Sellyen
A 1:7 Risk to Reward SHORT on CHFYENThis pair has exploded upwards and needs a correction to the downside.
It is massively overbought on W1, Daily, H4.
H4 is showing divergence.
The resistance at 148.85 is very strong and there is a nice harmonic pattern.
Target 1 is about 500 pips away with an 80 pip SL.
BOJ EXPECTATIONS: EXCEED/ HIT - LONG USDJPY; MISS - SHORT GBPJPYBOJ Miss - Sell GBPJPY @Market price; 129tp1 - up to 800pips.
1. A BOJ miss can be considered as delivering the median expectations e.g. 10bps cut to the depo (-0.2%), 10bps cut to the LSP (-0.1%), Yen10trn increase in monthly JGB purchases & 50% Increase in Annual ETF purchases e.g. 3.3trn-5trn. Fiscal Stimulus Yen10-15trn.
- The package above or less should be sold as the market expects this to maintain UJ at 105-6 level.
- The short GBPJPY is a great trade anyway as you benefit from the BOE easing carry which should in turn move us to 125 (BOJ miss and BOE hit) - which the BOE 1m forward OIS rates market currently prices 25bps at 100% and the average expectations are 25bps and £50bn of QE (even more certain now as the BOE M. Weale - the most hawkish MPC Member moved to the easing side as Business optimism and PMI dropped to their 10yr lows) - thus GBPJPY can expect further downside even past the BOJ as the BOE is all but guaranteed to ease "most members expect to ease at the august meeting" - July BOE Minutes Quote.
- Currently a BOJ miss is the most likely outcome - as many of you have seen in FX Yen has been brought aggressively as expectations have fallen, much a mirroring from the change in rates market where - For the 25th the 3m JPY Libor prices only a 6.65bps cut at to the key rate at 100% and on the same date the 3m euroyen August future prices only a 5.5bps cut at 100%. Though the further dated September 3m euroyen future prices a 9bps cut a 100% - likely a function of the market betting on more action being done in the september meeting (which makes sense).
BOJ HIt: Buy USDJPY @Market price; 107-111tp - up to 700pips
1. A BOJ Hit can be considered as double or more the median expectations (in my opinion) - 20bps+ to the depo, 20bps+ to the LSP, Yen20trn+ to the JGB Purchases and 100-200% extra annual ETF purcases from Yen3.3trn to 6.6/9.9trn. Yen20-30trn Fiscal stimulus.
- The package above or more IMO will allow $yen to trade to 111, and for a sustained amount of time.
- The long USDJPY is the best proxy to play the "over-delivery" imo as USD is the most stable base, and has the most pips to gain on yen weakness - given FOMC hawkishness/ Hiking expectations give USDJPY topside even more impetus.
- As above, the markets currently DON'T expect this result, as $Yen trades at the 104 level and rates markets price only 5-6bps of lowering. HOWEVER, if BOJ/ JPY Govt are to deliver a big easing package - one that smashes expectations (such as the one above) it will be now. The reason I think this is the case is below:
USDJPY V GOLD: BEST VALUE - RISK-ON SELL JPY; RISK-OFF BUY GOLD Why Gold is lagging Safe have losses & Yen is outperforming
1. When looking at Gold vs Yen or XAUJPY it becomes apparent why Gold is lagging the broad safe haven losses that we have seen during this risk-recovery rally - investors are buying gold over Yen - so gold appears to be their preferred safe have asset to hold in a risk-on rally - likely a function of perceived future weakness of Yen? BOJ/ JPY Govt stimulus?
- This may be the case for three reasons; 1) Investors speculate JPY is due further downside gains compared to gold (Gold is the stronger Risk-off asset) and they speculate that BOJ may deliver a big devaluing package and/ or 2) They believe JPY is more overvalued than Gold so they sell their JPY holdings over their Yen. 3) Gold is more illiduid compared to Yen e.g. investors have been able to sell their Yen faster/ easier than their Gold as Gold is a physical asset and FX markets are the most liquid markets in the world - whereas Yen is pure currency which is convertible at any level.
