Tag Archives: #tapering

Far From Benign

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There once was a market decline
That seemed, at the time, to consign
Investors with shares
To turn into bears
An outcome quite far from benign

But that was a long time ago
As by afternoon all the flow
Was buying the dip
Thus, proving this blip
Was not a bull market deathblow

I wonder if stock prices declining for 18 hours now counts as a correction.  What had appeared to be the beginnings of a more protracted fall in stocks turned into nothing more than a modest blip in the ongoing bull market.  Some teeth were gnashed, and some positions lightened, but by 3:15pm, it was all over with a 1.3% rebound from that time to the close.  Granted, the S&P 500 did decline 1.7% on the day, but given the substantial buying impulse seen at the end of the day, as well as the change in tone of the market narrative, it certainly feels this morning like the worst is behind us.  While China Evergrande continues to be bankrupt, the new story is that despite its large size, it is not large enough to be a real catalyst for market destruction and, anyway, the PBOC would never let things get to a point where its bankruptcy would lead to contagion elsewhere in the Chinese markets/economy.

As to the last point, be careful with your assumptions.  While this is not meant to be a prediction, consider that President Xi Jinping has spent the last year cracking down on successful firms in China as they have amassed both wealth and power, something that an autocrat of Xi’s nature cannot abide.  So, a fair question to ask is, would Xi let the Chinese economy crash in order to consolidate his power even further?  While I don’t believe he would purposely do that, I would not rule out him allowing things to unfold in a manner he sees as beneficial to his ultimate plans, thus financial distress in China could well be in our future.  And if you are Xi Jinping, the idea that Western markets would react badly to an Evergrande collapse would only be a positive.  My point is, I don’t think you can rule out other motives in this situation.

At any rate, this literally seems like ancient history at this time, with markets all in the green and the market narrative of ‘buy the dip’ proving itself once again to be the proper course of action.  Pavlov himself could not have conditioned retail investors any better than the Fed and other central banks have done over the past decade.

So, with Evergrande in the rearview mirror, the market gets to (re)turn its focus to the FOMC meeting, which begins this morning and whose outcome will be announced at 2pm tomorrow.  That means we are back to talking about tapering.  Will they, or won’t they?  And if they do, when will they start?

The market consensus is clearly that tapering is coming with about two-thirds of market economists forecasting the first reduction in asset purchases will occur in November.  While there are some differing views on how they will taper, the consensus appears to be a reduction of $10 billion of Treasuries and $5 billion of mortgage-backed securities each month until they are done.  So, eight months of reductions takes us to next June if we start in November.  Of course, this assumes that there are no interruptions, and that the Fed leadership remains intact.

First, remember, Chairman Powell’s term is up in February, and while he remains the favorite to be reappointed, it seems the most progressive wing of the Democratic party wants to see someone else, with Lael Brainerd, a current Fed governor and past Treasury Undersecretary, seen as the leading alternative.  Ms Brainerd has consistently been even more dovish than Powell, and if she were to be confirmed for the Chair, it would be easy to believe she halted any tapering at that point.  After all, if one believes in MMT, (which by all accounts Ms Brainerd embraces), why would the Fed ever stop buying Treasuries?  Again, this is not predictive, just something to keep in mind.

Second, the tapering narrative is based on the idea that economic growth coming out of the Covid recession is self-sustaining and no longer needs central bank support.  But what if the recovery is more anemic than currently forecast.  The one consistency we have seen over the course of the past months is that forecasts for economic growth in Q3 and Q4 have declined dramatically.  For instance, the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast model is pointing to 3.65% currently, down from 5.3% at the beginning of the month and 7.6% just two months ago.  Shortages of certain things still abound and prices on staples like beef, pork, and poultry, continue to rise rapidly.  In short, the situation in the economy is anything but clear.

In this case, the question really becomes, will the Fed turn its attention to inflation, or will it remain focused only on unemployment?  If the inflation heat reaches too high a temperature, then it would be easy to believe tapering will occur far more rapidly.  However, if growth remains the focus, then any reason to delay tapering will be sought.  I remain in the camp that while they may initiate tapering, the Fed will be buying bonds long after June 2022.  We shall see.

A quick turn to markets shows that all is right with the world!  Stocks are almost universally higher as Asia (Hang Seng +0.5%, Shanghai +0.2%) led the beginning of the rebound although Japan (Nikkei -2.1%) was still coming to grips with yesterday’s narrative coming out of their holiday.  Europe is strongly higher this morning (DAX +1.45%, CAC +1.4%, FTSE 100 +1.15%) as fear has rapidly dissipated.  And after the worst US equity session in months, futures this morning are higher by about 0.8% across the board.

It should be no surprise that bonds are for sale this morning with yields mostly higher.   Treasury yields, which fell 6bps yesterday, have bounced slightly, up 1.7bps this morning.  European sovereigns, which saw a lesser rally yesterday have barely sold off with nothing rebounding even a full basis point.  One noteworthy outlier is Greece, whose bonds are sharply higher with 10-year yields declining 4.6bps, after Greek central bank comments that the ECB would never stop buying Greek paper.

Commodity prices are generally firmer with oil (WTI +1.2%) leading although gold (+0.2%), copper (+0.95%) and aluminum (+1.0%) are all embracing the risk rebound.

And finally, the dollar, which had rallied so sharply yesterday morning, has given back all of those gains.  NOK (+0.8%) leads the G10 charge higher with CAD (+0.5%) next in line as oil’s rebound supports both currencies.  The rest of the bloc has seen less exuberance, generally between 0.1% and 0.25%, although JPY (-0.1%) has slipped as its haven status is no longer a benefit.

EMG currencies have seen a little less dramatic movement with the leading gainer CZK (+0.3%) followed by RUB (+0.25%) with the latter benefitting from oil while the former continues to find support based on views its central bank remains hawkish enough to raise rates.  Otherwise, the gainers have been quite modest, 0.2% or less with two currencies falling on the day, ZAR (-0.2%) and PLN (-0.25%).  In both cases, it appears the concerns lie with central bank policy prospects.  However, given the modest size of the decline, it is hardly a key issue.

On the data front, this morning brings Housing Starts (exp 1550K) and Building Permits (1600K), although with the FOMC meeting in the background, neither is likely to move the needle.  And that’s really it for the day as there are no speakers.  As long as we don’t see a bombshell from Evergrande, which seems unlikely in our time zone, today feels like a quiet session with potential modest further dollar weakness.  All eyes will continue to be on tomorrow’s FOMC announcement, and, more importantly, Chairman Powell’s comments at the press conference.  Until then, slow going is likely.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

Outmoded

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In Germany prices exploded
While confidence there has eroded
Now all eyes will turn
Back home where we’ll learn
On Tuesday if QE’s outmoded

The most disturbing aspect of the inflation argument (you know, is it transitory or not) is the fact that those in the transitory camp are willing to completely ignore the damage inflation does to household budgets.  Their attitude was recently articulated by the chief European economist at TS Lombard, Dario Perkins, thusly, “There is nothing inherently dangerous about inflation settling in, say, a 3-5% range instead of the 1-2% that’s been normal for the past decade.”  He continued, “the bigger risk is that hitherto dovish central bankers lose their nerve and raise interest rates until it causes a recession, like they’ve done in the past.”

Let’s consider that for a moment.  The simple math shows that at a 2% inflation rate, the price of something rises about 22% over the course of a decade.  So, that Toyota Camry that cost $25,000 in 2011 would cost $30,475 today.  However, at a 5% inflation rate over that time, it would cost $40,725, a 63% increase.  That’s a pretty big difference.  Add in the fact that wage gains have certainly not been averaging 5% per year and it is easy to see how inflation can be extremely damaging to anybody, let alone to the average wage earner.  The point is, while to an economist, inflation appears to be an abstract concept that is simply a number input into their models, to the rest of us, it is the cost of living.  And there is nothing that indicates the cost of living will stop rising sharply anytime soon.

