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Interest Rate Strategies: Trade Smarter with Fed Rate DecisionsInterest Rate Strategies: Trade Smarter with Fed Rate Decisions Trading interest rates may seem straightforward at first: buy when cuts end and sell when they fall. However, this approach often defies expectations, as determining when rate cuts truly end isn't as simple as pointing to a rate pause following a cut. While today’s Federal Reserve rate decisions are made during scheduled (and unscheduled emergency) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, this wasn’t always the case. Before the 1990s, the Fed often made changes outside of meetings. The shift to exclusively deciding rates during FOMC meetings was implemented to provide greater transparency and predictability for markets. Topics Covered: How Are Interest Rates Traded? Three Interest Rate Trading Strategies. Key Insights from Backtesting Interest Rate Trading Strategies. Interest Rate Trading Indicator (Backtest For Yourself). █ How Are Interest Rates Traded? This strategy focuses on trading around Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, including hikes (increases), cuts (decreases), and pauses. These decisions are believed by many to have both short- and long-term effects on the market. Key Strategy Concepts Backtested: Buy on Rate Pauses or Increases: Go long (buy) when the Fed pauses or raises interest rates, typically signaling market stability or optimism. Sell on Rate Decreases: Go short (sell) or close longs when the Fed cuts rates, often indicating economic concerns or slowing growth. Buy on Specific Rate Decreases: Enter trades when the Fed implements specific rate cuts, such as 50 basis points (bps) which represents 0.5%, and analyze market reactions over different time horizons. █ Strategy: Long during Pauses and Increases, Short during Decreases This section examines the effectiveness of going long on rate pauses or increases and shorting during decreases. This strategy performed well between 2001 and 2009, but underperformed after 2009 and before 2001 compared to holding positions. The main challenge is the unpredictability of future rate changes. If you could foresee rate trends over two years, decision-making would be easier, but that’s rarely the case, making this strategy less reliable in certain periods. 2001-2009 Trade Result: 67.02% Holding Result: -31.19% 2019-2021 Trade Result: 19.28% Holding Result: 25.22% 1971-Present Trade Result: 444.13% Holding Result: 5694.12% █ Strategy: Long 50bps Rate Cuts This section evaluates trading around 50 basis point (bps) rate cuts, which is a 0.5% decrease. Large cuts usually respond to economic stress, and market reactions can vary. While these cuts signal aggressive economic stimulation by the Fed, short-term responses are often unpredictable. The strategy tends to perform better over longer timeframes, as markets absorb the effects. 1971-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: -0.19% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: 2.41% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: 2.46% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 11.4% 2001-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: -2.12% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: -1.84% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: -3.72% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 1.72% 2009-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: -15.79% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: -6.11% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: 7.07% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 29.92% █ Strategy: Long Any Rate Cuts This section reviews the performance of buying after any rate cut, not just large ones. Rate cuts usually signal economic easing and often improve market conditions in the long run. However, the size of the cut and its context greatly influence how the market reacts over different timeframes. 1971-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: 0.33% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: 2.65% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: 4.38% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 8.4% 2001-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: -1.12% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: -0.69% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: -1.59% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 0.22% 2009-Present Trade Duration: 10 trading days — Average Return: -3.38% Trade Duration: 50 trading days — Average Return: 3.26% Trade Duration: 100 trading days — Average Return: 12.55% Trade Duration: 250 trading days — Average Return: 12.54% █ Key Insights from Backtesting Interest Rate Trading Strategies The first assumption I wanted to test was whether you should sell when rate cuts begin and buy when they end. The results were inconclusive, mainly due to the difficulty of predicting when rate cuts will stop. A rate pause might suggest cuts are over, but that’s often not the case, as shown below. One key finding is that the best time to be fully invested is when rates fall below 1.25% or 1.00%, as this has historically led to stronger market performance. But this can be subject to change. █ Interest Rate Trading Indicator (Backtest For Yourself) Indicator Used For Backtesting (select chart below to open): The 'Interest Rate Trading (Manually Added Rate Decisions) ' indicator analyzes U.S. interest rate decisions to determine trade entries and exits based on user-defined criteria, such as rate increases, decreases, pauses, aggressive changes, and more. It visually marks key decision dates, including both rate changes and pauses, offering valuable insights for trading based on interest rate trends. Historical time periods are highlighted for additional context. The indicator also allows users to compare the performance of an interest rate trading strategy versus a holding strategy.