Implications:
1. This infers that investors expect Gold to continue to outperform in risk-off rallies going forward - which makes sense given Gold is already up 30% this year vs Yen's only 20% up - so they see further upside for Gold. This could be the case as the market discounts the probability that the BOJ/ JPY govt delivers a large easing package which devalues the JPY.
- Therefore Gold shorts should be careful during this risk-on rally as when the tides change back to the trend of risk-off, Gold is more likely to rally aggressively in comparison to Yen.
Trading strategy:
1. Buying Gold on the risk-on reversal (to risk-off) - we should allocate the liquidity to Gold over Yen to take advantage of this investor sentiment.
2. The market is clearly discounting quit aggressive JPY weakness when relatively compared to other safe havens - likely due to BOJ/ JPY Govt stimulus worries.
- Knowing this, we should potentially position for JPY shorts - since the market clearly is positioning for some serious JPY weakness relatively - a big BOJ package?
3. Whilst safe havens have outperformed risk by 14% (20% safe havens 6% risk-on assets - pre-brexit) - Gold has also outperformed Yen by 7%.
- Therefore in risk-off rallies we SHOULD expect Yen to underperform Gold e.g. GOLD should be brought over Yen.
- In risk-on rallies (now) we should expect Yen shorts to outperform Gold as Yen is considered the poorer asset - USDJPY longs are better/ safe than Gold shorts (hence supporting my long $yen view).
*Check the attached posts that also support the long $Yen view in this market*
SELL NZDUSD @0.73 - TP 700PIPS: BREXIT, RBNZ, FED & USDJPY HEDGEShort NZDUSD is in my top 2 FX Trades for several reasons:
1. NZD is considered the riskiest G10 currency cross, so NZD trades weaker in risk-off markets, or when equities/ SPX trade lower (you can see the high correlation with SPX at the bottom of the graph).
- With Brexit occurring last week, global risk has increased, this is especially the case for NZD due to commonwealth connections. Therefore NZD is likely to come under pressure in the future as risk-off sentiment continues to dominate, as the US Election nears, Global growth worries continue (Japan, Europe, China) and Brexit/ uncertainty about further EuroArea exits continues to intensify - we can see Gold and US Treasuries continue to gain supporting the risk-off view and thus supporting selling NZD. Also, risk-off encourages $ buying as a safe haven deposit on the Brexit backdrop.
- Further, going into earnings season next week, historically risk currencies (NZD) perform poorly as investors seek safer assets to hedge against earning surprises, thus this helps NZD selling and USD buying. Plus, most investors will want to hold some $ cash in order to fulfil their earnings based equity trading, so this also helps the short Kiwi$ trade by increasing $ demand relative to NZD.
2. The RBNZ Meeting on the 10th August is likely to be dovish and I 80% expect a rate cut of 25-50bps from 2.25% to 2.00%-1.75% , as;1) Brexit risks are weighed in on and potentially priced into a rate decision, in follow up to the supportive/ dovish statements from RBNZ members immediately after the Brexit decision and 2) NZD Macro Environment has performed poorly since the March Rate cut from 2.5% to 2.25% e.g. The last prints still consistently dragging: Retail Sales at 1.0% vs 1.1%qoq & 0.8% vs 1% Q1qoq; CPI 0.4% yoy, 0.2% qoq; Unemployment Rate at 5.7% vs 5.5%. 3) the RBNZ has a historical pattern of cutting their rate every third meeting, and this August meeting is the third meeting. Plus it will have been 5 months since their last cut in March - this also historically is a large time for a another rate cut as previously to that the RBNZ cut in December, Dec-Mar which was only 3 months, and before that in october (oct-dec) which was 2 months so the odds are good if NZD data continues to be bad given the time since the last cut of 5 months is relatively large. And the gap since their last meeting at June 10th is 2 months which is the biggest gap they have.