This was reinforced overnight when Germany released its wholesale price index, which rose 12.3% in the past twelve months.  That is the highest rate of increase since 1974 in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo.  Now fortunately, the ECB is on the case.  Isabel Schnabel, the ECB’s head of markets explained, “The prospect of persistently excessive inflation, as feared by some, remains highly unlikely.  But should inflation sustainably reach our target of 2% unexpectedly soon, we will act equally quickly and resolutely.”  You know, they have tools!

On the subject of Wholesale, or Producer, Prices, while Germany’s were the highest print we’ve seen from a major economy, recall last week that Chinese PPI printed at 9.5%, in the US it was 8.3% and even in Japan, a nation that has not seen inflation in two decades, PPI rose 5.6% last month.  It appears that the cost of making “stuff” is rising pretty rapidly.  And even if the pace of these increases does slow down, the probability of prices declining is essentially nil.  Remember, the current central bank mantra is deflation is the worst possible outcome and they will do all they can to prevent it.  All I can say is, I sure hope everyone’s wages can keep pace with inflation, because otherwise, we are all at a permanent disadvantage compared to where things had been just a year or two ago.

Well, I guess there is one beneficiary of higher inflation…governments issuing debt.  As long as inflation grows faster than the size of their debt, a government’s real obligations decline.  And you wonder why the Fed insists inflation is transitory.  Oh yeah, for all of you who think that higher inflation will lead to higher interest rates, I wouldn’t count on that outcome either.  Whether or not the Fed actually tapers, they have exactly zero incentive to raise rates anytime soon.  And as to bonds, they have shown before (post WWII) that they are willing to cap yields at a rate well below inflation if it suits their needs.  And I assure you, it suits their needs right now.

So, what will all this do to the currency markets?  As always, FX is a relative game so what matters is the degree of change from one currency to the next.  The medium-term bearish case for the dollar is that inflation in the US will run hotter than in Europe, Japan or elsewhere, while the Fed caps yields in some manner.  The resultant expansion of negative real yields will have a significant negative impact on the dollar.  This argument will fail if one of two things occurs; either other central banks shoot for even greater negative yields, or, more likely, the Fed allows the back end of the curve to rise thus moderating the impact of negative real yields.  In either case, the dollar should benefit.  In fact, this is why the taper discussion is of such importance to the FX market, tapering implies higher yields in the back end of the US yield curve and therefore an opportunity for a stronger dollar.  Remember, though, there are many moving pieces, so even if the Fed does taper, that is not necessarily going to support the dollar all that much.

Ok, let’s look at this morning’s markets, where risk is largely being acquired, although there is no obvious reason why that is the case.  Equity markets in Asia were mixed with both gainers (Nikkei +0.2%, Shanghai +0.3%) and Losers (Hang Seng (-1.5%) as the ongoing Chinese crackdown on internet companies received new news.  It seems that the Chinese government is going to split up Ant Financial such that its lending business is a separate company under stricter government control.  Ali Baba, which is listed in HK, not Shanghai, fell sharply, as did other tech companies in China, hence the dichotomy between the Hang Seng and Shanghai indices.  But excluding Chinese tech, stocks were in demand.  The same is true in Europe where the screen is entirely green (DAX +1.1%, CAC +0.8%, FTSE 100 +0.8%) as it seems there is little concern about a passthrough of inflation, but great hope that reopening economies will perform well.  US futures are also looking robust this morning, with all three major indices higher by at least 0.5% as I type.

Funnily enough, despite the risk appetite in equities, bond prices are rallying as well, with 10-year Treasury yields lower by 1.7bps, and European sovereigns also seeing modest yield declines of between 0.5 and 1.0 bps. Apparently, as concerns grow over the possibility of a technical US default due to a debt ceiling issue, the safety trade is to buy Treasuries.  At least that is the explanation being offered today.

On the commodity front, oil (WTI +0.8%) is leading the way higher although we are seeing gains in many of the industrial metals as well, notably aluminum (+1.6%), which seems to be feeling some supply shortages.  Copper (-0.45%), surprisingly, is softer on the day, but the rest of that space is firmer.  I mentioned Uranium last week, and as an FYI, it is higher by 5% this morning as more and more people begin to understand the combination of a structural shortage of the metal and the increasing likelihood that any carbonless future will require nuclear power to be far more prevalent.

Finally, the dollar is broadly, although not universally, stronger this morning.  In the G10, only NOK (+0.2%) and CAD (+0.1%) have managed to hold their own this morning on the strength of oil’s rally.  Meanwhile, CHF (-0.7%) is under the most pressure as havens lose their luster, although the rest of the bloc has only seen declines of between -0.1% and -0.3%.  In the EMG bloc, THB (-0.75%) and KRW (-0.6%) lead the way lower as both nations saw equity market outflows on weakness in Asian tech stocks.  But generally, almost all currencies here are softer by between -0.2% and -0.4%.  the exceptions are TRY (+0.3%) and RUB (+0.25%) with the latter supported by oil while the former is benefitting from hope that the central bank will maintain tight policy to fight inflation.

On the data front, we have both CPI and Retail Sales leading a busy week:

Today Monthly Budget Statement -$175B
Tuesday NFIB Small Biz Optimism 99.0
CPI 0.4% (5.3% Y/Y)
-ex food & energy 0.3% (4.2% Y/Y)
Wednesday Empire Manufacturing 18.0
IP 0.4%
Capacity Utilization 76.4%
Thursday Initial Claims 320K
Continuing Claims 2740K
Retail Sales -0.8%
-ex auto -0.1%
Philly Fed 19.0
Friday Michigan Sentiment 72.0

Source: Bloomberg

With no recent stimulus checks, Retail Sales are forecast to suffer greatly.  Meanwhile, the CPI readings are forecast to be a tick lower than last month, but still above 5.0% for the third consecutive month.  Certainly, my personal experience is that prices continue to rise quite rapidly, and I would not be surprised to see a higher print.  Mercifully, the Fed is in its quiet period ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting, so we no longer need to hear about when anybody thinks tapering should occur.  The next information will be the real deal from Chairman Powell.

The tapering argument seems to be the driver right now, with a growing belief the Fed will reduce its QE purchases and US rates will rise, at least in the back end.  That seems to be the genesis of the dollar’s support.  As long as that attitude exists, the dollar should do well.  But if the data this week points to further slowing in the US economy, I would expect the taper story to fade along with the dollar.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

Recalibrate

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Christine said she’d recalibrate
The PEPP, but she clearly did state
No taper’s occurring
Because we’re still spurring
Inflation to reach our mandate

I felt it was important for all of us to be reminded of what tapering means, hence this definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

taper   verb

1               : to become progressively smaller toward one end
2               : to diminish gradually (emphasis added)

But perhaps there is a better source to explain Madame Lagarde’s dissembling comments yesterday; Lewis Carrol.

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’ ” Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course, you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!'”
“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’,” Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

Apparently, Madame Lagarde was channeling Humpty Dumpty in her press conference yesterday when she said that while the ECB would be gradually reducing the rate of purchases in the PEPP program in the coming quarter, it was definitely not tapering.  One of the problems this author has with centralbankspeak is that my education taught me based on the plain meaning of the words used.  Hence, claiming that a reduced rate of purchases is not tapering is simply dishonest.  However, central bankers everywhere, led by the Fed and ECB, have come to rely on redefining terms in order to placate both of their masters, markets and governments, who frequently require opposing policies to achieve their goals.

Remember, too, what happened to Humpty Dumpty, a lesson I daresay has been lost on Powell, Lagarde and their comrades-in-arms:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

As economist Herbert Stein explained in 1986, “if something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”  Central bank balance sheets cannot grow indefinitely, at least not without other repercussions.  The most likely relief valve will be the currency, but do not be surprised if there is significant damage to all financial assets at the time investors and markets cease to accept centralbankspeak as a valid guide to the future.

