Business Cycles
Executive Summary For the first time in a decade, it is much less attractive to buy than to rent a home. In both the UK and US, the mortgage rate is now almost double the average rental yield. To reset the equilibrium between buying and renting a home, either mortgage rates must come down by around 150 bps, or house prices must suffer a large double-digit correction. Or some combination, such as mortgage rates down 100 bps and house prices down 10 percent. In the US, a 10-year upcycle in housing investment has resulted in overinvestment relative to the number of households. Falling house prices coming hot on the heels of a combined stock and bond market crash will unleash a deflationary impulse in 2023, which will return economies to 2 percent inflation. This reiterates our ‘2022-23 = 1981-82’ template for the markets. A coordinated global recession will cause bond prices to enter a sustained rally in 2023, in which the 30-year T-bond yield will fall to sub-2.5 percent. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 will test 3500, or even 3200, before a strong rally will lift it through 5000 later in 2023. It Now Costs Twice As Much To Buy Than To Rent A UK Home! Bottom Line: Falling house prices coming hot on the heels of a combined stock and bond market crash will unleash a deflationary impulse in 2023, which will return economies to 2 percent inflation. Feature Mortgage rates around the world have skyrocketed. The UK 5-year fixed mortgage rate which started the year at under 2 percent has more than doubled to over 5 percent. And the US 30-year mortgage rate, which began the year at 3 percent, now stands at an eyewatering 7 percent, its highest level since the US housing bubble burst in 2008. This raises a worrying spectre. Is the recent surge in mortgage rates about to trigger another housing crash? (Chart I-1 and Chart I-2). Chart I-1UK Mortgage Rate Has Doubled Chart I-2US Mortgage Rate Has Doubled A good way to answer the question is to compare the cashflow costs of buying versus renting a home. This is because home prices are set by the volume of homebuyers versus home-sellers. If would-be homebuyers decide to rent rather than to buy – because renting gets them ‘more house’ – then it will drag down home prices. Here’s the concern. For the first time in a decade, it is much less attractive to buy than to rent a home. In both the UK and US, the mortgage rate is now almost double the average rental yield. Put another way, whatever your monthly housing budget, you can now rent a home worth twice as much as you can buy (Chart I-3 and Chart I-4). Chart I-3It Now Costs Twice As Much To Buy Than To Rent A UK Home! Chart I-4It Now Costs Twice As Much To Buy Than To Rent A US Home! The Universal Theory Of House Prices Buying and renting a home are not the same thing, so the head-to-head comparison between the mortgage rate and rental yield is a simplification. Buying and renting are similar in that they both provide you with somewhere to live, a roof over your head or, in economic jargon, the consumption service called ‘shelter’. But there are two big differences. First, unlike renting, buying a home also provides you with an investment whose value you expect to increase in the long run. Second, unlike renting, buying a home incurs you the costs of maintaining it and keeping it up-to-date. Studies show that the annual cost averages around 2 percent of the value of the home.1 So, versus renting, buying a home provides you with an expected capital appreciation, but incurs you a ‘depreciation’ cost of around 2 percent a year. Which results in the following equilibrium between buying and renting: Mortgage rate = Rental yield + Expected house price appreciation - 2 But we can simplify this. In the long run, the price of any asset must trend in line with its income stream. Therefore, expected house price appreciation equates to expected rental growth. Also, rents move in lockstep with wages (Chart I-5). Understandably so, because rents must be paid from wages. And wage growth itself just equals consumer price inflation plus productivity growth, which averages around 1 percent (Chart I-6). Pulling all of this together, the equilibrium simplifies to: Chart I-5Rents Track Wages Chart I-6Rent Inflation = Wage Inflation = Consumer Price Inflation + 1 Mortgage rate = Rental yield + Expected consumer price inflation - 1 So, here’s our first conclusion. Assuming central banks achieve their long-term inflation target of 2 percent, the equilibrium becomes: Mortgage rate = Rental yield + 1 Under this assumption, to justify the current UK rental yield of 3 percent, the UK mortgage rate must plunge to 4 percent. But given that the government has just triggered an incipient balance of payments and currency crisis, the mortgage rate is likely to head even higher. In which case the rental yield must rise to at least 4 percent. Meaning either house prices falling 25 percent, or rents rising 33 percent. Meanwhile, to justify the current US rental yield of 3.7 percent, the US mortgage rate must plunge to 4.7 percent. Alternatively, to justify the current mortgage rate of 7 percent, the rental yield must surge to 6 percent. Meaning either house prices crashing 40 percent, or rents surging 60 percent. More likely though, all variables will correct. The equilibrium between buying and renting will be re-established by some combination of lower mortgage rates, lower house prices, and higher rents. The Housing Investment Cycle Is Turning Down The relationship between buying and renting a home raises an obvious counterargument. What if central banks cannot achieve their goal of price stability? In this case, expected inflation in the equilibrium would be considerably higher than 2 percent. This would justify a much higher mortgage rate for a given rental yield. Put differently, it would justify rental yields to stay structurally low (house prices to stay structurally high), even if mortgage rates marched higher. In an inflationary environment, houses would become the perfect foils against inflation. In an inflationary environment, houses would become the perfect foils against inflation because expected rental growth would track inflation – allowing rental yields to stay depressed versus much higher mortgage rates. This is precisely what happened in the 1970s. When the US mortgage rate peaked at 18 percent in 1981, the US rental yield barely got above 6 percent (Chart I-7). Chart I-7In The Inflationary 70s, The Rental Yield Remained Well Below The Mortgage Rate... If the market fears another such inflationary episode, would it make the housing market a good investment? In the near term, the answer is still no, for two reasons. First, even if rental yields do not track mortgage rates higher point for point, the yields do tend to move in the same direction – especially when mortgage rates surge as they did in the 1970s (Chart I-8). Some of this increase in rental yields might come from higher rents, but some of it might also come from lower house prices. Chart I-8...But Even In The 70s, The Rental Yield And Mortgage Rate Moved Directionally Together Second, based on the US, it is a bad time in the housing investment cycle. Theoretically and empirically, residential fixed investment tracks the number of households in the economy. But there are perpetual cycles of underinvestment and overinvestment – the most spectacular being the overinvestment boom that preceded the 2007-08 housing crisis. US housing investment has just experienced a 10-year upcycle in which it has overshot its relationship with the number of households. Therefore, contrary to the popular perception, there is not an undersupply of homes, but a marked oversupply relative to the number of households. (Chart I-9). This is important because, as the cycle turns down now – as it did in 1973, 1979, 1990, and 2007 – the preceding overinvestment always weighs down housing valuations (Chart I-10). Chart I-9The US Housing Investment Cycle Has Moved Into Overinvestment Chart I-10A Housing Investment Downcycle Always Weighs On Housing Valuations The Investment Conclusions Let’s sum up. If the market believes that economies will return to price stability, then to reset the equilibrium between buying and renting a home, either mortgage rates must come down by around 150 bps, or house prices must suffer a large double-digit correction. Or some combination, such as mortgage rates down 100 bps and house prices down 10 percent. If the market believes that economies will not return to price stability, then house prices are still near-term vulnerable to rising mortgage rates – especially in the US, as a 10-year upcycle in housing investment has resulted in overinvestment relative to the number of households. US housing investment has just experienced a 10-year upcycle in which it has overshot its relationship with the number of households. Falling house prices coming hot on the heels of a combined stock and bond market crash will unleash a deflationary impulse in 2023, which will return economies to 2 percent inflation – even if the markets do not believe it now. This reiterates our ‘2022-23 = 1981-82’ template for the markets, as recently explained in Markets Still Echoing 1981-82, So Here’s What Happens Next. In summary, a coordinated global recession will cause bond prices to enter a sustained rally in 2023, in which the 30-year T-bond yield will fall to sub-2.5 percent. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 will test 3500, or even 3200, before a strong rally will lift it through 5000 later in 2023. Analysing The Pound’s Crash Through A Fractal Lens Finally, the incipient balance of payments and sterling crisis triggered by the UK government’s unfunded tax cuts has collapsed the 65-day fractal structure of the pound (Chart I-11). This would be justified if the Bank of England does not lean against the fiscal laxness with a compensating tighter monetary policy. But if, as we expect, monetary policy adjusts as a short-term counterbalance, then sterling will experience a temporary, but playable, countertrend bounce. Chart I-11The Pound Usually Turns When Its Fractal Structure Has Collapsed On this assumption, a recommended tactical trade, with a maximum holding period of 65 days, is to go long GBP/CHF, setting a profit target and symmetrical stop-loss at 4 percent. Chart 1Hungarian Bonds Are Oversold Chart 2Copper's Tactical Rebound Maybe Over Chart 3US REITS Are Oversold Versus Utilities Chart 4FTSE100 Outperformance Vs. Euro Stoxx 50 Is Vulnerable Chart 5Netherlands' Underperformance Vs. Switzerland Has Ended Chart 6The Sell-Off In The 30-Year T-Bond At Fractal Fragility Chart 7Food And Beverage Outperformance Is Exhausted Chart 8German Telecom Outperformance Has Started Is Fragile Chart 9Japanese Telecom Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 10The Strong Trend In The 18-Month-Out US Interest Rate Future Is Fragile Chart 11The Strong Downtrend In The 3 Year T-Bond Is Fragile Chart 12The Outperformance Of Tobacco Vs. Cannabis Is Fragile Chart 13Biotech Is A Major Buy Chart 14Norway's Outperformance Has Ended Chart 15Cotton Versus Platinum Has Reversed Chart 16Switzerland's Outperformance Vs. Germany Is Exhausted Chart 17USD/EUR Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 18The Outperformance Of MSCI Hong Kong Versus China Has Ended Chart 19US Utilities Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 20The Outperformance Of Oil Versus Banks Is Exhausted Dhaval Joshi Chief Strategist dhaval@bcaresearch.com Footnotes 1 The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870–2015 (frbsf.org) Fractal Trading System Fractal Trades 6-12 Month Recommendations 6-12 MONTH RECOMMENDATIONS EXPIRE AFTER 15 MONTHS, IF NOT CLOSED EARLIER. Structural Recommendations Closed Fractal Trades Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields Chart II-1Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Euro Area Chart II-2Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Europe Ex Euro Area Chart II-3Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Asia Chart II-4Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Other Developed Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-5Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-6Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-7Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-8Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations
In lieu of next week’s report, I will host the monthly Counterpoint Webcast on Thursday, September 22 (9:00 AM EDT, 2:00 PM BST). In this Webcast, I will discuss the near-term and longer-term prospects for all the major asset classes: stocks, bonds, sectors, commodities, currencies, and real estate. Please mark the date in your calendar, and I do hope you can join. Executive Summary Analysing the economy as the ‘non-linear system’ that it is leads to profound conclusions about how the economy and inflation are likely to unfold, and reveals that some outcomes are impossible to achieve. It is impossible to lift the unemployment rate by ‘just’ 1-2 percent. Therefore, it is impossible to depress wage inflation by ‘just’ 1 percent. The non-linear choice is to not depress wage inflation at all, or to make wage inflation slump. Presented with this non-linear choice, central banks will likely choose to make wage inflation slump, which will take core inflation well south of the 2 percent target within the next couple of years. The structural low in bond yields, the structural low in commodity prices, the structural high in stock market valuations, and the structural high in the US dollar are yet to come. It Is Impossible To Lift The Unemployment Rate By ‘Just’ 1-2 Percent Bottom Line: Inflation will slump to well below 2 percent within the next couple of years. Feature Our non-linear world often surprises our linear minds. If we discover that a small cause produces a small effect, we think that double the cause produces double the effect, and that triple the cause produces triple the effect. But in our non-linear world, double the cause could produce no effect, or half the effect, or ten times the effect. Just as important, in a non-linear world, some outcomes turn out to be impossible. In a non-linear system, some outcomes are impossible to achieve. As I will now discuss, analysing the economy as the non-linear system that it is leads to profound conclusions about how the economy and inflation are likely to unfold, and reveals that some outcomes are impossible to achieve. In A Non-Linear System, Some Outcomes Are Impossible A good physical example of a non-linear system that we can apply to inflation is to attach an elastic band to the front of a brick. And then to try pulling the brick across a table at a constant speed, say 2 mph. It’s impossible! First, nothing happens. The brick is held in place by friction. Then, at a tipping point of pulling, it starts to accelerate. Simultaneously, the friction decreases, self-reinforcing the acceleration to well above 2 mph. Meanwhile, your response – to stop pulling – happens with a lag. The result is that, the brick refuses to budge, and then it hits you in the face. Try as you might, it is impossible to pull the brick at a constant 2 mph (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Figure 1The Forces On A Brick Pulled By An Elastic Band Figure 2The Net Forces On A Brick Pulled By An Elastic Band In mathematical terms, the reduction in friction as the brick starts to move is known as ‘self-reinforcing feedback’. The lag in applying the brakes is called ‘delayed corrective feedback’. Their combined effect is to make it impossible to pull the brick at a constant 2 mph. Now, to model inflation, attach an elastic band to both the front and the back of the brick, and find a friend. Your task, ‘policy loosening’, is to accelerate the stationary brick to a steady 2 mph. The analogy being to run inflation at 2 percent. On the opposite side, your friend’s task, call it ‘policy tightening’, is what central banks are desperate to do now – to rein back an out-of-control brick heading towards your face at 10 mph. But without slowing it to a standstill, or worse, reversing direction. The analogy being to avoid outright deflation. You will discover that you can move the brick sharply forwards (and sharply backwards), but you cannot move it forwards at a steady 2 mph! The brick-on-an-elastic-band analogy explains why it is impossible for policymakers to run inflation at a constant 2 percent. Inflation either careers out of control, as now, or stays stuck below 2 percent, as it did through the 2010s. Inflation cannot run ‘close to 2 percent’. It Is Impossible To Lift The Unemployment Rate By ‘Just’ 1-2 Percent Central to the non-linearity of inflation is the non-linearity of the jobs market, in which some outcomes are impossible. Specifically, it has proved impossible to lift the unemployment rate by ‘just’ 1-2 percent. It has proved impossible to lift the unemployment rate by ‘just’ 1-2 percent. Through the past 75 years, whenever the US unemployment rate has increased by 0.6 percent, it has then gone on to increase by at least 2.1 percent from the trough. In no case has the unemployment rate risen by ‘just’ 0.6-2.1 percent. In other words, the unemployment rate nudges up by 0.5 percent or less, or it surges by 2.1 percent or more. There is no middle ground. Indeed, through more recent history the surge has been 2.5 percent or more (Chart I-1 and Chart I-2). Chart I-1It Is Impossible To Lift The Unemployment Rate By 'Just' 1-2 Percent Chart I-2It Is Impossible To Lift The Unemployment Rate By 'Just' 1-2 Percent As with the brick-on-an-elastic-band, we can explain this non-linearity through the concepts of self-reinforcing feedback combined with delayed negative feedback. At a tipping point of rising unemployment, consumers pull in their horns and slow their spending, while banks slow their lending. This constitutes the self-reinforcing feedback which accelerates the downturn. Meanwhile, as it takes time for this downturn to appear in the data, policymakers respond with a lag, and when their response eventually comes, it also acts with a lag. This constitutes the delayed negative feedback, by which time the unemployment rate has surged, with every 1 percent rise in the unemployment rate depressing wage inflation by 0.5 percent (Chart I-3 and Chart I-4). Chart I-32001-02: Every 1 Percent Rise In The Unemployment Rate Depressed Wage Inflation By 0.5 Percent Chart I-42008-09: Every 1 Percent Rise In The Unemployment Rate Depressed Wage Inflation By 0.5 Percent All of which brings me to a crucial point: The non-linearity in the jobs market implies a non-linearity in inflation control. Given that it is impossible to lift the