$FXI / $SPX | You Should Be Tracking ThisWe've been full bull China since early spring of this year and this chart here represents our macro thesis. We've posted about AMEX:FXI before and it's potential swing move of 75-100%...
This chart here is AMEX:FXI vs SP:SPX on macro HTF. We believe this chart represents a macro bottom of china relative US equities.
Last night, China announced a 50 bps rate cut with plans for additional rates cuts in the near future, as well as lowering existing mortgage rates. We've been expecting some govt influence and we finally got it.
HUGE move printing and we think it's just the beginning. We've been big on NYSE:BABA and OTC:PNGAY all year and they've been two of the big winners today.
Currently printing a macro 3M RSI bottom and looking to confirm it after q4 candle print.
This is a move that will likely take the rest of the decade to fully play out.
Chinausa
USD/CNH - LONG; China is dead!... and it is about to roll over. E.g. Sell it ALL!!
This is the year (2023) to start the Long March (a familiar theme in Chinese history), to gain full stride, right into oblivion.
Namely, the Chinese demographic implosion which has been gathering speed for quite a while now, will hit that country with undeniable force, essentially halving the population in less than the next decade and a half.
This pretty much sums it up. (Why do you think they had the severe "Covid lock-downs", lasting for 3 years by now?! ...)
Whether China will go down swinging is yet to be seen however, the outcome is a foregone conclusion, in any case. (Short of some oracle which could create 800 million Chinese, overnight, all between the ages of 21-35. China's current "R Factor" - reproductive rate - is half that of Covid and its varieties. - Just to illustrate the point.)
The technical picture of this pair speaks for itself, as well, the pair landing/turning on massive support here. (Beijing couldn't allow the further appreciation of the Yuan without crushing an already imploding economy!)
As for the monetary picture; China's >600% credit expansion in barely a decade is abjectly absurd, even by the recent, excessively loose global monetary standards.
p.s. China had never had more than 70 consecutive expansion - or even stable - years in its 4000 year, illustrious history. The time has come, once again, with a well defined end in sight.
The march to an inevitable North American world hegemony is ...... picking up pace. - A lot, lately!
TLTR
The war in the Ukraine was essentially over the day it began. Now, with western interests notably starting to fade, it will start to make it's way to the back pages of daily reportage.
Why was this even an issue of US interests, to begin with? ...
Washington had this far fetched dream - although, not entirely without historical bases - to create a Polish-Ukrainian-Lithuanian superstate , entirely funded on US interests, unifying over 80 million people, populating 5 million square kilometers, right up against the Russian Federation and China's western sphere of interests. Nice try!
The real problem with this wishful thinking is multi-fold.
While those above mentioned peoples do have a lot of similarities in culture, language and historically undesirable (for them) outcomes, the facts remain the same;
- Ukrainians do not play well with others! Notably one of the most chauvinist cultures, their mistreatment of minorities is (or should be!) rapidly becoming legendary, the largest of which are the Poles;
- "My enemy's (i.e. Russia) enemy is my friend." - As incredibly profound as that may sound, it also makes for extremely unstable, impossible to maintain alliances;
- The Organization of Turkic States (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey) do have a lot to say about this and, not surprisingly, they do not approve - to say the least;
- Then there is Turkey (a regional super power) which, not in the least, together with China, had managed nothing less than to broker a piece between Iran and Saudi Arabia;
In summary, a now defacto Russian-Chinese-Iranian-Turkish coalition is enough to make even the United States to stop and think twice what it's wisest next step may be, in the region. OK, so no big deal. The US blew ~7% of it's annual defense budget on this still-born idea but, since it can, will likely call it a day , in the very near future.
The EU , which is essentially nothing more than a German franchise, is looking at it's End of Days . The German industrial base managed to go 0-3, much like on the two previous occasions when they fielded their dream team , an outcome that is all but inevitable. Any doubt?! ...
Just this week Volkswagen and BASF both announced that they are "considering to explore their North American options with regard to future investments". That is the German Industrial Base ! - Apparently looking to seek asylum in the US.
German infrastructure and industry, which took over 30 years to build, only took two(2) short years to gut and to irreversibly break apart. No shock, there.
Germans always had to be the best at whatever was the vogue of the day and clearly, self-mutilation and ultimately, economic suicide, not being an exception.