Ever since the GFC, central banks around the world have been aggressively adding liquidity to economies at a far faster pace than those economies create goods and services.  For the first decade of this process, that liquidity mostly found its way into financial markets resulting in the longest bull market in history.  But lately, that liquidity has begun to seep into the real economy on the back of a massive uptick in fiscal stimulus.  The result, you may have noticed, is that financial markets have stopped rising at their previous rate, but the price of stuff you buy every day/week, has started to rise much more rapidly. It is this fact that was the genesis of the ‘transitory’ inflation story, as central banks, notably the Fed, recognize they cannot afford to be blamed for rising consumer inflation, but also cannot afford to fight inflation in the traditional manner of raising interest rates as they are terrified adjusting their current policy will result in a massive market decline.  Hence, I fear the Humpty Dumpty metaphor will wind up being very accurate.  However, he hasn’t fallen yet.

And so, Madame Lagarde did exactly what she set out to do; she was able to explain the ECB would be slowing their PEPP purchases without the market responding in a knee-jerk sell-off.  She placated the hawks on the ECB Council, and watched as Italian BTPs outperformed German bunds thus reducing pressure on the biggest potential problem in Europe.  In the end, kudos are due, at least for now.  I sure hope it lasts, but fear there is much turmoil in our future.

In the meantime, the overall market response to Lagarde has been…buy risk!  Equity markets everywhere are in the green with Asia (Nikkei +1.25%, Hang Seng +1.9%, Shanghai +0.3%) charging ahead and Europe (DAX +0.3%, CAC +0.3%, FTSE 100 +0.3%) following, albeit at a bit slower rate.  US futures, after two lackluster sessions in NY, are pointing higher by 0.4% to start the day.

Of course, with risk appetites whetted, there is no need to hold havens like bonds and so prices there have fallen everywhere with corresponding rises in yields.  Treasuries (+2.9bps) are leading the way but we are seeing Europe (Bunds +1.8bps, OATs +1.9bps, Gilts +1.1bps) all under some pressure as well.  As long as risk is in the ascendancy, I expect that bond yields will continue to edge higher.

Commodity prices are also firmer this morning led by oil (+1.7%) and the entire energy complex.  But metals, too, are up, at least industrial metals with copper (+1.9%), aluminum (+1.6%) and tin (+1.2%) all much stronger and with the latter two pushing to multi-year highs.  While gold is flat on the day, and has been doing very little lately, broadly speaking, the commodity complex continues to perform well.

Finally, the dollar, not surprisingly, is under significant pressure this morning, down versus most of its G10 counterparts, notably the commodity bloc.  NZD (+0.6%), NOK (+0.45%) and AUD and CAD (+0.4%) are all looking strong today bolstered by broad dollar weakness and strong commodity price action.  On the flip side, JPY (-0.2%) is the only real decliner as haven assets are sold, although CHF is also modestly softer.  In the emerging markets, the screen is entirely green led by ZAR (+0.75%), CZK (+0.5%) and IDR (+0.35%).  Rand is clearly in thrall to commodity prices while the koruna is rallying on the back of a much higher than expected CPI print of 4.1%, which has traders looking for a central bank rate increase at the next meeting at the end of the month.  As to the rupiah, it seems this is entirely a result of the risk-on attitude in markets this morning.

On the data front, early this morning the UK released its monthly GDP print at a worse than expected 0.1%, blamed now on the increase of the delta variant.  German CPI was confirmed at 3.9% in August, and Italian IP managed to rise 0.8% in July, a bit better than expected.  Here at home we will see PPI (exp 8.2%, 6.6% ex food & energy) which will continue to challenge the transitory narrative but will not have nearly the impact of next Tuesday’s CPI release.  As well, we hear from the Cleveland Fed’s Loretta Mester this morning, but she has already explained she is ready to taper QE purchases, so unless that story changes, I don’t foresee any impact.

While the dollar is softer this morning, there is no indication it is going to decline substantially at any point in the near future.  Rather, we remain in the middle of the 1.17/1.20 trading range that has capped movement since June.  I see no reason for anything to change here and expect the week to finish in a quiet manner.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
Adf

Could Be Dead

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The tapering talk at the Fed
Continues as they look ahead
Though growth’s clearly slowing
Inflation is growing
So, QE, next year, could be dead

In Europe, though, it’s not the same
As price rises largely are tame
But plenty of squawks
From ECB hawks
Have feathered the doves with great shame

Central bank meetings continue to be key highlights on the calendar and this week is no different.  Thus far we have already heard from the RBA, who left policy unchanged, as despite inflation running at 3.8% Q/Q, are unwilling to tighten policy amid a massive nationwide lockdown.  After all, how can they justify tighter policy as growth continues to sag?

This morning the BOC meets, and the universal view is that the Overnight Lending rate will be left unchanged at 0.25%.  However, you may recall that the BOC has actually begun to taper its QE purchases, reducing the weekly amount of purchases to C$2 billion from its peak setting of C$4 billion.  Most of the punditry believe that there will be no change in the rate of QE at this meeting as the bank will want to evaluate the impact of the delta variant on the Canadian economy more fully, but most also believe that the next step lower will occur in October.  In either event, though, it seems the currency markets remain far more focused on the US half of the equation than on what the other central bank is doing.  After all, since the BOC began to taper policy in April, the Loonie has weakened by more than 1%, although it did show initial strength in the wake of the surprise announcement.

Turning to tomorrow’s ECB meeting, there has also been a clear delineation between the hawks and doves as to the proper steps going forward.  Given the macroeconomic situation in Europe, where growth is slowing from relatively modest levels and inflation remains far below levels seen in either the US or Canada (or Australia or the UK), it would seem that the doves should retain the upper hand in the discussion.

But one of the key, inherent, flaws in the Eurozone is that different countries tend to have very different economies as well as very different fiscal policies, and so the individual economic outcomes vary greatly.  Thus, while Spain remains mired with excessively high unemployment and lackluster growth prospects, as does Italy, Germany has seen rising prices in a much more sustained fashion, with CPI there running a full percentage point above the Eurozone as a whole.  Given that German DNA is vehemently anti-inflation (a result of the suffering of the Weimar Hyperinflation of the 1920’s), this situation has resulted in Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann and some of his closest colleagues (Austria’s Holtzmann and the Netherlands’ Knot) vociferously calling for a reduction in the rate of purchases in the PEPP.  However, most of the rest of the committee sees no need to slow things down.  The question tomorrow is whether or not Madame Lagarde will be able to tether the hawks.  While there is market talk that tapering will occur, my money is on no change in the pace of purchases.  The direct impact of this should be further modest weakness in the euro and a rebound in European sovereign bond market prices.

As to the Fed, they meet in two weeks’ time and after Powell’s Jackson Hole performance, I think there are vanishingly few players who believe they are going to even announce the tapering schedule then.  However, that does not mean that the segment of the FOMC who are adamantly pro-taper will be quiet, and so expect to hear a steady stream of tapering talk until the quiet period begins on Saturday.  In fact, just last night St Louis President Bullard was interviewed by the FT and reiterated his vocal stance that tapering needs to begin right away.  As well, we will hear from Dallas’ Kaplan later today with his message guaranteed to be the same.  Of more interest will be NY’s Williams, who speaks this afternoon at 1:10pm, and who has yet to voice his tapering opinion.  If he does say tapering is necessary, that would be an important signal, so we must pay close attention.

With all that in mind, markets overnight have started to take a somewhat dimmer view of risk, especially in Europe.  In fact, looking around, only the Nikkei (+0.9%) has been able to see any positivity as the rest of Asia (Hang Seng -0.1%, Shanghai -0.1%) edged lower while Europe (DAX -0.7%, CAC -0.4%, FTSE 100 -0.5%) are seeing much greater selling.  That said, the situation on the Continent was worse earlier in the session with losses everywhere greater than 1.0%.  US futures, meanwhile, are essentially unchanged on the morning, although leaning slightly lower.

In the bond market, buyers have returned with Treasury yields falling 2.4bps, reversing half of yesterday’s climb.  But Europe, too, is seeing demand for havens with Bunds (-1.2bps), OATs (-1.5bps) and Gilts (-1.0bps) all decently bid this morning.  Certainly, if the ECB does reduce its PEPP purchases you can expect yields across the board in Europe to rise.  And, in fact, that is why I don’t expect that to occur!

