming, and expect Treasury yields to continue to rise, look for the dollar to follow along.  If you are in the deflationist camp, it’s the opposite.  But remember, at a point in time, inflation will undermine the dollar’s value.  Just not right away.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

Don’t Get Carried Away

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The data released yesterday
Had Fed speakers try to downplay
The idea that prices
Are causing a crisis
They said, don’t get carried away

But markets worldwide have all swooned
As traders are highly attuned
To signals inflation
In every location
Will quickly show that it’s ballooned

Wow!  That’s pretty much all you can say about the CPI data yesterday, where, as I’m sure you are by now aware, the numbers were all much higher than expected.  To recap, headline CPI rose 0.8% M/M which translated into a 4.2% Y/Y increase.  Ex food & energy, the monthly gain was 0.9%, with the Y/Y number jumping to 3.0%.  To give some context, the core 0.9% gain was the highest print since 1981.  It appears, that at least for one month, the combination of unlimited printing of money and massive fiscal spending did what many economists have long feared, awakened the inflation dragon.

The Fed was in immediate damage control mode yesterday, fortunately having a number of speakers already scheduled to opine, with Vice-Chair Richard Clarida the most visible.  His message, along with all the other speakers, was that this print was of no real concern, and in truth, somewhat expected, as the reopening of the economy would naturally lead to some short-term price pressures as supply bottlenecks get worked out.  As well, they highlighted the fact that much of the gain was caused by just a few items, used car prices and lodging away from home, neither of which is likely to rise by similar amounts again next month.  That may well be true, but the elephant in the room is the question regarding housing inflation and its relative quietude.

House prices, at least according to the Case Shiller Index, are screaming higher, up 12% around the country in the past 12 months and showing no signs of slowing down.  The pandemic has resulted in a significant amount of displacement and as people move, they need some place to live.  The statistics show that there is the smallest inventory of homes available in decades.  As well, the rocketing price of lumber has added, apparently, $34,000 to the price of a new house compared to where it was last year, which given the median house price in the US is a touch under $300,000, implies a more than 10% rise in price simply due to the cost of one material.  And yet, Owners Equivalent Rent, the housing portion of the CPI data, rose only at 0.21% pace.  A great source of inflation information is Mike Ashton (@inflation_guy), someone you should follow as he really understands this stuff better than anyone else I know.  As he explains so well, this is likely due to the eviction moratorium that has been in place for more than a year, so rents paid have been declining.  However, that moratorium has just been overturned in a court decision and so we should look for the very hot housing market to soon be reflected in CPI.  That, my friends, will be harder to pass off as transitory.

The reason all this matters is because the entire Fed case of maintaining ZIRP in their efforts to achieve maximum employment, is based on the fact that inflation is not a problem, so they have no reason to raise rates.  However, if they are wrong on this issue, which is the only issue on which they focus, it results in the Fed facing a very difficult decision; raise rates to fight inflation and watch securities prices deflate dramatically or stay the course and let inflation continue to rise until it potentially gets out of control.  While we all know they have the tools, the decision to use them will be far more challenging than I believe most of them expect.

The market’s initial reaction to the data was a broad risk-off session, as equity prices fell sharply in Europe and the US yesterday and then overnight in Asia (Nikkei -2.5%, Hang Seng -1.8%, shanghai -1.0%) they followed the trend. Europe this morning (DAX -1.4%, CAC -1.1%, FTSE 100 -2.0%) is still under pressure as the global equity bubble is reliant on never-ending easy money.  Rising inflation is the last thing equity markets can abide, so these declines can not be surprising.  The question, of course, is will they continue?  A one- or two-day hiccup is not really a problem, but if investors start to get nervous, it is a completely different story.  It is certainly true that valuations for equities, at least as measured by traditional metrics like P/E and P/S are at extremely high levels.  A loss of confidence that the past is prologue could well see a very sharp correction.

Despite the risk off nature of the equity market price action, bonds were also sold aggressively yesterday and in the overnight session.  It ought not be surprising given that bonds should be the worst performing asset in an inflationary spike, but still, the 10-year Treasury jumped more than 7 basis points yesterday, a pretty big move.  While this morning it is essentially unchanged, the same cannot be said for the European sovereign market where yields have risen again, between 1.5bps (Bunds) and 5.1bps (Italian BTPs) with the rest of the continent sandwiched in between.  Nothing has changed my view that the 10-year Treasury yield remains the key market driver, at least for now, thus if yields continue to rally, look for more downward pressure on stocks and commodities and upward pressure on the dollar.

Speaking of commodities, they are under pressure across the board this morning with WTI (-2.1%) leading the way lower but Cu (-1.7%) having its worst day in months.  The entire base metal complex is lower as are virtually all agriculturals, although the precious metals are holding up as a bit of fear creeps into the investor psyche.

Finally, the dollar, which rallied sharply yesterday all day in the wake of the CPI print, is more mixed this morning gaining against the G10’s commodity bloc (NOK -0.3%, AUD -0.2%) while suffering against the European bloc (CHF +0.25%, EUR +0.1%) although the magnitude of the movements have been small enough to attribute them to modest position adjustments rather than an overriding narrative.  We are seeing a similar split in the EMG currencies, with APAC currencies all under pressure (THB -0.5%, KRW –0.4%, TWD -0.2%) while the CE4 hold their own (PLN +0.3%, HUF +0.3%, CZK +0.2%).  At this time, LATAM currencies, which all suffered yesterday, are either unchanged or unopened.