SP:SPXEducation
by TanHef
Market Phases | Buy & Sell zone!Today, we delve into the crucial market phases, focusing on the dynamics of accumulation and distribution, along with the concepts of BOS (Breakout of Structure), Sweep, Range, and Liquidity. Understanding these phases is essential for developing an informed trading strategy and improving trading decisions. The market goes through various phases, such as accumulation and distribution, which play a key role in price formation. Accumulation represents a period when institutional traders accumulate a significant position, while distribution is associated with the sale of these positions. BOS (Breakout of Structure) is a pivotal event where the price surpasses a significant support or resistance level. Analyzing BOS can provide signals for reversal or trend continuation, indicating the end of one phase and the beginning of another. The concept of Sweep involves the rapid and aggressive buying or selling of a large quantity of assets at current market prices. This may indicate institutional interest and influence the future direction of the price. Range refers to a consolidated price interval where the market is temporarily "locked." During these phases, traders can seek breakout or breakdown signals to identify trading opportunities. Liquidity is crucial as it represents the availability of a large volume of trades at a specific price level. Understanding market phases and concepts like BOS, Sweep, Range, and Liquidity provides a solid foundation for chart analysis. Using this knowledge, informed decisions can be made to identify trading opportunities and manage risks more effectively.
Education
by Forex48_TradingAcademy
1
November FOMC preview – where the risk to markets resides Time – 3 Nov 5am AEDT / 6PM GMT (Jay Powell speaks at 05:30 AEDT) Central bank meetings are just so important to sentiment and market structure – when we’re trading a major market theme, such as inflation and rising interest rates, this is the market’s chance to mark-to-market policy changes and how the collective in the bank guide our expectations for future meetings ahead. For traders, notably for those who have exposures sensitive to policy changes, they simply must assess the potential for big volatility, which could affect their positions – our job is to recognise the propensity for sizeable movement, the skew in the outcome distribution and if our stop placement is too close/far from the market. Do we reduce, exit or in some cases even initiate positions? For others, the central bank meeting will shape the trading environment and the market structure they work in - not just for that trading session, but for the following days ahead. Consider day traders who work within a specific timeframe and need to assess if price action constitutes a trending day, and therefore they look more closely at momentum strategies. Or is it more of a choppy, sideways, range-bound day, and therefore looking more readily at intra-day mean reversion strategies? ‘Environment recognition’ is key for day traders and scalpers and edge comes from being able to identify the regime we’re in – perhaps through the application of market profile, VWAP, Bollinger Band strategies (to name a few), as well as good old fashion price action. An overview of the November FOMC meeting As we know event risk seldom gets more important than an FOMC meeting, so this is a risk we need to manage. Trading these tier 1 events takes skill like no other – we must react to the statement, but then 30 minutes later we react to individual words and nuance in the press conference from chair Jay Powell. It’s always the high frequency algo’s that recognise the keywords first and we mortals are left trying to react according. Even once the presser has finished and the dust has settled, quite often we see the ensuing Fed members speaking over the coming week giving their own personal view, and often when we’ve seen violent moves on the day, they will walk back any extreme reaction. The first move is not always the right move. To some, this lively backdrop, especially when we consider reduced liquidity can be nirvana-type conditions. To others, this is the environment where they have no edge and see it best to stand aside and let price do its thing. A hawkish ‘step down’ on the cards We’ve been treated to a roller coaster in Fed ‘pivot’ expectations - Ranging from a WSJ article of an impending ‘step down’ in the pace of hikes starting at the December meeting. To dovish turns from the RBA, ECB and BoC – however, the Fed are their own boss and they see US labour market data that has been solid (as donated by the Employment Cost Index and JOLTS report) – US 5-year inflation expectations are rising and next week’s US core CPI print will likely be close to unchanged at 6.6% YoY - it seems highly unlikely that the Fed