(I spent a lot of time in Germany and to get a Wifi signal - cellular or otherwise -, the quality and frequency is right up there with Lebanon's. German pensioners blow their retirements on turtle neck sweaters because state sanctioned energy cut-backs simply turn off their central heating in the middle of January. The fastest growing manufacturing sector, as of right now, is wood-burning stoves! - The effect of which on the lumber industry is interesting, in itself but that's a whole other conversation.)
Germany's largest trading partner is China! (40% of exports.) Chine is notably not found of the present, vigorous German ra-ra which would have the average mainstream news consumer believe that Kiev has won the war last christmas and that right now, Polish troops are storming the walls of the Kremlin, under German leadership.
E.g. China, ultimately, does have an awful lot of pull in the case of German foreign policy and, lately, Beijing's patience appears to be wearing thin.
Long story short; "It's been nice signing with you Coco, but it's over!" - Bet on it!
China is dying! (Present tense.)
As stated previously, the inescapable reality of a demographic collapse - it's first, truly major wave - is descending on China at the time of this writing.
A total of 1/2 (50%) of China's population will not celebrate New Years Eve, 2035! - Leaving about 800 Million de-industrialized, de-urbanized, subsistence farmers in it's wake, by the middle of the next decade. As rapid extinctions go, this one is for the books. (As a personal reflection perhaps of mild interest, I have spent some time in the Mekong Delta, planting rice - just to see what it's all about. Afterwards I can safely state that there is no more expensive crop or an other, more soul-sucking, endlessly laborious occupation than rice farming! As for automation? ... What automation?! - It will never happen! To grow rice is a 24/7, all out battle with Nature, which uses up every living thing - including people and the environment - in a merciless fashion. I, personally, would much rather go back to pyramid building, as one of the slaves. My point being; Can anyone imagine china without rice? - )
In short, if there ever was a sure thing , this is it! (Feel free to do the rest of the math - i.e. a world without China.)
Now, having argued why "everyone dies, except for the USA" , that, of course, is not the same as all of them will walk off into the sunset with a whimper . (Although, under the circumstances, even that isn't very far fetched.) Who will be able to muster at least a last, dying spasm, is yet to be seen but if it happens it will be violent! Be prepared!
"Crises take much longer to unfold and run much deeper than anyone would expect."
All that is outlined above is already happening (no more "unfolding" ) and perhaps with traders' typically myopic view, a lot that is about to hit the fan could seem "unexpected", at that moment. Don't be caught off guard! Trade it with the lay-of-the-land in mind and make the most of what promises to be a once in many-generation opportunity.
EUR/USD Short Bias (from here on out, essentially for ever );
USD/CNH Long Bias (from here on out, essentially for ever );
US Equities & Treasuries over any off-shore, Bias
p.s. The US of A still maintains marginally beneficial demographics, with no near term dangers on the horizon. On the top of that, it also boast one of the few optimally dispersed populations - from a systemic point of view. E.g. "Globalization", in reality, is just a less pointed pseudonym for US world hegemony.
BEKE reversal momentumBEKE, KE Holdings, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China is bullish after the chinese government pledged to support markets
80.75Bil revenue in 2021.
52 Week Range 7.31 - 61.39
I see a reversal to $20.50 short term.
NTES Price TargetPrice target for NTES is $84.
All the Chinese stocks are primed for a strong recovery after China`s top administrative authority said it would work to stabilize the stock market and boost economic growth!
Traders are expecting the Chinese government would support the stock market like the FED did in the US.
BEKE Price TargetPrice target for BEKE is $19.
All the Chinese stocks are primed for a strong recovery after China`s top administrative authority said it would work to stabilize the stock market and boost economic growth!
Traders are expecting the Chinese government would support the stock market like the FED did in the US.
JD Price TargetPrice target for JD is $62.
All the Chinese stocks are primed for a strong recovery after China`s top administrative authority said it would work to stabilize the stock market and boost economic growth!
Traders are expecting the Chinese government would support the stock market like the FED did in the US.
MPNGF Price Target Price target for MPNGF Meituan is $27.
All the Chinese stocks are primed for a strong recovery after China`s top administrative authority said it would work to stabilize the stock market and boost economic growth!
Traders are expecting the Chinese government would support the stock market like the FED did in the US.