This morning’s data brings Initial Claims (exp 490K) and Continuing Claims (3.65M) as well as PPI (0.3% M/M, 5.8% Y/Y) headline and (0.4% M/M, 3.8% Y/Y ex food & energy).  Of course, with the CPI already out, this is unlikely to have nearly the impact as yesterday.  In addition, we get three more Fed speakers to once again reiterate that yesterday’s CPI data was aberrational and that any inflation is transitory.  I guess they hope if they say it often enough, people may begin to believe them.  But that is hard to do when the prices you pay for stuff continues to rise.

Treasuries remain the key.  If yields rally again (and there is a 30-year auction today) then I expect the dollar to take another leg higher.  If, on the other hand, yields drift back lower, look for the dollar to follow as equity buyers dip their toes back into the water.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

Devil-May-Care

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It wasn’t all that long ago
When Powell and friends let us know
That prices might rise
But that in their eyes
T’was something we soon would outgrow

And lately it seems they were right
As chains of supply get more tight
But so far, they’re clear
The Fed has no fear
Inflation could rise overnight

Investors, though, don’t seem to share
That attitude, devil-may-care
Instead they’re rebelling
And stocks they are selling
While bond markets, too, they forswear

Perhaps as a prelude to tomorrow’s CPI data here in the US, last night we saw Chinese inflation data.  Chinese data, though, has a very different meaning than US data.  From China, markets care far more about PPI than about CPI, as China continues to be the world’s factory floor.  So, a rising PPI in China may presage rising retail prices elsewhere in the world.  Consider this when looking at the Chinese data, where PPI rose a more than expected 6.8%, it’s highest print since October 2017, while CPI there rose only 0.9%, a tick less than forecast.  The proximate cause of the sharp rise in PPI has been the ongoing explosion higher in commodity prices.  All their input costs are rising (iron ore, steel, copper, energy, etc.) thus producers are forced to raise their prices.  While retailers have not yet passed through all the cost increases in China, manufacturers and retailers elsewhere in the world have not been so sanguine on the issue.  Instead, the combination of rising commodity prices and shortages in key intermediate goods, like semiconductors, has been more than sufficient to push up prices.

It should be no surprise that markets, in general, are not applauding this outcome, and in fact, are concerned that this is just the beginning of the move in prices.  On the one hand, we continue to hear from both the Fed and the ECB that there is no reason to consider tightening policy at this time as neither bank has achieved their policy aims.  On the other, there is no sign that the supply side damage that was caused by the pandemic is anywhere close to being repaired.  Reduced supply meeting ongoing artificially high demand is guaranteed to raise prices.  I guess the Fed and ECB will soon be quite pleased with themselves for having created inflation.  The rest of us?  Not so much.

However, this policy mistake action in the face of the current conditions is what is driving market prices, which today are wholly in the red, and in substantial size.  Equity markets worldwide (Nikkei -3.1%, Hang Seng -2.1%, DAX -2.2%, CAC -2.0%, FTSE 100 -2.2%) have been under severe pressure ever since yesterday’s US tech slump, but bond markets, too, are seeing significant selling pressure, with Bunds, OATs and Gilts all seeing yields climb by 4 basis points this morning.  In other words, investors are explaining they don’t want to hold financial assets in an inflationary environment.  In fact, there is a great deal of buzz in the markets about some of the large interest rate bets that are being made in both Eurodollar and Euribor futures markets, where very large size option trades are being executed with the aggressor buying put options as part of large risk reversals.  It seems there is very little concern over interest rates declining from current levels, and rightly so, but expectations for higher rates well before either the Fed or ECB has indicated they are considering changing tack are the new normal.

What, you may ask, has this done for the dollar?  That is a much tougher question to answer as the outcome has been far less clear.  I have been adamant that the 10-year Treasury yield has been the key driver of the dollar’s value for virtually all of 2021, and despite the sell-off in European sovereigns this morning, Treasury yields are unchanged at 1.60%.  Heading into tomorrow’s CPI data, as well as another round of Treasury refunding starting with today’s 3-year auction of $40 billion (a total of $108 billion will be auctioned this week), it appears that investors and traders are not certain what to do.  Despite economic data that points to quickening growth, we continue to hear from Fed speaker after Fed speaker that they are not even close to considering tapering QE, let alone raising interest rates.  Well, except for the lone(ly) hawk, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan.  But yesterday, both Chicago’s Mike Evans and SF’s Mary Daly were clear it is far too early to consider tapering QE.  Today brings six more Fed speakers, none of whom have a history of hawkishness.

In the end, if inflation continues to rise while Treasury yields remain rangebound due to QE, as real yields decline, look for the dollar to follow.  Breakeven inflation rates continue to trade at multi-year highs (5-year 2.73%, 10-year 2.53%) and are indicating a strong belief that inflation is picking up pace. While the Fed continues to tell us they “have the tools” necessary to combat any potential inflation, the only thing of which we can be sure is they not only “have the tools” required to support markets (and the economy by extension), but that they will use those tools. When it comes to fighting the inflation battle, though, not a single current FOMC member is battle tested.  Given this asymmetry, it is not surprising that we are seeing an increase in market bets on higher interest rates.

Back to the dollar, which is actually under a bit of pressure this morning, along with all those other assets. In the G10, only CHF (-0.1%) is softer as we are seeing gains from the European bloc (NOK, SEK +0.4%, EUR +0.3%) leading the way.  Arguably, this is on the back of the much better than expected German ZEW expectations index, which printed at its highest level in more than 10 years.  Meanwhile, the pound (+0.1%) and commodity bloc here are having a much less interesting session.

