What should we expect from the Fed on Wednesday?

The Daily Shot: 20-Sep-22
The United States
Canada
The Eurozone
Japan
China
Emerging Markets
Cryptocurrency
Commodities
Energy
Equities
Credit
Global Developments
Food for Thought



 

The United States

1. Let’s begin with the housing market.
 
Homebuilder sentiment continues to deteriorate as demand weakens.
 

 
This trend doesn’t bode well for residential construction.
 
Source: Oxford Economics  
 
Mortgage rates keep climbing with Treasury yields (2 charts) …
 

 
Source: Mortgage News Daily  
 
… putting pressure on home prices.
 
Source: Industrial Alliance Investment Management  
 
Home prices are declining on a month-over-month basis for the first time in a decade.
 

 
Will we see home price appreciation dip into negative territory year-over-year?
 
Source: Zillow  
 
Sellers are cutting prices.
 
Source: Redfin  
 
Home-flipping is not profitable in this environment.
 
Source: Bloomberg   Read full article  
 
Source: YipitData  
 
New listings are declining, …
 
Source: Redfin  
 
… but inventories of unsold homes are grinding higher (measured in months of supply).
 
Source: Redfin  

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2. Next, we have some updates on economic growth.
 
The economy is now expanding below potential, according to Goldman.
 
Source: Goldman Sachs  
 
The percentage of investors expecting a recession keeps climbing, according to a survey from BofA.
 
Source: BofA Global Research  
 
Here is a survey from Evercore ISI on the 2023 GDP growth.
 
Source: Evercore ISI Research  
 
3. The Morgan Stanley Business Conditions Index shows slower CapEx and hiring plans.
 
Source: Morgan Stanley Research  
 
4. Treasury yields continue to surge.
 
2yr:
 

 
10yr:
 

 
Source: @WSJ   Read full article  
 
The curve is becoming more inverted.
 

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5. The market has repriced the fed funds rate trajectory by almost 50 bps in recent days.
 

 
The terminal rate (the peak in the chart above) is nearing 4.5%.
 

 
ANZ, Deutsche Bank, and several other research groups see the terminal rate closer to 5%, which is needed to kick rates into restrictive territory.
 
Source: @ANZ_Research  
 
Here is how the current market projection compares to previous rate hikes.
 
Source: Industrial Alliance Investment Management  
 
What should we expect from the Fed this week and for the rest of the year?
 
A 100 bps rate hike this week is not likely. While inflation has been sticky, inflation expectations have been moving lower.
 

 
Below are some scenarios from ING.
 
Source: ING  
 
Goldman expects 75 bps this week, followed by two 50 bps hikes.
 
Source: Goldman Sachs  
 
Here is the market expectation.
 
Source: @ANZ_Research  


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Canada

1. Industrial output prices have been declining.
 

 
2. Strong wage growth has pressured the BoC to aggressively hike rates.
 
Source: PGM Global  
 
The last BoC rate hike is coming in October, according to Oxford Economics. But mortgage rates will stay elevated.
 
Source: Oxford Economics  

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3. More than a million jobs remain vacant in Canada due to labor shortages, doubling the pre-pandemic level.
 
Source: Scotiabank Economics  
 
Here is the jobs-workers gap.
 
Source: Goldman Sachs  

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4. Canada’s capital investment and labor productivity growth are low relative to other industrialized nations.
 
Source: Visual Capitalist   Read full article  


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The Eurozone

1. Economists increasingly see stagflation in the Eurozone. Below is the evolution of median forecasts.
 
The euro area:
 

 
Germany:
 

 
Here is a survey from Evercore ISI.
 
Source: Evercore ISI Research  
 
Services PMI is declining at a pace consistent with past recessions.
 
Source: Barclays Research  

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2. Germany’s 2-year yield continues to climb, …
 

 
… as the market reprices ECB rate hike expectations.
 

 
The Bund curve keeps getting flatter.
 

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3. What are the drivers of the euro’s weakness this year?
 
Source: Barclays Research  
 
4. Inflation for “non-pandemic” items is now above the ECB’s target.
 
Source: JP Morgan Research; III Capital Management  
 
5. Euro-area investment funds’ redemptions have been outpacing share issuance.
 
Source: Arcano Economics  


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Japan

1. The headline inflation hit 3%.
 

 
2. According to the WSJ, “Japan is set to join Southeast Asia and Australia in lifting most entry restrictions for international visitors.”
 
Source: @WSJ   Read full article  


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China

1. Investment in manufacturing and infrastructure have been resilient, but real estate investment continues to retreat.
 
Source: Capital Economics  
 
This chart shows newly-started construction.
 
Source: Arcano Economics  

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2. Non-performing loan balances in the property sector have risen substantially (SOE = state-owned enterprises; POE = private-owned enterprises).
 
