Tag Archives: #UK

Into the Tank

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The German economy shrank
Japan’s heading into the tank
Italians declared
The budget prepared
Is gospel, and oil just sank

There are a number of stories this morning competing for market attention as investors and traders continue to try to get a reading on growth prospects going forward. Perhaps the most surprising story is that German GDP, which had been expected to print at 0.0% in Q3, actually fell -0.2%, significantly worse than expected. While every pundit and economist has highlighted that it was a confluence of one-time events that drove the data and that expectations for Q4 are far more robust, the fact remains that Q3 growth in Germany, and the whole of Europe, has been much weaker than anticipated. The euro has not benefitted from the news, falling 0.25%, and broadly continuing its recent downtrend.

Adding to the single currency’s woes is the ongoing Italian budget opera, where the EU huffed and puffed and demanded the Italians change their plans. The Italians, formally, told the EU to pound salt yesterday evening, and now the EU is at a crossroads. Either the emperor has no clothes (EU does nothing and loses its fiscal oversight capability) or is in fact well dressed and willing to flaunt it (initiates procedures to sanction and fine Italy). The problem with the former is obvious, but the problem with the latter is the potential impact on EU Parliamentary elections to be held in the spring. Attacking Italy could easily result in a far more antiestablishment parliament with many of the current leadership finding themselves in the minority. (And the one thing we absolutely know is that incumbency is THE most important aspect of leadership, right?) The point is that there are ample reasons for the euro to remain under pressure going forward.

At the same time, Japanese economic data continues to disappoint, with IP declining -2.5% Y/Y in September and Capacity Utilization falling 1.5%. At the same time, we find out that the BOJ’s balance sheet is now officially larger than the Japanese economy! Think about that, Japan’s debt/GDP ratio has long been over 200%, but now the BOJ has printed money and bought assets equivalent to the entire annual output of the nation. And despite the extraordinary efforts that the BOJ has made, growth remains lackluster and inflation nonexistent meaning the BOJ has failed to achieve either of its key aims. At some point in time, and it appears to be approaching sooner rather than later, central banks around the world will completely lose the ability to adjust market behavior through either words or action. And while it is not clear which central bank will lose that power first, the BOJ has to be the frontrunner, although the ECB is certainly trying to make a run at the title.

Meanwhile, from Merry Olde Englande we have news that a draft Brexit deal has been agreed between PM May and the EU. The problem remains that her cabinet has not yet seen nor signed off on it, and there is the little matter of getting the deal through Parliament, which will be dicey no matter what. On the one hand, it is not wholly surprising that some type of agreement was reached, but as is often the case in a situation as fraught as Brexit, nobody is satisfied, and quite frankly, it is not clear that it will gather sufficient support from either the UK Parliament, or the EU’s other nations. This is made evident by the fact that the pound has actually fallen today, -0.2%, despite the announcement. I maintain that a Brexit deal will clearly help the pound’s value, so the market does not yet believe the story. At the same time, UK inflation data was released at a softer than expected 2.4% in October, thus reducing potential pressure on the BOE to consider raising rates, even if a Brexit deal is agreed. After all, if inflation falls to 2.0%, their concerns will be much allayed.

One other story getting a lot of press has been the sharp decline in the price of oil, which yesterday fell 7.1% in the US, and is now down more than 26% since its high in the beginning of October, just six weeks ago. There is clearly a relationship between commodity prices and the dollar given the fact that most commodities are priced in dollars, and that relationship is consistently an inverse one. The question, that I have yet to seen answered effectively, is the direction of the causality. Does a stronger dollar lead to weaker commodity prices? Or do weaker commodity prices drive the dollar higher? While I am inclined to believe in the first scenario, there are arguments on both sides and no research has yet been able to answer the question effectively. However, it should be no surprise that the dollar continues to rally coincidentally with the decline in oil, and other commodity, prices.

I didn’t even get a chance to discuss the ongoing slowdown in Chinese economic growth, but we can touch on that tomorrow. As for today’s session, this morning we see the latest CPI readings (exp 0.3%, 2.5% Y/Y headline, 0.2% 2.2% core) and then as the FX market gets set to go home, Chairman Powell speaks, although it is hard to believe that his views on anything will have changed that much. In the end, the big picture remains that the dollar should continue to benefit from the Fed’s ongoing monetary policy activities as well as the self-inflicted wounds of both the euro and the yen.

Good luck
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A Too Bitter Pill

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Three stories today are of note
First, Italy’s rocking the boat
Next Brexit is still
A too bitter pill
While OPEC, a cut soon may vote

The outcome in all of these cases
Has been that the market embraces
The dollar once more
(It’s starting to soar)
And quite clearly off to the races

On this Veteran’s Day holiday in the US, where bond markets will be closed although equity markets will not, the dollar has shown consistent strength across the board. Interestingly, there have been several noteworthy stories this morning, but each one of them has served to reinforce the idea that the dollar’s oft-forecast demise remains somewhere well into the future.

Starting with Italy, the current government has shown every indication that they are not going to change their budget structure or forecasts despite the EU’s rejection of these assumptions when the budget was first submitted several weeks ago. This sets up the following situation: the EU can hold firm to its fiscal discipline strategy and begin the procedure to sanction Italy and impose a fine for breaking the rules, or the EU can soften its stance and find some compromise that tries to allow both sides to save face, or at least the EU to do so.