In the emerging markets, Asian currencies felt pressure overnight on the tech stock decline with KRW (-0.5%), TWD (-0.4%) and MYR (-0.3%).  On the other hand, the CE4 have all followed the euro higher and we are seeing strength in ZAR (+0.5%), RUB (+0.6%) and MXN (+0.5%), despite oil’s small slide (-0.8%).

All in all, today is shaping up as another one that will be driven by the yield story.  In order for the dollar to really turn around its recent weakness, we will need to see a very significant risk-off event, with Treasuries rallying and fear abundant.  But so far, the current equity decline has not been sufficient to get those juices flowing.  As such, I still would err on the side of a weaker dollar.

Good luck and stay safe
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Desperate Straits

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In Europe, the growth impulse faded
As governments there were persuaded
To lock people down
In city and town
While new strains of Covid invaded

Contrast that with here in the States
Where GDP growth resonates
Tis no real surprise
That stocks made new highs
And bond bulls are in desperate straits

There is no better depiction of the comparative situation in the US and Europe than the GDP data released yesterday and today.  In the US, Q1 saw GDP rise 6.4% annualized (about 1.6% Q/Q) after a gain of 4.3% in Q4 2020.  This morning, the Eurozone reported that GDP shrank -0.6% in Q1 after declining -0.7% in Q4 2020.  In other words, while the US put together a string of substantial economic growth over the past 3 quarters (Q3 was the remarkable 33.4% on this measure), Europe slipped into a double dip recession, with two consecutive quarters of negative growth following a single quarter of rebound.  If you consider how markets behaved in Q1, it begins to make a great deal more sense that the dollar rallied sharply along with Treasury yields, as the economic picture in the US was clearly much brighter than that in Europe.

But that is all backward-looking stuff.  Our concerns are what lies ahead.  In the US, there is no indication that things are slowing down yet, especially with the prospects of more fiscal stimulus on the way to help goose things along.  As well, Chairman Powell has been adamant that the Fed will not be reducing monetary accommodation until the economy actually achieves the Fed’s target of maximum employment.  Essentially, this has been defined as the reemployment of the 10 million people whose jobs were eliminated during the depths of the Covid induced government lockdowns.  (Its stable price target, defined as 2.0% average inflation over time, has been kicked to the curb for the time being, and is unimportant in FOMC discussions…for now.)

At the same time, the fiscal stimulus taps in Europe are only beginning to drip open.  While it may be a bit foggy as it was almost a full year ago, in July 2020 the EU agreed to jointly finance fiscal stimulus for its neediest members by borrowing on a collective level rather than at the individual country level.  This was a huge step forward from a policy perspective even if the actual amount agreed, €750 billion, was really not that much relative to the size of the economy.  Remember, the US has already passed 3 separate bills with price tags of $2.2 trillion, $900 billion and just recently, $1.9 trillion.  But even then, despite its relatively small size, those funds are just now starting to be deployed, more than 9 months after the original approval.  This is the very definition of a day late and a dollar euro short.

Now, forecasts for Q2 and beyond in Europe are much better as the third wave lockdowns are slated to end in early to mid-May thus freeing up more economic activity.  But the US remains miles ahead on these measures, with even NYC declaring it will be 100% open as of July 1st.  Again, on a purely economic basis, it remains difficult to look at the ongoing evolution of the Eurozone and US economies and decide that Europe is the place to be.  But we also know that the monetary story is critical to financial markets, so cannot ignore that.  On that score, the US continues to pump more money into the system than the ECB, offering more support for the economy, but potentially undermining the dollar.  Arguably, that has been one of the key drivers of the weak dollar narrative; at some point, the supply of dollars will overwhelm, and the value of those dollars will decrease.  This will be evident in rising inflation as well as in a weakening exchange rate versus its peers.

The thing is, this story has been being told for many years and has yet to be proven true, at least in any significant form.  In the current environment, unless the Fed actually does ease policy further, via expanded QE or explicit YCC, the rationale for significant dollar weakness remains sparse.  Treasury yields continue to define the market’s moves, thus, that is where we must keep our attention focused.

Turning that attention to market activity overnight, whether it is because it is a Friday and traders wanted to square up before going home, or because of the weak data, risk is definitely on the back foot today.  Equity markets in Asia were all red led by the Hang Seng (-2.0%) but with both the Nikkei and Shanghai falling 0.8% on the session.  Certainly, Chinese PMI data were weaker than expected (Mfg 51.1, Services 54.9) both representing declines from last month and raising questions about the strength of the recovery there.  At the same time, Japanese CPI remains far below target (Tokyo CPI -0.6%) indicating that whatever policies they continue to implement are having no effect on their goals.

European bourses are mixed after the weaker Eurozone data, with the DAX (+0.2%) the star, while the CAC (-0.2%) and FTSE 100 (0.0%) show little positive impetus.  Looking at smaller country indices shows lots of red as well.  Finally, US futures are slipping at this hour, down between -0.4% and -0.7% despite some strong earnings reports after the close.

Perhaps the US markets are taking their cue from the Treasury market, where yields continue to edge higher (+1.2bps) with the idea that we have seen the top in rates fading quickly.  European sovereign bonds, however, have seen demand this morning with yields slipping a bit as follows: Bunds (-1.8bps), OATs (-1.2bps) and Gilts (-1.3bps). Perhaps the weak economic data is playing out as expected here.