Short-Term Sentiment Bearish, Needs to Retest $38.I will be shorting $NIO for the next 2-3 weeks starting Monday morning. Current momentum and sentiment are very bearish in the short term, so a retest to $38 seems inevitable. If $NIO cannot hold $38, we can start to see the low 30s, but hopefully not much lower than that as I do like this company for the long term. In terms of technicals, there is a head and shoulders pattern forming + daily and especially weekly RSI is oversold.
However, whatever happens in the next few weeks I believe it will simply be a continuation of a healthy pullback. The stock has run up over 1650% in the past year alone, aided by China-US tensions, and rumors of delisting of many Chinese companies from NYSE. A sell-off was to be expected.
The one thing that I am mainly concerned with is that NIO is getting audited by PWC's Chinese sector. Also, the majority of analysts covering $NIO is from every big bank's Chinese sector. This can be very deceptive to retail investors. So all I ask is for everyone to be extremely cautious.
Long term, my gut tells me this will all pass, however, I will be extremely cautious and be on the constant lookout for any potential fraud in the company.
The week results: many events but few changesThe previous week was rich in important events, some of which can be formally classified as “game changers”, but judging by the dynamics of prices in the financial markets, the game did not undergo any special changes.
Let's start with the most global. The United States and China signed documents on the first part of the trade deal. But there was no euphoria - almost immediately it became clear that this was really only the first step towards solving the problem. Hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs remain in force, and harm to the global economy will continue to be done. China's GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2019 was minimal over the past 30 years, which is the best illustration of the previous phrase.
Other macroeconomic statistics released last week clearly confirmed this. The UK was the most disastrous data: GDP, industrial production, retail sales - all in the red and much worse than forecasts. Statistics from the US and the Eurozone also did not shine: industrial production in the States and the Eurozone came out in the negative zone.
In general, against the backdrop of such statistics, we were once again surprised at new historical highs in the US stock market and became even stronger in our belief in its imminent decline. Madness cannot last forever.
We already wrote about Putin’s initiatives and Medvedev’s resignation in Russia. We only note that the sale of the Russian ruble after the sale of shares in the US stock market and gold purchases, in our opinion, is one of the most promising positions in the financial markets as a whole.
Speaking of gold. After the gold sellers could not get anything out of the signing of the agreement between the USA and China, we became even more fond of buying this asset both within the day and in the medium term, especially after gold returned above 1550. The Japanese yen, although it looks weakened, also It is a good alternative to gold, but in the foreign exchange market.
Speaking about the upcoming week, we note that it promises to be even more interesting. It can be called the "Central Banks Week". The Bank of Japan, Bank of Canada and the ECB will announce their decisions on monetary policy parameters in their countries. And although experts do not expect global changes, given the weak form of the global economy, one can count on fairly “pigeon” sentiments in the ranks of the Central Banks.
The US & China, Russian reforms and an oil situationAfter the United States and China completed the first phase of negotiations, the result of which was not as rosy as many expected, the markets decided to take a break and continued to develop existing trends.
Note that the current optimism has exhausted itself. But the negative on the horizon more than enough. Only the first step has been taken. Now the parties need to move on and begin the negotiation process on phase number 2. Given that the first phase was an extremely painful process, we are waiting for a problem on the way to the second.
Do not forget also that the first phase still needs to be performed. For example, China must buy hundreds of billions of dollars of agricultural products from the United States. Not the fact that he will do it.
Therefore, you should not expect a happy ending in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we continue to look for points for the purchase of safe-haven assets both within the day and in the medium-term - gold and the Japanese yen.
The growing pressure on the oil market is largely due to market concerns. Trade wars have shown themselves to be extremely destructive. Their continuation is further damage to the global economy, which in turn will lead to a decrease in oil demand.
Nevertheless, we consider current oil prices favorable for intraday purchases (with small stops). The situation in Iran is very unstable; in Iraq, too, not everything is calm. That is, problems with the supply of oil on the market can arise at any time.
In the news plan, the most interesting continued to happen around Russia and the Russian ruble. A more detailed analysis of the situation and our recommendation to sell the Russian ruble we will do in a separate review. In the meantime, we note that many experts perceive the dissolution of the Government and Putin's initiative to amend the Constitution as the next qualitatively new level of the usurpation of power. Which in itself is bad, because it deprives at least some hope of a change in the course and manner of behavior of the Russian Federation in the international arena with all the ensuing in the form of sanctions and the role of the rogue state.