The problem with the first strategy is the EU Commission’s fear that it will increase the attraction of antiestablishment parties in the Parliamentary elections due in May. After all, the Italian coalition was elected by blaming all of Italy’s woes on the EU and its policies. The last thing the Commission wants is a more unruly Parliament, especially as the current leadership may find themselves on the sidelines. The problem with the second strategy is that if they don’t uphold their fiscal probity it will be clear, once and for all, that EU fiscal rules are there in name only and have no teeth. This means that going forward, while certain countries will follow them because they think it is proper to do so, many will decide they represent conditions too difficult with which to adhere. Over time, the second option would almost certainly result in the eventual dissolution of the euro, as the problems from having such dramatically different fiscal policies would eventually become too difficult for the ECB to manage.

With this in mind, it is no surprise that the euro is softer again today, down 0.6% and now trading at its lowest level since June 2017. In less than a week it has fallen by more than 2.0% and it looks as though this trend will continue for a while yet. We need to see the Fed soften its stance or something else to change in order to stop this move.

Turning to the UK, the clock to make a deal seems to be ticking ever faster and there is no indication that PM May is going to get one. Over the weekend, there was no progress made regarding the Irish border issue, but we did hear from several important constituents that the PM’s current deal will fail in Parliament. If Labour won’t support it and the DUP won’t support it and the hard-line Brexiteers won’t support it, there is no deal to be had. With this in mind it is no surprise that the pound has suffered greatly this morning, down 1.4% and back well below 1.30. You may recall that around Halloween, the market started to anticipate a Brexit deal and the pound rallied 3.7% in the course of a week. Well, it has since ceded 2.7% of that gain and based on the distinct lack of progress on the talks, it certainly appears that the pound has further to fall. Do not be surprised if the pound trades below its recent lows of 1.2700 and goes on to test the post-Brexit vote lows of 1.1900.

The third story of note is regarding OPEC and oil prices, which have fallen nearly 20% during the past six weeks as US production and inventories continue to climb while the price impact of sanctions on Iran turned out to be much less then expected. This has encouraged speculation that OPEC may cut its production quotas, although the news from various members is mixed. Adding to oil’s woes (and in truth all commodity prices) has been the fact that global growth has been slowing as well, thus reducing underlying demand. In fact, the biggest concern for the market has been the slow down in China, which continues apace and where stories of further policy ease by the PBOC, including interest rate cuts, are starting to be heard. Two things to note are first, the typical inverse correlation between the dollar and commodity prices such that when the dollar rises, commodity prices tend to fall, and second, in line with the dollar’s broad strength, the Chinese yuan has fallen further today, down 0.3%, and pushing back to the levels that inspired calls for a move beyond 7.00 despite concerns over increased capital outflows.

And frankly, those are the stories of note. The dollar is higher vs. pretty much every other currency today, G10 and EMG alike, with no distinction and few other stories that are newsworthy. Looking at the data this week, there are two key releases, CPI and Retail Sales along with a bit of other stuff.

Tuesday NFIB Biz Confidence 108.0
  Monthly Budget -$98.0B
Wednesday CPI 0.3% (2.5% Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.2% Y/Y)
Thursday Initial Claims 215K
  Philly Fed 20.2
  Empire State 20.0
  Retail Sales 0.5%
  -ex Autos 0.5%
Friday IP 0.2%
  Capacity Utilization 78.2%

Overall, the data continues to support the Fed’s thesis that tighter monetary policy remains the proper course of action. In addition to the data we will hear from three Fed speakers including Chairman Powell on Wednesday. It seems hard to believe that he will have cause to change his tune, so I expect that as long as the rest of the world exhibits more short-term problems like we are seeing today, the dollar will remain quite strong.

Good luck
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Powell’s Fixation

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Though spending by business has slowed
(And debt from the government growed)
There’s no indication
That Powell’s fixation
On raising rates soon will erode

The Fed left rates on hold yesterday, as universally expected. The policy statement was largely unchanged although it did tweak the wording regarding business investment, which previously had been quite strong but is now slowing somewhat. That said, there is absolutely no indication that the Fed is going to slow its trajectory of rate increases anytime soon. With the meeting now out of the way, I expect that the Fedspeak we hear going forward will reinforce that view, with only Kashkari and Bullard seeking to slow the pace, and neither of them is yet a voting member. The market response was actually mildly surprising in that equities sold off somewhat after the news (and have fallen sharply in Asia and Europe) despite the fact that this was the expected outcome. Meanwhile the dollar has continued to rebound from its recent lows touched on Wednesday, with the euro having declined 0.2% further this morning and 1.4% from its peak.

As an aside, I am constantly amazed at the idea that the Fed, especially as overseen by Jay Powell, is more than mildly interested in the happenings in the stock market. The Fed mandate is clear, maximum employment and stable prices, notably lacking any discussion of rising equity markets. Alas, ever since the Maestro himself, Alan Greenspan, was Fed Chair, it seems that the default reaction has been to instantly add liquidity to the market if there was any stock market decline. The result is we have seen three massive bubbles blown in markets, two of which have burst (tech stocks and real estate) with the third ongoing as we speak. If you understand nothing else about the current Fed chairman, it is abundantly clear that he is unconcerned with the day-to-day wobbles in financial markets. I am confident that if there is a significant change in the economic situation, and markets respond by declining sharply, the current Fed will address the economic situation, not the markets, and that, in my view, is the way policy should be handled.

But back to today’s discussion. I fully admit that I did not understand the market response to the election results, specifically why the dollar would have declined on the news. After all, a split Congress is not going to suddenly change policies that are already in place, especially since the Republican majority in the Senate expanded. And as the Fed made clear yesterday, they don’t care about the politics and are going to continue to raise rates for quite a while yet. Certainly, we haven’t seen data elsewhere in the world which is indicative of a significant uptick in growth that would draw investment away from the US, and so the dollar story will continue to be the tension between the short-term cyclical factors (faster US growth and tighter monetary policy) vs. the long-term structural factors (rising budget deficits and questionable fiscal sustainability). Cyclical data points to a stronger dollar; structural data to a weaker one, and for now, the cyclical story is still the market driver. I think it is worth keeping that in mind as one observes the market.