Commodities are under pressure this morning led by WTI (-1.9%) but seeing weakness in the Agricultural space (Wheat -0.7%, Soy -0.9%) as well.  The one thing that continues to see no end in demand, though, is the base metals with Cu (+0.3%), Al (+0.9%) and Sn (2.2%) continuing their recent rallies.  Stuff is in demand!

In the FX markets, the day is shaping up to be a classic risk-off session, with the dollar firmer against all G10 counterparts except the yen (+0.1%) with SEK (-0.55%) and NOK (-0.5%) the leading decliners.  We can attribute Nokkie’s decline to oil prices while Stockie seems to be demonstrating its relatively high beta to the euro (-0.3%). EMG currencies have far more losers than gainers led by ZAR (-0.7%), TRY (-0.65%) and RUB (-0.6%).  The ruble is readily explained by oil’s decline while TRY is a bit more interesting as the latest central bank governor just promised to keep monetary policy tight in order to combat inflation. Apparently, the market doesn’t believe him, or assumes that if he tries, he will simply be replaced by President Erdogan again.  The rand’s weakness appears to be technical in nature as there is a belief that May is a particularly bad month to own rand, it having declined in 8 of the past 10 years during the month of May, and this is especially true given the rand has had a particularly strong performance in April.

On the data front, today brings a bunch more information including Personal Income (exp 20.2%), Personal Spending (+4.1%), Core PCE Deflator (1.8%), Chicago PMI (65.3) and Michigan Sentiment (87.5).  Given the Fed’s focus on PCE as their inflation measure, it will be important as a marker, but there is no reason to expect any reaction regardless of the number.  That said, every inflation reading we have seen in the past month has been higher than forecast so I would not be surprised to see that here as well.

In the end, though, it is still the Treasury market that continues to drive all others.  If yields resume their rise, look for a stronger dollar and pressure on equities and commodities.  If they were to head back down, so would the dollar while equities would find support.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
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So Slyly

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The stock market’s feeling some pains
As word is that capital gains
Will soon be taxed highly
As Biden, so slyly
Pays tribute to John Maynard Keynes

It can be no surprise that the Biden administration has begun to float trial balloons regarding higher tax rates as they were a key plank in Biden’s presidential campaign.  Given the remarkable amount of money that this administration seems to want to spend, there needs to be some additional revenue to help pay for things, although the gap between the spending plans and forecast revenue enhancements remains extremely wide.  For instance, while the mooted price tag for the American Jobs Plan, the latest proposal, is on the order of $2.3 trillion, the estimated revenues of the capital gains tax rise is somewhere in the $500 billion to $1 trillion zone.  That’s still a pretty big gap that needs to be filled.  Of course, we know that the Treasury will simply borrow the difference, and based on current form, the Fed will buy most of that.  Who knows, maybe MMT really does work, and everything will work out fine.

Investors, though, seeing the world through a slightly different prism than policymakers, may decide that while the extraordinary equity market rally has been lots of fun, it might be time to take some money off the table.  When the first headlines about a doubling of capital gains taxes hit the tape, US markets fell about 1.3% and finished lower on the day.  Now, we are still a long way from those tax laws being enacted, but do not be surprised if equity markets have more difficulty making new highs going forward.  After all, if the government is going to tax away your gains, the risk/reward equation will change for the worse.  (While on the subject of taxes, there was a rumor that the Treasury was talking about 70% marginal tax rates on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency gains.  It should be no surprise they suffered as well.)

Attempting, us all, to assure
Lagarde said, t’would be “premature”
To taper our buying
Since we are still trying
To help the recovery endure

Yesterday’s other big story was the ECB meeting where, while policies were left unchanged as expected, there was a great deal of anticipation that Madame Lagarde might offer some hints as to the structural reforms due to be announced in June, or even give a bit more guidance on the current situation within the PEPP.  Alas, the information quotient from this meeting was pretty limited.  Lagarde insisted that increased buying in the PEPP, which was a key outcome from the March meeting, would remain in place, although the pace of purchases does not seem to have increased all that much.  Yet when asked directly about the probability of tapering those purchases, Lagarde was adamant that it was “simply premature” to discuss that subject.

What is becoming apparent at the ECB is that there is a growing divide between the hawks and doves regarding how policy should evolve.  The Frugal four are clearly seeing improved economic activity and the beginnings of rising prices while the more profligate southern countries continue to lag in both economic activity and rate of vaccinations.  It is becoming clear that a single monetary policy is no longer going to be efficient for both groups of countries simultaneously.  When Super Mario was ECB President, he simply ran roughshod over the hawks, but then he had the policy chops to do so on his own.  It remains to be seen if Madame Lagarde will have the same ability.  The upshot is that we could be looking at some more volatility in Eurozone markets if the hawks start speaking in concert and do not back Lagarde.  We shall see.

Away from those stories, though, the market this morning is ostensibly focused on the better than expected PMI data that we have seen around the world.  Starting with Australia last night, and on to Japan and most of Europe and the UK, the big gainer was Services PMI, which is back above 50 everywhere except Japan, which printed at 48.3.  But Australia, the Eurozone and the UK are all back in expansionary territory as anticipation of the great reopening takes hold.  In this regard, the Japanese data makes sense as the nation is about to impose lockdowns again for the next two weeks in Tokyo, Kyoto and two other prefectures, closing bars and restaurants and banning public gatherings.