In a bit of a conundrum, commodity prices are generally higher, alongside the dollar.  Looking at WTI (+1.4%), it seems that energy is on the rise everywhere.  (Pay attention to Uranium, which has rallied 32% in the past month and is structurally bullish as current demand is significantly greater than the run rate of production.)  But weirdly, other than copper (-0.8%) every other key commodity is higher this morning with Au (+0.3%), Al (+0.5%) and Soybeans (+0.7%) leading the way.

This is strange because the dollar is broadly, albeit generally modestly, higher this morning.  In the G10, EUR, CAD and DKK are all softer by 0.2% while only NZD (+0.1%) has managed any gains on the back of the strength in commodity prices.  In the emerging markets, the situation is far more pronounced with TRY (-1.0%) leading the way lower after the central bank indicated rate cuts were coming, although we also saw weakness overnight in KRW (-0.75%), THB (-0.5%) and TWD (-0.4%).  All of these Asian currencies suffered on a pure risk-off viewpoint as equity markets in these nations fell as well.  But it’s not just APAC currencies as we are seeing weakness in EMEA with HUF (-0.5%) and PLN (-0.3%) also under pressure.

On the data front, today brings the JOLTS Job Openings report (exp 10.049M) which continues to indicate the labor market is quite tight despite the payroll data last week.  And after that we get the Fed’s Beige Book at 2:00.  To my mind, Williams’ speech at 1:10pm is the most important story of the day, so we will need to pay close attention when he starts speaking.

Overall, it appears that the dollar bulls have regained the upper hand and are slowly pushing the greenback higher versus most counterparts.  If Williams does agree tapering is needed, I expect the dollar to take another leg higher.  But if he is clear that there is no rush, especially with the delta variant impact, look for the dollar to cede some of its recent gains and equity markets to regain a little spring in their step.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

To Taper’s Ordained

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The Minutes on Wednesday explained
That QE would still be sustained
But ere this year ends
Some felt that the trends
Implied that, to taper’s, ordained

But ask yourself this, my good friends
What happens if tapering sends
The stock market down
Will they turn around
And restart QE as amends?

Remember all the times the Fed tried to tell the world that their current policy stance, notably the massive amount of QE purchases, were not the driving force in the equity market?  Stock market bulls played along with this as well, explaining that historically high valuation measures were all appropriate given the huge corporate profit margins, and had nothing to do with the Fed’s suppression of interest rates along the entire yield curve.  The bulls would point to 30-year interest rates below 2.00% and explain that when you discounted future cash flows at such low levels, it was only natural that stock valuations were high.  The fact that it was the Fed that was simultaneously buying up all the net Treasury issuance, and then some, thus driving rates artificially lower, as well as promising to do so for the foreseeable future was seen as a minor detail.

Perhaps that detail was not as minor as the bulls would have you believe!  Yesterday, the FOMC Minutes were released and the part that garnered all the attention was the discussion on the current asset purchase framework and how it might change in the future.

“Most participants judged that the Committee’s standard of “substantial further progress” toward the maximum-employment goal had not yet been met. At the same time, most participants remarked that this standard had been achieved with respect to the price- stability goal. (my emphasis) A few participants noted, however, that the transitory nature of this year’s rise in inflation, as well as the recent declines in longer-term yields and in market-based measures of inflation compensation, cast doubt on the degree of progress that had been made toward the price-stability goal since December.”

So, it seems they are in sync on the fact that the employment situation has room to run, and they don’t want to act too early because of that.  But what I find more interesting is that they can use the term ‘price stability’ when discussing inflation running in the 4.0%-5.0% range.  As well, it is apparent that many of the committee members are drinking their own Kool-Aid on the transitory story.

“Looking ahead, most participants noted that, provided that the economy were to evolve broadly as they anticipated, they judged that it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year because they saw the Committee’s “substantial further progress” criterion as satisfied with respect to the price-stability goal and as close to being satisfied with respect to the maximum employment goal. Various participants commented that economic and financial conditions would likely warrant a reduction in coming months. Several others indicated, however, that a reduction in the pace of asset purchases was more likely to become appropriate early next year because they saw prevailing conditions in the labor market as not being close to meeting the Committee’s “substantial further progress” standard or because of uncertainty about the degree of progress toward the price-stability goal.” (my emphasis)

But this was the money line, the clear talk that most of the committee expected tapering to begin before the end of the year.  While we have not yet heard any of the three key leaders (Powell, Williams and Brainerd) say they were ready to taper, it seems that most of the rest of the committee is on board.  Jackson Hole suddenly became much more interesting, because if Powell discusses tapering as likely to occur soon, it will be a done deal.  But if he doesn’t explain that tapering is coming soon, it is possible that we see four dissents, at the next meeting.  And how about this for a thought, what if those three are the only votes to stand pat, and the other six voting members want to start the taper?  That would truly be unprecedented and, I think, have major negative market ramifications.  I don’t expect that to occur, but after everything that has occurred over the past 18 months, I wouldn’t rule out anything anymore.

At any rate, the tapering talk remains topic number one in every market, and one cannot be surprised that the market’s reaction has been a clear risk-off response.  Equity markets around the world are lower, substantially so in Europe; bond markets are rallying as risk is jettisoned; commodity prices are falling, and the dollar is king!

So, let’s take a tour and see where things are.  Starting in Asia, we saw equities decline throughout the region with the Nikkei (-1.1%), Hang Seng (-2.1%) and Shanghai (-0.6%) all under pressure.  But the real pressure was felt in Korea (KOSPI -1.9%) and Taiwan (TAIEX -2.7%).  In fact, the only markets in the region to hold their own were in New Zealand.  Turning to Europe, it is a uniform decline with the DAX (-1.6%), CAC (-2.5%), and FTSE 100 (-2.0%) all falling sharply, with the lesser known indices also completely in the red.  I guess the prospect of less Fed largesse is not seen as a positive after all.  Meanwhile, ahead of this morning’s opening, US equity futures are all sharply lower, on the order of 0.75%.

Turning to the bond market, the prospect of less Fed buying is having an interesting outcome, bonds are rallying.  Of course, this is because Treasuries remain the ultimate financial safe-haven trade and as investors flee risky assets, bonds are the natural response.  So, 10-year Treasury yields have fallen 3.5bps, and we are seeing yields decline in the European market as well, at least those countries that are deemed solvent.  So, Bunds (-1.4bps), OATs (-1.1bps) and Gilts (-3.4bps) are all seeing demand.  Yields for the PIGS, however, are unchanged to higher on the day.

Commodity prices are uniformly lower, except for gold, which is essentially unchanged on the day.  Oil (-3.7%) leads the way down, but we are seeing weakness in base metals (Cu -3.3%) as well as the Agricultural space (Wheat -1.5%, Soybeans -1.2%).

Finally, the dollar is on top of the world this morning, as investors are buying dollars to buy bonds, or so it seems.  In classic risk-off fashion, only the yen (+0.1%) has managed to hold its own vs. the dollar as the rest of the G10 bloc is weaker led by NOK (-0.95%) and AUD (-0.95%).  NZD (-0.7%) and CAD (-0.7%) are also suffering greatly given the commodity weakness story.  But do not ignore the euro (-0.15%) which while it hasn’t moved very far, has managed to finally trade below the key 1.1704 support level, and is set, in my view, to head much lower.

In the EMG space, ZAR (-1.3%) is the leading decliner, falling alongside the commodity complex.  KRW (-0.7%) has given back all of yesterday’s gains as equity outflows continue to dominate the market there, but we are seeing weakness across the board with most currencies falling between 0.3%-0.6% purely on the dollar’s overall strength.

