Tag Archives: #treasuries

Bears are All Thrilled

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Kuroda explained
The future is like the past
Ergo, rates unchanged

The BOJ concluded their latest policy meeting last night and the results were…nothing changed.  Well, that’s not strictly true.  Their economic and inflation forecasts were tweaked to arrive at a revised path to the same outcome.  So, instead of faster growth this year, they decided it would be delayed a year before falling back to its long-term 1.0% trend while inflation is now forecast to jump up to… 1.1% for the next two years, from a previous expectation of 1.0%. Now that’s precision!  Kuroda-san’s term expires in April 2023 and despite 12 years of extraordinarily easy money, with QE, YCC and NIRP all employed to drive inflation higher, at this time it seems likely that he will have failed dismally in his only task.  (As an aside, I would wager if you surveyed the Japanese population, there would be scant few demands for higher prices in their purchases.  Just sayin’.)  As to the yen, it is essentially unchanged on the day and when asked about the currency, Kuroda explained it should move stably (whatever that means), but that a weaker yen would ultimately be desired.  Plus ça change.

Excitement has started to build
And bond market bears are all thrilled
With One point Eight breached
The story they’ve preached
Is finally being fulfilled

Arguably, however, the biggest story today is that the US 10-year yield has finally traded above 1.80% (as I type it is +3.2bps at 1.816%) for the first time since before the pandemic in February 2020.  For those market participants who have been preaching that rising inflation would lead to higher yields, this is a clear milestone.  Regarding the transitory vs. persistent inflation narrative, this also indicates a growing number of investors are moving toward the persistent side of the argument.  The key question, of course, is why has this happened today?  Are there specific catalysts or was it simply time?

Perhaps the first place to look is the oil market, where WTI (+1.2%) has rallied more than $1.00/bbl and is trading back above $85/bbl for the first time since October 2014.  We all know that higher oil prices tend to have a very clear impact on both actual prices and price expectations.  Today’s oil rally seems to be the result of a few different issues.  First has been the news that there was a drone attack on oil facilities in the UAE raising the specter of market disruptions from the Middle East.  A background story there is that the amount of spare capacity available in OPEC+ members may also be somewhat overstated as evidenced by the fact that OPEC’s last production increase of 400K barrels per day fell short because several members simply couldn’t pump enough to meet their quotas.  Meanwhile, demand seems pretty robust as 1) the omicron variant is quickly becoming seen as akin to the common cold and so not too disruptive; and 2) with NatGas prices so high in Europe and Asia, utilities are turning to both oil and coal to power their countries adding to oil demand.

Of course, the other key feature of the US interest rate market is forecasting what the Fed is going to do this year and how that will impact things.  It is worth noting that while 10-year yields have jumped 3+ basis points this morning, 2-year yields are higher by more than 6 basis points and back above 1.0% for the first time since before the pandemic as well.  But that means that the yield curve continues to flatten, a harbinger of slower future growth.  Now, one might expect that slower future growth would help reduce inflationary fears and ordinarily that would be a good thought.  However, there is nothing ordinary about the current policy settings nor their recent history and it is those features that are likely to drive market sentiment for at least a little longer.

Remember, monetary policy works with “long and variable lags” which historically has been calculated as somewhere between 24 and 30 months.  This implies that whatever action the Fed takes next week will not start to impact the economy until 2024.  It also means that the actions they took at the beginning of the pandemic, about 22 months ago, are likely starting to be felt in the real economy.  Money supply rose >35% for many months throughout 2020 and the early part of 2021, and it is fair to expect that the impact of all that extra cash floating around has not yet completely been seen.  The point is that inflation remains built up in the system and is likely to be with us for quite some time to come.  With this in mind, it is easy to see why yields are rising.

And there is one more thing to add to the puzzle, QT.  Remember, too, comments from a number of FOMC members hinted at an increasing desire to start reducing the size of their balance sheet.  If they do follow through with that process, it seems likely that Treasury yields will move even higher across the curve as the only price insensitive buyer leaves the market.  The question then becomes, at what point do yields rise enough to make the Treasury uncomfortable when it comes to refinancing the current debt?  I make no claims that I know where that level lies, but I remain confident that as soon as carrying costs for debt start to climb as a percentage of GDP, QT is going to end.  Summing up, there is a lot happening and it feels like we may be at the beginning of some significant trend changes.