will want to promote a positive reaction in risky assets, and the risks to markets in my mind are skewed to a hawkish reaction – equity up, bond yields and the USD lower. In the Fed’s view, putting the US into a recession is still a lesser evil than not tackling entrenched price pressures. While traders would fall off their chair if the Fed didn’t hike by 75bp at this meeting, it’s the guidance for future meetings which is where we get a reaction in markets. We are likely to hear that the pace of hikes in the future will fall to a more conventional pace – this is the ‘step down’ many have focused on. But this narrative will be accompanied by strong conditionality, and the statement will be about giving the Fed maximum flexibility and optionality for the December meeting – that call will be fully data-dependent. So, consider there is a lot of information between now and the 14 December FOMC meeting – we have 2 non-farm payrolls reports, the Oct CPI print (11 Oct) and the midterm elections. It’s no wonder the market is pricing 62bp of hikes for that meeting and hedging their bets of a 50 or 75bp hike – it's this pricing for the Dec FOMC meeting which I think is key for markets. Rates Review – we see market pricing for the Nov FOMC meeting at 75bp – then a step to 62bp in the Dec meeting. The holy trinity – the three markets to drive cross-asset volatility Pricing for the December FOMC meeting So part of the reaction will be seen in the pricing for the Dec FOMC meeting which currently sits at 4.41% – traders can see this on TradingView by typing ‘100-ZQF2023’ into the navigator. A dovish reaction would be to see this headed below 4.4%, where we would expect the USD to sell off and gold and equities to rally. A push towards 4.50% would see USDJPY push towards 150 and EURUSD through 0.9800. Terminal fed funds rates pricing We also look at the terminal rates pricing – this is the peak of market expectations for where the Fed can take rates, which currently sit in the May to June 2023 period at 5% – we can type in ‘100-ZQK2023’ into the navigator. A firm break above 5% would send risk lower. US 2-year Treasury I also look at US real rates and 2yr Treasuries (US02Y) closely as a driver for risk assets – If yields rise then we should see the NAS100 and gold fall and the USD spike, especially if we take out the 21 Oct high of 4.63% – conversely if yields fall/price rise then the USD will likely fall. As always around key events, the reaction in markets is a function of: • The outcome vs Expectations • Positioning • Hedging activity • Liquidity My own view is the risks are skewed for a hawkish reaction – USD higher, but I will recognise the moves in rates suggests the market is largely positioned for this outcome.
PEPPERSTONE:USDXEducation
by Pepperstone
2
How to create a real-time US real rate on TradingView US real rates drive everything in markets right now, and if they are going up then so is the USD, while equity will head lower – for context, the 1-month rolling correlation (assessed by value, not percentage) between US 10-yr real rates and the USDX sits at +0.94 – so there is an incredibly strong relationship. This is also true of equities, where the US real rate (we deflate the 10yr Treasury for expected inflation) holds a rolling 1-month correlation with the US500 of -0.92 and NAS100 -0.89. It sounds pedantic that one day makes a difference, but the default setting for 5 and 10yr US TIPS/real rates on TradingView, which the source a feed directly from the St Louis Fed (FRED) website – comes under the code DFII10 – as per the FRED website this, however, has a two-day lag, so the benefit to traders is reduced. We can see the breakeven component of real rates on TradingView (10-year breakeven, or the expected US inflation rate to average over the coming 10yrs – code = T10YIE) actually holds no lag, so we can now use this to create a more up-to-date US 5 & 10-year ‘real’ Treasury rate. So there work around - In the search function simply subtract T10YIE from the US 10yr Treasury (US10Y) and you can get a real-time real rate – type TVC:US10Y-FRED:T10YIE – this is the 10yr real rate, but you can change it to TVC:US05Y-FRED:T5YIE for the 5-year. Higher real rates act as the true cost of capital – they are the handbrake on economic activity that the Fed need to be more cognisant of than anything. If 10yr real rates are going to 1%, and if this relationship holds, then I think the DXY re-tests the 15 June highs, although we are seeing real support for EURUSD, and the US500 likely heads to 3400 – 3200. It's here where most see a trough in the market and where we bake in a true recession – not just a technical one, but one where we see broad-based layoffs. As it is, a recession is certainly probable, but will the economy talk itself into something far more pronounced that really impacts consumption?