On the data front, this morning brings the weekly Initial Claims (exp 364K) and Continuing Claims (2.8M) as well as Philly Fed (23.1) and Leading Indicators (+0.7%).  There’s no scheduled Fedspeak, but what else can they say after yesterday’s Minutes anyway?  If you recall, Monday’s Empire Mfg was quite weak, so I would not be surprised to see Philly follow suit.  In fact, I think the biggest problem the Fed is going to have is that the data is rolling over and looking like a slowing economy, despite high inflation.  If they keep seeing economic weakness, are they really going to taper into a weakening economy?  They may start, but I doubt they get two months in before they stop, especially if equities continue to revalue (fall).  As to the dollar, for now, I like its prospects and suspect that we are going to trade to levels not seen since June of last year.

Good luck and stay safe
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The Chorus has Grown

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T’was only a few months ago
When Kaplan from Dallas said, whoa
The time has arrived
Where growth has revived
And bond buying needs to go slow

Since then, though, the chorus has grown
As seven more members have shown
That they all agree
It’s time for QE
To end and leave markets alone

We continue to hear from more FOMC members that it is time to taper the Fed’s purchases of both Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.  Last Wednesday, of course, the big news was that Vice-Chairman Richard Clarida came out so hawkishly in his comments, not only calling for tapering bond purchases but also raising rates sooner than the median forecast had anticipated.  Yesterday, three Fed speakers were all on the same page, with Boston’s Eric Rosengren the newest name added to the tapering crew (Bostic and Barkin were already known taperers.)  That takes the count to at least eight (Clarida, Bostic, Barkin, Rosengren, Bullard, Daly, Waller and Kaplan) with the two most hawkish FOMC members, Loretta Mester and Esther George, on the docket for today and tomorrow respectively.  It is not unreasonable, based on their respective histories, to expect both of them to call for tapering as well.  That would make ten of the seventeen members as confirmed supporters of the process.

The question is, will that be enough?  The Fed’s power core for the last several years has been concentrated in four members, Powell, Clarida, Williams and Brainerd.  Of this group, only Clarida has publicly proclaimed it has come time to taper.  And potentially, his importance is diminishing as his term ends within months and he is seen as highly unlikely to be reappointed.  Rather, the talk of the town is that Chairman Powell is also losing fans in the Senate with respect to his reappointment, and that Governor Lael Brainerd is the new leading candidate to become Fed Chair.  As it happens, neither of those two have come out for tapering soon, and in fact, last week, Ms Brainerd was adamant in her belief it was far too early to do so.  The point is, the Fed has never been a democratic institution although it is an extremely political one.  Having a majority of members agree on a view only matters if it is a majority of the right members.  By my count, that is not yet the case.  Perhaps come Jackson Hole in two plus weeks, we will hear the Chairman agree, but tapering is not yet a done deal.

Traders, however, see the world very differently than pundits, and certainly very differently than the Fed itself.  And what has become very clear in the past several days is that traders are increasingly placing bets that tapering is coming…and coming soon.  The combination of all those Fed speakers talking about tapering, the very strong NFP data as well as yesterday’s JOLTs blowout (>10 million jobs are open), and the constant stream of stories about rising wages (just this morning a BBG story on JPM raising salaries to compete to hold onto staff is simply the latest) have been sufficient to logically conclude that it is time for the Fed to begin removing accommodation.  Hence, Treasury yields have backed up nearly 20 basis points from the lows seen last Wednesday morning, the dollar has risen against all its counterparts and the price of oil has fallen by more than 4%.

Looking ahead, the question becomes, is this likely to continue?  Or have we reached a peak?  It is not unreasonable to assume that both George and Mester will call for tapering this week.  It is also not unreasonable to assume that the CPI data tomorrow is going to point to a still rising price environment, whether it ticks slightly higher or lower than last month’s 5.4% headline print.  Any number in that vicinity remains far above the Fed’s average target of 2.0%.  The point is that there is nothing obvious on the horizon that should cause the tapering hawks to back off, at least not until the end of the month.  As such, hedgers need to be prepared for a continuation of the recent price action.

Meanwhile, a look at today’s markets shows that these recent trends remain intact.  While Asian equity markets continue to follow their own drummer (Nikkei +0.25%, Hang Seng +1.25%, Shanghai +1.0%), European bourses continue to struggle (DAX +0.2%, CAC +0.1%, FTSE 100 -0.1%) as do US futures with all three major indices either side of unchanged.  Asia seems to be benefitting from the view that the PBOC is preparing to ease policy further as China responds to the increased lockdowns due to the delta variant of Covid that has been spreading quite rapidly there, in addition to the fact that the Chinese authorities have not named a new target in its seemingly random crackdown of successful companies.

Bond markets, while edging higher today, have been generally losing ground.  So, while Treasury yields are lower by 0.5bps this morning, they are at 1.32%, well off the lows seen last week.  European sovereigns are generally a touch firmer as well, with yields down by between 0.5bps and 1 bp but they, too, have seen yields climb back a bit lately.

Commodity prices, which have been under severe pressure, are rebounding slightly this morning, although this has the appearance of a trading bounce more than a sea change in view.  Commodity prices are likely to be amongst the hardest hit if the Fed really does start to tighten policy.  But this morning, oil (+2.0%) has rebounded nicely although gold (0.0%) has been unable to bounce from yesterday’s massive sell-off.  Copper (+0.65%) is leading base metals modestly higher and ags have bumped up a bit as well.

As to the dollar, right now it is arguably slightly stronger overall, but only just as there are a mix of gainers and losers vs. the greenback.  In the G10 space, the euro (-0.1%) is continuing toward its test of key support at 1.1704, albeit quite slowly.  The entire space, though, is +/- 0.2% or less, which is indicative of position adjustments rather than news driven activity.

EMG currencies are also mixed with KRW (-0.5%) the weakest of the bunch on the back of concerns over the impact of the delta variant as well as equity market outflows by international investors.  PLN (-0.4%) is the next weakest as central bank comments seemed to delay the timing of a mooted rate hike.  On the flip side, TRY (+0.6%) is the leader as Unemployment data there was released at a much lower than expected 10.6%.

Data today showed that Small Business Optimism has suffered lately with the NFIB Index falling to 99.7.  At 8:30 we see Nonfarm Productivity (exp 3.2%) and Unit Labor Costs (+1.0%), although it is unlikely either will have a big market impact.  Arguably, market participants are all waiting for tomorrow’s CPI data for the next big piece of news.

At this point, the dollar’s modest uptrend remains in place and I see no reason to believe that will change.  At least not until we hear differently from Powell or the data turns much worse.

Good luck and stay safe
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A New Endeavor

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A trend that is growing worldwide
Shows policy’s been modified
From lower forever
To a new endeavor
That tapering must be applied

But what if the jobless report
Frustrates and the number falls short?
Will traders respond
By buying the bond?
Or will sellers keep holding court?

While today is a summer Friday, which typically holds little excitement except for the anticipation of the weekend, there is a bit more at stake this morning with the release of the July NFP report at 8:30.  Given that we appear to be reaching an inflection point in policymaking circles, today’s data could either cement the changes that seem to be coming, or it could throw cold water on the entire process and take us back to square one.

The one thing that we have heard consistently over the past several weeks is that there is a growing desire by a widening array of FOMC members to begin tapering asset purchases.  While Chairman Powell has not yet indicated he is ready, and a key lieutenant, Governor Lael Brainerd, was forceful in her views that it was way too early to do so, at least six or seven other members are ready to roll, with the latest being vice-chair Clarida and SF President Daly.  But all of this tightening talk is predicated on the idea that not only has the inflation part of their mandate been achieved (gotten out of hand really), but that they have made progress on the employment part.

This brings us to today’s report.  Since December, when the number was negative amid the second wave of the Covid outbreak, we have seen the following numbers: 233K, 536K, 785K, 269K, 583K, 850K. Historically, all of those numbers would be seen as strong, but obviously, given the 20 million job losses at the beginning of the lockdown last year, those numbers represent a very different situation now.  A rudimentary look at the pattern would have you believe that today’s print, expected at 858K, is more likely to come at a much lower number, something like 250K-300K.  Frankly, the thing that has me concerned is that the monthly survey is taken during the week that contains the 15th of the month.  A quick look back at the weekly Initial Claims data for that week in July shows it was a surprisingly high 424K, a relatively high level given the prior trend.  So, it could well be that a quirk in the data may result in a disappointing headline number.  Remember, too, that the ADP Employment number was a MUCH weaker than expected 330K, so another potential sign of impending weakness.  My point is that there is a very real opportunity for a negative surprise this morning.