How has all this activity impacted markets today?  You will not be surprised to know that risk has been significantly reduced across the board.  Looking at equity markets, red is the predominant color on screens this morning with only one exception, Shanghai (+0.8%) as traders react to easing monetary policy and support for property markets in China.  Otherwise, it is not pretty (Nikkei -0.3%, Hang Seng -0.4%, DAX -1.0%, CAC -1.0%, FTSE 100 -0.6%).  US futures are also under severe pressure led by the NASDAQ (-1.8%) although both the DOW and SPX are lower by -1.0% at this hour.  It seems that rising yields are pretty bad for growth stocks and I believe that story has legs.

Global bond markets had all been much softer earlier in the session but have since recouped their losses so that European sovereigns are essentially unchanged at this hour.  The one outlier, again, in Asia was China, where CGB’s saw yields decline 4.4bps last night as investors pile in looking for further policy ease.

On the commodity front, we have already discussed oil, which is by far the most interesting thing out there.  NatGas in the US is little changed on the day and actually slightly lower in Europe.  Gold (-0.3%) has fallen which should be no surprise given the rise in yields across the curve, and copper (-0.85%) is also under pressure as the flatter curve and declining stocks hint at weaker future growth.

As to the dollar, it is generally firmer this morning although not universally so.  SEK (-0.5%) is the laggard in the G10 on a combination of residual belief the Riksbank will remain relatively dovish and the beginnings of concern over election outcomes when the Swedes go to the polls in September.  After that, AUD (-0.4%) and NZD (-0.4%) are next in line, both suffering from weakness in metals and agricultural markets.  The rest of the bloc is softer by about 0.2% or so save CAD (+0.1%) which is benefitting from oil’s rise.

In the emerging markets, TRY (-0.8%) volatility continues to dominate, but INR (-0.45%), PHP (-0.45%) and HUF (-0.45%) are all under pressure as well.  The first two are feeling the effects of higher Treasury yields as well as concerns over potential CNY weakness after PBOC comments about preventing one-way trading (meaning continued strength).  As to HUF, it and the rest of the CE4 look simply to be displaying their relatively high betas with respect to the euro (-0.2%).

On the data front, Empire Manufacturing (exp 25.0) is today’s only number of note and we will need a big surprise in either direction to have a market impact.  Rather, today’s trend seems pretty clear, higher yields, weaker stocks and a stronger dollar.  Will it continue much longer?  That, of course, is the key question.

Good luck and stay safe
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QE Galore

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With Kaplan and Rosengren out
The hawks have lost much of their clout
This opens the door
For QE galore
With tapering now more in doubt

As well, has Jay’s rep now been stained
So much that he won’t be retained
As Chair of the Fed
With Brainerd, instead
The one that progressives ordained?

All the action is in the bond market these days as investors and traders focus on the idea that the Fed is going to begin tapering its asset purchases in November.  Not surprisingly, demand for Treasuries has diminished on these prospects with the yield curve bear steepening as 10-year and 30-year yields climb more rapidly than the front end of the curve.  In fact, this morning, 10-year Treasury yields have risen a further 3.5 basis points, which makes 22bps since the FOMC meeting, and is now trading at 1.52%, its highest level since June.  Yields are rising elsewhere in the world as well, just not quite as rapidly as in the US.  For instance, Bunds (+3.2bps today, +13bps since Wednesday), OATs (+3.1bps today, 15bps since Wednesday) and Gilts (+4.8bps today, +20bps since Wednesday) are also under severe pressure.  While the BOE has absolutely discussed the idea of tapering, the same is not true with the ECB, which instead is discussing how it is going to replace PEPP when it expires in March 2022.

By the way, there is another victim to these rate rises, the NASDAQ, (futures -1.6%) where the tech sector lives and whose valuations have moved to extraordinary heights based on their long duration characteristics.