Editors' picks
TVC:US10YEducation
by Pepperstone
8
Mid Year Update: Part 1: 10 Year Rates:Mid-Year Update: Part 1: Bonds/Rates: I begin each year looking at monthly perspective charts of Equity, Rates, Commodities and DXY. Those posts can be found in their entirety, with extensive fundamental support, in the links below. I will update views on the four markets over the next few weeks. The early 2022 the conclusions were: - Bonds: A bull market defined by a broad declining channel, but rising inflation could easily change the trend. The most likely catalyst to end keep rates below 3.25% would be a financial accident created by higher rates. -Equities: SPX remains in a technical bull market and there are no overtly bearish behaviors evident in the longest perspectives. However short term weakness could easily morph into a bear market. -Commodities: Goldman Sachs Commodities index is in the center of a broad 14 year range, bounded essentially by the low set during the financial crisis and the resultant 2011 high. The most notable/useful current chart feature is the clear uptrend from the 2020 pandemic low. Until that uptrend is broken, the most immediate trend is to higher price. -US Dollar: The wide macro range, 70.70 - 121.02 has contained price action over most of my trading career but volatility is more cyclical than price. These periods of low vol. set up conditions that often lead to explosive moves. Reminder: Bond bull and bear markets are defined by the PRICE trend. In other words, a bull market in bonds = rising bond prices and falling yields. 10 Year: Monthly: - In January bonds broke above the 40 year downtrend that had defined the bull market. The break of the downtrend moves the structural long term trend from bullish to neutral. -A monthly close above the 3.25% pivot would begin to define a long term structural bear. - Initial targets above the pivot are found at 5.29% (the 2007 pivot high) and 6.27%, (.382 retracement of the entire bull market). -The monthly MACD oscillator generated a long term sell signal (in December of 2020 at roughly 90 bps). Until this sell signal resolves, place less weight on buy signals generated in lower perspective (daily and weekly) time frames. Weekly: The combination of very strong resistance, overbought MACD and bad seasonals suggest that a counter trend weekly perspective rally or consolidation is becoming likely. -Testing very strong resistance while overbought both in terms of price and momentum. It wouldn't be surprising to see a testing probe of 3.50% but its clear that buyers (expecting lower yields) are becoming more active. -The Mid-June spike above 3.25% left a thrust rejection that suggested strong handed sellers entering. -Weekly MACD is threatening to roll over. -Bond prices have very strong seasonal tendencies, weak into the May - June time frame, stronger into the middle of September, and weak into the end of the year. We are into the period where bonds transition from weakness to strength. -While it’s clear that the trend lower in inflation has inflected higher, potential weekly perspective inflection points in commodities and energy should relieve some of the short term inflation angst and by extrapolation the pressure on bond prices. -Major yield highs are almost always the result of a financial accident with systemic ramifications. I don't think crypto is a big enough market to qualify and other than the widening high yield spreads I don't sense much going on in this regard. -Ten Year TIPS breakeven rates are on the verge of generating a MACD month perspective sell signal (suggesting lower expectations for future inflation). This is a direct reflection of the recent declines in energy and commodities. A TIPS sell signal would be very supportive of lower nominal 10 year rates. Bottom Line: The long term structural bull market is dead, but the market has yet to establish a new structural bear. Unless there is a systemic catalyst, Weekly perspective rallies, particularly into the fourth quarter, should be viewed as selling opportunities.