The question is; if we do get a negative surprise, will markets ignore it?  Or will they reevaluate their current belief set that tapering is on the way?  As it happens, there are no Fed speakers scheduled for today, so it is not obvious that anyone will be able to clarify things in that situation.

Ahead of the number, markets continue to demonstrate their belief that tighter monetary policy is coming to the US.  This is made evident by the dollar’s continuing strength, with the euro (-0.25%) testing the 1.18 level and stronger vs. all of its G10 and most of its EMG counterparts.  It is evident in the continued backing up in Treasury yields, which after trading as low as 1.1275% Wednesday ahead of the Clarida comments, are now higher by 3.3 basis points this morning and trading back at 1.26%.  While this is hardly “high” in a broad sense, the recent movement does demonstrate a clear trend

Equity markets seem to be somewhat less concerned, as yesterday, once again, US markets traded to new all-time highs.  European markets are all modestly in the green this morning and only China, which continues to attack its own companies (the latest being Moutai, the food delivery service that is mooted to be fined >$1 billion for no apparent reason), has seen any real weakness in this space.  But equity investors will continue to claim TINA until yields have really made a comeback.  And despite the modest declines we have seen in bond prices today, we have actually seen negative yielding debt rise further, to $16.9 trillion, as of yesterday, hardly a sign of tighter policy.

So, overall, we are mostly given mixed signals by markets and policymakers and need to sort things out for ourselves.  The first thing to do is look at what is expected this morning

Nonfarm Payrolls 858K
Private Payrolls 709K
Manufacturing Payrolls 26K
Unemployment Rate 5.7%
Average Hourly Earnings 0.3% (3.9% Y/Y)
Average Weekly Hours 34.7
Participation Rate 61.7%
Consumer Credit $23.0B

Source: Bloomberg

Between the widening spread of the delta variant, which is clearly disrupting supply chains around the world as well as causing more lockdowns and thus slowing economic activity, and the statistical noise and patterns, I have a feeling we are going to get a pretty bad number.  A print below 500K, which is my guess, is likely to force at least some rethinking of the timing for tapering.  Remember, while the Fed has admitted that some progress toward their goals has been achieved, their standard of “substantial further progress” remains “a ways away” according to Chairman Powell’s last comments.  A low print today will certainly delay the tapering talk.

In that event, how can we expect markets to respond?  Well, as the equity market sees all news as good news, it will clearly rally under the guise of easy money for longer.  Bond markets are also likely to push higher with yields slipping as concerns over a taper in the near-term dissipate.  But arguably, the biggest mover will be the dollar, which I believe has rallied sharply on the tapering talk, and if/when that fades, the short-term case for being long dollars will fade with it.

If I am wrong, and we get a strong number then the taper talk will intensify.  This should lead to further bond weakness (higher yields), a dollar rally and likely test of the key euro support at 1.1704, and … an equity rally since that is what stocks seem to do.

Good luck, good weekend and stay safe
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Dire Straits

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The Vice-Chair explained he foresees
A time when the Fed, by degrees
Will taper their buying
Of bonds while they’re trying
To offset the spread of disease

Soon after they finish that deed
Most members already agreed
To raise interest rates
Unless dire straits
In markets don’t let them succeed

Fed Vice-Chair Richard Clarida certainly surprised markets yesterday with his speech as he laid out his reasoning that the tapering of the Fed’s current QE purchases will occur sooner than many had previously expected.  While he started out with the caveat that the Fed will not be responding to forecasts, but rather to actual economic outcomes, he then proceeded to forecast the exact sequence of events that will occur and create the proper environment for the Fed to first, taper bond purchases and second, eventually raise interest rates.  The market response was immediate, with the bond market selling off sharply, the dollar rallying and equity markets ceding early gains alongside most commodity prices.  After all, a tighter Fed is not nearly as supportive of risk assets, but neither does it imply lower interest rates.  It is also worth noting that coincident with the release of the text of his speech was the release of the ISM Services number which printed at a much higher than expected, and record level, 64.1.  So, a positive data print and a hawkish Fed speaker were sufficient to change a lot of opinions.

But not this author’s, at least not yet.  My baseline view continues to be that the Fed remains in an extremely difficult position where inflation continues at much higher levels than which they expected or with which they are comfortable, but the employment market remains far away from their restated goal of maximum employment.  As well, as Clarida noted yesterday, and as has been repeated by numerous other Fed speakers, they promise they are not going to move on forecasts or survey data, but instead wait for actual numbers (read the NFP data and core PCE) to achieve their preferred levels before altering policy.  This means that tomorrow’s NFP data will be scrutinized even more closely than usual, as Clarida’s comments yesterday imply that even more FOMC members are ready to move.

One problem with the early taper thesis is that the data may not meet the FOMC’s requirements, at least not in the near term.  For instance, yesterday’s ADP Employment release printed at 330K, less than half the expected 690K and basically one-third of the forecasts for NFP tomorrow.  While the month to month correlation between the two data points is not perfect (0.784 over the past 5 years) it is certainly high enough to imply a strong relationship between the two.  The point is that if tomorrow’s NFP number disappoints, which cannot be ruled out, and assuming that the Fed is true to their word regarding waiting for actual data to reach their preferred levels, it would certainly suggest a delay to the tapering story.  Keep in mind, as well, that the Citi Economic Surprise Index, which measures actual releases vs. forecasts, remains in negative territory, implying that the economy is slowing further rather than extending gains seen earlier in the year.  In fact, after the much worse than expected GDP print last week, it appears that growth is already slipping back toward pre-Covid trends of 1.5% – 2.0%.  Oh yeah, none of this includes the impact of the delta variant, which has resulted in numerous lockdowns around the world and augers still slower growth.

On the flip side, though, is the fact that we have seen an increasing number of FOMC members start to accept the idea that tapering will soon be appropriate.  In addition to Clarida, yesterday we also heard from SF Fed President Daly, an avowed dove, who said, “Fed will do something on asset purchases end ’21 / early ’22.”  By my count, that makes at least six different FOMC members who have indicated tapering is coming soon.  Of this group, Clarida is by far the most important, but if even the doves like Daly are coming round to that view, tapering cannot be ruled out.

To taper or not remains the $64 trillion question for all markets, and while the recent trend of the narrative seems to be pushing in that direction, without support from ongoing improvements in employment data (after all, inflation is well through their target), it will still come to naught.

One last thing on inflation.  As the Fed tries to retake the narrative from the market, be prepared for a new description of inflation.  No longer will it be transitory, but rather, perhaps, tolerable.  In other words, they will accept that it is running hotter than their target and make the excuse that it is far more important to get the nation back to work first, at which point they can use those vaunted tools they frequently mention to address rapidly rising prices.

With all this in mind, the next question is, how will these changes impact the markets?  Yesterday’s price action is likely to be a very good case study if the data continues to support an early tapering of purchases.  Any interruption in the flow of money into the capital markets will be felt by both equities and bonds in the same way, they will fall in price, while the dollar is very likely to find a lot of support vs. both G10 and EMG counterparts.  As to commodities, my inclination is that the past year’s rally will pause, at the very least, but given they remain massively undervalued vs. other asset classes, they likely still have some upside.

On to today.  Overnight price action was mixed with the Nikkei (+0.5%) rising somewhat while Chinese shares (Hang Seng -0.8%, Shanghai -0.3%) were under pressure as stories about the next sectors to feel the wrath of regulators (sin stocks) were rampant with those falling and dragging the indices with them.  fortunately, they represent a much smaller portion of the market than the tech sector, so will have a smaller negative impact if that is, indeed, the situation.  Europe is mixed this morning (DAX +0.1%, CAC +0.35%, FTSE 100 -0.2%) as the morning data was inconclusive and investors there are far more concerned with the Fed than anything else.  As to US futures, they are all modestly higher this morning, about 0.2%.