As for macroeconomic statistics on Thursday, the main event of the day was the publication of data on retail sales in the United States. The data came out exactly as part of the forecasts.
Today, in the news plan, it is interesting with data on China's GDP (released as part of forecasts), as well as retail sales in the UK, inflation in the Eurozone and industrial production in the United States. In general, the day promises to be eventful, which means movements in the foreign exchange market and, accordingly, the possibility of earning.
The end of the positive, pressure on the pound & BoEThe US and China have signed documents for the first phase of the trade deal. It would seem that this has been expected for a very long time and this is an excellent occasion for a mass exodus from safe-haven assets and another injection of capital into risky assets. But it was not there. Gold yesterday was more than comfortable, and the Japanese yen in the foreign exchange market stopped pouring.
The reason for this market behavior is that most US tariffs on Chinese goods will continue until the second phase of the agreement is signed. So, we can again recall the slowdown in the global economy as a result of trade wars, and the ghost of a global recession has become more tangible.
In general, we continue to recommend the purchase of safe-haven assets. The inability of gold and Japanese yen sellers to use their main reason to intensify the decline in prices for safe-haven assets very clearly signals their weakness.
Another pretty important event yesterday was the publication of inflation data from the UK. Unexpectedly, for most experts, inflation slowed to a three-year low (annual consumer price inflation in the UK fell to 1.3% in December from 1.5% in November). Considering that the issue of lowering interest rates by the Bank of England has recently been actively accelerated among analysts, now there are many more reasons for this. Actually, many are waiting for a rate reduction this month.
Formally, the pound is a strong bearish signal. But we will not rush to sell it anyway. Recent events show that Brexit has been and remains the main driver of the pound's dynamics. It is news from these fronts that can provoke the formation of directional movement in pound pairs.
And since Brexit is going according to plan so far, we see no reason to revise our recommendation for pound purchases intraday and medium-term. Recall that with favorable developments, the growth potential of the pound paired with the dollar is about 1000 points.
From yesterday's data, it is worth noting also the weak data on industrial production in the Eurozone: -1.5% with a forecast of -1.0%. In this light, recall that the EUR/JPY pair is still at excellent points of sale.
Today, all financial markets are focusing on US retail sales data. We will prepare for weak data, and accordingly, we will look for points for its sales in the foreign exchange market. The best candidate for this role is the USD/JPY pair.
We consider the dissolution of the Government in Russia and the plan to redistribute the system of power in the country as an excellent opportunity to sell expensive Russian rubles. The usurpation of power from the point of view of modern history has rarely led to something good for the country's economy.
Christmas Trading, Fed & Aussie BreakthroughThe pound had dropped below 1.30 earlier in the week. AUDUSD gained a foothold above the resistance level of 0.6900. If this breakdown turns out to be stable, then a wide space opens up for the AUDUSD for further growth to at least 0.7020 or even 0.7200.
Since AUDUSD is above 0.6900, its purchases seem to us profitable. But in any case, remember the Australian dollar refers to commodity currencies, which means it is extremely sensitive to news from the fields of trade wars. Further de-escalation of the conflict will contribute to the implementation of the scenario described above. But the slightest fears about the negotiations between the USA and China can negate yesterday’s breakdown.
In addition to the Australian dollar, what is happening on the foreign exchange market is worth noting except the inability of the pound to go below 1.2920, which can be taken as a signal that a panic wave has subsided. In this case, upon the return of the GBPUSD above 1.30, we recommend its purchases.
Today we’ll talk about the monetary policy of the Fed and a rake the Fed stepped on. The Trump invades not only the politics and economy of the United States but also intervenes in the activities of an independent body, the Central Bank. Yes, the direct threats and calls of Trump are ignored by the Fed, but there are indirect points (for example, the consequences of trade wars) that the Central Bank cannot ignore.
So the Fed’s attempt to normalize monetary policy and smoothly blow out the price bubbles that have formed in the stock market, corporate lending market and the debt market, faced with the consequences of the trade wars unleashed by Trump. And in 2019, instead of the planned increase in the rate by 0.50% -0.75%, the Fed cuts the rate three times. Thus, provoking further inflation of bubbles. So, the consequences will be more disastrous.