But let us consider how recent, sudden, changes in the makeup of the Fed may impact the current narrative.  It seems that two of the more hawkish Regional Fed presidents, Boston’s Rosengren and Dallas’ Kaplan, were actively trading their personal accounts at the same time they were privy to the inside discussions at the FOMC.  I can’t imagine more useful information short of knowledge of an acquisition, with respect to how to position my personal portfolio.  When this news broke last week, there was an initial uproar and then a slow boil rose such that both clearly felt pressured to step down.  (Of course, they had already sold out their positions ahead of the tapering discussion, so don’t worry, they kept their gains!)

There are a couple of things here which I have not yet seen widely discussed, but which must be considered when looking ahead.  First, the two of them were amongst the more hawkish FOMC members, with Kaplan the first to talk about tapering and Rosengren climbing on that bandwagon several months ago with vocal support.  So, will their replacements be quite as hawkish?  It would not surprise if Dallas goes for another hawk but given the progressivity of the bulk of New England, the new Boston Fed president seems far more likely to lean dovish in my view.  So, the tone of the FOMC seems likely to change.

Perhaps of more importance, though, is that this went on under Chairman Powell’s nose with no issues raised until it became public.  That is hardly a sign of strong leadership, and the very idea that two FOMC members were trading their personal accounts on the back of inside information is a huge black mark on his chairmanship.  You can be certain that when he sits down before the Senate Banking Panel today, Senator Warren is going to be tenacious in her attacks.  The point is, the idea that Powell will be reappointed may just have been squashed.  This means that Lael Brainerd, currently a Fed governor, may well get the (poison) chalice.  Governor Brainerd, just yesterday, explained that she was not nearly ready to taper, rather that the labor market was still “a bit short of the mark” of the “substantial further progress” threshold.  In fact, she is convinced that the economy will revert to its pre-pandemic characteristics soon after the delta variant dissipates.

If you consider the implications of this new information, we could well wind up with a more dovish FOMC generally with a much more dovish Fed chair.  Ask yourself if that scenario is likely to produce a consensus to taper asset purchases?  While Jay may get the process started, assuming economic activity holds up through November, they will never end QE with that type of FOMC bias.  In fact, it would not be surprising if the Biden administration nominated someone like Professor Stephanie Kelton, the queen of MMT, for one of the open governorships.

Summing up, recent surprising actions have now opened the door for a much more dovish Fed going forward.  This means that the fight against inflation, which even Powell has begun to admit could last a bit longer than initially anticipated, is of secondary, if not tertiary, importance.  For now, the dollar is following US rates higher as spreads widen in the dollar’s favor, but if the Fed gets reconstructed in a more dovish manner, which seems far more likely this morning than last week, I would expect the dollar to find a top sooner rather than later.

However, that is all prognostication of what may happen.  What is happening right now is that yields are rising on the taper talk and risk is being jettisoned as a result.  So, equity markets are generally under pressure.  Last night saw the Nikkei (-0.2%) slip a bit while the bulk of the rest of the region suffered more acutely (Australia -1.5%), although Shanghai (+0.5%) and the Hang Seng (+1.2%) were the positive outliers.  However, that seemed more like dip buying than fundamentally led activity.  Europe is really under the gun (DAX -1.15%, CAC -1.75%, FTSE 100 -0.5%) as yields, as discussed above, rise everywhere.

Commodity prices continue to show mixed behavior as oil (WTI +0.95%) and Nat Gas (+7.5%), rise sharply on supply concerns while metals (Au -0.9%, Cu -1.3%) all suffer on the back of concerns over economic growth and the dollar’s strength.

Speaking of the dollar, it is universally higher this morning against both G10 and EMG counterparts.  NZD (-0.8%) and GBP (-0.7%) are the downside leaders this morning, with kiwi feeling pressure from falling iron ore prices while the pound turned tail recently on position adjustments as traders await a dovish BOE speaker’s comments later in the session.  But, AUD (-0.6%) is also feeling the pressure from declining metals prices and in a more surprising outcome, NOK (-0.5%) is floundering despite rising oil prices and the fact that the Norgesbank was the First G10 central bank to actually raise rates!  As well, don’t forget JPY (-0.4%) which is now pushing to its highest levels of the year and not far from multi-year highs.  Remember, high energy prices are a distinct yen negative.