Bond markets are showing the difference between central bank policy this morning with Treasuries consolidating yesterday’s declines and unchanged on the day, while European sovereigns (Bunds -1.0bps, OATs -1.2bps) continue to see support from an ECB that is nowhere near tightening policy.  Gilts (+2.0bps) on the other hand, are selling off a bit as the BOE meeting, just ending, revealed several things.  First, they are prepared to go to negative interest rates if they need to.  Second, they will continue their current QE pace of £3.4 billion per week, and third, that they expect inflation to reach 4.0% in Q4 of this year.  They did, however, explain that if things proceed as expected, some tightening, read higher interest rates, may be appropriate.  while the initial move in the GBP was a sharp jump higher, it has already retraced those steps and at +0.2% is only modestly up on the day.

Commodity prices are mixed with oil consolidating after yesterday’s rout and unchanged on the day.  In fact, the same is true of precious and most base metals, as traders are trying to figure out their next move, so likely waiting for tomorrow’s data.

And the dollar, interestingly, is modestly softer vs. the G10 this morning, but that is after a strong rally yesterday in the wake of the Clarida speech.  The commodity bloc is leading the way (AUD +0.35%, NOK +0.3%, NZD +0.25%) despite the lack of commodity price action.  And this also sems to ignore the 6th lockdown in Melbourne since the pandemic began last year, as the delta variant continues to wreak havoc around the world.  The rest of the G10 though, has seen much less movement.  In the emerging markets, PHP (-1.0%) was by far the worst performer overnight as the covid caseload soared to record numbers and concerns over growth expanded.  After that, TRY (-0.6%) is the next worst, as President Erdogan came out with calls for a rate cut despite rampant inflation.  However, away from those two currencies, movement has been on the order of +/- 0.2%, indicating nothing very special.  Essentially, these markets have ignored Clarida.  One last thing to note here is yesterday, the central bank of Brazil raised its SELIC rate by 1.0% to 5.25%, as inflation is exploding there.  However while BRL has been modestly stronger over the past several sessions, this was widely priced in so there was no big movement.

Data-wise, today brings Initial Claims (exp 383K), Continuing Claims (3255K) and the Trade Balance (-$74.2B), none of which seem likely to change any opinions.  Rather, at this point, all eyes are on tomorrow’s NFP data.  We also hear from two Fed speakers, Governor Waller and Minneapolis President KashKari, who is arguably the most dovish of all.  certainly if he starts talking taper, then the die is cast.  We shall see.

As I said, if tapering is on the cards, the dollar will likely test its highs from March/April, so be prepared.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf

The Tapering Walk

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For those who expected a hawk
When Powell completed his talk
T’was somewhat depressing
That Jay was professing
They’d not walk the tapering walk

Then last night, from China, we learned
A falling stock market concerned
The powers that be
Thus, they did agree
To pander to those who’d been burned

Apparently, the Fed is not yet ready to alter its policy in any way.  That is the message Chairman Powell delivered yesterday through the FOMC statement and following press conference.  Though it seems clear there was a decent amount of discussion regarding the tapering of asset purchases, in the end, not only was there no commitment on the timing of such tapering, there was no commitment on the timing of any potential decision.  Instead, Chairman Powell explained that while progress had been made toward their goals, “substantial further progress” was still a ways away, especially regarding the employment situation.

When asked specifically about the fact that inflation was currently much higher than the FOMC’s target and whether or not that met the criteria for averaging 2%, he once again assured us that recent price rises would be transitory.  Remember, the dictionary definition of transitory is simply, ‘not permanent’.  Of course, the question is exactly what does the Fed mean is not going to be permanent?  It was here that Powell enlightened us most.  He explained that while price rises that have already occurred would likely not be reversed, he was concerned only with the ongoing pace of those price rises.  The Fed’s contention is that the pace of rising prices will slow down and fall back to levels seen prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Of course, no Powell Q&A would be complete without a mention of the “tools” the Fed possesses in the event their inflation views turn out to be wrong.  Jay did not disappoint here, once again holding that on the off chance inflation seems not to be transitory, they will address it appropriately.  This, however, remains very questionable.  As the tools of which they speak, higher interest rates, will have a decisively negative impact on asset markets worldwide, it is difficult to believe the Fed will raise rates aggressively enough to combat rising inflation and allow asset markets to fall sharply.  In order to combat inflation effectively, history has shown real interest rates need to be significantly positive, which means if inflation is running at 5%, nominal rates above 6% will be required.  Ask yourself how the global economy, with more than $280 Trillion of debt outstanding, will respond to interest rates rising 600 basis points. Depression anyone?

At any rate, the upshot of the FOMC meeting was that the overall impression was one of a more dovish hue than expected going in, and the market response was exactly as one might expect.  Equity markets rebounded in the US and have continued that path overnight.  Bond markets rallied a bit in the US, although with risk appetite back in vogue, have ceded some ground this morning.  Commodity prices are rising and the dollar is under pressure.

Speaking of risk appetite, the other key story this week had been China and the apparent crackdown on specific industries like payments and education.  While Tuesday night’s comments by the Chinese helped to stabilize markets there, that was clearly not enough.  So, last night we understand that the China Securities Regulatory Commission gathered a group of bankers to explain that China was not seeking to disengage from the world nor prevent its companies from accessing capital markets elsewhere.  They went on to explain that recent crackdowns on tech and educational companies were designed to help those companies “grow in the proper manner”, a statement that could only be made by a communist apparatchik.  But in the end, the assurances given were effective as equity markets in Hong Kong and China were sharply higher and those specific companies that had come under significant pressure rebounded on the order of 7%-10%.  So, clearly there is no reason to worry.

Now, I’m sure you all feel better that things are just peachy everywhere.  The combination of Chairman Powell removing any concerns over inflation getting out of hand and the Chinese looking out for our best interests regarding the method of growth in its economy has led to a strongly positive risk sentiment.  As such, it should be no surprise that equity prices are higher around the world.  Asia started things (Nikkei +0.75%, Hang Seng +3.3%, Shanghai +1.5%) and Europe has followed suit (DAX +0.45%, CAC +0.7%, FTSE 100 +0.9%).  US futures have not quite caught the fever with the NASDAQ (-0.2%) lagging, although the other two main indices are slightly higher.

In the bond market, investors are selling as they no longer feel the need of the relative safety there, with Treasury yields higher by 3bps, while Bunds (+2bps), AOTs (+1bp) and Gilts (+2.7bps) are all under pressure.  But remember, yields remain at extremely low levels and real yields remain deeply negative, so a few bps here is hardly a concern.

Commodity prices have waived off concerns over the delta variant slowing the economy down and are higher across the board.  Oil (+0.25%), gold (+0.85%), copper (+1.1%) and the entire agricultural space are embracing the renewed growth narrative.

Finally, the dollar, as would be expected during a clear risk-on session and in the wake of the Fed explaining that tapering is not coming to a screen near you anytime soon, is lower across the board.  In the G10 space, NZD (+0.6%) and NOK (+0.55%) are leading the way higher, which is to be expected given the movement in commodity prices.  CAD (+0.45%) is next in line.  But even the yen (+0.1%) has edged higher despite the positive risk attitude.  One could easily describe this as a pure dollar sell-off.

In the emerging markets, HUF (+0.85%) is the leader as traders are back focused on the hawkishness of the central bank and an imminent rate hike, now ignoring the lack of EU funding that remains an open issue.  ZAR (+0.8%) is next on the commodity story with KRW (+0.7%) in the bronze medal position as exporters took advantage of the weakest won in nearly a year to sell dollars and then Samsung’s earnings blew away expectations on the huge demand for semiconductors, and funds flowed into the equity market.

