Chickens Coming Home To Roost
French workers last weekend won a reprieve from the government's plan to nudge the retirement age higher, but that does not mean they can breathe easy, thinking their financial futures are secured. With much of pension assets invested in government bonds, an interesting question is what the return will be of a 10-year constant duration OAT in the next decade.
Reasons To Catch A Swedish Knife
After Sweden's Riskbank in October said it would end negative interest rates as the dangers from the policy outweighed the waning advantages, the krona rose 5.3% against the euro and 3.8% against the US dollar until the end of the year. Since then, however, the unit has slumped -1.2% on a trade-weighted basis. This looks to be a good chance to buy the dip.
Cedric Gemehl, Nick Andrews
The European Recovery Lives, Just
On the face of it, Germany's industrial slump is still worsening. The worry has been that a cratering of Europe's industrial economy proves bad enough to reverse the "internal" recovery spurred by super-easy monetary policy. In fact, such a contagion is unlikely in 2020 and the eurozone should see overall growth stabilize at around its potential level.
Video: Taiwan Chooses, Hong Kong Reacts
Taiwan goes to the polls on Saturday in a presidential election where pro-independence incumbent Tsai Ing-wen looks like a shoo-in against the more China-friendly Kuomintang candidate. Tsai is unlikely to push China's red lines and cross-strait relations should not be imperiled. Vincent also addresses the related issue of Beijing replacing its top representative in Hong Kong with a senior apparatchik.
Ten Bears That Could See Off Goldilocks In 2020
With interest rates low, and growth that is neither too hot nor too cold, Anatole remains firmly in the "Goldilocks lives on" camp. But while a continued bull run is the most probable outcome for 2020, bears still lurk in the shadows. In this paper Anatole identifies the 10 main macroeconomic, political and sector risks that could derail markets in 2020.
The Surprises Of 2019
As the year draws to a close, Louis has decided to review the key events of 2019 that he either didn't see coming, or whose ramifications he under estimated. Such events could cast a long shadow in the coming quarters as their impact on markets may not yet be fully digested.
Nonsense Anatole, Boris Deserves Three Cheers
In 2017, as the Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels got going in earnest, I wrote a paper explaining why the European Commission's officials and their counterparts across the continent were going to do everything in their power to make the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union as difficult as they possibly could (see May's Misguided Brexit Speech). And over the next two years, they did just that.
Louis Gave, Anatole Kaletsky, Arthur Kroeber, Will Denyer
Audio — Gavekal Research Call December 2019
In the final Gavekal Research Conference Call of the year Louis-Vincent Gave, Anatole Kaletsky, Arthur Kroeber and Will Denyer reviewed the current investment environment and outlined their expectations for 2020.
Boris's Bearish Brexit
We now know why markets reacted so nervously to Boris Johnson's election landslide last Thursday. The lack of follow-through after that evening's exit poll and the retreat when trading resumed on Friday morning was suspicious. But there were no clear explanations until Monday evening, when everything became clear. At 10.30pm Downing Street restated Johnson's promise to finish negotiating a new UK-European Union trade deal within 12 months and...
Why Aren't Markets Pricing In Global Reflation?
Back in October, when the Fed said it would start expanding its balance sheet at the same time as the ECB and BoJ, Louis reasoned that powerful forces were aligning for a global reflation trade. A little over two months later, markets have ripped higher, but the reflation trade has not materialized quite as anticipated. In this paper, Louis examines why not, and asks what conditions will be needed for it to come good in 2020.
Is Brexit The Midwife To A New Investment Environment?
With the confirmation of a conservative victory in the UK election, and a long awaited trade deal between the US and China, the pieces are falling into place for a weakening of the US dollar and a continuation of the global reflation trade. Already, both sterling and the euro have strengthened in response to the reports of a Tory victory.
Our 2019 Holiday Reading List
"So many books," lamented the late Frank Zappa, "so little time." For readers wondering which of the 130mn books published since the invention of the printing press they should curl up with over the coming break, hopefully Gavekal's annual holiday reading picks may help.