Regarding other FX related stories, the Brexit situation is coming to a head in the UK as PM May is trying to get her cabinet to sign off on what appears to be quite a bad deal, where the Irish border situation results in the UK being forced to abide by EU rules without being part of the EU and thus having no input to their formation. This is exactly what the Brexiteers wanted to avoid, and would seemingly be the type of thing that could result in a leadership challenge to May, and perhaps even new elections, scant months before Brexit. While I have assumed a fudge deal would be agreed, I am losing confidence in that outcome, and see an increasing chance that the pound falls sharply. Its recent rally has been based entirely on the idea that a deal would get done. For the pound, it is still a binary outcome.

The Italian budget story continues to play out with not only Brussels upset but actually the backers of the League as well. While I am no expert on Italian politics, it looks increasingly likely that there could be yet another election soon, with the League coming out on top, five star relegated to the backbenches, and more turmoil within the Eurozone. However, in that event, I think it highly improbable that the League is interested in leaving the euro, so it might well end up being a euro positive net.

So the week is ending on a positive note for the dollar, and I expect to see that continue throughout the session. This morning’s PPI data was much firmer than expected with the headline print at 2.9% and the core at 2.6%, indicating that there is no real moderation in the US inflation story. This data is likely tariff related, but that is no comfort given that there is no indication that the tariff situation is going to change soon. And if it does, it will only get worse. So look for the dollar to continue its rebound as the weekend approaches.

Good luck and good weekend
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Brexit Doomsday

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In London, Prime Minister May
Has started revealing, some say
Details of the deal
Which optimists feel
Could postpone the Brexit doomsday

With the elections now past, market participants are looking for the next potential catalysts for movement and Brexit regularly leads the list. According to the British government, the deal is 95% complete, although the Irish border issue remains unsolved. The essence of this issue is as follows: ever since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland has been part of the UK, but has had no hard border between itself and the Republic of Ireland. As both Ireland and the UK were members of the EU, there were no issues regarding tariffs or trade, and so the process worked effectively. However, now that the UK is leaving the EU, as well as the customs union, suddenly there are likely to be tariffs on goods that cross that border. The problem stems from the fact that neither side wants a ‘hard’ border between the two nations, meaning no customs checking there. Therein lies the problem. How can Northern Ireland remain in the customs union but not England, Wales and Scotland? It would mean a border of some type between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Of course, that doesn’t go over very well either. Hence the stalemate. The EU is willing to allow Northern Ireland to maintain its current stance with Ireland, but not the rest of the UK. The UK doesn’t want Northern Ireland to have a different status than itself with the EU. Those are exactly opposite positions and there is no obvious middle ground.

The risk becomes that PM May negotiates a deal, which will by definition be imperfect, and that said deal gets defeated in a Parliamentary vote, thus leaving nothing completed. Given the shrinking timeline available to come up with a deal, less than five months at this point, it seems pretty clear that this is the last opportunity to get something done. The market, at least based on the recent performance of the pound, has become increasingly optimistic that a solution will be found. While the pound has edged slightly lower overnight, it is up by more than 3% since Halloween with the entire movement based on the idea that a deal will be done. In addition, this morning there have been several comments by investors that a Brexit deal will result in a powerful rally in the pound, up to 1.50 or beyond. While I disagree with that assessment, it is important that everyone understands the different viewpoints in the market. The idea is that a Brexit deal will end uncertainty, spur investment and allow the BOE to become more aggressive raising interest rates. And while some of that is certainly true, for the pound to reach 1.50, the dollar will need to be much lower against all its counterparties, and I just don’t see that outcome.

The other key story today is the FOMC meeting, where no change in policy is anticipated, although there are some analysts looking for a tweak to the policy statement. At this point, it seems abundantly clear that the Fed is unconcerned with the level of the stock market, and that last month’s decline will have no bearing on their policy decision. There is talk of a tweak to IOER, where the Fed may reduce that rate relative to the current Fed Funds corridor of 2.00% – 2.25%, but I agree with the analysts who say that it makes limited sense for the Fed to do something this month, and they will be better off waiting until December when they raise rates again.

Beyond that, the data overnight showed a modest slowdown in Chinese exports with a reduction in their trade surplus, both globally and with the US. We also saw that German exports decline 0.8%, a surprisingly weak outcome attributed to ongoing issues with the German diesel auto sales. While yesterday morning saw the dollar under significant pressure across the board, the reality is that it reversed many of those losses during the session. This morning the dollar is marginally higher across the board, but the movements have not been significant. For example, the euro is lower by 0.15% and the pound by 0.3%. We have seen similar magnitude moves by the commodity bloc, and the yen has softened by 0.2%. As you can see, it has been a dull market.

In the EMG space, the dollar is generally, though not universally, stronger but here, too, the magnitude of movement has been modest, on the order of 0.2%-0.4% overall.

The only piece of data aside from the FOMC meeting is Initial Claims (exp 214K) this morning, and aside from the fact that this data continues to show a robust labor market, it has not been a market catalyst for a long time. After a big equity rally yesterday, futures are pointing slightly softer to open, and Treasury yields, after rallying sharply at the beginning of the month, remain near their multiyear highs with this morning’s level at 3.23%.

In sum, it is hard to get excited about large upcoming movement in the market today, and so a modest further dollar rally seems about right. Removing some more of the recent excesses would make sense in the context of the still uncertain outcomes from key issues like Brexit and the Italian budget quesoins.