unemployment rate by ‘just’ 2 percent, it is also impossible to depress wage inflation by ‘just’ 1 percent. The choice is to not depress wage inflation at all, or to make wage inflation slump. This presents a major dilemma for policymakers in their current battle against inflation. If they choose to not depress wage inflation at all, core inflation will remain north of 3 percent and destroy central banks’ already tattered credibility to achieve and maintain price stability (Chart I-5). In the medium term, this would un-anchor long-term inflation expectations, push up bond yields, and further destabilise the financial and housing markets. Chart I-5Wage Inflation Is Running Too Hot For The 2 Percent Inflation Target On the other hand, if central banks do choose to depress wage inflation, the non-linearity of the jobs market implies that wage inflation will slump, taking core inflation south of the 2 percent target. Central banks could pray that a surge in productivity growth might save their skins. If productivity growth surged, elevated wage inflation might still be consistent with 2 percent inflation, as it was in the early 2000s. But we wouldn’t bet on this outcome (Chart I-6). Chart I-6Don't Bet On A Repeat Of The Early 2000s Productivity Miracle Inflation Will Not Run ‘Close To 2 Percent’ To summarise then, the economy is a non-linear system, and should be analysed as such. In uniquely doing so in this report, we reach a profound conclusion. The non-linearity of the jobs market and inflation control means that it is impossible for core inflation to run ‘close to 2 percent’. Depending on which of the non-linear options that policymakers choose – to not depress wage inflation at all, or to make wage inflation slump – inflation will either remain well above 2 percent, or slump to well below 2 percent within the next couple of years. Which option will the central banks choose? My answer is that they will make wage inflation slump. This is not just to save their own skins, but a genuine belief that the worse long-term outcome for the economy would be if central banks’ credibility to maintain price stability was destroyed. To prevent this outcome, a recession is a price that they are willing to pay. Central banks will choose to make wage inflation slump. Not just to save their own skins, but because the worse long-term outcome for the economy would be if price stability was destroyed. But what if I am wrong, and they choose not to depress wage inflation? In this case, long-term inflation expectations would become un-anchored, pushing up bond yields, and crashing the financial and housing markets. In turn, this would unleash a massive deflationary impulse which would end up creating an even deeper recession. So, we would end up at the same place, albeit later and via a more circuitous route. All of which confirms some long-held views. The structural low in bond yields, the structural low in commodity prices, the structural high in stock market valuations, and the structural high in the US dollar are yet to come. Chart 1Hungarian Bonds Are Oversold Chart 2Copper Is Experiencing A Tactical Rebound Chart 3US REITS Are Oversold Versus Utilities Chart 4FTSE100 Outperformance Vs. Euro Stoxx 50 Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 5Netherlands' Underperformance Vs. Switzerland Has Ended Chart 6The Sell-Off In The 30-Year T-Bond At Fractal Fragility Chart 7Food And Beverage Outperformance Is Exhausted Chart 8German Telecom Outperformance Has Started To Reverse Chart 9Japanese Telecom Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 10The Strong Trend In The 18-Month-Out US Interest Rate Future Has Ended Chart 11The Strong Downtrend In The 3 Year T-Bond Has Ended Chart 12The Outperformance Of Tobacco Vs. Cannabis Is Ending Chart 13Biotech Is A Major Buy Chart 14Norway's Outperformance Has Ended Chart 15Cotton Versus Platinum Has Reversed Chart 16Switzerland's Outperformance Vs. Germany Is Exhausted Chart 17USD/EUR Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 18The Outperformance Of MSCI Hong Kong Versus China Has Ended Chart 19US Utilities Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 20The Outperformance Of Oil Versus Banks Is Exhausted Dhaval Joshi Chief Strategist dhaval@bcaresearch.com Fractal Trading System Fractal Trades 6-Month Recommendations Structural Recommendations Closed Fractal Trades Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields Chart II-1Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Euro Area Chart II-2Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Europe Ex Euro Area Chart II-3Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Asia Chart II-4Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Other Developed Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-5Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-6Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-7Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-8Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations
Dear client, We will not be publishing the US Equity Strategy next week, as I will be participating in BCA Investment Conference. We will return to our regular publishing schedule on September 19, 2022. Kind Regards, Irene Tunkel Executive Summary Most Thematic ETFs Are Far Off Their Pandemic Peaks In today’s sector Chart I-pack report we recap our structural investment themes. EV Revolution: The EV cohort benefits from a structural transformation of the automobile industry that is further supported by favorable legislative tailwinds, and shifting consumer preferences. Generation Z: Generation Zers are coming of age and wield an increasing influence over consumer trends. Cybersecurity: The pandemic-driven shift to remote work, broad-based migration to cloud computing and increasing geopolitical tensions, are all structural forces that will ensure a healthy demand pipeline for cybersecurity companies. Green And Clean: Green energy is becoming cheaper to produce, which supports a wider adaptation of green technologies. Green tech also enjoys favorable legislative tailwinds that are coming on the back of rising geopolitical tensions, the ongoing energy crisis, and climate change action. Renewables help to diversify energy sources and offer a path towards energy security. Bottom Line: Thematic investments that capture the latest technological breakthroughs present unprecedented long-term investment opportunities for investors who can stomach short-term volatility. Feature This week we are sending you a Sector Chart I-Pack, which offers macro, fundamentals, valuations, technicals, and uses of cash charts for each sector. In the front section of this publication, we will overview recent equity performance and provide a recap of the US Equity Strategy structural investment themes. August – When The Rally Came To A Stall As we predicted in the “What Will Bring This Rally To A Halt?” report, the “inflation is turning, and the Fed will be dovish” rally has come to a screeching halt. The S&P 500 was down 8% in August as investors finally believe that Jay Powell’s Fed is hell-bound on extinguishing inflation even if it means squelching economic growth (Chart I-1). The message from Jackson Hole was very much Mario Draghi-like: “whatever it takes.” The market reaction was swift and brutal. The rally winners were in the epicenter of the sell-off that ensued on the back of Powell’s comments. Invesco QQQ Trust is already down nearly 9% off its August 16 peak, while Ark Innovation (ARKK) is down 13% (Chart I-2). We expect that equities will continue to revert to their pre-summer lows. Chart I-1Summer Rally Winners Are At The Epicenter Of The Sell-off Chart I-2Most Thematic ETFs Are Far Off Their Pandemic Peaks With rates on the rise again, last week we shifted our overweight of Growth and underweight of Value to a neutral allocation. The last few months have been a rollercoaster. However, long-term investors may successfully survive the grind by resolutely sticking to some of the winning structural investment themes and ignoring short-term volatility. The fact that many themes are now more than 50% off their pandemic highs may indicate an opportune entry point. EV Revolution We initiated the EV Revolution theme in June 2021. Since then, the theme has outperformed the S&P 500 by 19%. The Auto and Components industry group is in the middle of a momentous transition to electric and autonomous vehicle manufacturing, thanks to technological advances in battery storage, AI, and radars. These technological breakthroughs help overcome most of the obstacles to the wide adoption of EVs. Multiple new entrants develop charging networks. Driving ranges are also rapidly increasing – Lucid promises a 500-mile range compared to Tesla’s 350. Couple that with the rising price of gas, the aging vehicle fleet, and the expectation that EVs will approach sticker parity with gas-powered cars as soon as 2023 (Chart I-3) and there is no turning back to gas-guzzling vehicles. LMC Automotive forecasts that by 2031, EVs will reach 17 million units. Chart I-3EVs Will Reach Price Parity With ICEs In 2023 The entire EV cohort also benefits from favorable legislative tailwinds, thanks to this administration’s support of decarbonization. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes approximately $370 billion in clean energy spending, as well as EV tax credits for both new and used cars. In addition, executive action by President Biden has tightened fuel economy standards. California has mandated a complete switch to EV vehicles by 2035. The surge in EV Capex and R&D spending will boost the entire supply chain, which consists of chip manufacturers, battery and lidar R&D, part manufacturers, and charging networks. Many of these companies are still small. An ETF may be the best way to capture the theme (Table I-1). Table I-1EV/AV ETFs Generation Z: The Digital Natives The GenZ theme, which we identified exactly a year ago, has collapsed since the beginning of the market downturn and is down 47%. Its success was at the root of its demise – it captured overcrowded names most popular among GenZers, who are avid investors (Chart I-4). However, the theme is not “dead,” as a new cohort of Americans is coming of age, and they are not shy about it. Generation Z in the US includes 62 million people born between 1997 and 2012 (Chart I-5). With $143B in buying power in the US alone making up nearly 40% of all consumer sales, Gen Z wields increasing influence over consumer trends. This is the first generation of digital natives—they simply can’t remember the world without the internet. They are the early adopters of the new digital ways to bank, get medical treatments, and learn. Gen Z is joining the workforce and replacing retiring baby boomers. Chart I-4Gen Zers Are Avid Investors... Chart I-5Gen Zers Are Taking Over Gen Z is an umbrella theme that captures many other prominent themes, such as Fintech (Paypal & Social Finance), Crypto (COIN), Meme-investing (HOOD), Gaming and Alternative Reality (GAMR & ESPO), and Online Dating. But GenZers have a few behavioral quirks that make them different even from Millennials: Quality-Over-Price Shoppers: Gen Z was found to be less price sensitive when buying products, choosing quality over price. Lululemon (LULU) and Goose (GOOS) are among Gen Z’s favorites. Healthy Lifestyle: Gen Z is a “green” generation that deeply cares about the planet, loves the outdoors and traveling, and is crazy about pets. This is also a generation that prizes a healthy lifestyle and working out: Beyond Meat (BYND), Planet Fitness (PLNT), and Yeti (YETI). Generation Sober Chooses Cannabis: GenZers perceive hard liquor and tobacco as bad for their health. Curiously, marijuana is considered “healthy.” MSOS, CNBS, YOLO, and THCX are the biggest ETFs in this space. How To Invest In Gen Z? Gen Z is a nascent investment theme, so there are no ETFs available in the market yet. We propose that investors follow our Gen Z investment themes or replicate fully or partially our Gen Z basket. Cybersecurity: A Must-Have For Survival Despite its celebrity status, this is an industry that is still in the early innings of a growth cycle. The pandemic-driven shift to remote work, broad-based migration to cloud computing, development of the internet-of-things, and increasing geopolitical tensions create new targets for hackers who are after valuable data or just want to achieve maximum damage to the networks. Ubiquitous digitization requires increasingly more complex cyber defenses. With cybercrime costing the world nearly $600 billion each year and cyberattacks increasing in number and sophistication, the global cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $125 billion in 2020 to $175 billion by 2024. Both large and small businesses are yet to fully implement cybersecurity defenses. According to a survey by Forbes magazine, 55% of business executives plan to increase their budgets for cybersecurity in 2021 aiming to prevent malicious attacks. In response to the numerous breaches, the current US administration is placing a high priority on defensive cyber programs. Since 2017, US government departments have seen the cybersecurity share of their basic discretionary funding rise steadily from 1.38% to 1.73%. These developments are a boon for cybersecurity stocks (Chart I-6 & Chart I-7 ), the sales of which are soaring (Chart I-8). Chart I-6Cybercrime Losses Spur Demand for Cybersecurity Chart I-7Stepped Up Government Spending Will Lift Cybersecurity Stocks Chart I-8Cybersecurity Sales Are Soaring We introduced cybersecurity as a structural investment theme back in October 2021. So far, the CIBR ETF, which we use as a proxy for the performance of the theme, has underperformed the S&P 500 by 11%. Monetary tightening has weighed on the performance of these companies as they tend to be younger, smaller, and less profitable than their S&P 500 counterparts, i.e., CIBR has a strong small-cap growth bias. However, with cybersecurity stocks down 26% off their November-2021 peak and valuation premium back to earth, now may be an opportune moment to add to the theme. After all, these stocks have tremendous growth potential, warranting a long-term position in most equity portfolios. There are several highly liquid ETFs powered by the cybersecurity theme, such as CIBR, BUG, and HACK, which can be excellent investment vehicles (Table I-2). Table I-2Cybersecurity ETFs Green And Clean We introduced the “Green and Clean” theme back in March. Since then, it has outperformed the S&P 500 by 22%, benefiting from this administration’s focus on the mitigation of climate change. Putin’s energy stand-off with Europe has also put the industry into the global spotlight. The development of renewables will help diversify energy sources and offer a path toward energy security. Thus, renewable energy and cleantech companies are at the core of the global push to increase energy security and contain climate change. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) expects renewables to scale up from 14% of total energy today to around 40% in 2030. Global annual additions of renewable power would triple by 2030 as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Solar and wind power will attract the lion’s share of investments. Over the past 20 years, this country has made significant strides in shifting its energy generation toward renewable sources away from fossil fuels, increasing the share of clean energy from 3.7% in 2000 to 10% in 2020 (Chart I-9). Chart I-9A Structural Trend The key reason for the proliferation of green energy generation is that renewable electricity is becoming cheaper than electricity produced by fossil fuels – according to IRENA, 62% of the added renewable power generation capacity had lower electricity costs than the cheapest source of new fossil fuel-fired capacity. Costs for renewable technologies continued to fall significantly over the past year (Chart I-10). Renewables are similar to traditional utility companies: They require a massive upfront investment, but also enjoy substantial operating leverage. As production capacity increases, the cost of energy generation falls. Solar power generation is a case in point (Chart I-11). Hence, we have a positive reinforcement loop: more usage begets even more usage, bolstering the economic case for transitioning to cleaner energy resources. Chart I-10R&D Is Paying Off Chart I-11Capacity Is Inversely Correlated To Prices Increased renewables adaptation is possible thanks to several technological advancements including improved battery storage, implementation of smart grid networks, and an increase in carbon capture activities. There is a host of ETFs that offer investors a wide range of choices for access to renewable energy and cleantech themes (Table I-3). These ETFs differ in geographic span, industry focus, liquidity, and cost, but all are viable investment options. Table I-3Clean Tech ETFs Bottom Line Thematic investments that capture the latest technological breakthroughs present unprecedented long-term investment opportunities. However, these investments come with a warning: Technological innovation themes are intrinsically risky as they are rarely immediately profitable and require both continuous investment and technological breakthroughs to succeed. Also, most technological innovation themes carry high exposure to the small-cap growth style and are sensitive to rising rates and slowing growth. As such, they are fickle over the short term but pay off over a longer investment horizon. Irene Tunkel Chief Strategist, US Equity Strategy irene.tunkel@bcaresearch.com S&P 500 Chart II-1Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-2Profitability Chart II-3Valuations And Technicals Chart II-4Uses Of Cash Communication Services Chart II-5Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-6Profitability Chart II-7Valuations And Technicals Chart II-8Uses Of Cash Consumer Discretionary Chart II-9C Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-10Profitability Chart II-11Valuations And Technicals Chart II-12Uses Of Cash Consumer Staples Chart II-13Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-14Profitability Chart II-15Valuations And Technicals Chart II-16Uses Of Cash Energy Chart II-17Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-18Profitability Chart II-19Valuations And Technicals Chart II-20Uses Of Cash Financials Chart II-21Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-22Profitability Chart II-23Valuations And Technicals Chart II-24Uses Of Cash Health Care Chart II-25Sector vs Industry Groups Chart II-26Profitability Chart II-27Valuations And Technicals Chart II-28Uses Of Cash Industrials Chart II-29Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-30Profitability Chart II-31Valuations And Technicals Chart II-32Uses Of Cash Information Technology Chart II-33Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-34Profitability Chart II-35Valuations And Technicals Chart II-36Uses Of Cash Materials Chart II-37Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-38Profitability Chart II-39Valuations And Technicals Chart II-40Uses Of Cash Real Estate Chart II-41Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-42Profitability Chart II-43Valuations And Technicals Chart II-44Uses Of Cash Utilities Chart II-45Macroeconomic Backdrop Chart II-46Profitability Chart II-47Valuations And Technicals Chart II-48Uses Of Cash Recommended Allocation Recommended Allocation: Addendum
Next week, on September 7-8, is the BCA New York Conference, the first in-person version since 2019. I look forward to seeing many of you there, and if you haven’t already booked your place, you still can! (a virtual version is also available). As such, the next Counterpoint report will come out on September 15. Executive Summary The 2022-23 = 1981-82 template for markets is working well. If it continues to hold, these are the major investment implications: Bonds: The 30-year T-bond (price) will trend sideways for the next few months, albeit with a potential correction that lifts the yield to 3.5 percent. However, bond prices will enter a sustained rally in 2023, in which the 30-year T-bond yield will fall to sub-2.5 percent. Stocks: A coordinated global recession will depress profits, causing the S&P 500 to test 3500. However, once past the worst of the recession, a strong rally will lift it through 5000 later in 2023. Sector allocation: Longer duration defensive sectors (such as healthcare) will strongly outperform shorter duration cyclical sectors (such as basic resources) until mid-2023, after which it will be time to flip back into cyclicals. Industrial metals: A tactical rebound in copper could lift it to $8500/MT after which the structural downtrend will resume, taking it to sub-$7000/MT in 2023. Oil: Just as in 1981-82, supply shortages will provide near-term support. But ultimately, demand destruction will dominate, depressing the price to, at best, $85, though our central case is $55 in 2023. If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To The Copper Price Bottom Line: The 2022-23 = 1981-82 template for markets is working well, and should continue to do so. Feature History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. And the period that rhymes closest with the current episode in the global economy and markets is 1981-82, a rhyming which we first highlighted four months ago in Markets Echo 1981, When Stagflation Morphed Into Recession, and then developed in More On 2022-23 = 1981-82, And The Danger Ahead. In those reports, we presented three compelling reasons why 2022-23 rhymes with 1981-82: 1981-82 is the period that rhymes closest with the current episode in the global economy and markets. First, the simultaneous sell-off in stocks, bonds, inflation protected bonds, industrial commodities, and gold in the second quarter of 2022 is uniquely linked with an identical ‘everything sell-off’ in the second quarter of 1981. It is extremely rare for stocks, bonds, inflation protected bonds, industrial commodities, and gold to sell off together. Such a simultaneous sell-off has happened in just these 2 calendar quarters out of the last 200. Meaning a ‘1-in-a-100’ event conjoins 2022 with 1981 (Chart I-1 and Chart I-2). Chart I-1A 1-In-A-100 Event: The 'Everything Sell-Off' In 2022... Chart I-2...And The 'Everything Sell-Off' In 1981 Second, the Jay Powell Fed equals the Paul Volcker Fed. Now just as then, the world’s central banks are obsessed with ‘breaking the back’ of inflation. And now, just as then, the central banks are desperate to repair their badly battered credibility in managing inflation. Third, the Russia/Ukraine war that started in February 2022 equals the Iraq/Iran war that started in September 1980. Now, just as then, a war between two commodity producing neighbours has unleashed a supply shock which is adding to the inflation paranoia. To repeat, it is a 1-in-a-100 event for all financial assets to sell off together. This is because it requires an extremely rare star alignment. Inflation fears first morph to stagflation fears and then to recession fears. Leaving investors with nowhere to hide, as no mainstream asset performs well in inflation, stagflation, and recession. So, the once-in-a-generation star alignment conjoining 2022 with 1981 is as follows: Inflation paranoia is worsened by a major war between commodity producing neighbours, forcing reputationally damaged central banks to become trigger-happy in their battle against inflation, dragging the world economy into a coordinated recession. September 2022 Equals August 1981 If 2022-23 = 1981-82, then where exactly are we in the analogous episode? There are two potential synchronization points. One potential synchronization is that the Russia/Ukraine war which started on February 24, 2022 equals the Iraq/Iran war which started on September 22, 1980. In which case, September 2022 equals April 1981. But given that inflation is public enemy number one, a better synchronization is the Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, the US core PCE deflator. Aligning the respective peaks in core PCE inflation, we can say that February 2022 equals January 1981. Meaning that our original report in May 2022 aligned with April 1981, and September 2022 equals August 1981 (Chart I-3 and Chart I-4). Chart I-3The Peak In Core PCE Inflation In ##br##February 2022 Chart I-4...Aligns With The Peak In Core PCE Inflation In ##br##January 1981 In which case, how has the template worked since we introduced it on May 19th? The answer is, very well. The template predicted that the long bond price would track sideways, which it has. The template predicted that the S&P 500 would decline from 4200 to 4000, which it has. The template predicted that the copper price would decline from $9250/MT to $8500/MT. In fact, it has fallen even further to $8200/MT. In the case of oil, the better synchronization is the starts of the respective wars. This template predicted that the Brent crude price would decline sharply from a knee-jerk peak in the $120s, which it has. Not a bad set of predictions! If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Here’s What Happens Next Assuming the template continues to hold, here are the major implications for investors: Bond prices will enter a sustained rally in 2023. Bonds: The 30-year T-bond (price) will trend sideways for the next few months, albeit with a potential tactical correction that takes its yield to 3.5 percent. However, bond prices will enter a sustained rally in 2023 in which the 30-year T-bond yield will fall to sub-2.5 percent (Chart I-5). Chart I-5If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To Bond Prices Stocks: A coordinated global recession will depress profits, causing the S&P 500 to test 3500 in the coming months. However, once past the worst of the recession, a strong rally will lift it through 5000 later in 2023 (Chart I-6). Chart I-6If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To Stock Prices Sector allocation: Longer duration defensive sectors (such as healthcare) will strongly outperform shorter duration cyclical sectors (such as basic resources) until mid-2023, after which it will be time to flip back into cyclicals (Chart I-7). Chart I-7If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To Sector Allocation Industrial metals: A tactical rebound in copper could lift it to $8500/MT after which the structural downtrend will resume, taking it to sub-$7000/MT in 2023 (Chart I-8). Chart I-8If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To The Copper Price Oil: Just as in 1981-82, supply shortages will provide near-term support. But ultimately, demand destruction will dominate, depressing the price to, at best, $85 (Chart I-9) though our central case is $55 in 2023. Chart I-9If 2022-23 = 1981-82, Then This Is What Happens To The Oil Price But What If 2022-23 Doesn’t = 1981-82? And yet, and yet…what if the Jay Powell Fed doesn’t equal the Paul Volcker Fed? What if central banks lose their nerve before inflation is slayed? Long bond yields could gap much higher, or at least not come down, causing a completely different set of investment outcomes. In this case, the correct template would not be 1981-82, but the 1970s. If central banks lose the stomach to slay inflation, then the consequent housing market crash will do the job for them. However, there is one huge difference between now and the 1970s, which makes that template highly unlikely. In the 1970s, the global real estate market was worth just one times world GDP, whereas today it has become a monster worth four times world GDP, and whose value is highly sensitive to the long bond yield. In the US, the mortgage rate has surged to well above the rental yield for the first time in 15 years. Simply put, it is now more expensive to buy than to rent a home, causing a disappearance of would be homebuyers, a flood of home-sellers, and an incipient reversal in home prices (Chart I-10). Chart I-10If Bond Yields Don't Come Down, Then House Prices Will Crash Hence, if long bond yields were to gap much higher, or even stay where they are, it