The World Bank predicts China the role of the epicentre of a new global crisis. So we may well face a new Asian crisis, but unlike 1998, the matter will not be limited to a slight fright and default of a single Russia.
Britain Election Results, Lagarde Position and Trump TweetsElections in the UK, ECB decision and potential approach the finish line in the first phase of negotiations between the US and China. We will take these matters up one by one.
In Britain, parliamentary elections were held. The conservatives, led by current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, confidently won. This victory quite radically changes the political alignment in Britain, but for us, it is interesting primarily for Brexit. In this case, our basic version worked out perfectly: the “soft” Brexit option will be implemented based on the current version of the agreement between the EU and the UK. Naturally, the pound pulled up amid such results. Recall that in our reviews this week we actively recommended buying it. So congratulations to those of our readers who listen to our recommendations, with excellent results.
The ECB yesterday expectedly left monetary policy parameters unchanged. And the volume of the asset buyback program (quantitative easing) remained at the level of 20 billion euros.
The new head of the Central Bank Christine Lagarde said that the slowdown in the Eurozone economy has stopped. She could have been trusted, if not for yesterday’s data on industrial production in the Eurozone, which showed a decrease of 0.5%.
As for the other her statements, it is worth noting the intention to revise the ECB's monetary policy strategy, but some details will become clear not earlier than from the beginning of the next year.
But this did not contribute to the growth of the euro today. Brexit is a problem not only in the UK but also in the Eurozone. Accordingly, its resolution is positive for the euro too.
Yesterday we could observe the sales in yen pairs and gold, that is, in safe-haven assets. This sale was based on Trump's tweet that the United States came close to a deal with China.
Today we will buy safe-haven assets: first of all, sell EURJPY and USDJPY as a less risky option, but we will also look for points for buying gold.
Recall, on December 15, the United States may increase duties on goods from China. China will naturally response. Thus, Trump's tweet creates the illusion that there will be no further escalation. If the illusion is dispelled, it will provoke a sharp increase in demand for safe-haven assets.
Pound, and we are preparing for the Fed announcementOn December 15, the United States will not increase tariffs on Chinese goods.The reason is that the negotiation process between the US and
China continues. The news was supposed to provoke sales in safe-haven assets, but it did not happen. That only confirmed our recommendation to look for points for buying gold and the Japanese yen on the intraday basis.
Another quite revealing statement yesterday was the growth of the pound after frankly weak macroeconomic data came out: GDP, industrial production, and the trade balance were worse than expected and were generally weak (GDP growth at minimum levels since 2012). Nevertheless, the pound, as a result, did not decline but even strengthened. The reason is the same - markets expect a conservative party to succeed in the Thursday elections and the subsequent “soft” Brexit. We continue to recommend buying the pound.
The key event on Wednesday will be the announcement of the decision of the Federal Open Market Committee on the parameters of monetary policy in the United States.
After the publication of data on the labour market in the United States last Friday, it became clear that the Fed would not lower or raise the rate. Thus, the probability of maintaining the status quo is 98%. Therefore, do not count on strong movements in dollar pairs today.
Accordingly, our trading tactics for the dollar today are unchanged - we will continue to look for opportunities to sell the dollar.
As for the oil market, despite the data on the growth of oil reserves in the United States (figures from the API showed an increase of 1.41 million barrels, official statistics from the US Department of Energy will be published tonight), we continue to consider oil purchases in the current conditions quite pe promising trading idea.
Time "X" is getting closer, Boris may be celebrating his victoryIn yesterday’s review, we already noted that this week may be decisive for several financial assets, and the global economy as a whole.
On December 15, the United States may introduce tariffs on goods from China and thus bring trade wars to a new level. It's entirely up to an agreement between the parties. Even though we have heard positive statements for more than a month, the situation looks more and more menacing day by day.
Although the probability of the successful completion of the first phase of trade negotiations between the United States and China is quite high, we will continue to look for points to buy safe-haven assets today. This recommendation will remain relevant until the actual conclusion of the contract.