Good luck
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Good Times Will Endure

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Elections are out of the way
The outcome caused little dismay
Investors seem sure
Good times will endure
With stocks set to rally today

The dollar, however, is weak
Some pundits claim we’ve seen the peak
Still folks at the Fed
See rate hikes ahead
Which could, on those views, havoc wreak

The midterm elections are now past, with expectations largely fulfilled. The Democrats will run the House, while the Senate’s Republican majority has actually grown by four seats to a 53-47 count. At least that’s what appears to be the case at this time, although there are some runoff elections that need yet to be completed in the next weeks. The traditional view of a political split is that gridlock will ensue and very little in the way of new policy will come out of the next Congress. However, in this case, things may not actually work out that way. Consider the fact that President Trump’s populist leanings may well dovetail with Democratic priorities, especially on spending. It wouldn’t be that surprising if the next budget is even more stimulative than the last, especially as by next summer it is highly likely that the US growth impulse will be slowing down somewhat as the effects of the last stimulus fade away. And through it all, there is no indication that the Fed is going to stop raising interest rates, so I might argue that things haven’t changed all that much.

The risks to this view are if the new Democratic majority in the House chooses to use their power to rehash the battles from 2016 or, more disconcertingly for markets, decide that they want to proceed with an Impeachment process against the President. Two things about this issue are that, first, with the Republicans in control of the Senate, there is essentially zero probability that the President would be removed from office, so it would all be for show. But second, as I mentioned yesterday, the last time we saw this movie, in the autumn of 1998, the dollar fell sharply during the proceedings. This is just something to keep in mind as headlines start to flow going forward.

Enough about the elections. The market response overnight showed equity markets feeling a little better, with Europe higher and US futures pointing in the same direction, although APAC markets were largely flat. Meanwhile, the dollar has come under pressure across the board. The latter seems a little counterintuitive, although I guess it is simply a result of the embrasure of risk by investors. There is no need to flock to dollars, or yen for that matter, if expectations turn positive. And that’s what we seem to have seen.

Focusing on the FX market, the dollar is down pretty sharply across the board. Both the euro and the pound are higher by more than 0.5% despite what I would argue was some mildly negative news. In the Eurozone, while German IP was a touch firmer than expected at +0.2%, Retail Sales data throughout the Eurozone was actually quite weak, with both Italian and Austrian data showing contraction while the French managed to just hold on to an unchanged result, and all three coming well short of expectations.

Meanwhile, the pound continues to trade on hopes that a Brexit breakthrough is coming, despite the fact that yesterday’s widely publicized cabinet meeting produced exactly nothing. PM May has two potential problems here; first is the question of actually coming up with a deal that her cabinet can agree to support that also has EU support, a task that has thus far been out of reach. Second, remember that May has a coalition partner, not a majority in Parliament, and the Labor Party is now coming on record that they will vote against any deal. If that is the case, it is entirely possible that it all falls apart and the UK leaves the EU with no deal in place. While the pound has rallied nicely over the past week, up more than 3.5%, I continue to see the downside risks being significantly greater than the upside. Certainly the rally on a deal announcement would be much smaller in magnitude than the decline in the event of a hard Brexit. Hedgers must keep this in mind as they manage their risks.

As to the rest of the G10, the dollar has fallen even further than the euro and pound, with 0.7% pretty common across virtually the entire bloc. The only two exceptions are JPY, with a more modest 0.3% rally and CAD with a similar gain. My sense is the former is all about risk reduction mitigating some of the dollar weakness, while the latter is related to the fact that oil prices continue to fall, having come down nearly 20% from their highs reached in early October.

In the EMG bloc, there is broad dollar weakness as well with IDR leading the way (+1.5%) and ZAR jumping a solid 1.25%. We discussed the IDR story yesterday as investment flows continue to find their way back to the country given its continued strong growth and low inflation. ZAR, on the other hand, has benefitted from the combination of broad dollar weakness and gold’s recent strength, with the “barbarous relic” having rallied more than 4% in the past month. But it is not just those two currencies showing strength this morning; it is a universal dollar down day, with most freely traded currencies rising more than 0.5%.

And that’s really the day overall. There is no US data to be released today, and the Fed is just starting its two-day meeting, although there is no expectation that there will be any policy change regardless of the fact that it has been pushed back a day in deference to Election day yesterday. There is certainly no reason to believe that the dollar will reverse course in the near term, unless we see a significant uptick in US data that might cause the Fed to step up their pace of activity. However, that is not going to happen today, no matter what, and so I would look for the dollar to continue the overnight move and sell off modestly from this morning’s levels. Although I do not believe that the big picture has changed, any dollar strength is likely to be fleeting in the near future.

Good luck
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Hardliners Abhorred

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According to sources, it seems
That Minister May and her teams
Have neared the accord
Hardliners abhorred
As they’ll need to give up their dreams

While there is much in store for markets this week from the US, between the midterm elections tomorrow and the FOMC meeting on Thursday, today’s biggest headline is really about the UK and Brexit. Allegedly, albeit with no corroboration from either side, the entire UK will remain in the customs union, not just Northern Ireland, in the immediate aftermath of Brexit as the two sides continue to work out the eventual solution. May’s idea is that she will present this to her cabinet with an ultimatum to approve it and send it to Parliament in order to get the process completed before the end of the year. And while the other 27 members of the EU must also ratify the deal, the current belief is that there will be limited problems doing that. However, this all remains speculation at this point, except for the fact that May and her cabinet have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow where more details should become available.