We get our first look at Q2 GDP this morning (exp 8.5%) with the Consumption component expected to rise 10.5% on a SAAR basis.  We also see Initial Claims (385K) and Continuing Claims (3183K).  Recall, last week Initial Claims were a much higher than expected 419K, so weakness here could easily start to cause some additional concern at the Fed and delay the tapering discussion even further.  With the FOMC behind us, we can look forward to a great deal more Fedspeak, although it appears many of the committee members are on vacation, as we only have two scheduled in the next week, and they come tomorrow.  I imagine that calendar will fill in as time passes.

Putting it all together shows that any Fed hawks remain in the distinct minority, and that the party will continue for the foreseeable future.  Overall, the dollar has been trading in a range and had been weakly testing the top of that range.  It appears that move is over, and we seem likely to drift lower for the next several sessions at least, but there is no breakout on the horizon.

Good luck and stay safe
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A Popular View

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It seems that a popular view

Explains that the Fed will pursue

A slowdown in buying

More bonds as they’re trying 

To bid, fondly, QE adieu






At least that’s what pundits all thought





The Powell press conference had wrought





They talked about talking





But are not yet walking





The path to where policy’s taut





It appears virtually unanimous that the punditry believes the FOMC is going to be tightening policy (i.e. tapering) in the ‘near future’.  Of course, the near future is just as imprecise as transitory, the Fed’s favorite word.  Neither of these words convey any specificity, which makes them very powerful in the narrative game, but perhaps not so powerful when directly addressed.  My take on transitory is as follows: initial expectations were it meant 2 or 3 quarters of price pressures which would then dissipate as supply chains were quickly reconnected.  However, it has since morphed into as much as 2 to 3 years given the reality that certain shortages, notably semiconductors, may take much longer to abate as the timeline to build out new capacity is typically 2 to 3 years.  I guess it all depends on your frame of reference as to what transitory means.  For instance, to a tortoise, 2 to 3 year is clearly but a blip in their lives, but to a fruit fly, it is beyond an eternity.  Sadly, the market’s attention span is much closer to that of a fruit fly’s than a tortoise’s so 2 to 3 years feels a lot more permanent than not.  This is especially so since there is no way to know if other, more persistent inflationary issues may arise in the interim.





As to the ‘near future’, that seems to mean somewhere between the middle of 2022 and the middle of 2024.  Here too, the timeline is extremely flexible to accommodate whatever story is trying to be sold told.  When puffing up the strength of the economic recovery, expectations tend toward the earliest estimates.  In fact, we continue to hear from several FOMC members that tapering will soon be appropriate.  However, if we look at who is making those comments (Bullard, Kaplan, Rosengren and Bostic), we find that only Raphael Bostic from Atlanta currently has a vote.  At the same time, those who are least interested in the idea of tapering include the leadership (Powell, Clarida and Williams) as well as the other governors (Bowman, Brainard, Quarles and Waller), and they have permanent votes.  In other words, my take on the FOMC meeting is it was far less hawkish than much of the punditry has described.  And there is one group, which really matters, that is apparently in agreement with me; the bond market!  Treasury prices after an initial sell-off (yield rally) have reversed that move and are essentially unchanged with a flatter yield curve.  It strikes me that if the Fed were to taper, yields would start to rise in the long end as the removal of that support would have a significant negative price impact.





So, if I were to piece together the narrative now it appears to be the following: inflation is still transitory if it remains well above target for the next 2 years and the bond market is convinced that is the case (ostensibly a survey showed that 70% of fixed income managers believe the transitory story).  Meanwhile, despite the transitory nature of inflation, the Fed is going to tighten its monetary policy sometime next year and potentially even raise the Fed Funds rate in 2023.  Personally, that seems somewhat contradictory to me, but apparently cognitive dissonance is a prerequisite to becoming an FOMC member these days.





At any rate, given the lack of actual policy changes by the Fed, all we have is the narrative.  This week we will have four more Fed speakers to continue to reiterate that narrative, that despite the transitory nature of inflation we are going to tighten policy in the future.  Of course, that begs the question, Why?  Why tighten policy if there is no inflation?  Cognitive dissonance indeed.





In the meantime, as markets continue to try to figure out what exactly is happening, we wind up with paralysis by analysis and relatively limited movement.  For instance, equity markets in Asia were all essentially unchanged overnight, with not one of them moving even 0.1%.  Europe, on the other hand is having a tougher go this morning with red across the screen (DAX -0.1%, CAC -0.5% and FTSE 100 -0.5%) with a real outlier as Spain’s IBEX (-1.5%).  There has been no data released but there is growing concern that the Delta variant of Covid is going to cause another lockdown in Europe before they finished reopening the first time.  This is based on the fact that we have seen lockdowns reimposed in Australia, Japan, Singapore and Israel after all those nations seemed to be moving forward.  As to US futures, they are either side of unchanged at this hour awaiting some clarity on anything.





It can be no surprise that bond markets are rallying slightly with Treasuries (-1.7bps) leading the way but small yield declines in Europe as well (Bunds -0.8bps, OATs -1.1bps, Gilts -1.8bps).  With equity markets under pressure, this is a natural reaction.  And if you consider the reasoning, worries over another Covid wave, then slower growth would be expected.





Funnily enough, Covid is having a currency impact today as well.  In the G10, the new Health Minister, Sajid Javid, has said he wants to see the country return to normal “as soon and as quickly as possible.”  Despite the equity market concerns, the FX market saw that as bullish and the pound (+0.2%) is the leading gainer in the G10 this morning.  But as the morning has progressed and risk sentiment has become less positive, the dollar is starting to asset itself against most of the rest of the bloc with NZD (-0.35%) and NOK (-0.3%) the laggards.  Both of these are under pressure from declining commodity prices as oil (-0.1%) is sagging a bit.





In the EMG bloc, ZAR (-0.8%) is in the worst condition this morning as the Delta Covid variant has increased its spread and the government is behind the curve in treating the issue.  But we saw weakness overnight in THB (-0.6%), and this morning the CE4 are all under the gun as well.  And the story seems to be the same everywhere, tighter Covid restrictions are undermining currencies while positivity is helping them.





It is a big data week as it culminates in the payroll report on Friday:





TuesdayCase Shiller Home Prices14.85%
 Consumer Confidence119.0
WednesdayADP Employment550K
 Chicago PMI70.0
ThursdayInitial Claims389K
 Continuing Claims3335K
 ISM Manufacturing61.0
 ISM Prices Paid86.0
FridayNonfarm Payrolls700K
 Private Payrolls600K
 Manufacturing Payrolls25K
 Unemployment Rate5.7%
 Average Hourly Earnings0.3% (3.6% y/Y)
 Average Weekly Hours34.9
 Participation Rate61.7%
 Trade Balance-$71.3B
 Factory Orders1.5%





Source: Bloomberg





Obviously, all eyes will be on the payroll data as the Fed has made it clear that employment is their key focus for now.  There was an interesting story in the WSJ this morning highlighting how the states that have ended the Federal Unemployment Insurance bonus have seen an immediate pickup in employment with jobs suddenly being filled.  That bodes well for the future, but it also means we will have this issue for another quarter if all the states that maintain the bonuses continue to do so.





As mentioned above, several Fed speakers will be out selling the narrative that inflation is transitory, but tapering may be coming anyway.  (A cynic might think they are not being totally honest in what they are saying, but only a cynic.)





A quick top down look at the FX market leads me to believe that individual national stories are currently the real drivers.  So those nations that are raising interest rates to fight inflation (Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, Russia) are likely to see their currencies hold up.  Those nations that are having serious relapses in Covid infections (South Africa, much of Europe) are likely to see their currencies come under pressure.  Where the two meet (South Korea), it seems to depend on the day as to which way the currency goes.  With that in mind, though, I would bet the monetary policy story will have more permanence will be the ultimate driver.





Today, the dollar seems to be in fine fettle as risk is on the back foot given the increasing Covid concerns over the Delta variant.  But do not be surprised if tomorrow is different.





Good luck and stay safe





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