In addition to the PMI data, UK Retail Sales was quite strong, rising 4.9% M/M ex fuel, as were Japanese Department Store Sales (+21.8%).  With all of this positive data, it can be no surprise that the dollar is under pressure this morning, but it is a bit surprising that equity markets in Europe are under pressure (DAX -0.3%, CAC -0.2%, FTSE 100 -0.4%) and sovereign bond yields are softer (Bunds -1.3bps, OATs -1.2bps, Gilts -0.7bps).  While buy the rumor, sell the news is always a viable thought process, it strikes me that there were no rumors of this type of economic strength.

Finishing the market recap, commodities are firmer (WTI +0.5%, Au +0.1%, Cu +0.8%), which syncs well with the dollar’s weakness.  In the G10 space, the dollar is softer versus the entire spectrum of currencies, with EUR (+0.3%) and GBP (+0.3%) leading the way while JPY (+0.1%) is the laggard today.  In the EMG space, RUB (+0.6%) is the leading gainer after the Bank of Russia raised their base rate by 0.50% to 5.00% in a surprise as only 25bps was expected.  Away from that, the CE4 are all following the euro higher and then commodity currencies are also edging higher, but by much lesser amounts (ZAR +0.2%, MXN +0.2%).  There are a few decliners here, TRY (-0.2%), INR (-0.1%) but the size of the move is indicative of the lack of general interest.  Certainly, both those nations have been suffering more significantly with Covid lately, and it would not be a surprise to see both currencies continue to lag until that situation changes.

On the data front this morning, New Home Sales (exp 885K) is the major number, although preliminary PMI data (61.0 Mfg, 61.5 Services) is also due.  In the US, though, there is far more focus on ISM than PMI.  With the Fed coming up next week, there is no Fedspeak to be had, so as we head into the weekend, it is reasonable to expect a quiet session.  Equity futures are currently slightly in the green, roughly 0.15%, so perhaps the gut reaction to the tax news has passed and won’t have an impact.  But the one thing of which we can be certain appears to be that higher taxes are on the way.  That is a double whammy for equities as higher corporate tax rates will reduce earnings while higher cap gains taxes will encourage selling before those taxes come into effect.

In the end, though, nothing has changed the underlying market driver, the 10-year Treasury.  If yields there continue to slide, the dollar will remain weak across the board.  If they reverse, look for the dollar to rebound.  Next week, after the Fed, we see Core PCE data on Friday.  Currently, that is forecast to rise 1.8%.  a high side surprise there could well shake things up with regard to views on tapering with a corresponding impact on all markets.  But until the Fed on Wednesday, it seems we are in for some slow times.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
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Prices Are Rising

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While Jay and the Fed are persuaded
Inflation won’t soon be upgraded
The press keeps advising
That prices are rising
How long can rate hikes be evaded?

Chairman Powell gave yet another interview this weekend, this time to a national audience on 60 Minutes last night.  A cynic might believe that the Chairman is concerned the Fed’s message, inflation is still quite low and will not present any problems, is not getting across to the general public.  While those of us in the financial markets are well aware of everything he utters, his fame amongst the general populace is far less significant.  (After all, I’m pretty certain he doesn’t have either an Instagram or TikTok presence!)  The problem for the Fed if they are unable to get their message across is that people might start to believe their own eyes what they read in the papers and lately, that is not synching well with the Fed’s message.  The number of stories on inflation has been inflating along with a clearly growing interest by the general population, at least as evidenced by the number of Google searches on the subject.  The fear here is that all of this talk of rising prices might result in a change in inflation expectations by the general population, and according to the Fed’s models, that is when inflation starts to rise.

The Fed is not the only central bank in this position as evidenced by comments this morning from Banca’d’Italia, and ECB Executive Board Member, Fabio Panetta’s comments, “We cannot be satisfied with inflation at 1.2% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2023.”  Here, too, the concern is over too low inflation although, in fairness, the inflationary impulse on the Continent is far less consistent than in the US.

One need not look too deep beneath the surface to find a viable explanation for this lack of concern over rising prices.  Clearly the ongoing need for central banks to continue to monetize purchase government debt issuance in order to support the government in power economy is the catalyst.  And there is no better rationale for a central bank to continue QE than a strong belief that inflation is too low along with a commitment to raise it.

That cynic might also question the timing of this 60 Minutes interview as it was aired just two days before the CPI data is to be released.  We are all aware that CPI prints for the next several months will be quite a bit higher than the Fed’s 2.0% target as the base effects from the initial impacts of the Covid-inspired lockdowns are now the comparison.  The month-on-month rate of CPI in March 2020 was -0.4% with it declining to -0.8% in April 2020.  Given the very real increases in price pressures we have observed in the past months, you can be sure that CPI tomorrow, currently expected at 0.5% M/M, 2.5% Y/Y will be quite high.  All told, Powell and the Fed will have to work overtime in order to ensure their message on inflation gets across, because if the general population starts to anticipate rising prices, even though the Fed ‘has tools’ to combat inflation, given the fragility of the economy, their ability to use those tools is highly suspect.  Inflation, once it gets rolling, has a history of being more persistent than desired, and as much as the Fed claimed to fear deflation, I’m pretty sure they are not looking forward to having to fight inflation either.  Especially as that would require actions that will slow the economy down, meaning they will be an easy political target for both sides of the aisle.