EMG currencies are being led lower by ZAR (-1.0%) on weaker metals prices and THB (-0.75%) which is continuing to feel pressure from its fiscal accounts.  But here too, the weakness is widespread (KRW -0.65%, MXN -0.6%, PLN -0.6%) as the dollar is simply in substantial demand on the back of the yield benefit.

On the data front, yesterday’s Durable Goods numbers were much stronger than expected, clearly helping the rate/dollar story.  This morning brings Case Shiller House Prices (exp 20.0%) as well as Consumer Confidence (115.0) and the Advanced Goods Trade Balance (-$87.3B).  But the feature event will be the 10:00am sit down by Powell and Yellen at the Senate.  We do hear from four other FOMC members, but none will garner the same attention.  It will be interesting to hear how he parries what are almost certain to be questions about the insider trading scandal as well as more persistent inflation.  Stay tuned!

The correlation of the dollar to the 10-year yield has risen sharply in the past several sessions and is now above 60%.  I see no reason for that to change, nor any reason for yields to stop climbing right now.  While I doubt we even get back to the March highs of 1.75%, that doesn’t mean we won’t see some more fireworks in the meantime.

Good luck and stay safe
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Likely to Fade

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The bond market’s making it clear

Inflation, while higher this year,

Is likely to fade

Just like Jay portrayed

While bottlenecks soon disappear






The data though’s yet to support





Inflation’s rise will be cut short





Perhaps CPI





Next week will supply





The data the Fed does purport





For the past month, virtually every price indicator in the G20 has printed higher than forecast, which continues a multi-month trend and has been a key support of the inflationist camp.  After all, if the actual inflation readings continue to rise more rapidly than econometric models indicate, it certainly raises the question if there is something more substantial behind the activity.  At the same time, there has been a corresponding increase of commentary by key central bank heads that, dammit, inflation is transitory!  Both sides of this debate have been able to point to pieces of data to claim that they have the true insight, but the reality is neither side really knows.  This fact is made clear by the story-telling that accompanies all the pronouncements.  For instance, the transitory camp assures us that supply-chain bottlenecks will soon be resolved as companies increase their capacities, and so price pressures will abate.  But building new plant and equipment takes time, sometimes years, so those bottlenecks may be with us for many months.  Meanwhile, the persistent camp highlights the idea that the continued rise in commodity prices will see input costs trend higher with price rises ensuing.  But we have already seen a significant retreat from the absolute peaks, and it is not clear that a resumption of the trend is in the offing.  The problem with both these stories is either outcome is possible so both sides are simply talking their books.





While I remain clearly in the persistent camp, my take is more on the psychological effects of the recent rise in so many prices.  After all, even the Fed is focused on inflation expectations.  So, considering that recency bias remains a strongly inbred human condition, and that prices have risen recently, there is no question many people are expecting prices to continue to rise.  At the same time, one argument that had been consistently made during the pre-pandemic days was that companies could not afford to raise prices due to competition as they were afraid of losing business.  But now, thanks to multiple rounds of stimulus checks, the population, as a whole, is flush with cash.  As evidenced by the fact that so many companies have already raised prices during the past year and continue to sell their wares, it would appear that the fear of losing business over higher prices has greatly diminished.





And yet…the bond market has accepted the transitory story as gospel.  This was made clear yesterday when both Treasury and Gilt yields tumbled 8 basis points while Bund and OAT yields fell 6bps.  That is not the behavior of a bond market that is worried about runaway inflation.  





So, which is it?  That, of course, is the $64 trillion question, and one for which nobody yet has the answer.  What we can do, though, is try to determine how markets may move in either circumstance.





If inflation is truly transitory it would seem that we can look forward to a continued bull flattening of yield curves with the level of rates falling alongside the slope of the yield curve.  Commodity prices will arguably have peaked as new production comes online and equity markets will benefit significantly from lower interest rates alongside steady growth.  As to the dollar, it seems unlikely to change dramatically as lower yields alongside lower inflation means real yields will be stable.