Meanwhile, in the foreign exchange market, is getting ready for Johnson's victory in parliamentary elections in the UK. According to recent polls, the Conservative Party will be ahead of the Labor Party by at least 10%. Recall, for Brexit, this means the end of the story - Johnson will be able to present his version of the deal Britain will finally leave the EU with the deal. For the pound, this is a powerful fundamental positive background. In this regard, we continue to recommend the purchase of the pound. It may well grow in the foreseeable future by several hundred pips.
Since we are talking about the pound, we note that today will be published statistics on the UK. So you need to act with an eye on the data on GDP, trade balance and industrial production.
Speaking of our other trading ideas for today, they are unchanged. Oil purchases still seem like a great idea to us in light of the latest OPEC + decision. Dollar sales are also promising.
OPEC meeting, Bank of Canada decision and Eurozone GDPWe start with macroeconomic statistics, it is worth noting the extremely weak employment rate from ADP: +67 thousand jobs with a forecast of +135 thousand. So, buyers of the dollar should at least focus, because if similar statistics come out on Friday on the NFP, the dollar may well be sold out.
Statistics on business activity in the Eurozone came out surprisingly good, which intensified the talks that the European economy was beginning to recover.
The pound also got its reason for growth, as the UK business activity index also exceeded forecasts. Although we note that it was still below 50. It is rather symptomatic that the pound continues to grow without waiting for the election results. The markets decided that Brexit’s fate is predetermined (there will be no way out without a deal), but the pound is still very cheap, you need to buy it before it’s too late. We have long been bulls as for pound, so nothing surprising happens to us. We only note that a daily close above 1.30 is a strong bullish signal. And the pound may grow more than one hundred pips. So we are looking for points for his purchases.
The Bank of Canada did not change the rate yesterday but was quite optimistic in its comments, which contributed to the growth of the Canadian dollar. So those readers who were following our recommendations could put in their piggy bank a good profit.
Despite the extremely frightening information at the beginning of the week, the negotiation process between the US and China continues. And according to its participants, by December 15, the first phase should be completed.
As for today the macroeconomic statistics, the news of the day will be the publication of Eurozone GDP. The fact may likely be higher than forecasts. This means that the euro may well strengthen up to 1.1160 paired with the dollar.
Well, the main event of the week, at least for the oil market, will be the beginning of the OPEC meeting in Vienna. The most likely scenario is an attempt to leave everything as it is. That is, they will adhere to the current line of behaviour (an agreement to reduce production by 1.2 million b / d). For oil, this decision, by and large, does not change anything in terms of fundamental alignment. But any agreements to increase the limits will play into the hands of buyers and vice versa. Refusal of the deal in any form will be a strong hit to oil and activates its sellers.
Will currency wars replace commodity wars?In general, Monday began quite peacefully. China has been non-aggressive in its response to Trump who has signed into law a bill that supports pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. And it seemed that we were waiting for another boring day.
However, Trump once again showed why we prefer the sale of the dollar for a quite long time. He began the day by accusing Argentina and Brazil of understating their national currencies value to gain a competitive advantage for their products in the US market. In response, the President of the United States raised tariffs on the import of steel and aluminium from these countries.
Well, he continued with the Fed’s traditional accusations of overvaluation of the dollar and called on the Central Bank to weaken monetary policy and the dollar.
Markets took it as signals for sales of the American currency. Moreover, the buyers on the dollar were not happy with the data on the ISM Index in the US manufacturing sector: 48.1 pips with a forecast of 49.2 pips. Recall that an index value below 50 signals a deterioration in business activity in the US manufacturing sector.
Well, returning to Trump and his actions on Monday, in the light of such events, it’s premature to talk about the end of the trade wars. Rather, on the contrary, there is a reason to talk about the transition of trade wars to currency wars with the consequences that maybe even more devastating for the global economy. In general, the future looks rather bleak. In this regard, our recommendations to buy safe-haven assets remain relevant.
Our basic positions for today are: finding points for sales of the dollar, purchases of gold and the Japanese yen, sales of oil and the Russian ruble. We also note that while the period of low volatility continues on the foreign exchange market, it is worthwhile to continue aggressive trading on the intraday basis without obvious preferences, for which you can use watch oscillators.
Getting ready for a difficult week and analyzing key eventsThe previous week for the foreign exchange market was marked by record-low volatility. Even the blackest Friday of the year did not desire to buy or sell actively anything.