But CPI is tomorrow’s release, despite the fact that there are no less than ten stories on major media sites on the subject today.  In the meantime, markets are starting the week generally on their back foot, with risk definitely under some pressure today.  Equity markets in Asia, for instance, were all red (Nikkei -0.8%, Hang Seng -0.9%, Shanghai -1.1%) while European markets have been more mixed, but the mix is flat to down (DAX +0.1%, CAC 0.0%, FTSE 100 -0.4%).  US futures markets are also pointing slightly lower, with all three major indices off by about 0.15% as I type.

Bond market activity has been fairly quiet, with the 10-year Treasury yield unchanged on the day, although we are seeing very modest gains (yield declines) in most of Europe (Bunds -1.3bps, OATs -1.5bps).  Gilts are the lone exception here, with yields rising 1.0 basis point as the UK economy, despite a surprise spring snowstorm, welcomes the reopening of pubs for outdoor drinking/dining.  As the UK economy reopens, there is a great deal of focus on the £150 billion of savings that have accrued during the lockdown and how much of that will be quickly spent.  After all, that represents nearly 7% of GDP in the UK, and obviously, if spent would have a remarkable impact on growth there.

Commodity prices show oil rebounding from its recent lows (WTI +1.1%) as it pushes back to $60/bbl.  Metals prices, however, have been far more mixed with precious largely unchanged, and base metals showing both gains and losses (Cu -0.4%, Al +0.2%).

Finally, the dollar is edging lower this morning in general, but by no means universally.  G10 markets are led by GBP (+0.4%) on the economy reopening news and corresponding growth in confidence there, as well as JPY (+0.4%) which some will attribute to haven demand as equity markets suffered in Asia overnight, but I might attribute to Hideki Matsuyama’s fantastic win at the Masters yesterday.  On the downside, SEK (-0.25%) is the weakest of the bunch, which looks more like position trading than fundamentally driven activity.

EMG currencies are also mixed this morning, but most of the movement remains modest at best.  HUF (+0.6%) is the leading gainer followed by RUB (+0.3%) and PLN (+0.3%).  The HUF seems to be rallying on the news that the central bank will be buying the soon to be issued government green bonds as part of their QE exercise, helping to add demand there.  As to the other two, given the euro’s modest climb, it is no surprise to see EEMEA currencies rise.  On the downside, it is all APAC currencies that fell last night, led by INR (-0.4%) and KRW (-0.35%), which were victims of local equity market disposals by international investors.

Data wise, there is important information beyond tomorrow’s CPI as follows:

Today Monthly Budget Statement -$658B
Tuesday CPI 0.5% (2.5% Y/Y)
-ex food & energy 0.2% (1.5% Y/Y)
Wednesday Fed Beige Book
Thursday Initial Claims 700K
Continuing Claims 3700K
Retail Sales 5.5%
-ex autos 4.8%
Empire Manufacturing 18.8
Philly Fed 40.0
IP 2.5%
Capacity Utilization 75.6%
Business Inventories 0.5%
Friday Housing Starts 1600K
Building Permits 1750K
Michigan Sentiment 89.0

Source: Bloomberg

So, there is much to learn this week, especially on Thursday, although if the CPI data is large enough, it is likely to dominate conversation for a while.  The FOMC is back on tour this week with ten more speakers, including Chairman Powell on Wednesday, across at least 15 different venues.  I expect there will be a great deal of effort downplaying any thoughts that inflation is making a permanent comeback and that current policy is perfect for right now.

In the end, though, the dollar remains beholden to the Treasury bond, as do most markets, and so all eyes will continue to be on its movement going forward.  Strong data that pushes it to its recent high yield at 1.75% or beyond will result in the dollar rallying.  On the other hand, if the data goes the other way, look for the dollar to retreat a bit further.

Good luck and stay safe
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The Grand Mal

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A very large family fund
Was clearly surprised and quite stunned
When bankers said, Pay
The money today
You owe, or you soon will be shunned

Turns out, though, no money was there
So bankers then went on a tear
They sold massive blocks
Of certain large stocks
And warned levered funds to beware

Meanwhile in the Suez Canal
The ship that had caused the grand mal
In trade supply chains
Is floating again
Though not near its final locale

There is a blend of good and bad news in markets today, at least with respect to broad ideas regarding risk.  On the plus side, the Ever Given is no longer completely wedged into the sand in the Suez Canal, with the stern of the ship back in the water.  While that is clearly a positive, the bow of the ship remains lodged in the bank and is the target of the salvage teams working to extract it.  Once that is accomplished, which may still take several more days, it will then need to undergo a series of tests to insure that no significant damage was done to the hull and that it won’t run into problems further along its journey.  In the meantime, more than 450 ships are waiting to pass through the canal in both directions, so it will take a few weeks, at least, for supply chains to get back to their prior working timelines.  But at least this is a step forward.

On the less positive side, stories about a remarkable liquidation of equity positions are filtering out of the market regarding a family office called Archegos, which was run by a former Tiger Investment fund manager and managed a huge long/short portfolio of equities on a highly levered basis.  (n.b. a long/short fund is a strategy where the manager typically selects specific companies in a sector, or sometimes sectors against each other, to bet on the relative performance of one vs. the other). It turns out that a number of these positions moved against the fund and margin calls were made for billions of dollars that could not be met.  The result was a massive liquidation of some individual stock positions, apparently in excess of $30 billion, with remarkable impacts on those names.

