Last Friday's (May 5) payrolls report was a steady as you go report. The consistent strength in payroll growth suggests "slack" is gradually removed. If there was an acceleration in reduction of slack however, not only wages may rise faster, but productivity would go up too. This hasn't been the case so far with the recent productivity report showing a meager 0.6% annualized increase. The labor market is therefore currently tightening in a moderate fashion and this coincides with a slow deterio
A Level Playing Field for the Trump Trade
Over the past week, financial markets revisited the “Trump Trade” as a portfolio consisting out of 3 variables. The first variable is the dollar. The green buck resumed strength because of a more favorable stance by President Trump in trade discussions with Japan and China. Japanese Prime Minister Abe praised Trump for his business qualities with a trade deal potentially away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”). The conference call with Chinese President Xi Jinping resulted in a policy sh
The FOMC Stalemate
The Federal Reserve’s FOMC Statement may have had the look of a stalemate but the language was crafted such that there are two important implications. The first is both sides of the dual mandate (inflation & unemployment) are in the Fed’s view now at target. The outlook for inflation was changed from “expected” to “will rise to 2 percent.” The Federal Reserve has high conviction inflation will be at target by removing from the Statement “transitory effects of declines in energy and import prices
An End to the American Carnage
As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, there were two notable points in his inaugural speech. The first point is President Trump took a firm stance against the political establishment. His message was conveyed such there will be a power transfer from government back to the private sector. By ending state control, “carnage” as President Trump described it, would end effectively. That may imply government intervention in private markets is now something of the pa
Credit Contagion
Credit risk premiums recently narrowed to their tightest levels since late 2007. There are a few risks emerging at the horizon that may alter valuation of corporate bonds. These risks can be put into three categories: 1) macro risks, 2) cross border holdings and 3) non-repatriated earnings and corporate tax reform. In the Minutes of the Federal Reserve released this week, there was a discussion how to respond when the economy with an already tight labor market could face additional fiscal stimu
A Message From The Yield Curve
The slope of the yield curve informs about the future state of the economy. Post the great recession, the yield curve hasn’t tracked always the “normal” cycle shown in Figure 1. There are two reasons why this is the case and what it means for core fixed income investing. Figure 1: U.S. Treasury and Japanese Yield Curve Compared Source: Bloomberg, monthly data. T-= years before the cycle peak of economic growth, T+ = years post peak and into recession. The first reason is to compare the slop
The Great Unwind
One possible effect stemming from the Brexit and U.S. elections outcome could have significant consequences: central banks relinquish their independence. There are academic proposals that call for central banks to maintain “operational independence” but give up political independence. There has been rhetoric during and post campaigns that argue for a change of central bank influence, different board and Chairman appointments and even a call to return to the gold standard. Politically motivated c
The Effects of a Dollar Surge
Since the U.S. elections, the dollar has surged by 5 percent while emerging market currencies fell by double. When the value of the dollar spikes, global GDP on average has contracted by 2 percentage points in the past, and eventually dip into recession territory (see Figure 1). Currently, markets are in the “first inning” of a periods of rising rates, surging dollar and contracting global GDP. This combination could have two profound effects: dollar shortage and Fed balance sheet contraction.
Risk in Europe
Youth unemployment, debt burdens, current account imbalances and deflation remain at the heart of a struggling Eurozone economy. These factors may again play a role as Europe enters 2017 with elections in the Netherlands (March), France (April) and Germany (September) stacked up like a domino. The European political system, where decisions are made by unelected officials, may spark confidence votes in national parliaments or referendums in individual countries. The linkage between sovereign risk
Trump the Domino
The stunning victory by President elect Donald Trump may be out of the playbook of the “democratic domino theory.” Empirical research (Leeson/Dean) found across 130 countries between 1850 and 2000 that “democratic dominoes” catch around 11 percent of their average geographic neighbors’ changes in democracy. In the context of the outcome of Brexit and the Trump win, political movements in rural areas most prone to global trade, emulate each other’s victories by a substantial voter turnout. Curre
From Data Dependent to High Pressure
When quantitative easing (“QE”) ended 2014, the Fed adopted “data dependent.” When market volatility rose, the Fed used “data dependent” in communications. By lowering the probability of a hike, volatility and fears moderated (see Figure 1). The result of data dependent was the Fed needs a full year worth of data to justify one hike. Now data dependency has been two years in effect, how can investors anticipate a new policy by the Fed? Figure 1: Historical Probability of a Hike by December and
A Presidential Pull to Par
Elections and financial markets always had a relationship. Best known is the “Presidential Election Cycle of Investing.” This cycle shows stocks gain the most in the third year of a Presidential term, by an average of 0.75 to 2.5 per cent. For bonds, monthly returns in the third year were mostly negative by an average 2 percent based Barclays Index history. The history of returns is shown in Figure 1. A reason for this pattern in returns is when an incumbent President announces tax cuts and or
GDP Momentum
One of the key data releases next Thursday will be the first reading for Third Quarter U.S. GDP. GDP has been a “hot” topic of debate at the recent Boston Fed Conference as well as during the third Presidential Debate. The slowness of GDP has been worrisome, especially because despite a robust labor market, wages have lagged. If GDP stays slow, a tight labor market with modest wage growth may decelerate consumer spending. With an already fragile investment, trade and fiscal spending, a drop in c
"StallFlation"
In her recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Yellen introduced a phrase that may determine how markets, economists and the public will think about the global economy going forward. Yellen suggested the Federal Reserve should allow the U.S. economy to turn into a "high pressure economy." That means an economy where labor markets are very tight, demand is robust and capital spending runs at a high rate. For Yellen to arrive at such a conclusion, there were four critical issues she highlighted for f
A Natural Price for Bonds?
For monetary policy to be effective, creativity and innovation seems essential. The latest is “yield targeting” recently announced by the Bank of Japan (“BoJ”). Targeting yields on Treasury bonds require a central to trade securities the private sector wishes to sell or buy. In that case there should be a “natural or fair price” the private sector is willing to pay. To understand this natural price, research by the BoJ may provide insight. BoJ research staffers discuss a yield curve where the ec