The informational background of the week was relatively calm. Negotiations between the US and China were moving somewhere, according to the assurances of the parties. But the markets are tired of talks and waiting for actions. And then Trump signed an extremely irritating China law to support Hong Kong protesters. That hypothetically could disrupt the entire negotiation process. In general, so far everything is not that clear, which means potentially unstable.
Accordingly, this week we are looking for opportunities for the purchase of safe-haven assets. The points for this are very prospective, in terms of profit/risk per trade.
The upcoming week will be interesting. Statistics on the US labour market will be published on Friday, which is expected to lead to strong movements in dollar pairs. Also, OPEC will meet on Thursday, which in theory could provoke an explosion of volatility in the oil market. According to experts, Saudi Arabia may put the question point-blank of non-fulfilment by several members of their obligations under OPEC +. Actually, it is the efforts of the Saudis that keep afloat the conditions for reducing production by 1.2 million barrels. If Saudi Arabia decides that they are done, the oil will fall quickly and violently (see oil dynamics on Friday). In this light, let us recall our recommendation to sell oil as a basic idea for working with oil under current conditions.
Another important news that worth noting is the announcement of the Bank of Canada decision on monetary policy parameters, data on Eurozone GDP and US business activity indices.
So far, our position on the dollar is unchanged - we are looking for points for its sales. But a series of a confident macroeconomic positive outcome may make us change our position, at least in the short term position. So we will closely follow the news.
US records, Trump irritates Sino & Johnson is ready to celebrateMost Americans, as well as financial markets, received the day off from work on Thursday, therefore, we can focus on other financial markets.
In today's review, we will focus on the oil market. Recall that next week the OPEC meeting should be held, which could potentially change the existing balance of forces in the oil market. But we will talk about this meeting later.
Now let's focus on the current state of affairs. Oil growth last week was highly dependent on optimistic news about the progress in negotiations between the US and China. Accordingly, traders worked out a possible increase in demand in the oil market.
But, as we already noted in the previous reviews, the markets are already tired of promises and waiting for results. Accordingly, oil growth stopped.
The participants in the oil market can be understood, especially considering that Trump has nevertheless signed a law to support protesters in Hong Kong. Potentially, this could cause a new round of escalation in relations between the USA and China and another breakdown of the negotiation process between the countries.
At the same time, statistics from the US come out bearish. First of all, it is about the USA reaching a new record in oil production: 12.9 million barrels per day. The result was an increase in US oil reserves, which in aggregate puts pressure on oil quotes and not only does not allow the asset to grow but also pulls it down.
Our position in oil is as follows: we look for points for selling the asset on the intraday basis and sell oil in the medium term (current prices are quite favourable for this).
But lets back to other news and markets. According to a YouGov poll, conservatives will win and get the vast majority in the December 12 elections in the UK. This means that Johnson will have every opportunity to ratify his Brexit deal. Thus, the probability of exit without a deal has become even more insignificant. For the pound, this is undoubtedly good news. Recall that its growth potential is far from exhausted. We are talking about 500-1000 points of the possible growth of GBPUSD. So we continue to recommend buying a pair.
Good news from US, dollar & new threatsA lot of macroeconomic statistics was published yesterday, however, it did not lead to significant movements. GDP was revised upwards 2.1% instead of preliminary 1.9%, and durable goods orders exceeded the most optimistic expectations (+ 0.6% m / m instead of -0.9% m / m). Well, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the United States so generally reached the lowest level since 1973.
However, people were not in a hurry to buy a dollar in the foreign exchange market. Even against the backdrop of news that another progress has been made in the negotiation process between the US and China: Trump said that phase 1 of the trade transaction is close to its completion.
The lack of reaction to such a clear fundamental positive, in our opinion, is very symptomatic. Accordingly, we are not going to revise our recommendation to “sell the dollar”. On the contrary, thanks to yesterday's data, sale for the dollar against the euro and the Japanese yen became simply excellent as well as Gold. So yesterday's dollar appreciation is an opportunity, not a threat.
We continue to monitor analysts predicting an imminent crisis. We are not even interested in the time frame as much as the reasons. So far, our collection has the collapse of the CLO market, the growth of staff salaries and the fall in corporate profits because of this, huge debts both at the state and corporate levels, the collapse of price bubbles in the stock and bond markets, trade wars, and growing inequality in world, the end of the business cycle.