While only the funds brokers will mourn its passing, as it was a massive fee payer, it does highlight the potential disruption that can occur when leverage goes awry.  And of course, leverage going awry simply means that stock prices decline.  One of the things that central bank largesse has fomented that does not get a great deal of press, is the extraordinary growth in the amount of margin purchases that are outstanding.  According to FINRA data, since the nadir in the 2009 GFC, margin debt has grown 375% while the S&P 500 has risen just under 200% (both of these are in real terms).  While Archegos is only the first to break, do not be surprised if/when other funds run into similar problems because their particular set of investments didn’t pan out.  The takeaway here is that there is a great deal of risk embedded into the system, and much of it is hidden from view.  Risk management (aka hedging) remains a critical part of portfolio management, and that is true for corporate treasuries as well as for fund managers.

Now, on to the day’s price action.  Equity markets are mixed, though starting to look a bit better as early losses in Europe have turned around.  Asia saw modest gains (Nikkei +0.7%, Hang Seng 0.0%, Shanghai +0.5%) and now Europe is picking up, with the three main indices (DAX, CAC, FTSE 100) all higher by 0.5%.  However, in the US, there still appears to be some fallout from the Archegos mess, with futures all pointing lower by about 0.4%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields have slipped 2.5 basis points this morning as there is clearly some haven appeal, although European sovereigns, with those equity markets performing well, have seen yields edge higher, but by less than 1 basis point.  Clearly, the bond market is not a point of interest today given the activity in stocks.

Oil prices (+1.1%), which had briefly fallen on the initial reports of the refloating of the Ever Given, have since rebounded as it has become clear that ships will not be moving through the canal anytime soon.  Metals prices are mixed, with precious metals still under pressure, while base metals have shown more resilience as gains in Al and Sn offset losses in Cu and Zn.  (I’ll bet you didn’t think you would need to remember your periodic table to read about finance!)

As to the dollar, it is generally higher this morning, with gains across most currencies in both the G10 and EMG blocs.  In the developed world, SEK (-0.5%) is the laggard as concerns over the next wave of the Covid virus spread, which is becoming a theme on the Continent as well.  The euro (-0.2%) continues to slide slowly as the 3rd wave (4th wave?) of Covid makes its way through Germany and other nations, and further discussions of more restrictive lockdowns continue.  On the plus side, GBP (+0.35%) is the leading gainer as the UK takes yet another step toward reopening the economy, by relaxing a few more restrictions.

In the Emerging markets, MXN (-0.8%) and TRY (-0.75%) are the laggards with the former under pressure due to some legislative proposals that will tighten the government’s grip on PEMEX, while the lira is suffering as the market starts to build expectations for a rate cut under the new central bank governor.  But the CE4 are all weaker, showing their high beta relationship to the euro, and a number of APAC currencies, including CNY (-0.3%) are weaker as well.

On the data front, there is a great deal of info this week, culminating in the payroll report on Friday.

Tuesday Case Shiller Home Prices 11.35%
Consumer Confidence 96.8
Wednesday ADP Employment 550K
Chicago PMI 60.0
Thursday Initial Claims 680K
Continuing Claims 3775K
ISM Manufacturing 61.4
ISM Prices Paid 82.0
Friday Nonfarm Payrolls 643K
Private Payrolls 635K
Manufacturing Payrolls 37K
Unemployment Rate 6.0%
Average Hourly Earnings 0.1% (4.5% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.7
Participation Rate 61.5%

Source: Bloomberg

So, plenty to learn and clearly, the latest stage of reopening of the economy has economists looking for a substantial amount of jobs growth.  Of course, even if this forecast is accurate, Chairman Powell is still going to be looking for the other 9 million jobs that have disappeared before he considers tightening policy.  It remains to be seen if the market will continue to tighten for him.  After a deluge of Fed speakers last week, each and every one explaining they would not be changing policy for a long time and that there was no concern over potential rising inflation, this week sees only a handful of Fed speakers, with NY’s John Williams arguably the most influential.  But I don’t expect any change of message, which has clearly been drilled into the entire committee.

While broad equity indices have not suffered greatly, I cannot help but believe that the Archegos situation will give some people pause in their ongoing accumulation of risk.  While not looking for a crash, I expect that we will see choppy markets amid reduced liquidity and would not be surprised to see a bit more risk reduction.  In that environment, the dollar should remain broadly bid.

Good luck and stay safe
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Will Not Be Deterred

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There once was a really big boat
Designed, lots of cargo, to tote
But winds from the west
Made it come to rest
Widthwise in the Suez, not float

A mammoth cargo ship, the Ever Given has run aground in the Suez Canal while it was fully laden and heading northbound toward the Mediterranean Sea.  The problem is that, at over 400 meters in length, it is blocking the entire waterway in both directions.  The resulting traffic jam has affected more than 100 ships in both directions and could take several days to unclog.  As a point of interest, roughly 12% of global trade passes through the Suez each year, including 1 million barrels of oil per day and 8% of LNG shipments.  The market impact was seen immediately in oil prices which jumped more than 3%, although remain just below $60/bbl after the dramatic sell-off seen in crude during the past week.  Canal authorities are working feverishly to refloat the ship, but given its massive weight, 224,000 tons, they don’t have tugboats large enough to do the job on site.  While larger tugs are making their way to the grounding, things will be messy for a while.  Do not be surprised if oil prices continue to climb in the short run.

The ECB picked up the pace
Of purchases as they embrace
The call to do more
Or else, answer for
The failure in Europe’s workplace

Meanwhile, from the House what we heard
Was Powell will not be deterred
From keeping rates low
If prices do grow
While Janet, on taxes, deferred.

