This headline would have seemed ridiculous eight weeks ago but today it has great relevance. If I ran the PBOC (or rather had the totalitarian impulses of President Xi), the command from above would be trade in the overvalued U.S. debt instruments for a 3,000-year vehicle that’s a reliable store of VALUE. The world’s central banks have confirmed a central theme of NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND: It is not inflation they fear but the onset of a DEFLATIONARY SPIRAL.
Posts Tagged ‘emerging markets’
Notes From Underground: We Walked Off to Look For America
March 15, 2020These are challenging times is the understatement of the decade.
The fear of pandemic has arrived and is causing great distress for families and the nation at large as we are tending to the sick and those forced into a change of everyday patterns. Since the beginning of February, we at NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND have been discussing the onset of the DEMAND SHOCK which would cause problems in the financial system because of the massive build-up of debt on a global scale. If businesses cannot operate as people hunker down in an effort to slow the spread of the virus then it goes without saying that DEMAND would suffer. If demand suffers on a global basis borrowers without cash reserves will struggle to sustain their businesses.
Notes From Underground: And the Concerns Continue
February 18, 2020On Tuesday global equities were down a very modest amount. The U.S. DOLLAR continued it move higher as the growth story and positive nominal yields is enough to push global investors into the U.S., the center of complacency. Commodity prices started off weak but OIL, grains and even COPPER found some buyers.
Notes From Underground: Do You Hear What I Hear?
February 16, 2020First, the news on the coronavirus continues to be buffeted by media outlets’ urge to be the first to report. The need for speed creates a rash of questionable stories that later get retracted or certainly get less sensational when context is added. When trading around this, I urge caution as opportunity knocks for those traders who can remain patient. There seems to be scientific interest in the failure of the VIRUS to have impacted children. While it is in the early stages of a potential pandemic, according to my source on all things infectious diseases, it is an outcome to watch in an effort to measure the potential impact.
Notes From Underground: Coronavirus Trumps Unemployment Data
February 9, 2020Friday’s unemployment report was firm on job creation but soft on average hourly earnings. The work week remained unchanged. Further north, the Canadian jobs report was very robust as jobs increased by 34,500 versus an expected 16,000. The real strength was that all the jobs growth was full-time with hours worked experiencing a healthy gain of 0.5%. The unemployment rate dropped from 5.6% to 5.5%. And yet the Canadian dollar could not sustain a rally for more than five minutes.
Notes From Underground: Trump Moves Markets Without Moving His Fingers
August 21, 2018The noise just keep on coming and each are disrupting the markets in its own way and the president. Monday’s headlines from the financial press had large impacts on GOLD, COPPER, EQUITIES, and, of course, CURRENCY markets. Let’s look at the substance of the comments.
Notes From Underground: In Light of Declining Volume and Volatility … A Repost
August 7, 2018The markets remain locked into the latest tweet from either politicians or CEOs. Whether it’s about tariffs or taking a company private, the Twittersphere has the ability to move markets for a nanosecond. Regardless of the algos and the continued march of passive investing NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND believes that Hyman Minsky has entered the room. A Minsky moment occurs when complacency leads to increased risk-taking while using increasing leverage. It is not market valuations that disrupts markets but rather the amount of debt that needs to be serviced. Can future cash flows ensure that the vast amount of debt can be managed? Leverage is a great aphrodisiac but if priapism results the exit strategy can elicit great pain. The markets are built on record debt.
Notes From Underground: The Summer Doldrums
July 10, 2018There are storms brewing but for the moment markets are stuck in the Doldrums waiting for the winds to increase in velocity. The issues confronting the market are all too familiar as NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND has been categorizing for the previous months.
Notes From Underground: The Tweets Controlling the Market Gyrations
July 1, 2018Now that the first six months of the year have come and gone, the markets have a cacophony of events to look forward to as algos react to price, and fundamental macro analysts are trapped between WHAT OUGHT TO BE. The current concerns over tariffs, trade wars, strife between friends/allies, political uncertainty in Europe, Middle East conflagrations, the Russia/Saudi alliance on energy, Chinese growth concerns, RISING U.S. INTEREST RATES AND INCREASED QUANTITATIVE TIGHTENING (along with elevated TREASURY FUNDING NEEDS), decrease in capital inflows into emerging market economies leading to potential dollar funding concerns and U.S. Congressional elections. Yet, the markets remain are not pricing in the relevance of such concerns. Wise traders and investors do not fight markets but profit from the opportunities presented. To do otherwise is mere commentary. So to paraphrase John Maynard Keynes: When the facts change so do I, what do you do madam?
Notes From Underground: “You Say Why and I Say I Don’t Know” (Because Confusion Reigns)
September 9, 2015The FED‘s upcoming FOMC meeting (September 16-17) is resembling the theatrics of the Greek debt crisis: Opinions abound about what do to and the entire world has voiced concerns about the outcomes from whatever decision Chair Yellen decides. The media is filled with articles advising the Fed to raise/don’t raise. However, we’ve come to the point, JUST DO IT. Unlike Nike, there will be no victory.