Towards A Green Supply Shock
The "European Green Deal" announced with much fanfare on Wednesday was long on ambitious targets, short on implementation details about how they will be achieved. The lack of detail leaves investors to ask how Brussels' green deal will affect the continent's growth prospects. Here it is possible to set out some pointers.
Video: India's Economic Malaise
India's economy has slowed down dramatically from around 8% growth a little over a year ago to 4.5% in the most recent quarter. Udith reckons the primary causes of this are domestic factors, as the financial system has continued to struggle while the policy response is too weak to be effective. The risk for the rupee is to the downside.
The French Resistance
While most of the rest of Europe, including Germany, has run into stiff headwinds from the slowdown in global demand, the French economy has continued to trundle along largely untroubled, with growth closely in line with potential. Cedric argues France's economy will continue to grow in steady, if unspectacular, fashion over the medium term.
Video: Upside-down Europe
Ever since the European debt crisis Germany has outperformed the rest of Europe thanks to booming external demand, while the rest of the continent suffered from a restrictive policy mix. However, lately these conditions seem to be reversing, with Germany suffering from a collapse in its crucial auto industry. Cedric discusses this shift and outlines the implications for investors.
Is Energy Uninvestible?
Who would have thought at the time of the September attacks on Saudi that the oil sector would perform so dismally in the weeks after? This has been in line with a longer term underperformance, which has led many investors to dismiss the energy sector as uninvestible. Louis examines some of the arguments underlying this belief, and comes to an intriguing conclusion.
Nick Andrews, Cedric Gemehl
The Long Slow Road To German Fiscal Expansion
To read the media headlines, you would either think that Germany's coalition government is on the brink of collapse, or that Europe's largest economy is on the eve of a massive fiscal expansion. The headlines are exaggerated. Yes, at the weekend the coalition's SPD partner did elect a duo of free-spending leftists as its new leaders. But the government is likely to survive intact for its remaining two years. And although political thought in...
Learn To Stop Worrying And Love The Pound
Sometimes, markets just get things wrong. Since early January investors have been panicking about a "no deal" Brexit, and I have been urging clients to buy sterling. Not because I became less gloomy about the damage that will be done to Britain by any form of Brexit, but because a "no deal" rupture is the one version of Brexit that can be confidently ruled out.
Research Team, Tom Holland
Strategy Monthly: Risk Assets In 2020
World stock markets have enjoyed a solid couple of months as geopolitical risks have abated and the manufacturing slowdown appears to have leveled off. With major central banks all printing money simultaneously for the first time since the financial crisis, and fiscal policy easing at the same time, there are good reasons to believe the rally will be sustained into 2020.
Charles Gave, Will Denyer, Tom Miller, Anatole Kaletsky, Udith Sikand, Arthur Kroeber
Seminar Series Multimedia — Fall 2019
Partners and analysts present their core ideas for the big economic regions and global markets heading into the year-end and looking forward to 2020.
The Upside Of Downing Tools
A year after the eruption of the gilet jaune protests forced Emmanuel Macron to scrap planned fuel tax increases, the French president is facing fresh opposition to his program of structural reforms.On December 5, a coalition of labor unions is promising to down tools in an "unlimited" strike against the government's proposed overhaul of France's state pension systems.
Questions On The Changes Of The Past Two Months
Recent weeks have seen a turn in the investment environment, with global equities outperforming those in the US, cyclicals outperforming growth stocks, a steepening US yield curve and a stall in the US dollar's rally. Louis recently met with a lot of US clients and outlined his explanation for these shifts. He got some push-back and this report is the product of those deliberations.
There Is A First For Everything
We live in the 21st century, and if a liquidity injection program by the Federal Reserve doesn't want to identify as quantitative easing, then we should respect that choice, and call it by whatever name it chooses for itself—even if almost everyone now calls the US$60bn injection "non-QE QE". However, lost within the debate over naming lies a long list of interesting "firsts".