- Risks to the RBNZ Rate cut view are that;1) Brexit risks are de-priced due to UK Political skulduggery pushing the likelihood of the brexit into 2017 (if at all) 2) Their Inflation, Employment and GDP data manage to recover and show structural signs that the rate at 2.25% is sufficient for continued economic recovery e.g. NZD May Employment Change print surprised to the upside at 1.2% vs 0.8%, and their June GDP outperformed for Q1 at 0.7% vs 0.5% qoq & 2.8% vs 2.6% yoy. So if the CPI and employment data due to be released before the RBNZ August 10th meeting shows a continued/ structural/ aggressive recovery this will reduce the likelihood of a rate cut. Nonetheless, my money is that this isn't the case (with data continuing to trade subdued) and I therefore expect them to provide reassurance to markets with a strong dovish tone, and a 25bps cut - citing Brexit and non-outstanding economic indicators as the impetus for the changed policy.
*It should be noted, in order for me NOT to consider a 25bps cut likely in August we would have to see an outstanding CPI and employment print e.g. CPI 1.0%-0.8% (0.4% last), and unemployment 5.3/4% (5.7% last), given it has been 5 months since the last cut - the RBNZ would be expecting to see such figures to consider the current rate of 2.25% as working/ sufficient.
LONG USDJPY @105.8: NEUTRAL FOMC; DOVISH & EASE BOJ & RISK-ONWe had the best possible outcome for FOMC's Rate decision and Fed Yellens speech which was neutral IMO as expected, with the Economic Projections being dovish, downgrading the projected rate hike cycle. We now look to BOJ.
Trading strategy:
LONG USDJPY (possibly short also GBPJPY for longer term investors or investors that want to hedge against a hawkish BOJ)
TP @>107 = 100pips at least - SL @104.9-105.2
Reasoning
- FOMC overall was neutral, we had lower projections but Yellen remained mildly upbeat, telling the market to shrug off the short NFP report (quite rightly).
- So this means $ demand/ supply remains flat.
- The main driver of the LONG UJ play is on the JPY side. Given that FOMC was flat, this means JPY "risk-off" and uncertainty buying which would have arisen if the fed was aggressively hawkish/ hiked was neutralised - meaning JPY "rate hike induced" safe haven demand was neutralised as instead the FOMC helped risk trade higher = LONG USDJPY as JPY demand falls
- So now we have a situation of neutral USD and neutral JPY as there was no rate hike to unsteady markets and cause JPY to be brought
- So the driver of the LONG USDJPY is the fact that IMO the BOJ will be aggressively dovish and likely to cut rates - their core and CPI prints are consistantly below 0% at -0.5% for Tokyo CPI and Core, with National at -0.3% for both.
These CPI prints are the average print for the last 6 months meaning BOJ policy has been inefective in reaching their goal as inflation is stale and not rising. Thus IMO they have to CUT and EASE and be DOVISH = Long USDJPY
- Further, Kuroda BOJ head said he is aware of JPY trading strongly due to its safe haven properties and he has stated he is prepared to fight this risk-off led Yen appreciation - this means HEAVY easing to negate the JPY risk-off strength and weaken the currency = long USDJPY
- Finally, a dovish BOJ helps ease the risk-off sentiment in the market at the moment (stocks falling and gold rallying) as BOJ easing puts more liquidity into the markets - calming the risk-off sentiment means LESS JPY buying and MORE JPY selling = LONG USDJPY
Evaluation
- So with USD as a stable denominator, I expect the BOJ to heavily ease in order to 1) improve their inflation performance closer to their target 2) to devalue JPY from the risk-off buying that brexit uncertainty has caused.
- Further, UJ is the best expression of the short JPY play as EUR and GBP are both comprimised by BREXIT uncertainty - which is constantly trying to trade eur and gbp lower - hence a long ej or gj is not advised - UJ is the least affected of the majors by brexit - *see my dynamic straddle post attached for more details*
- on that note one may argue AUD or NZD could be used for the long, since they too are even less affected by brexit downside, which is true, however i dont have enough experience in those markets - if think there is a better denominator than USD for the long then by all means use it - however IMO USD is the best of the bunch for future dollar demand as they are the only Central bank to be hiking NZD and AUD are still cutting.