would trigger a housing market crash whose massive deflationary impulse would swamp any inflationary impulse. The upshot is that the 2022-23 = 1981-82 template would suffer a hiatus. Ultimately though, it would come good, because a crash in the $400 trillion global housing market would obliterate inflation. In other words, if central banks lose the stomach to slay inflation, then the consequent housing market crash will do the job for them. Fractal Trading Watchlist As just discussed, copper’s tactical rebound is approaching exhaustion. This is confirmed by the 130-day fractal structure of copper versus tin reaching the point of extreme fragility that has consistently marked turning-points in this pair trade (Chart I-11). Chart I-11Copper's Tactical Rebound Is Exhausted Hence, this week’s recommendation is to short copper versus tin, setting the profit target and symmetrical stop-loss at 12 percent. Chart 1Expect Hungarian Bonds To Rebound Chart 2Copper Is Experiencing A Tactical Rebound Chart 3US REITS Are Oversold Versus Utilities Chart 4FTSE100 Outperformance Vs. Euro Stoxx 50 Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 5Netherlands' Underperformance Vs. Switzerland Has Ended Chart 6The Sell-Off In The 30-Year T-Bond At Fractal Fragility Chart 7Food And Beverage Outperformance Is Exhausted Chart 8German Telecom Outperformance Has Started To Reverse Chart 9Japanese Telecom Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 10The Strong Trend In The 18-Month-Out US Interest Rate Future Has Ended Chart 11The Strong Downtrend In The 3 Year T-Bond Has Ended Chart 12A Potential Switching Point From Tobacco Into Cannabis Chart 13Biotech Is A Major Buy Chart 14Norway's Outperformance Has Ended Chart 15Cotton Versus Platinum Has Reversed Chart 16Switzerland's Outperformance Vs. Germany Is Exhausted Chart 17USD/EUR Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 18The Outperformance Of MSCI Hong Kong Versus China Has Ended Chart 19US Utilities Outperformance Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 20The Outperformance Of Oil Versus Banks Is Exhausted Dhaval Joshi Chief Strategist dhaval@bcaresearch.com Fractal Trading System Fractal Trades 6-12 Month Recommendations Structural Recommendations Closed Fractal Trades Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields Chart II-1Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Euro Area Chart II-2Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Europe Ex Euro Area Chart II-3Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Asia Chart II-4Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Other Developed Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-5Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-6Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-7Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-8Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations
Listen to a short summary of this report. Executive Summary A Beacon Of Hope For AUD Along with the Canadian dollar, the Aussie has been one of the best performing currencies during a broad-based dollar rally. Rising interest rates are part of the story, but there is more to Aussie strength than meets the eye. Aussie’s resilience is a conundrum worth exploring. First, it is a favorite short play for an imploding economic scenario in China, which suggests it should be a lot weaker. Second, the Aussie should be in the bottom quartile of FX returns in a risk-off currency scenario. Aussie strength can be attributed to strong commodity prices that are providing a terms-of trade-tailwind. Moreover, there is marginal evidence that demand for Australian-sourced commodities could be becoming a tad more inelastic. Chinese economic growth continues to disappoint, but upside surprises will be a welcome fillip for the AUD (Feature chart). On a terms-of-trade basis, the Australian dollar is very cheap. Falling commodity prices are a handicap, but the margin of safety on the valuation makes the AUD a safer bet. Go long AUD/USD if it touches 0.665 cents. AUD/NZD bets are also attractive. However, we will stay on the sidelines on AUD/JPY bets. RECOMMENDATIONS INCEPTION LEVEL inception date RETURN LONG AUD/USD 0.665 2022-08-26 - Bottom Line: The Aussie dollar could go on a fire sale in the coming weeks. We would be buyers of AUD/USD at 0.665 cents. Feature The Australian dollar has been relatively resilient amidst broad-based dollar strength. Year-to-date, AUD is down 3.7% versus a 13.0% rally in the DXY (Chart 1). This is a remarkable development since historically, the AUD has been a very pro-cyclical currency, bearing the heavy lifting of any dollar rally. AUD/JPY, a key barometer for a risk-on/risk-off environment is up 13.4% year to date, despite a broad-based selloff in many risk assets. Chart 1The AUD Has Outperformed The Aussie’s resilience is a conundrum worth exploring. First, it is a favorite short play for an imploding economic scenario in China, which suggests it should be a lot weaker. Second, the Aussie should be in the bottom quartile of FX returns in a risk-off currency scenario. In this report, we explore base case scenarios for the Australian dollar, with recommendations for both short-term and longer-term trades, as well as plays at the crosses. Technical Indicators Technical indicators suggest the AUD could be ripe for a rebound. Our intermediate-term indicator bottomed at 5.55 and has usually been associated with non-negligible rallies in the AUD (Chart 2). This indicator is volatile and our expectation is that it could relapse in the near term. However, that will be good news for investors that have a constructive view on AUD prospects. Consistently, speculators are very short the Australian dollar. China’s zero COVID-19 policy, along with property market troubles have made the AUD a favorite short play (Chart 3). Given AUD’s resilience, this suggests that speculators are being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of fundamental currency inflows, through commodity purchases, bond market investors and Aussie equity sector bulls. Chart 2Technicals Point To A Coiled-Spring Rebound In The Coming Months Chart 3Investors Have Been Shorting ##br##AUD Australian Commodity Demand Chart 4A Beacon Of Hope For The AUD Weakness in China is well known and discounted by financial market participants. The latest selloff in the RMB is a case in point. Yet positive economic surprises in China have been improving relative to peers in the developed market (Chart 4). There are two simple reasons for this. First, the Chinese government is easing domestic financial conditions. Contrary to popular belief, lower rates and higher stimulus in China are positive for the AUD since it boosts Australian exports via higher domestic demand (Chart 5). With the Chinese bond market becoming more and more liberalized, it is also becoming a good proxy for monetary conditions in China. As such, lower bond yields in China have tended to lead imports. This is good news for Aussie exports in the coming months. Chart 5AStimulus In China Is Historically Positive For AUD Chart 5BStimulus In China Is Historically Positive For AUD Second, the Australian capital account could also be on the mend as foreigners are more willing to re-rate Aussie shares (Chart 6). The Chinese credit cycle has often led to a re-rating in Aussie shares. Our China and Emerging Market strategists argue that stimulus measures might not be sufficient to turn around Chinese domestic demand. In our view, that is well priced into the Aussie, which could potentially experience another selloff in the coming weeks. However, any upside surprises in Chinese growth will be a welcome fillip for the Australian dollar. Chart 6China And Australia Are Tied To The Hip A Few Moats Around The AUD Infrastructure spending is a huge chunk of Chinese fixed asset investment. So, while the housing downturn will impact commodity demand, infrastructure could provide a welcome offset. This could be a big moat that investors should pay attention to. Infrastructure is 24.5% of fixed asset investment in China and 18.0% of steel demand (Chart 7). Chart 7AStimulus In China Is Historically Positive For AUD Chart 7BStimulus In China Is Historically Positive For AUD On a relative basis, Australian terms-of-trade have outperformed other commodity-producing nations. This is some evidence that the external demand for Aussie commodities could be becoming a tad more inelastic. Among Australia’s exports, liquified natural gas has been increasing both in price and as a share of total volume (Chart 8). This is following a natural tailwind. China has an imperative to become greener, which has led to a rise in the share of renewables and natural gas electricity generation (Chart 9). Australia is in the top three biggest exporters of liquified natural gas in the world and exports world class clean coal that China depends on. The result has been a tremendous gain in terms of trade (Chart 10). Chart 8Some Aussie Exports Could Be Relatively Demand Inelastic Chart 9A Tailwind For Australia Chart 10Terms Of Trade Are Favorable In Australia Amidst this moat around the AUD is also a valuation cushion. As a result of strong export prices, the Australian dollar is undervalued on a terms of trade basis. While true that the AUD is vulnerable to a correction in commodity prices, the margin of safety on the