The Signal In International Liquidity
Historically, few indicators have been as important for global markets as the amount of US dollar liquidity available outside the US. When this has turned down, trouble has reliably followed. This year, notes Charles, the indicator has again turned negative. But as he explains, all may not be lost.
Defending The Single Market
Europe's leaders are promising a more forceful approach to defending the bloc's interests. But they do not fully subscribe to the view, widely held in the US, that China is a strategic rival and security threat. What they have been able to agree on, as Lance argues, is the need to protect the EU's single market against Chinese state capitalism.
Europe's Political Paralysis
With the Spanish general election unlikely to produce a proper government, the country looks increasingly ungovernable. For an economy that weathered the financial crisis intact but has chronic productivity problems, this is a worry. However, the result of Europe's fragmenting political landscape is long-term policy stasis rather than a near-term collapse of the single currency.
It's Not 2017 Again In Europe
Yesterday saw a global risk-on move as investors cheered reports that a US-China trade deal may be in the offing. In Europe, this followed data releases that showed German factory orders picking up and PMIs stabilizing. On first blush, this looks reminiscent of 2017's recovery. Alas, there are three key reasons to think a rerun may not materialize this time around.
Video: In Search Of Policy Traction
New European Central Bank boss Christine Lagarde has called on European governments to do more on the fiscal front to support eurozone growth. Only Germany has wiggle room within the EU fiscal straitjacket to launch a significant stimulus program. However, political resistance in Berlin to opening the spending taps remains formidable, and may be insurmountable.
The Knowledge Revolution And Its Consequences
From Hong Kong to Santiago to Paris, this year has seen protestors rage against out-of-touch political elites. But does anything more than anger connect these apparently disparate movements? Louis argues that the upheavals posed by the ongoing "knowledge revolution" may explain the phenomenon, and offers investment advice on how to survive revolutionary times.
Behind The Risk-On
In recent months, economic data has improved or stabilized, and political risks have receded. But now that equity prices on Wall Street have hit new records and US treasury yields have rebounded from the bottom of their post-2011 trading range, it is worth asking if the move to risk-on conditions is a temporary mood swing, or one supported by economic fundamentals.
Gold Signals A System Failure
To make the point that gold is the only monetary asset that is not someone else's liability, John Pierpont Morgan used to say that "gold is money, the rest is credit". For simplicity's sake, let's assume that this quip corresponds to reality—the implication is that the relationship between the gold price and the credit system must be full of information.
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Strategy Monthly: Towards A Dollar Decline
The last five years have been an era of US dollar strength. That era may now be coming to an end. After the US Federal Reserve halted its balance sheet contraction and last month resumed buying T-bills at a rate of US$60bn a month, the Fed is now printing money faster than the other central banks. As a result, relative liquidity growth now favors US dollar weakness.
A Swedish Canary In The Coal Mine
Sweden's Riksbank plans to raise its main policy rate to zero from -0.25%. A relieved governor, Stefan Ingves, said last week it would be a "bonus" to return to parity in December and warned against staying negative for too long. The Swedish recantation follows the European Central Bank's controversial move last month to further cut rates to -0.5%. Investors should take note because the Swedish canary may be signaling a shift in attitudes to...
Where Will Growth Come From Now?
In the spring of 2003 Gavekal posited that China would become the new locomotive of world growth. But now, the days when China could be counted upon to gear up its balance sheet and pull global growth up by its bootstraps are coming to an end. And as global activity slows investors are asking "where will the growth come from"?
Draghi's Potent Legacy
Mario Draghi threw the cat among the pigeons at last month's fiery policy meeting of the European Central Bank by cutting interest rates and cranking up asset purchases. Today's general council meeting and sign-off by the outgoing president should be quieter, but the circumstances of the baton-handing show how much the ECB's reaction function changed under Draghi. That legacy poses a big challenge for his successor, Christine Lagarde, but he...
Anatole Kaletsky, Cedric Gemehl
Europe's Brexit Booster
Boris Johnson has secured a revised Brexit deal and the stage is set for a key Saturday vote in the House of Commons. On balance, there is a 70% chance of the vote passing as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn seems unable to control his Brexit-supporting rebels, while Johnson looks to have persuaded his Brexiteer wing that it could be now or never.
Video: The End Of The Trend?
For the past few years, US treasuries, the US dollar and the oil price have all broadly traded in a range. In fact, the only bankable trend for investors has been the outperformance of US equities, without which global stock indexes would still be trading at 2006 levels. However, there are signs that the investment environment is changing.
The Paris Project In A Keynesian Time
Some time ago, I had gathered a team in Paris to develop a new venture that would apply macro research analysis to portfolio construction in a systematic way. Things are progressing well and I wanted to update readers on the initiative. The common thread is a rejection of forecasting and a reliance on market prices and economic data.
The Age Of Range Trading
It is a Gavekal adage that 10-year treasury yields, crude oil prices and the US dollar exchange rate are "master prices" that have an outsized impact on economic activity and financial markets. Yet as Louis notes, in recent years, these three prices have shown little by way of a structural trend. In this piece, he seeks to understand the meaning from this range-trading phenomenon.
Sizing Up The Brexit Risks
The pound surged after Boris Johnson and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar achieved a negotiating breakthrough on Thursday over arrangements for the Irish border. The question is: What next? Anatole argues that while these moves still point to a multi-pronged set of outcomes, at least there is now a measurable set of permutations.
Please, Your Majesty, Do Nothing
Western democracies in the early 1990s stood unchallenged in the battle of big ideas. Alas, everything that has gone wrong in western economies over the last decade or so stems from the lessons that the technocracy took from this victory. Charles considers the mistakes and examines the investment consequences that must now follow.
Vincent Tsui, Udith Sikand, Tom Miller, Arthur Kroeber
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call October 2019
Vincent outlined EM Asia's "great moderation", as inflation is diverging from other emerging markets, creating opportunities in bonds. Udith argued that Indian growth may be bottoming out but a bad banking picture means that equities may have more downside. Tom addressed the remaking of Asian supply chains in light of the US-China trade war.
At Home In The Range
Almost a month after missile attacks on key Saudi Arabian oil production and processing facilities pushed benchmark global oil prices up by 20% overnight, the market has moved on. Saudi Arabia has defied industry expectations by continuing to supply oil to the market in abundant quantities. The current market pricing reflects that.
The German Spillover
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this year's slump in manufacturing is how few negative spillover effects it has had on demand in the broader economy—until now. Services PMIs for both the eurozone as a whole and for Germany took a sharp turn south in September. In Germany, the deterioration is making a technical recession all but inevitable.
The Greater Good Versus Individual Liberty
Yesterday Hong Kong's streets were again the stage for violent clashes between protesters and police. At the heart of the conflict is a showdown between the shared identity in Hong Kong shaped by the common law system inherited by the British and the common narrative in China emphasizing the "greater good" over individual liberties.
The Upside For Europe
The euro is trading at its weakest against the US dollar since May 2017. Whether it falls further from here or finds support around current levels to establish a base for a rebound will depend mainly on whether Europe's economic performance continues to deteriorate, or whether upside surprises are likely in the months ahead.
Legal Is Not The Same As Legitimate
Democracy is in trouble. Everywhere the cause is the same: a massive conflict between legitimacy and legality. For the last 100 years or more, the split between left and right left anchored the legitimacy of any democratic government. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades or so, the left has betrayed the people, while the right has betrayed the nation.
Black Zero Or Green New Deal?
Investors and environmentalists alike got their hopes dashed on Friday. Their best-case scenario would have seen Berlin invoke a climatic emergency to override fiscal orthodoxy and roll out a stimulative program of green investment. In the event, the measures announced not only fell short of the green lobby's expectations—they were budget-neutral.
The Industrial Disease (II)
Last week, Charles examined the decline of the US industrial sector, introducing his "industrial Wicksellian spread" as an indicator of environmental conditions for industry. Now he looks at the probable causes of industrial deterioration, explains why neither monetary nor fiscal policy can help, and uses his toolkit to draw some important conclusions for portfolio investors.