It cannot be surprising that the pound has rallied on the news, jumping 60 pips on the open although since giving back about half that original gain. The broad consensus in the market is that any deal will result in the pound trading sharply higher, although I am skeptical that it can stay much above 1.35 for any meaningful amount of time. Even if the Brexit monkey climbs off the pound’s back, the market will still have to account for the fact that UK growth is slowing more sharply than its peers and that the pressure for the BOE to raise rates will likely ebb accordingly. But for now it remains speculation as to whether a deal is imminent or not. And as long as that uncertainty remains, the pound will be beholden to the latest story or headline on the subject.

Away from the pound though, the dollar is starting to show some life at this stage of the morning. Friday’s employment report, with NFP printing at 250K and AHE at 3.1%, confirmed that growth in the US continues to outperform virtually every other region in the world, and will have done nothing to dissuade the Fed from continuing its rate hiking strategy. While there is no expectation of any activity by the Fed on Thursday, the market probability for a rate hike in December remains above 80%. As long as US data continues to outpace that of the rest of the world, it seems unlikely that the Fed is going to stop.

Regarding the US midterm elections, clearly there is the potential for a market reaction depending on the results and whether the Republican party maintains its hold on the House of Representatives. If not, a split government (it is assumed that they will retain the Senate) will clearly impede the president’s plans for further economic stimulus programs and reintroduce brinksmanship to things like budget discussions. Net, given the current economic situation, I expect that after a kneejerk response, it is unlikely to have a significant impact for a while. However, it does open the possibility of more inflammatory rhetoric, including the threat of impeachment hearings, which may well detract from the dollar’s performance going forward. As we learned following President Trump’s election, markets pay close attention to significant electoral changes. With this in mind, it is important to remember that many pundits have been forecasting the Democrats will retake the House, so if the Republicans hold on, even with a much smaller majority, that may be an outcome not currently priced into the market. My point is that there is still great uncertainty to the outcome, and it is not entirely clear the FX impact that will result.

Away from those stories, the biggest news we saw was the weaker than expected Caixin PMI data from China. The Services print was 50.8 with the Composite number at just 50.5. The latter was at its weakest in more than two years and is an indication that the trade conflict with the US is continuing to take a toll on the Chinese economy. In addition, there were several articles in the press this weekend explaining that despite President Trump’s tweets last week, the meeting between Xi and Trump is really just going to get the trade negotiations restarted. There is no deal imminent. It should be no surprise that the renminbi has weakened during the session, especially after last week’s remarkable rally. So the 0.3% decline this morning needs to be kept in context, and simply represents a move back toward its previous trend.

Broadly speaking, the dollar is performing well against the EMG bloc today with MXN (-0.4%), INR (-0.9%) and KRW (-0.5%) indicative of the type of market activity ongoing.

Looking ahead to the upcoming data, we see that beyond the Fed and election, there is precious little that we will learn.

Today ISM Non-Manufacturing 59.3
Tuesday JOLT’s Jobs Report 7.1M
Thursday Initial Claims 214K
  FOMC Rate Decision 2.25%
Friday PPI 0.3% (2.5% Y/Y)
  -ex food & energy 0.2% (2.3% Y/Y)
  Michigan Sentiment 98.0
  Wholesale Inventories 0.3%

So between the US elections and PM May’s cabinet meeting with its chance to make real Brexit headway, there is much to look for this week. But the data will not be the story. As to today’s session, APAC equity markets have reversed some of last week’s gains after it became clear that trade situation wasn’t going to improve in the very short term. US equity futures are pointing lower, although Europe is modestly higher. It all strikes me as though traders are biding their time awaiting the big news, which makes sense. Look for a dull session today, but with the chance for some fireworks tomorrow, at least in the pound if something happens in the cabinet meeting.

Good luck
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Real Strides

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In Twenty-sixteen when we learned
That Britain, the EU, had spurned
The pound took a fall
While casting a pall
On how future growth might be earned

For nearly two years chaos reigned
While Brexiteers strongly maintained
A deal will be made
With no one betrayed
And there is still much to be gained

Well last night it seems that both sides
Have finally made some real strides
It’s no real surprise
To see the pound rise
As delegates closed the divides

The big story this morning is that there seemed to be real movement in the Brexit negotiations with an agreement “95% complete” according to the UK government. The key was an agreement regarding financial services, obviously an enormous issue for the UK, whereby UK financial firms would still be given access to the EU based on the “equivalence” of regulations. While this is not quite as robust as the current situation, being within the bloc, it is seen as sufficient to allow continued cross border access in both directions. Of course, the Irish border situation remains outstanding, but there is talk that progress has been made there and that the benefit of a finance deal will be sufficient to offset hard-line concerns over Ireland.

The market response was immediate with the pound jumping more than 1.0% when the headlines hit. If a Brexit deal is reached, the pound likely has further to rise as there is no question it has suffered based on the increasing likelihood of a no-deal situation. That said, a full-throated rally seems unlikely. There are still many other issues that are going to weigh on the pound, notably the dollar’s underlying strength as well as UK economic malaise. In fact, data early this morning showed that the UK manufacturing PMI fell much more than expected to a reading of just 51.1, its lowest reading since the month after the Brexit vote. Obviously, this data did not include the positive news from today, but it is indicative of how the UK economy continues to slow along with the rest of the world. If a deal is signed, I expect the pound could rally another few percent, but anything more than 1.35 would seem to be a stretch based on the economic fundamentals.

But the Brexit story set the tone for the FX market as the dollar is softer across the board, in many other cases having fallen by more than 1% as well. For example, the euro has rallied by 0.6% amid general enthusiasm generated by yesterday’s global stock rebound. We have also seen both Aussie (+1.1%) and Kiwi (+1.4%) jump sharply, as commodity prices stabilize and risk appetite improves.