Looking beyond the ship’s bow to the rest of the world, the two key stories so far this week have been the data from the ECB about increased QE purchases, as well as the joint testimony at the House of Representatives by Powell and Yellen.  Regarding the ECB, they announced they had purchased €21 billion in bonds last week, up 50% from the previous weekly pace of €14 billion, and exactly what one would expect given Madame Lagarde’s promise of an increased pace of buying.  Unfortunately for the ECB, European sovereign bond yields rose between 10-15 basis points while they were increasing purchases, as they followed US Treasury yields higher.  The problem for the ECB is that if Treasury yields do continue to rally (and while unchanged this morning, they have fallen back by 13 basis points since Friday’s peak), it is entirely realistic that European bonds will see the same price action regardless of the ECB’s stepped up purchases.  Of course, that is the last thing the ECB wants to see in their efforts to stimulate both growth and inflation.  Essentially, what this tells us is that the ECB does not really have the ability to guide the market in a direction opposite the global macro factors.  Perhaps, whatever it takes is no longer enough!

As to the dynamic duo’s testimony, there was really nothing surprising to be learned.  Powell continues to explain that while things are looking better, the Fed’s focus is on the employment situation and they won’t stop supporting the economy until all the lost jobs are regained.  As to inflation, he pooh-poohed the idea that a short-term burst in prices will have any impact on either inflation expectations or actual longer-term inflation outcomes.  In other words, he has been completely consistent with the FOMC statement and press conference.  As to the diminutive one, she promised that more spending was coming, but that it would be necessary to raise taxes on some people as well as the corporate tax rate.  The working assumption seems to be that corporate taxes are due to head to 28%, from the current 21% level, in the next big piece of legislation.  After that, they both had to defend their positions from rank political comments by Congressfolk trying to burnish their own credentials.

And in truth, those are the stories that are top of the list today, showing just how dull things are in the markets.  However, with that in mind, following yesterday’s late day sell-off in US equities, Asian equities were pretty much lower across the board (Nikkei -2.0%, Hang Seng -2.0%, Shanghai -1.3%) and Europe is entirely in the red as well, albeit not nearly as severely (DAX -0.6%, CAC -0.3%, FTSE 100 -0.3%).  And all this equity price action is despite the fact that PMI data from Japan and Europe was far better than expected, with, for example German Mfg PMI posting a 66.6 reading and Eurozone Mfg posting at 62.4.  Services remains much weaker, but in all cases, the outcomes were better than forecast, although still just below the 50.0 level.  It seems that there is more to the current level of fear than the data.  As to the US, futures here are higher led by the NASDAQ (+0.7%) with the other two major indices up by a more modest 0.3%.

In the bond market, Treasuries are seeing a bit of selling pressure as NY walks in, although the 10-year yield is only higher by 0.5bps.  Meanwhile, in Europe, there is a very modest bond rally (Bunds -1.3bps, OATs -1.4bps, Gilts -0.7bps) which is consistent with the modest risk off theme in equity markets there.  Price action in Asian bond markets, though, has been a bit more frantic with NZD bonds soaring (yields -15.7bps) as investors continue to respond to the government’s efforts to rein in housing prices, thus slowing inflation pressures.  This helped Aussie bonds as well, although yields there only fell 8 basis points.  The one truism is that bond market activity is far more interesting than equity market activity right now.

In the commodity markets, aside from oil’s rally on the supply disruption caused by the ship, price action has been far less significant.  Metals prices are very modestly higher (CU +0.35%, AL +2.1%, AU +0.2%) while the agricultural space is mixed, with a range of gainers and losers.

And finally, in the FX markets, the dollar is broadly stronger this morning, although not universally so.  In the G10, only NOK (+0.6%) and CAD (+0.1%) are firmer with the former clearly responding to higher oil prices, but also to a growing belief that the Norgesbank will be the first G10 bank to raise interest rates.  Meanwhile, the BOC, yesterday, explained that they were immediately stopping the expansion of their balance sheet, halting all programs, so also moving toward a tightening bias.  However, the rest of the bloc is softer, albeit by fairly modest amounts led by GBP (-0.3%) which posted lower than expected inflation readings.

Emerging market currencies are split in their behavior with ZAR (+0.9%), MXN (+0.7%) and RUB (+0.4%) all benefitting from the rising commodity price story while virtually every other currency in both APAC and the CE4 are softer on the decline in risk sentiment.  The one thing that is abundantly clear is that the EMG currencies are following the big risk meme.

Turning to this morning’s data releases, we see Durable Goods (exp 0.5%, 0.5% ex transport) and the preliminary PMI data (Mfg 59.5, Services 60.1).  Yesterday’s New Home Sales data disappointed at just 775K but was chalked up to a lack of supply.  It seems the supply of available housing is at generational lows these days, while prices rise sharply on the back of a doubling of lumber costs.  We also hear from Powell and Yellen again, this time at 10:00am in the Senate, but there is no reason to believe that anything different will be said.  In addition, four more Fed speakers will be heard, although the message continues to be consistent and clear, rates are not going to rise until 2023 earliest, no matter what happens.

For now, the dollar is benefitting from the market’s risk aversion, however, if Treasury yields fall further, I expect that the dollar will lose its luster and equities will find their footing.  On the other hand, if this is the temporary lull before the next lurch higher in yields, look for the dollar to continue to rally.

Good luck and stay safe
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