Editors' picks
TVC:US10YEducation
by CMT_Association
19
Here's Why the Tech-Led Selloff is Likely Over (for now)In this post, I will attempt to provide evidence to show why the tech-led selloff is likely to be over (for now). I will use the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and its inverse derivative, SQQQ, as my argument's basis. The inverse (short) ETF of the Nasdaq, SQQQ, has never closed a weekly candle above the Leading Span B of the Ichimoku Cloud (pink line in chart). Last week and the previous week, the weekly candle was very strongly resisted at this level. Now, the weekly and monthly momentum oscillators started to move in the opposite direction. This will not only make it much harder for SQQQ to pierce the line, but it could also result in SQQQ plummeting quickly, and therefore QQQ and the Nasdaq rebounding quickly. For comparison, many data points are covered in this chart, and there is a high statistical probability that the Nasdaq has bottomed. Not even during the peak fear of COVID-19, when the global economy shut down and governments feared millions of deaths, did SQQQ pierce the weekly Ichimoku Cloud. In December 2018 when the Fed was starting to rapidly roll off assets on its balance sheet and was raising interest rates, SQQQ still did not pierce the cloud. This fear is very similar to today's fear. Even further back, not even during the major flash crash in 2015 or on Black Monday in 2011 when the market crashed did SQQQ pierce the cloud. Today, hardly anyone remembers these episodes in stock market history. Similarly, in ten years or so, few people (except maybe those who sold all their positions at the market bottom) will remember what happened in May 2022. The NDTH is a chart of the percentage of Nasdaq 100 stocks that are above their 200-day moving average. It dropped to nearly 10 in May 2022, meaning almost 90% of Nasdaq 100 stocks were below their 200-day moving average. The last time this level was reached was in March 2020 right at the bottom of the COVID market crash. The NDTH has never dropped below 15 except during significant bottoms on the Nasdaq. There are many other examples in which the charts suggest, with high probability data, that we just experienced a significant bottom on the Nasdaq 100. (Eg. The Nasdaq 100 was supported on the monthly base line, the monthly candle is extremely bullish, the monthly EMA ribbon of the QQQ/SPY ratio chart strongly held the outperformance trend in place, inflation and interest rate charts are cooling. Although this may be a significant bottom, it does not mean a years-long bull span is ahead. Rather the charts suggest the panic selling has ended for at least the short to intermediate-term. To be fair, some charts suggest that the QQQ/SPY outperformance trend could be nearing the end of its decades-long run. (Credit to @Breakout_Charts for identifying this) If this occurs, then it could be the start of a new cycle, or even super cycle, whereby the Nasdaq underperforms for years. Finally, a point about market psychology. Bottoms occur when 'extreme fear' turns into just 'fear' (yes, there's actually an indicator that measures this). That indicator has moved significantly from 'extreme fear' towards 'fear'. With this said, there might be a lot of people who might comment on this post and say scary-sounding things about the state of the economy or stock market. If none of these fears existed among market participants, we would never even have gotten to this bottom. Never sell because of fear alone. Not financial advice. As always anything can happen. Just my thoughts. Leave a like if this was helpful and you'd like me to post more analyses. Please feel free to comment below if you have additional thoughts.