On the other hand, if prices rise persistently for the next quarters (or years), financial markets are likely to respond very differently.  At some point the bond market will become uncomfortable with the situation and yields will start to rise more sharply amid a steeper yield curve as the Fed will almost certainly remain well behind the curve and continue to suppress the front end.  Commodity prices will have resumed their uptrend as they will be a key driver in the entire inflationary story.  Energy, especially, will matter as virtually every other product requires energy to be created, so higher energy prices will feed into the economy at large.  Equity markets may find themselves in a more difficult situation, especially the high growth names that are akin to very long duration bonds, although certain sectors (utilities, staples, REITs) are likely to hold their own.  And the dollar?  If, as supposed, the Fed remains behind the curve, the dollar will suffer significantly, as real yields will decline sharply.  This will be more evident if we continue to see policy tightening from the group of countries that have already begun that process.





In the end, though, we are all just speculating with no inside knowledge of the eventual outcome.  It is for this reason that hedging is so important.  Well designed hedge strategies help moderate the outcome regardless of the eventual results, and that is a worthy goal in itself. Hedging can reduce earnings/cash flow volatility.





Onward to today’s markets.  Starting with bonds, after yesterday’s huge rally, we continue to see demand as, though Treasury yields are unchanged, European sovereign yields have fallen by between 0.3bps (Gilts) and 1.5bps (Bunds), with the rest of the major nations somewhere in between.





Equity markets have been more mixed but are turning higher.  Last night saw the Nikkei (-1.0%) and Hang Seng (-0.4%) follow the bulk of the US market lower, but Shanghai (+0.7%) responded positively to news that the PBOC may soon be considering cutting rates to support what is a clearly weakening growth impulse in China.  (Caixin PMI fell to 50.3 in Services and 51.3 in Manufacturing, both far lower than expected in June.)  European markets have been in better stead with the DAX (+0.9%) leading the way and FTSE 100 (+0.5%) putting in a solid performance although the CAC (+0.1%) is really not doing much.  The big news here was the European Commission publishing their latest forecasts for higher growth this year and next as well as slightly higher inflation.  Finally, US futures markets are all pointing higher with the NASDAQ (+0.5%) continuing to lead the way.





Commodity prices are definitely higher this morning with oil (+1.5%) a key driver, but metals (Au +0.6%, Ag +1.0%, Cu +2.0% and Al +0.3%) all finding strong bids.  Agricultural products are also bid this morning and there is more than one analyst who is claiming we have seen the bottom in the commodity correction with higher prices in our future.





As to the dollar, it is somewhat mixed, but arguably, modestly weaker on the day.  In the G10, NZD (+0.4%), NOK (+0.3%) and AUD (+0.3%) are the leaders with all three benefitting from the broad-based commodity rally.  SEK (-0.25%) is the laggard as renewed discussion of moderating inflation pressures has investors assuming the Riksbank will be late to the tightening party thus leaving the krona relatively unattractive.





In the EMG bloc, ZAR (+0.5%), MXN (+0.35%) and RUB (+0.25%) are the leading gainers, with all three obviously benefitting from the commodity story this morning.  CNY (+0.25%) has also gained after investor inflows into the Chinese bond market supported the renminbi.  On the downside, KRW (-0.7%) and PHP (-0.6%) fell the most although the bulk of those moves came in yesterday’s NY session as the dollar rallied across the board and these currencies gapped lower on the opening and remained there.  Away from these, though, activity has been less impressive with few stories to drive things.





Two pieces of data today are the JOLTS Job Openings (exp 9.325M) and the FOMC Minutes this afternoon.  The former will simply serve to highlight the mismatch in skills that exists in the US as well as the fact that current policy with enhanced unemployment insurance has kept many potential workers on the sidelines.  As to the Minutes, people will be focused on any taper discussion as well as the conversation on interest rates and why views about rates changed so much during the quarter.





Our lone Fed speaker of the week, Atlanta Fed President Bostic, will be on the tape at 3:30 this afternoon.  To date, he has been in the tapering sooner camp, so I would expect that will remain the situation.  