So today in our piggy bank replenishment: a crisis in the banking system of China. According to the Bank of China, more than half of Chinese banks may collapse if the economic situation in the country worsens further. And this is tens of trillions of dollars. For reference: the size of China's banking system is about $ 40 trillion, which is two times bibber than the US banking system. That is the problem.
So we find another confirmation of our basic investment strategy: to shorten the US stock market while buying safe-haven assets (gold and Japanese yen).
Well, in conclusion, we note that the spring is now compressed to its limit (for example, the volatility of the euro has reached a historic low).
About the recession, markets immunity to good news & US GDPThe US and China have traditionally been optimistic about the progress in the negotiations, but apparently, the markets no longer respond to this. If you yell “wolf”, in the end, people will no longer come. Something similar we can see in the negotiation process between China and the United States. They have been optimistic for more than a month, but there is no breakthrough.
In this regard, we will continue to look for points for the purchase of safe-haven assets, which are providing excellent entry points.
We will bring up a topic of the upcoming recession. In yesterday’s review, we wrote about the forecasts of Societe Generale analysts who expect a recession in the spring of next year.
Recall, in March 2019 the so-called yield curve inversion took place (an anomalous situation when the yield on short-term US treasury bonds exceeds the yield on long-term bonds). As a rule, after this, a recession occurs within 12-18 months. Despite the fact that now the yield curve has returned to normal. In the spring comes the end of the countdown of 12 months. So analysts at Societe Generale are probably not mistaken.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, meanwhile, once again confirmed that the US Central Bank is likely to continue to hold a pause in interest rate policy actions.
Today, unlike Monday and Tuesday, will be quite busy in terms of macroeconomic statistics. First of all, we are talking about data on US GDP for the third quarter. Given that this is the second reading of the indicator, that is, the revised value, we do not expect any serious surprises. However, analysts do not expect as well, predicting the immutability of the preliminary assessment of 1.9%. In addition, you should pay attention to orders for durable goods in the United States, as well as the ADP report on the level of employment in the private sector. A busy day for the dollar will end with the publication of statistics on personal income and expenses, as well as incomplete transactions for the sale of housing.
Recall our position on the dollar - to look for points for sale for almost the entire spectrum of the foreign exchange market. But today we are acting with an eye on the output data. This is not about changing the direction of the trades, but about the possible emergence of more interesting points for its sales.
China makes concessions, Johnson's manifesto & Societe forecastsOn Monday markets were waiting for the successful completion of the first phase of trade negotiations between the US and China. This time, a positive signal was China's willingness to increase the punishment for violating intellectual property rights. China's regular violations of these rights that particularly irritated the United States and largely hindered negotiation progress.
Information about the victory of the Democrats in Hong Kong also helped to relieve tension in the financial markets, as there is hope that this conflict can be resolved peacefully.
Against the backdrop of such news, the decline in safe-haven assets seemed quite understandable on Monday. However, while we do not see any reason for global repositioning, we will use this decline in gold and the Japanese yen as an opportunity to buy safe-haven assets cheaper. Moreover, there is a “Trump factor”, which literally can turn the situation upside down. For example, sign the bill on human rights and democracy in Hong Kong or blame China for intransigence, etc.
In addition, the global crisis is still potential. For example, analysts at Societe Generale expect a recession in the spring of next year. According to experts of the bank, the next recession in the United States will be triggered by a sharp reduction in company profits, which, in turn, will be caused by the rapid acceleration of labour costs.
Yesterday was pretty successful for the British pound. The fact is that on Sunday, Boris Johnson has launched his party’s manifesto, in which he promised before December 25 to submit to the parliament an agreement on Brexit, agreed in October with the EU. According to surveys, the Conservative Party is now supported by 42% of voters, and the Labor Party - 29%. That is, with such a scenario, there is no risk of Britain leaving the EU without a deal, but the growth potential of the pound is far huge. So we continue to give preference to purchases of the pound, but until the announcement of the election results, we do not expect strong directional movements in the pound and recommend adhering to oscillatory trading, that is, buy the pound from hourly oversold zones and sell from hourly overbought zones.
As for our other recommendations, today we will sell a pair of USDJPY, buy EURUSD, and also sell oil.