NASDAQ:SQQQEducation
by SpyMasterTrades
5
Bond - Equity Correlation: The Most Important Question?TVC:US10Y TVC:NYA A reminder that falling bond yields are synonymous with higher bond prices. In other words, a downtrend in yield equates to a bull market in bonds. In January, bonds were still in a technical bull market as defined by the broad declining channel that had contained the 40 year bull market. In March the break of that downtrend turned the macro trend from bullish to neutral. Now, all that is left to define a bearish trend is a substantive violation of the 3.25% pivot zone. More recently, after testing the major macro pivot in the 3.25% zone, ten year Treasury yields have fallen sharply. The decline begs the question: Is the decline the result of the decades long negative correlation between equity and fixed income reasserting itself on the back of equity weakness or is it simply the beginning of a relief rally created by the combination of major support and a deeply oversold condition? While it is too soon to answer the question with any degree of certainty, it is clear that the outcome will have vitally important macro/portfolio implications. My guess is that if equities continue to weaken, that the bonds will continue to do better, but that without the bid provided by flight-to-quality that the outlook for bonds will quickly deteriorate as the oversold condition is alleviated. In future posts I will provide a deeper dive into the shorter term technical and fundamental outlook for bonds, but the posts from January 2, 11, and February 9 should provide adequate background for now. Early in the year I published a five part market overview detailing my macro technical and fundamental views of the "Big 4" asset classes: Equities, Rates, Commodities and the Dollar. As part of that series I discussed the importance of the correlation between equities and bonds and the central role falling inflation played in creating the relationship. This inverse correlation is a historical anomaly, yet it drives much modern portfolio construction. The idea is that when equities decline sharply, flight to quality in bonds pushes rates lower (bond prices higher). In other words, gains in the bond portion of the portfolio partially hedge losses in the equity portfolio. Variations of the 60/40 portfolio construction (60% equities and 40% bonds) and risk parity strategies are intended to shield investors from the worst of equity declines and indeed have had an admirable track record of reducing return volatility. After decades of success, the amount of assets devoted to this strategy, both overt and passive, is staggeringly huge. If the historic positive correlation is reasserting itself due to a change in the trend of inflation (stocks down and bonds down), the subsequent unwind has the potential to create massive dislocation. In my view, the combination of extremely negative real rates (nominal rates less inflation), an inflation cycle that has turned from virtuous to vicious, and equity markets, that at least at the index level, are extremely overvalued, may be setting the stage for a polarity switch in which bond prices and equity prices fall and rise together. That has clearly been the case so far this year. Year-to-date (YTD) the bond composite has returned approximately -12% while the S&P has returned approximately -1%. In other words, both sides of 60/40 and risk parity portfolios have lost considerable value. If the year were to end now, it would be a historically bad year for the strategy. Is the switch in correlation a short term phenomenon or the start of something much larger? To my mind, this is the central question for the remainder of this year. I think the next few months will be telling. There is also the tension between high inflation and the growing odds of a significant recession. Not only does high inflation serve as an inhibiter to real economic growth, but so will the Federal Reserves (Fed) effort to return inflation to its long term trend. Paul Volcker had to create twin recessions to beat the great inflation. I doubt very much that this Fed will escape without having to make a similar choice. Notes: It is worth remembering that in an economy that is overly financialized and debt burdened, rising rates often break the weakest link in the economic chain. Weak links can be systemically important institutions, sectors or simply a dramatic sell off in the equity markets. That markets are currently in distress is clear. What isn't clear is that the distress is enough to create a systemic risk event. Bonds and equities frequently move into and out of positive and negative correlation in shorter time frames. When I talk about historical correlation I am referring to the very long term. Good Trading: Stewart Taylor, CMT Chartered Market Technician Shared content and posted charts are intended to be used for informational and educational purposes only. The CMT Association does not offer, and this information shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice or investment recommendations. The information provided is not a substitute for advice from an investment professional. The CMT Association does not accept liability for any financial loss or damage our audience may incur.