Yesterday’s dollar rally was quite surprising given the decline in both nominal and real yields in the US.  However, it has hardly given back any ground.  At its peak in early April, the dollar index traded up to 93.4 and the euro fell to 1.1704.  We would need to break through those levels to convince of a sustained move higher in the dollar.  In the meantime, I expect that the odds are the dollar can cede some of its recent gains.





Good luck and stay safe





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			Hard to Explain
		


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		
For those who believe that inflation


Is soon to explode ‘cross the nation


It’s hard to explain


Why yields only wane


Resulting in angst and vexation


But there is a possible clue


That might help the bond bears’ world view


In Q1 Ms. Yellen


Had Treasury sellin’


More bonds than the Fed could accrue


However, that’s no longer true


As Powell, through all of Q2


Will buy more each week


Than Janet will seek


To sell.  Lower yields then ensue.


With the FOMC meeting on the near horizon, traders are loath to take large positions in case there is a major surprise.  At this point, the market appears to broadly believe that any tapering talk is not going to happen until the Jackson Hole meeting in August, so the hawks are not expecting a boost.  At the same time, there is virtually no expectation that the Fed would consider increasing QE, thus the doves remain reliant on the transitory inflation narrative.  As it stands, the doves continue to hold the upper hand as while last week’s CPI print was shockingly high,  there has been much written about the drivers of that number are all due to level off shortly, and inflation will soon head back to its old 1.5%-2.0% range.


One of the things to which the doves all point is the 10-year yield and how it has done nothing but decline since the beginning of the quarter.  Now, that is a fair point, but the timing is also quite interesting.  While pundits on both sides of the discussion continue to point to inflation expectations and supply chain breakages and qualitative measures, there is something that has gotten far less press, but could well account for the counterintuitive movement in Treasury yields amid much higher inflation prints: the amount of Treasuries purchased by the Fed vs. the amount of new Treasuries issued by the Treasury.


In Q1, the US government issued net $342 billion while the Fed bought $240 billion in Treasury securities as part of QE.  (Remember, the other $120 billion was in mortgage-backed securities).  Given that foreign government buying of Treasuries has virtually disappeared, it should be no surprise that yields rose in order to attract buyers.  Q2, however, has seen a very different dynamic, as the US government has only issued $70 billion this quarter while the Fed continues to buy $240 billion each quarter.  With a price insensitive buyer hoovering up all the available securities and more, it is no surprise that Treasury yields have fallen.  Why, you may ask, has the Treasury only issued $70 billion in new debt?  Two things are driving that situation; first, Q2 is the big tax payment quarter of the year, so lots of cash flows into the Treasury; and second, the Treasury at the end of last year had $1.6 trillion in cash in their General Account at the Fed, which is essentially the government’s checking account.  However, they have drawn those balances down by half, thus have not needed to issue as much debt.


It’s funny how the move in yields just might be a simple supply/demand story, but that is not nearly as much fun as the narrative game.  So, let’s take a glimpse into Q3 planned Treasury issuance, which is widely available on the Treasury’s own website.  “During the July – September 2021 quarter, Treasury expects to borrow $821 billion in privately-held net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-September cash balance of $750 billion.”  The Fed, of course, is expected to buy another $240 billion in Treasuries in Q3, however, that appears to be a lot less than expected issuance.  My spidey-sense is tingling here, and telling me that come July, we are going to start to see yields turn higher again.  Far from the idea of tapering, if yields are rising sharply akin to Q1’s price action, we could see the Fed increase QE!  After all, somebody needs to buy those bonds.  And while this will be going on in the background, what we will largely read about is the changes in the narrative and inflation expectations.  As Occam pointed out with his razor, the simplest explanation is usually the best.


If this, admittedly, rough analysis has any validity, it is likely to have some very big impacts on markets in general, and on the dollar in particular.  In fact, if yields do reverse and head higher, especially if we move toward that 2.0% 10-year yield (or further) look for the dollar to find a lot of support.


As to market activity today, things remain fairly quiet with the recent positive risk attitude intact, but hardly excessively so.  Starting with equities in Asia, the Nikkei (+0.75%) had a nice gain after a better than expected IP print but was lonely with a holiday in China and through much of the continent keeping other markets closed.  Europe is in the green, but the gains are mostly modest (DAX +0.2%, CAC +0.2%, FTSE 100 +0.4%) as a slightly better than expected IP print along with continued dovish comments from Madame Lagarde help underpin the equity markets there.  Meanwhile, US futures are also modestly higher, but the NASDAQ’s 0.3% rise is by far the largest.