Source: @SofiaHCBBG  
 
3. Reduced land sales are pressuring local governments’ budgets. According to the FT, “local government financing vehicles are rushing to buy vast quantities of land with borrowed funds.”
 
Source: @financialtimes   Read full article  
 
4. Hong Kong’s unemployment rate has been declining.
 


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Emerging Markets

1. Sovereign bond spreads for high-yield borrowers have surpassed pandemic highs.
 
Source: IIF  
 
2. Bond funds continue to see outflows.
 
Source: Deutsche Bank Research  
 
3. Trade balances have been deteriorating.
 
Source: TS Lombard  


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Cryptocurrency

1. Recent bitcoin sell-offs have triggered spikes in long liquidations. The latest extreme was in August when BTC broke below $23K.
 
Source: Coinglass  
 
2. Bitcoin’s put/call ratio is ticking higher.
 
Source: Skew  
 
3. Total bitcoin supply held by long-term holders reached a new all-time high.
 
Source: @glassnode  
 
4. Crypto funds saw minor inflows last week, led by Bitcoin-focused products. However, Ethereum-focused products continued to see outflows.
 
Source: CoinShares   Read full article  
 
Inflows have been focused on the US and Germany, while Sweden and Canada experienced outflows.
 
Source: CoinShares   Read full article  


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Commodities

1. The CRB commodity index is testing support at the 200-day moving average.
 

 
2. Lithium prices are climbing again.
 
Source: @annieLee23, @business   Read full article  


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Energy

1. Asia spot LNG saw a large price rise last month ahead of the winter season.
 
Source: Capital Economics  
 
2. Here is a look at bullish and bearish drivers for Brent oil, according to Fitch. Blue dots denote supply side drivers, and red denotes demand (2 charts).
 
Source: Fitch Solutions Macro Research  
 
Source: Fitch Solutions Macro Research  
 
Rising inventories could pressure prices.
 
Source: Longview Economics  


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Equities

1. US financial conditions continue to tighten.
 

 
How correlated are equity factors to financial conditions?
 
Source: Goldman Sachs; @MikeZaccardi  

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2. Bullish options bets remain low.
 
Source: Deutsche Bank Research  
 
Put option volume jumped this week.
 

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3. S&P 500 earnings are significantly above their long-term trend.
 
Source: Deutsche Bank Research  
 
A stronger US dollar points to more downward earnings revisions.
 
Source: Morgan Stanley Research; @WallStJesus  
 
The PMI-based earnings indicator from S&P Global also signals significant downgrades ahead.
 
Source: S&P Global PMI  

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4. Institutions have been the primary sellers this year. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, “In the five weeks ending Sept. 7, long-only investors sold $51.2 billion worth of equities …”
 
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence  
 
5. Investors prefer the US market relative to other regions.
 
Source: Evercore ISI Research  
 
6. S&P 500 valuations look reasonable without the tech mega-caps.
 
Source: Alpine Macro  
 
7. Quality names have been underperforming.
 

 
Here is the relative performance of companies with high vs. low free-cash-flow yields.
 

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8. ESG ETF flows slowed sharply this year.
 
Source: Bloomberg   Read full article  


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Credit

1. Investment-grade bond yields hit the highest level in years.
 

 
2. This chart shows US gross and net corporate bond issuance.
 
Source: Yardeni Research  
 
3. CLOs could see their CCC buckets “overflowing” if downgrades pick up.
 
Source: Barclays Research; III Capital Management  


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Global Developments

1. It’s been a rough year for government bonds.
 
Source: BofA Global Research  
 
2. Bond issuance, when adjusted for inflation, is at multi-year lows. The rapid rise in borrowing costs and weak investor appetite have kept many issuers away from primary markets this year, according to IIF.
 
Source: IIF  
 
3. Barclays expects global growth to be among the lowest annual rates in the post-WW-II period next year. And elevated inflation could create more hardship (3 charts).
 
Source: Barclays Research  
 
Source: Barclays Research  
 
Source: Barclays Research  

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4. This chart shows PE ratios in select economies (compared to historical ranges).
 
Source: Longview Economics  


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Food for Thought

1. Views on “quiet quitting“:
 
Source: YouGov   Read full article  
 
2. Telecommuting rates are holding at 30%.
 
Source: Bain & Company   
 
3. Home products protecting users’ privacy:
 
Source: @CivicScience   Read full article  
 
4. Wildfire emissions by latitude:
 
Source: Reuters   Read full article  
 
5. Most important issues facing the US:
 
Source: NBC News   Read full article  
 
6. US vacancy rates by property type:
 
Source: J.P. Morgan Asset Management  
 
7. Curve-fitting methods:
 
Source: @dwhiginbotham  

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