Editors' picks
TVC:US10YEducation
by CMT_Association
26
Big Four Macro Overview: Part 5For more detail please refer to the first four pieces in the series (linked below) and the accompanying charts. Markets entered 2022 with well established trends and trading ranges, but I believe that the coming year holds significant potential for change. This is particularly true in the equity and treasury markets. Because much of the outlook hinges on inflation (see below) it will be particularly important to monitor inflation related markets. Importantly, while it's easy to make the case that rates should rise significantly this year, modern financial history suggests that rising rates are likely to break the most vulnerable financial link. If that link has the ability to create systemic disruption, rates will fall again, even if inflation is high, as the market runs to the quality of treasuries. In my opinion, the most important trend of the last four decades has been the decline and subsequent quiescence in the inflation rate. Falling and low inflation allowed Treasury rates to decline. Falling Treasury rates supported equity valuations and home prices. They also enabled the wholesale financialization of the economy and allowed both public and private entities to add leverage without consequence. Importantly low and steady inflation also created the negative correlation between treasury and equity. Without that correlation 60/40 and risk parity strategies may well be in danger. Inflation: My working thesis has been that many of the trends that supported disinflation have reversed and that rising inflation will act as a headwind to investment for the next decade. Going into 2020 I believed that the stage for higher inflation had already been set and that higher inflation would result in higher rates and ultimately equities. Consider that in early 2020: • The output gap had closed for the first time since the Great Financial Crisis. • The economy had just reached full employment with a U-3 Unemployment rate @ 3.5%. • Wages as measured by the Employment Cost Index were rising @ +4.4% YOY rate. • The Cleveland Fed Median CPI had recently set a 10 year high. If not for the pandemic, by early 2021. the Federal Reserve would have been forced to respond to rising inflation by increasing rates. Instead, Covid crushed the demand side of the economy, derailing the growing inflation. Now the extreme fiscal and monetary response combined with disruptions in logistics and labor have combined to create very high inflation. While I think that many of the issues creating this burst of inflation are moderating, the same set of factors that were reversing in 2020 are still in place. In short, I believe that the broader trend has changed and that when everything settles out, will end up significantly in excess of the Feds 2% average target. Bottom Line: Above trend growth in inflation and monetary/fiscal tightening suggest higher volatility and a significant chance that many of the trends that have defined the last few decades will falter. My sense of the economy is that the best growth has already occurred as the result of historically supportive fiscal and monetary policies and now both paths are turning restrictive (see the second part of this series for a more in depth discussion) and markets will likely reflect that reality. Rates: • Bonds remain in a bull market defined by a broad declining channel, but rising inflation could easily change the trend. The most likely catalyst to end keep rates below 3.25% would be a financial accident created by higher rates. Equities: • SPX remains in a technical bull market and there are no overtly bearish behaviors evident in the longest perspectives. However short term weakness can easily morph into a bear market. Commodities: • Goldman Sachs Commodities index is in the center of a broad 14 year range, bounded essentially by the low set during the financial crisis and the resultant 2011 high. range. The most notable/useful current chart feature is the clear uptrend from the 2020 pandemic low. Until that uptrend is broken, the most immediate trend is to higher prices. US Dollar: • The wide macro range, 70.70 - 121.02 has contained price action over most of my trading career but volatility is more cyclical than price. These periods of low vol. set up conditions that often lead to explosive moves. Now, back to the charts! Good Trading: Stewart Taylor, CMT Chartered Market Technician Shared content and posted charts are intended to be used for informational and educational purposes only. The CMT Association does not offer, and this information shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice or investment recommendations. The information provided is not a substitute for advice from an investment professional. The CMT Association does not accept liability for any financial loss or damage our audience may incur.