This theme was also made evident by movements in government bonds around the world, where, for example, Treasury yields are 10bps higher over the last two sessions. In addition, EMG currencies, which had a terrible month in October, have shown some life this morning. Today we see the Mexican peso has rallied 0.8%, while South Africa’s rand is up 1.5%. Even the Chinese yuan, which has been closely scrutinized due to its approaching the critical 7.00 level, has rallied today by 0.4%, its largest gain in more than three weeks. In fact, most EMG currencies are higher, with many gaining more than 0.5%. In other words, it has been a broad-based USD decline. After a strong multi-week run in the dollar, it can be no surprise that a correction has occurred.

Turning to the data situation, yesterday’s ADP number was quite strong, 227K, and the Employment Cost Index (ECI) showed that wages are rising at a 3.1% clip Y/Y, the fastest in several years. While yesterday’s Chicago PMI disappointed slightly at 58.4, that remains a very firm reading historically. Looking forward to today’s session, we hear from the BOE, where policy is forecast to be unchanged, and we will get updated economic forecasts. If a Brexit deal is signed, look for the UK to raise rates several more times next year as there should be a positive growth impact. Then from the US we see Initial Claims (exp 213K), Nonfarm Productivity (2.2%), Unit Labor Costs (1.0%) and ISM Manufacturing (59.0). While these will be seen as important, tomorrow’s payroll data is still going to be the focus, especially the Average Hourly Earnings (AHE) number. With the ECI pointing higher, if AHE shows the same thing, watch for more talk of the Fed becoming even more aggressive.

Ultimately, the US data picture continues to point to strength in the US economy, especially relative to what we are seeing throughout the rest of the world. The EU is slowing, the UK is slowing, China is slowing and so are most other places. As long as this remains the situation, it is hard to expect the dollar to retreat in any meaningful way. While no market moves in a straight line, the dollar’s trend remains higher.

Good luck
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More Trouble is Brewing

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The PMI data last night
From China highlighted their plight
More trouble is brewing
While Xi keeps pursuing
The policies to get things right

Any questions about whether the trade conflict between the US and China was having an impact on the Chinese economy were answered last night when the latest PMI readings were released. The Manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2, it’s lowest level in more than two years and barely above the expansion/contraction level of 50.0. Even more disconcertingly for the Chinese, a number of the sub-indices notably export sales and employment, fell further below that 50.0 level (to 46.9 and 48.1 respectively), pointing to a limited probability of a rebound any time soon. At the same time, the Services PMI was also released lower than expected, falling to 53.9, its lowest level since last summer. Here, too, export orders and employment numbers fell (to 47.8 and 48.9 respectively), indicating that the economic weakness is quite broad based.

Summing up, it seems safe to say that growth in China continues to slow. One question I have is how is it possible that when the Chinese release their GDP estimates, the quarter-to-quarter movement is restricted to 0.1% increments? After all, elsewhere in the world, despite much lower headline numbers (remember China is allegedly growing at 6.5% while Europe is growing at 2.0% and the US at 3.5%), the month-to-month variability is much greater. Simple probability would anticipate that the variance in China’s data would be higher than in the rest of the world. My point is that, as in most things to do with China, we don’t really know what is happening there other than what they tell us and that is like relying on a pharmaceutical salesman to prescribe your medicine. There are several independent attempts ongoing to get a more accurate reading of GDP growth in China, with measures of electricity utilization or copper imports seen as key data that is difficult to manipulate, but they all remain incomplete. And it seems highly unlikely that President Xi, who has been focused on improving the economic lot of his country, will ever admit that the growth figures are being manipulated. But I remain skeptical of pretty much all the data that they provide.

At any rate, the impact on the renminbi continues to be modestly negative, with the dollar touching another new high for the move, just below 6.9800, in the overnight session. This very gradual weakening trend seems to be the PBOC’s plan for now, perhaps in order to make a move through 7.00 appear less frightening if it happens very slowly. I expect that it will continue for the foreseeable future especially as long as the Fed remains on track to tighten policy further while the PBOC searches for more ways to ease policy without actually cutting interest rates. Look for another reserve requirement ratio cut before the end of the year as well as a 7 handle on USDCNY.

Turning to the euro, data this morning showed that Signor Draghi has a bit of a challenge ahead of him. Eurozone inflation rose to 2.2% with the core reading rising to 1.1%, both slightly firmer than expected. The difference continues to be driven by energy prices, but the concern comes from the fact that GDP growth in the Eurozone slowed more than expected last quarter. Facing a situation where growth is slowing and inflation rising is every central banker’s nightmare scenario, as the traditional remedies for each are exactly opposite policies. And while the fluctuations are hardly the stuff of a disaster, the implication is that Europe may be reaching its growth potential at a time when interest rates remain negative and QE is still extant. The risk is that the removal of those policies will drive the Eurozone back into a much slower growth scenario, if not a recession, while inflation continues to creep higher. It is data of this nature, as well as the ongoing political dramas, that inform my views that the ECB will maintain easier policy for far longer than the market currently believes. And this is why I remain bearish on the euro.

Yesterday the pound managed to trade to its lowest level since the post-Brexit vote period, but it has bounced a bit this morning, +0.35%. That said, the trend remains lower for the pound. We are now exactly five months away from Brexit and there is still no resolution for the Irish border issue. Every day that passes increases the risk that there will be no deal, which will certainly have a decidedly negative impact on the UK economy and the pound by extension. Remember, too, that even if the negotiators agree a deal, it still must be ratified by 28 separate parliaments, which will be no easy task in the space of a few months. As long as this is the trajectory, the risk of a sharp decline in the pound remains quite real. Hedgers take note.