- Also UJ imp volatility is finally falling with 1wk implieds dropping to 12.55 (-3.45), which improves the environment for buying.
Plus as you can see below Historical Vol is also falling, once again illustrating that price may be ready to start rising again - low vol = more buying. Plus the ATR trades lower than average which is a bullish sign - bull markets range less.
- And we are still oversold massively at -2/3 SD of the mean of the weekly. Plus we trade close to the handle at 105.35 which is the strongest support level in USDJPY history thus helping upside from here (unless we break ofc).
Comments welcome
BUY USDJPY: SUP LEVEL @105.5 & VOLATILITY SELL-OFF @ HIGH LEVELSBUY USDJPY @106.5 or @107.0 - SL @105 - TP @109-11 based on:
$YEN's historical most important support level - The 105.5 Key level will more than likely hold as it has many times before
- At 105.5 there are 3 significant UNSUCCESSFUL tests of the level over the last 3 years thus it is a great entry point. Also another plus is if you look at the monthly chart you will notice 105.5 is the 2nd most important level in $Yen's 20y+ history, the 1st most important/tested is the 101 level.
- Further, over the last 3 years the level has been tested 4 times in total and it only broke once when USDJPY
rose to 127 so that means LONG at this level has a 75% chance of success (based on the simple discrete math).
- Plus, around 105.5 at 106 and 106.5 these also provide "mini" strong support levels which i think are great, low risk entry points for long positions.
Normal Distribution and High Price Standard Deviation Volatility
- as you can see the weekly bar has closed below the 5 year -3SD (and -2SD 2.5year) once before, by the red bar 5 weeks ago which was also at the 105.5 support level- at which point USDJPY0.02% rallied back up to 111.5 from 105.5 after closing below the -3SD and -2SD line and on the 105.5 so we could see topside like this again.
- in addition to this, it is worth noting that the 5y -3SD blue line that was violated but rejected 5 weeks ago and is being tested again, based on normal distribution theory, says that prices touching this line have a 99.5% probability of reverting BACK UP towards the mean at 122.5. The -2SD 2.5year line that was also violated has a 95% probability of retracing up towards the mean at 126.
Historical and implied volatility at all time highs - a reversal
- Historical volatility across the board (5,10,20,30,60) is trading at all time high levels now and at some point these levels have to come down, investors cant keep pushing vols higher, which in turn, means selling of UJ must come to an end soon and we should see an upward recovery run.
- The same is true about Implied vols which are trading at 15.75% which is in the (upper) 90th percentile of the last 2.5 years of days, meaning implied vols 90% of the time have been lower than this - thus a reversal is more likely at these levels. HV is likely in the 90%tile or greater also - Usually a sell-off in volatility precedes buying of UJ.
- See more info on vols here: www.tradingfloor.com
Downside analysis
1. The obvious risk of the Long UJ play are that the 105.5 level doesn't hold, in which case i believe the long squeeze caused, as a result of all long SLs being hit causing a cascade of selling could take us down to 102/3 - however this is easily avoided by keeping tight stops at 104.5-`105 dependent on your risk appetite.
- even with a 150pip SL it still returns us 3x returns with a TP target of 111+
2. The markets may trade risk off in the coming weeks as the macroeconomic envrionment is filled with uncertainty e.g. FOMC, BOJ and UK EU Referendum, in which these events are compounded by the fact that risk markets (spx etc) are currently trading at all time highs, making a reversal in their direction and risk-off tone more likely.
Furthermore other risk-off assets such as Gold and Bonds are trading well.
All of which may combine into a strong risk off environment that fuels the JPY follow the bullish trend with its counterparts (bonds and gold) and enabling UJ to push past the 105 strong hold.
- However, these issues are all displaced by a tight SL as advised at 104.9 (to benefit from the 105 key lvl supporrt potential)