Editors' picks
ECONOMICS:USIRYYEducation
by CMT_Association
57
10 Year Rates: Daily and Weekly Perspective: Important JunctureA reminder that falling bond yields are synonymous with higher bond prices while rising bond yields are synonymous with lower bond prices. In other words, a yield downtrend is the same thing as a bull market in bonds. Last week we published macro overviews of rates and equities that should be referred to for context. 1) A weekly close above the 1.77% would represent the first time since the February 2020 - 0.33% low print that rates will have managed to set higher highs. This would represent a significant change in the markets behavior. 2) The market is currently testing the confluence of resistance generated by the pivot high (1.77%), the top of the channel from the August 2021 low, and the roughly 50% retracement of the 3.25% to 0.33% decline. The confluence should provide signficant resistance. 3) Combined with the oversold condition of the RSI oscillator (remember that rising yields = lower prices, so a high oscillator reading is oversold) it is reasonable to monitor the daily and hourly charts for tradable reversal behaviors. We will cover some of these behaviors and patterns in future posts. 4) At the very least the resistance confluence should create a period of consolidation. 5) The caveat is that longs would not be in harmony with either the weekly and monthly charts, which appear to be setting up for an extended period of rising rates. 6) With both weekly and monthly charts appearing to be in the midst of a signficant change of trend, a break out wouldn't be particularly surprising. 7) At important junctures like this, I typically adapt an, "If this happens, then I do this" trading approach. After all, the market can only do one of a very few behaviors. a. It can breakout and run. In which case finding a trade with solid risk reward becomes impossible. Move to a different market and find a trade. b. It can breakout, move higher and then make a clear consolidation pattern (for instance a flag or a pennant). You can buy breakout with risk stops below the pattern. c. It can upthrust the range (make a false breakout) and fail. This is by far my favorite trading pattern. We will cover it extensively in future posts. What fundamental could produce a produce a reversal? Equity weakness that produces a flight to safety is the most likely candidate. But note that SPX saw a strong reversal yesterday and this mornings dip attracted buyers. But, again, refer to part two of the macro overview for context. Good Trading: Stewart Taylor, CMT Chartered Market Technician Shared content and posted charts are intended to be used for informational and educational purposes only. The CMT Association does not offer, and this information shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice or investment recommendations. The information provided is not a substitute for advice from an investment professional. The CMT Association does not accept liability for any financial loss or damage our audience may incur.
Editors' picks
TVC:US10YEducation
by CMT_Association
26
Money Supply, Velocity, Inflation, Rates & the Federal ReserveI was taught in undergrad that adding to the money supply is inflationary . The logic was, you print more bills; the existing currency gets diluted in buying power. Following the ‘Crises of 2008’ the Fed launches Quantitative easing and purchases long term securities increasing the money supply and lowering rates. This activity would result in more investment and encourage lending. Keep in mind the lever the Fed historically wielded was changing the short-term interest rate, so by lowering the discount rate that banks pay on short term loans from the Fed, the Fed is able to provide liquidity and – ease. Monetary Policy's version of stimulus. Quantitative Easing was much more potent and was a lever that enabled much more control for the Fed, and control over a longer time frame. Keep in mind the mandate of the Fed: Maximum Employment Stable Prices Moderate Long-Term Interest Rates One can see that the Fed's tool kit was easily justified by the Board of Governors as they sought to fulfill Congress’ mandate. Not to mention the stability here is global, at least the Fed is responsible for keeping everything stable. This status for America globally is a great privilege. Many Americans are not cognizant of what this affords to us as individuals in this nation. QE did result in in inflation, but the environment has not been unruly with any problematic inflation , and we certainly did not get any Hyper-Inflation like so many economist were shouting about, especially those grounded in traditional economic ideology. This new environment has me wondering again how this will all play out of course as the parts at play are each so multifaceted. With that said, I would think we see inflation rise especially with the macro environment of easing and potential fiscal policy and the Federal Funds rate being this low. With that said, the biggest concern I have with this thought process is curiosity of what was stated by Jerome Powell in the last FOMC meeting – rates will be at these levels near the zero-bound (limit of 0% for short-term rates) with the Fed setting a higher target for inflation . Keep in mind the Fed has never been able to hit their recent targets for inflation for years, yet now they want the target even higher. With that thinking in mind, he seemed to indicate the reason the Federal Funds rate can be so low for so long is because inflation will not even be getting to their own target, just as it hasn't in recent memory. Again I still have a bias towards a weaker dollar and inflation – I am however readily willing to change my mind on a moments notice here as we see what actually transpires. I have an alternative to all the "deflation" vs "inflation" debates - an environment that will be stable with just modest inflation. Please be sure to comment, debate and let me know where you think the dollar goes next.
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FRED:WM2NSEducation
by ZenMode
88