Elsewhere, the BOJ met last night and left policy unchanged as they remain no closer to achieving their 2.0% inflation goal today than they were five years ago when they started this process. However, the market has become quite accustomed to the process and as such, the yen is unchanged this morning. At this time, yen movement will be dictated by the interplay between risk scenarios and the Fed’s rate hike trajectory. Yen remains a haven asset, and in periods of extreme market stress is likely to perform well, but at the same time, as the interest rate differential increasingly favors the dollar, yen strength is likely to be moderated. In other words, it is hard to make a case for a large move in either direction in the near term.

Away from those three currencies, the dollar appears generally firmer, but movement has not been large. Turning to the data front, yesterday’s releases showed that home prices continue to ebb slightly in the US while Consumer Confidence remains high. This morning brings the first inklings of the employment situation with the ADP report (exp 189K) and then Chicago PMI (60.0) coming at 9:45. Equity futures are pointing higher as the market looks to build on yesterday’s modest rally. All the talk remains about how October has been the worst month in equity markets all year, but in the broad scheme of things, I would contend that, at least in the US, prices remain elevated compared to traditional valuation benchmarks like P/E ratios. At any rate, it seems unlikely that either of today’s data points will drive much FX activity, meaning that the big trend of a higher dollar is likely to dominate, albeit in a gradual fashion.

Good luck
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A Narrative Challenge

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From Europe, the data released
Showed growth there has clearly decreased
For Draghi this poses
(What everyone knows is)
A narrative challenge, at least

Once upon a time there was a group of nations that came together in an effort to reap the theoretical benefits of closely adhering to the same types of economic policies. They believed that by linking together, they would create a much larger ‘domestic’ market, and therefore would be able to compete more effectively on the global stage. They even threw away their own currencies and created a single currency on which to depend. Under the guidance of their largest and most successful member, this currency was managed by a completely independent central bank, so they could never be accused of printing money recklessly. And after a few initial hiccups, this group generally thrived.

But then one day, clouds arose on the horizon, where from across the great ocean, a storm (now known as the Great financial crisis) blew in from the west. At first it appeared that this group of nations would weather the storm pretty well. But quickly these nations found out that their own banks had substantial exposure to the key problem that precipitated the storm, real estate investment in the US. Suddenly they were dragged into the maelstrom and their economies all weakened dramatically. The after effects of this included questions about whether a number of these countries would be able to continue to repay their outstanding debt. This precipitated the next crisis, where the weakest members of the club, the PIIGS, all saw their financing costs skyrocket as investors no longer wanted to accept the risk of repayment. This had the added detriment of weakening those nations’ banks further, as they had allocated a significant portion of their own balance sheets to buying home country debt. (The very debt investors were loath to own because of the repayment risks.)

Just when things reached their nadir, and the very weakest piggy looked like it was about to leave the group, a knight in shining armor rode to the rescue, promising to do “whatever it takes” to prevent the system from collapsing and the currency from breaking up. Being a knight in good standing, he lived up to those words and used every monetary policy trick known to mankind in order to save the day. These included cutting interest rates not just to zero, but below; force-feeding interest-free loans to the banks so that that they could on lend that money to companies throughout the group; and finally buying up as much sovereign, and then corporate, debt as they could, regardless of the price.

Time passed (five years) and that shining knight was still doing all those same things which helped avoid the worst possible outcomes, but didn’t really get the group’s economy growing as much as hoped. In fact, it seems that last year was the best it was going to get, where growth reached 2.5%. But now there are new storm clouds brewing, both from the West as well as from within, and the growth narrative has changed. And it appears this new narrative may not have a happy ending.

Data released this morning showed that GDP growth in Italy was nil, matching Germany’s performance, and helping to drag Eurozone growth down to 0.2% for Q3, half the expected rate. French growth, while weaker than expected at 0.4%, was at least positive. In addition, a series of confidence and sentiment indicators all demonstrated weakness describing a situation where not only has the recent performance been slipping, but expectations for the future are weakening as well. It can be no surprise that the euro has slipped further on the news, down 0.2% this morning and continuing its recent trend. During the month of October, the single currency has fallen more than 2.2%, and quite frankly, there doesn’t appear to be any reason in the short run for that to change.

What may change, though, is Signor Draghi’s tune if Eurozone growth data continues to weaken. It will be increasingly difficult for Draghi to justify ending QE and eventually raising rates if the economy is truly slowing. Right now, most analysts are saying this is a temporary thing, and that growth will rebound in Q4, but with the ongoing trade fight between the US and China weakening the Chinese economy, as well as the Fed continuing to raise interest rates and reduce dollar liquidity in global markets, it is quite realistic to believe that there will be no reprieve. And none of that includes the still fragile Italian budget situation as well as the potential for a ‘hard’ Brexit, both of which are likely to negatively impact the euro. And don’t get me started about German politics and how the end of the Merkel era could be an even bigger problem.

The point is, there is still no good reason to believe the dollar’s rally has ended. Speaking of Brexit, the pound is under pressure this morning, down -0.35%, as the market absorbs the most recent UK budget, where austerity has ended while growth is slowing. Of course, everything in the UK is still subject to change depending on the Brexit outcome, but as yet, there has been no breakthrough on the Irish border issue.

As to the rest of the G10, Aussie and Kiwi both benefitted from a bounce in the Chinese stock market, at least that’s what people are talking about. However, it makes little sense to me that a tiny bounce there would have such a big impact. Rather, I expect that both currencies will cede at least some of those gains before the day is done. Meanwhile, the yen has softened, which has been attributed to a risk-on sentiment there, and in fairness, Treasury yields have risen as well, but the rest of the risk clues are far less clear.

Speaking of China, the PBOC fixed the renminbi at a new low for the move, 6.9724, which promptly saw it trade even closer to 7.00, although it is now essentially unchanged on the day. The market talk is that traders are waiting for the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi, later this mornth, to see if a further trade war can be averted. If tensions ease in the wake of the meeting, look for USDCNY to slowly head lower, but if there is no breakthrough, a move through 7.00 would seem imminent.

And that’s really it for this morning. Yesterday’s US data showed PCE right at 2.0% for both headline and core, while Personal Spending rose 0.4%, as expected. Today’s data brings only the Case-Shiller Home Price Index (exp 5.8%) and Consumer Confidence (136.0), neither of which is likely to move markets. In addition, the Fed is now in its quiet period, so no more Fed speak until the meeting next week. Equity futures are pointing slightly higher, but that is no guarantee of how the day proceeds. In the end, it is hard to make a case for a weaker dollar quite yet.

Good luck
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The Doves’ Greatest Friend

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Despite signs that growth is now slowing
Said Draghi, he would keep on going
With plans to soon end
The doves’ greatest friend
QE, which has kept Europe growing

While all eyes have been focused on the recent equity market gyrations, which in fairness have been impressive, there are other things ongoing that continue to have medium and long-term ramifications. One of the most important is the ECB and its future path of monetary policy. Yesterday, to no one’s surprise they left policy on hold, but of more interest were the comments Signor Draghi made during his press conference following the meeting. Notably, he continued to characterize the risks to the Eurozone economy as “balanced” despite the fact that virtually every piece of data we have seen in the past two months has indicated growth is slowing there more rapidly than previously anticipated.

If you recall, the declared rationale for the ending of QE was that Eurozone growth had been running above its potential throughout 2017 and it was expected to continue to do so this year. Alas, that no longer seems to be the case. Instead, recent data indicates that the growth impulse there is back at potential, if not slightly below. Recent PMI and IP data have all shown weakness, which when added to the stresses induced by Brexit uncertainty and slowing growth in China make for a substandard future. But not according to Draghi, who indicated that the ECB is going to end QE in December regardless, and that rate hikes are still slated to start next year. Perhaps he is correct and this is simply a temporary rough patch. The problem is the message from recent equity market performance is that there is a growing widespread concern that trouble is brewing everywhere around the world. Of course Draghi’s biggest problem is that if the Eurozone tips into a recession in 2019, they will have a serious problem trying to add monetary stimulus to the economy given the current, still ultra easy, settings. As I have written frequently in the past, this is why I continue to expect the dollar to outperform going forward. Yesterday saw the early morning rally in the euro reverse completely and the single currency closed -0.2%, and this morning it is a further 0.25% lower. The trend is your friend, and this trend is still for a lower euro.

In the meantime, we continue to see Brexit uncertainty plague the pound, which after a 0.5% decline yesterday has continued to fall this morning (-0.2%) as there is no indication that a compromise is in the offing. With the pound back to its lowest levels since late summer, and the trend decidedly lower, it will take a significant breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations to change things. This morning, the NIESR (a well-regarded British economic research institute) published a report that a hard Brexit will result in GDP growth being 1.6% lower than it otherwise would have been in 2019. That’s a pretty big hit, and simply adds to the Brexit concerns going forward. But the clock is still ticking and there is no indication that a solution can be found for the Irish border situation. One side will have to cave, and at this point, my money is on the UK.

As to the rest of the G10 space, the commodity bloc (AUD, CAD and NZD) has had a rough go of it overnight, with all three falling 0.5% or more in the session. It seems that concerns over slowing Chinese and global growth is being recognized as commodity prices continue to slide. With that, these currencies are also taking a beating with Aussie falling back near 0.7000, its lowest level since January 2016. Keep in mind that the more questions that are raised about the global growth trajectory, the more these currencies are likely to suffer.

Turning to our favorite EMG currency, CNY, it traded to a new low for the move overnight, although has since recouped some of those losses. The PBOC fixed the yuan at another new low (6.9510), and that saw both the offshore and onshore markets push the currency down below (dollar above) 6.9700. This is the weakest that the renminbi has been since December 2016 when the PBOC was forced to intervene more aggressively to prevent a rout. Remember they remain extremely concerned that if it trades above 7.00 that will be seen as a trigger for an increase in capital outflows from the country, and lead to a spiraling lower currency and greater domestic issues. Last time the market reached these levels, the PBOC withdrew liquidity from the offshore market, driving interest rates there massively higher, and forcing speculators with short positions to cover. That could well be what we will see next week, but as of now, there has been no activity like that observed. Speculators will only be deterred if the cost of speculation is high, which is not yet the case. Given that, I expect that we will see a run at 7.00 before long, likely next week, unless the PBOC acts. Words will not be sufficient to stop the move.

Away from CNY, other EMG currencies are almost universally weaker with declines ranging between 0.1% and 0.6%. The point is that this is a wide and shallow move, not one driven by specific national idiosyncrasies.

Yesterday’s data showed that defense spending was propping up the US manufacturing sector, with Durable Goods surprising to the high side although the ex-Defense number was soft. This morning, however, brings the most important data of the week, Q3 GDP. The median forecast is for growth of 3.3% and there will be a great deal of scrutiny on any revisions to Q2. A strong number ought to help support the dollar, as it will back up the Fed’s contention that strong growth demands higher interest rates. A soft number, or a big revision lower to Q2, seems likely to have a bigger impact though, as positions are still long dollars, and that would be a chink in its armor. Later this morning we see the Michigan Consumer Sentiment data (exp 99.0) and we also hear from Signor Draghi again, perhaps to try to clarify his message. But as it stands, if data is as expected, the dollar remains the best bet. This is even more likely if we continue to see equity markets decline. Spoiler alert, they have been doing that in Asia and Europe, and US futures are pointing in the same direction!

Good luck and good weekend
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