Turning to the bond market this morning, Treasury yields have backed up 0.8bps, but remain well below the 1.50% level which was seen as key support.  As per the above, I imagine that it will be a month before the real fireworks begin.  In Europe, while we did hear from Lagarde, we also heard from uber-hawk Robert Holtzmann, Austria’s central bank president, who was adamant that barring another Covid related shutdown, the PEPP will end in March.  Italian BTP’s were the most impacted bond from those comments with yields rising 2.0bps, while the main markets are seeing virtually no movement this morning.


In the commodity space, there is a real dichotomy today with oil (+0.7%) continuing its recent rally while gold (-1.1%) has fallen sharply.  Base metals have been mixed with relatively modest movement, but agricultural prices have fallen sharply (Soybeans -0.8%, Wheat -2.6%, Corn -2.8%) which appears to be a response to improved weather conditions.


Finally, the dollar has no real direction this morning.  NOK (+0.35%) is the leading gainer in the G10 on the back of oil’s rally but after that, there is a mix of gainers and losers, none of which have moved 0.2% implying no real new driving forces.  In the EMG bloc, last night saw KRW (-0.5%) catch up to Friday’s dollar rally, and this morning we see ZAR (-0.45%) as the worst performer on what seems to be market technicals, with traders beginning to establish new ZAR shorts after a very strong rally during the past year.  Some think it has gone too far.  But really, the FX market is not terribly interesting right now as we all await the Fed on Wednesday.


On the data front, there is some important information coming as follows:






Tuesday
Retail Sales
-0.6%





-ex autos
0.4%





PPI
0.5% (6.2% Y/Y)





-ex food & energy
0.5% (4.8% Y/Y)





IP
0.6%





Capacity Utilization
75.1%




Wednesday
Housing Starts
1640K





Building Permits
1730K





FOMC Decision
0.00% – 0.25%




Thursday
Initial Claims
360K





Continuing Claims
3.42M





Philly Fed
31.0





Leading Indicators
1.3%






Source: Bloomberg


So, while tomorrow will see much discussion regarding the growth narrative after Retail Sales, the reality is everybody is simply focused on the Fed on Wednesday.  Until then, I expect range trading.  After that…


Good luck and stay safe


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			How Long Can They Wait?
		


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

While prices worldwide are all rising
Most central banks keep emphasizing
That they have no fear
And later this year
Their efforts will be stabilizing

But every time data’s released
It seems that inflation’s increased
How long can they wait
Ere they contemplate
It’s time QE should be deceased?

It has been another extremely dull day in financial markets as participants await the next catalyst, arguably coming tomorrow in the form of either a surprise from the ECB, a low probability event, or a surprise from the US CPI release, a higher probability event.  And yet, even if CPI surprises, will it really have much market impact?

For inspiration on the potential impact of a surprising outcome, let us quickly turn to China, where last night inflation data was released with PPI rising 9.0% Y/Y, its highest print since 2008, although CPI rose a less than expected 1.3%.  However, for the world overall, Chinese PPI is of much greater importance as it offers clues to what Chinese manufacturers may be charging for the many goods they sell elsewhere in the world.  If they start raising prices, you can be sure that prices elsewhere will be rising as well.  But the market response to this much higher than expected result was a collective yawn.  Chinese bond yields actually fell 1 basis point while the renminbi slipped 0.2%.  Chinese equities rose 0.3% in Shanghai to complete the triumvirate of markets demonstrating no concern over rising prices.

Is that what we can expect if tomorrow’s CPI data prints at a higher than expected number, perhaps even above 5.0%?  The first thing to note is that the Treasury market is certainly not demonstrating concern, at least in the classical sense of selling off into a rising inflationary situation.  In fact, yields are now back to their lowest level, 1.50%, since early March, the period during which yields were rising rapidly and eventually touched the early-April highs of 1.75%.  But here we are 25 basis points lower and the market seems to have completely bought into the Fed narrative of transitory inflation.  (As an aside, perhaps someone can explain to me why, if inflation is transitory and the Fed need not respond to the recent rises, there is a growing consensus that the Fed is going to start to taper QE purchases.  After all, the implication of transitory inflation is that current policy is fine as is, why change it and rock the boat?)