valuation is sufficient for investors willing to ride out near term volatility (Chart 11). Remarkably, the 10-year government bond yield in Australia is 56.8 basis points above that in the US. This will have two profound opposing effects. First, from an interest rate perspective, it will cushion the drawdown in the Aussie, as interest-rate differentials matter for currency returns (Chart 12). On the other hand, it puts interest-rate sensitive parts of the economy, such as housing, at risk. Chart 11AUD Is Cheap On A Terms Of Trade Basis Chart 12AUD Is Cheap On A Fundamental Basis The Risks For The AUD The first risk for the AUD is a downturn in commodity prices. Chinese demand is genuinely slowing. This could lead to an undershoot in the AUD, as a terms-of-trade undershoot (Chart 13). That is why our recommended entry point is lower than today’s level at 0.665 cents. Chart 13A Commodity Correction Is A Risk For AUD Chart 14Housing Is A Big Risk For Australia The second consideration is housing prices. Real estate is experiencing a meaningful roll over in Australia. This has been led by Sydney and Melbourne, where prices were clearly overvalued, but the phenomenon is more broad based (Chart 14). Related Report Foreign Exchange StrategyTwo Decades After The Creation Of The Euro The impact for financial markets and the AUD is two-fold. First, if the RBA continues to tighten and as this flattens the Aussie yield curve further, it will not be a welcome development for bank net interest margins and profits (Chart 15). Second, the market has already priced in interest rates higher in Australia compared to the US (Chart 16). A slowdown in housing construction activity, that makes the Aussie consumer more cautious could temper the pace of RBA rate hikes and put pressure on the AUD. Chart 15Watch The Relative Performance Of Bank Shares Chart 16The RBA Might Be Relatively Dovish in 2023 A Few Trades Ideas Australia provides a lot of the commodities countries need and want in today’s paradigm. That is bullish. Yet exposure to China is a clear risk that investors need to factor into investment decisions. Our trading strategy is as follows: We would buy AUD/USD at 0.665 cents. In our view, it could undershoot this level but will be an attractive longer-term buy. The risks to the housing market are higher in New Zealand compared to Australia (Chart 17). Terms of trade also likely to favor the Aussie versus the kiwi (Chart 18). As such, bet on long AUD/NZD trades. Chart 17AUD Can Withstand Higher Rates Relative To NZD Chart 18Terms Of Trade Will Drive AUD Higher Relative To NZD AUD/JPY will benefit from a rally in risk assets but is stretched. Thus, from a sentiment perspective, we are only neutral (Chart 19). Economic surprises could also likely underwhelm in Australia relative to the unloved Japanese market (Chart 20). Chart 19AUD/JPY Is Stretched Chart 20AUD/JPY Is Stretched Chester Ntonifor Foreign Exchange Strategist chestern@bcaresearch.com Trades & Forecasts Strategic View Cyclical Holdings (6-18 months) Tactical Holdings (0-6 months) Limit Orders Forecast Summary
Executive Summary US Companies Will Attempt To Raise Selling Prices To Protect Their Profit Margins China needs lower interest rates and a weaker currency to battle deflationary pressures. In the US, the main problem is elevated inflation. This heralds higher interest rates and a stronger currency. Hence, the Chinese yuan will depreciate against the greenback. When the RMB weakens versus the US dollar, commodity prices usually fall, and EM currencies and asset prices struggle. Faced with surging unit labor costs, US companies will continue to raise their prices to protect their profit margins and profitability. This will lead to one of the following two possible scenarios in the months ahead. Scenario 1: If customers are willing to pay considerably higher prices, nominal sales will remain robust, profits will not collapse, and a recession is unlikely. However, this also implies that the Fed will have to tighten policy by more than what is currently priced in by markets. Scenario 2: If customers push back against higher prices and curtail their purchases, then the economy will enter a recession. In this scenario, inflation will plummet, corporate margins will shrink, and their profits will plunge. In both scenarios, the outlook for stocks is poor. However, one key difference is that scenario 1 is bearish for US Treasurys while scenario 2 is bond bullish. Bottom Line: On the one hand, the US has a genuine inflation problem. The upshot is that the Fed cannot pivot too early. The Fed’s hawkish rhetoric will support the US dollar. A strong greenback is bad for EM financial markets. On the other hand, the Chinese economy and global trade are experiencing deflation/recession dynamics. Cyclical assets underperform and the US dollar generally appreciates in this environment. This is also a toxic backdrop for EM financial markets. Financial markets have been caught in contradictions. The reason is that investors cannot decide if the global economy is heading into a recession with deflationary forces prevailing, or whether a goldilocks economy or a period of inflation or stagflation will emerge in the foreseeable future. There are also plenty of contradictory data to support all the above scenarios. As such, financial markets are volatile, swinging wildly as market participants absorb new economic data points. The S&P 500 index has rebounded from its 3-year moving average, which had previously served as a major support (Chart 1). Yet, the rebound has faltered at its 200-day moving average. Its failure to break decisively above this 200-day moving average entails that a new cyclical rally is not yet in the cards. Chart 1The S&P 500 Is Stuck Between Technical Resistance And Support Lines The S&P 500 index will remain between these resistance and support lines until investors make up their minds about the economic outlook. The EM equity index has been unable to rebound strongly alongside US stocks. A major technical support that held up in the 1998, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2015 and 2020 bear markets is about 15% below the current level (Chart 2). Hence, we recommend that investors remain on the sidelines of EM stocks. Chart 2EM Share Prices Are Still 15% Above Their Long-Term Technical Support Level BCA’s Emerging Markets Strategy team’s macro themes and views remain as follows: Related Report Emerging Markets StrategyCharts That Matter In China, the main economic risk is deflation and the continuation of underwhelming economic growth. Core and service consumer price inflation are both below 1% and property prices are deflating. Falling prices amid high debt levels is a recipe for debt deflation. We discussed the government’s stimulus – including measures enacted for the property market – in the August 11 report. The latest announcement about the RMB 1 trillion stimulus does not change our analysis. In fact, we expected an additional RMB 1.5 trillion in local government bond issuance for the remainder of the current year. Yet, the government authorized only an additional RMB 0.5 trillion. This is substantially below what had been expected by analysts and commentators in recent months. In Chinese and China-related financial markets, a recession/deflation framework remains appropriate. Onshore interest rates will drop further, the yuan will depreciate more, and Chinese stocks and China related plays will continue experiencing growth/profit headwinds. Meanwhile, the US economy has been experiencing stagflation this year. Chart 3 shows that even though the nominal value of final sales has expanded by 8-10%, sales and output have stagnated in real terms (close to zero growth). Hence, nominal sales and corporate profits have so far held up because companies have been able to raise prices by 8-9.5% (Chart 4). Is this bullish for the stock market? Not really. Chart 3US Stagflation: Strong Nominal Growth, But Small In Real Terms Chart 4US Corporate Profits Have Held Up Because Of Pricing Power/Inflation The fact that companies have been able to raise their selling prices at this rapid pace implies that the Fed cannot stop hiking rates. Besides, US wages and unit labor costs are surging (Chart 9 below). The implication is that inflation will be entrenched and core inflation will not drop quickly and significantly enough to allow the Fed to pivot anytime soon. Overall, US economic data releases have been consistent with our view that although real growth is slowing, the US economy is experiencing elevated inflations, i.e., a stagflationary environment. Critically, wages and inflation lag the business cycle and are also very slow moving variables. Hence, US core inflation will not drop below 4% quickly enough to provide relief for the Fed and markets. Is a US recession imminent? It depends. One thing we are certain of is that faced with surging unit labor costs, US companies will attempt to raise their prices to protect their profit margins and profitability. Our proxy for US corporate profit margins signals that they are already rolling over (Chart 5). Hence, business owners and CEOs will attempt to raise selling prices further. Chart 5US Companies Will Attempt To Raise Selling Prices To Protect Their Profit Margins This will lead to one of two possible scenarios for the US economy in the months ahead. Scenario 1: If customers (households and businesses) are willing to pay considerably higher prices, nominal sales will remain very robust, and profits will not collapse, reducing the likelihood of a recession. Yet, this means that inflation will become even more entrenched, and employees will continue to demand higher wages. A wage-price spiral will persist. The Fed will have to raise rates much more than what is currently priced in financial markets. This is negative for US share prices. Scenario 2: If customers push back against higher prices and curtail their purchases, output volume will relapse, i.e., the economy will enter a recession. In this scenario, inflation will plummet, corporate margins will shrink (prices received will rise much less than unit labor costs) and profits will plunge. Suffering a profit squeeze, companies will lay off employees, wage growth will decelerate, and high inflation will be extinguished. In this scenario, bond yields will drop significantly but plunging corporate profits will weigh on share prices. We are not certain which of these two scenarios will prevail: it is hard to determine the point at which US consumers will push back against rising prices. Nevertheless, it is notable that in both scenarios, the outlook for stocks is poor. Finally, as we have repeatedly written, global trade is about to contract. Charts 10-18 below elaborate on this theme. This is disinflationary/recessionary. Investment Conclusions On the one hand, the Chinese economy and global trade are experiencing deflation/recession dynamics. Cyclical assets struggle and the US dollar does well in this environment. This constitutes a toxic backdrop for EM financial markets. On the other hand, the US has a genuine inflation problem. The upshot is that the Fed cannot pivot too early. The Fed’s hawkish rhetoric will support the US dollar. A strong greenback is also bad for EM financial markets. Thus, we do not see any reason to alter our negative view on EM equities, credit and currencies. Investors should continue underweighting EM in global equity and credit portfolios. Local currency bonds offer value, but further currency depreciation and more rate hikes remain a risk to domestic bonds. We continue to short the following currencies versus the USD: ZAR, COP, PEN, PLN and IDR. In addition, we recommend shorting HUF vs. CZK, KRW vs. JPY, and BRL vs. MXN. Arthur Budaghyan Chief Emerging Markets Strategist arthurb@bcaresearch.com Messages From Various US High-Beta / Cyclical Stock Prices US high-beta consumer discretionary, industrials, tech and early cyclical stocks have not yet broken out. The rebounds in high-beta tech and industrials have been rather muted. We are watching these and many other market signs and technical indicators to gauge if the recent rebounds can turn into a cyclical bull market. Chart 6 Chart 7 Falling Global Trade + Sticky US Inflation = US Dollar Overshot On the one hand, US household spending on goods ex-autos is already contracting and will drop further. The same is true for EU demand. The reasons are excessive consumption of goods over the past two years and shrinking household real disposable income. As a result, global trade is set to shrink, which is positive for the US dollar. On the other hand, surging US unit labor costs entail that core CPI will be very sticky at levels well above the Fed’s target. Hence, the Fed will likely maintain its hawkish bias for now, which is also bullish for the greenback. In short, the US dollar will continue overshooting. Chart 8 Chart 9 Chinese Exports Will Contract, And Imports Will Fail To Recover Chinese export volume growth has come to a halt. Shrinking imports of inputs used for re-export (imports for processing trade) are pointing to an imminent contraction in the mainland’s exports. Further, Chinese import volumes have been contracting for the past 12 months. The value of imports has not plunged only because of high commodity prices. As commodity prices drop, import values will converge to the downside with import volumes. This is negative for economies/industries selling to China. Chart 10 Chart 11 Global Manufacturing / Trade Downtrend Is Intact China buys a lot of inputs from Taiwan that are used in its exports. That is why the mainland’s imports from Taiwan lead the global trade cycle. This is presently heralding a considerable deterioration in global trade. In addition, falling freight rates and depreciating Emerging Asian (ex-China) currencies are all currently pointing to a further underperformance of global cyclicals versus defensive sectors. Chart 12 Chart 13 Chart 14 Taiwan Is A Canary In A Coal Mine Taiwanese manufacturing companies have seen their export orders plunge and their customer inventories surge. This has occurred in its overall manufacturing and semiconductor companies. This corroborates our thesis that global export volumes will contract in the coming months. Chart 15 Chart 16 Korean Exporters Are Struggling Korean export companies are experience the same dynamics as their Taiwanese peers. Semiconductor prices and sales are falling hard in Korea. Export volume growth has come to a halt and will soon shrink. Chart 17 Chart 18 EM Equities: Cheap And Unloved? The EM cyclically adjusted P/E (CAPE) ratio has fallen to one standard deviation below its mean. Based on this measure, EM stocks are currently as cheap as they were at their bottoms in 2020, 2015 and 2008. EM share prices in USD deflated by US CPI are now at two standard deviations below their long-term time-trend. This is as bad as it got when EM stocks bottomed in the previous bear markets. The reason for EM stocks poor performance and such “cheapness” is corporate profits. EM EPS in USD has been flat, i.e., posting zero growth in the past 15 years. Besides, EM narrow money (M1) growth points to further EM EPS contraction in the months ahead. Chart 19 Chart 20 Chart 21 Chart 22 Commodity Prices Remain At Risk China needs lower interest rates and a weaker currency to battle deflationary pressures. In the US, the problem is inflation, which heralds higher interest rates and a stronger currency to fight rising prices. Hence, the yuan will depreciate versus the greenback. When the RMB depreciates versus the US dollar, commodity prices usually fall. Further, commodity currencies (an average of AUD, NZD and CAD) continue drafting lower. This indicator correlates with commodity prices and also presages further relapse in resource prices. Chart 23 Chart 24 Oil Prices: A Major Top In Place, But Geopolitics Will Drive Near-Term Fluctuations Chinese crude oil imports have been contracting for almost a year. Global (including US) demand for gasoline has relapsed. Meantime, Russia’s oil and oil product exports have fallen only by a mere 5% from their January level. This explains why oil prices have recently fallen. Oil lags business cycles: its consumption will shrink as global growth downshifts. However, geopolitics remain a wild card. Hence, we are uncertain about the near-term outlook for oil prices. That said, oil has made a major top and any rebound will fail to last much longer or push prices above recent highs. Chart 25 Chart 26 Chart 27 Chart 28 What Is Next For The Chinese RMB? The Chinese yuan will continue depreciating versus the US dollar. China needs lower interest rates and a weaker currency to battle deflationary pressures. While currency is moderately cheap, exchange rates tend to overshoot/undershoot and can remain cheap/expensive for a while. The CNY/USD has technically broken down. Interestingly, the periods of RMB depreciation coincide with deteriorating global US dollar liquidity and, in turn, poor performance by EM assets and commodities. Chart 29 Chart 30 Chart 31 Stay Put On Chinese Equities Odds are rising that Chinese platform companies will likely be delisted from the US as we have argued for some time. Hence, international investors will continue dampening US-listed Chinese stocks. The outlook for China’s economic recovery and profits is downbeat. This will weigh on non-TMT stocks and A shares. Within the Chinese equity universe, we continue to recommend the long A-shares / short Investable stocks strategy, a position we initiated on March 4, 2021. Chart 32 Chart 33 Chart 34 Chart 35 Messages For Stocks From Corporate Bonds Historically, rising US and EM corporate bond yields led to a selloff in US and EM share prices, respectively. Corporate bond yields are the cost of capital that matters for equities. Unless US and EM corporate bond yields start falling on a sustainable basis, their share prices will struggle. Corporate bond yields could increase because of either rising US Treasury yields or widening credit spreads. Chart 36 Chart 37 EM Currencies And Fixed-Income: An Unfinished Adjustment The profiles of EM FX and credit spreads suggest that their adjustment might not be complete. We expect further EM currency depreciation and renewed EM credit spread widening. EM domestic bond yields have risen significantly and offer value. However, if and as US TIPS yields rise and/or EM currencies continue to depreciate, local bond yields are unlikely to fall. To recommend buying EM local bonds aggressively, we need to change our view on the US dollar. Chart 38 Chart 39 Chart 40 Chart 41 Footnotes Strategic Themes (18 Months And Beyond) Equities Cyclical Recommendations (6-18 Months) Cyclical Recommendations (6-18 Months)