Another story that has been getting increasing play is about the growing short positions in Treasury bonds and how regardless of tomorrow’s data, we could see a short squeeze and lower yields.  Now, when I look at the CFTC data, I do see that last week open positions fell by nearly 50K contracts, but the overall outstanding position remains net long ~55K and there has been no discernible pattern of building short positions, so I’m not sure where that story has come from.  

So, when considering what we know about the current situation, near-term inflation pressures but central bank certitude it is transitory and recent price action indicating limited concern over inflation, it tells me that a high CPI print, currently forecast at 4.7%, will have no impact of note on the bond market.  As such, it seems unlikely that a high CPI print will have much impact on any market.  We will need to see a series of high prints, and they will need to continue at least through October or November before, it seems, anybody is going to believe that inflation may be more than a transitory phenomenon.  Unfortunately, we will all suffer equally due to the fact that prices are going to continue to rise, regardless of what the Fed or BLS tells us.

Turning to today’s session, price action has been generally similar to yesterday’s session, which means that there have been continued small movements in markets with strong trends difficult to identify.  For instance, equity markets overnight showed the Nikkei (-0.3%) and Hang Seng (-0.1%) both slipping a bit while Shanghai (+0.3%) managed to eke out a gain.  Hardly conclusive evidence of a theme.  Europe, however, is a bit softer, with the DAX (-0.5%) and FTSE 100 (-0.6%) both under a bit of pressure although the CAC (0.0%) has gone nowhere at all.  The German story is one of weaker than expected data, this time a smaller trade surplus with declines of both imports and exports indicating growth there is not quite so robust.  Meanwhile, Brexit issues between the EU and UK have arisen again over Northern Ireland, and this seems to be weighing on sentiment there.  As to US futures markets, they are very little changed at this hour.

Bond markets are clearly not concerned over inflation with Treasury yields down 2.7 basis points and similar declines in Europe (Bunds -2.6bps, OATs -3.0bps, Gilts -2.0bps).  Looking further afield, Italian BTPs have seen yields decline by 5 basis points with Spain and Portugal both falling 4bps or more.  It seems clear the market believes the ECB is going to continue to actively support the European government bond market.

On the commodity front, oil continues to rally with WTI (+0.4%) back over $70/bbl.  Something to consider regarding oil is that as ESG initiatives continue to grow in importance, and many of them are attacking the fossil fuel industry, seeking to prevent funding, there will be less and less exploration for and drilling of new oil sources.  But the transition to eliminating fossil fuels from the economy will take many years, (I’ve seen credible estimates of 30-50 years) meaning demand will not disappear, even if supply shrinks.  It seems pretty clear what will happen to the price of oil in this situation.  Do not be surprised if the previous high of $147/bbl is eclipsed in the coming years.

As to the rest of the commodity space, precious metals are a bit softer while base metals are more mixed today (Cu -0.9%, Al -0.15%, Ni +0.3%).  And finally, the grains are giving back some of their recent gains with all three down about 1.0%.

Finally, in FX, the dollar is broadly softer, but the movement has been very modest.  In G10 space, NOK (+0.3%) is the leader along side CAD (+0.3%) as they both follow oil’s rise.  After that, though, the movement is between 0.0% and 0.2%, with no stories to discuss.  In the Emerging Markets, HUF (+0.6%) is the big winner, as CPI continues to print above 5.0% and the central bank is tipped to raise rates at its meeting tomorrow.  But aside from that, there are more winners than losers although they are all just modest gains on the order of 0.1%-0.2%.  Weakness was seen in some APAC currencies overnight, but that, too, was very modest.

There is no important data to be released today, nor are there any Fed speakers, so my take is the market will continue to trade on the back of the Treasury market movement.  If yields continue to slide, look for the dollar to stay under some pressure.  If they reverse, I think the dollar will as well.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf