There Will Be Haircuts

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It’s puzzling why Europe is more an issue now than it was a few months ago. It seems the market has finally come to grips with the fact that their economy is stagnating, and hopes for growth are diminishing. Disinflation remains a central issue to their economic union. Youth unemployment levels remain disturbingly elevated. And the structural reform and fiscal discipline that many had been looking to member governments to implement and abide by are still yet to be seen.

Even more alarming is that Europe’s second and third largest economies, Italy and France, are disregarding the fiscal agreements made with member countries to rein in their debt levels. The required ratio is to move debt to GDP back towards 60 per cent. France’s debt to GDP ratio is estimated to be near 96 per cent by yearend, and Italy is faring worse at 135 per cent and continuing to grow.

As troubling as the increasing debt levels seen in Europe have become, it’s the latest commentary on the region that represents a fifth of the world’s output that stems concern. The norm seems to suggest with certainty a likely scenario would be a stagnating Japan style economy for the years to come. Some mainstream media has gone even further to suggest something as drastic as a significant debt restructuring. But these really should not strike as anything new, as the ongoing problems have been evident all along. The fact of the matter is with Europe nothing has changed since 2008, and debt restructuring or defaults and the threat of deflation are just becoming that much more of a reality.

Deflation is the central fear in Europe as it could be the contributing factor to their third recession in six years. Some are quick to cite a similar Japan style situation where their economy moved past a deflation episode in the 1990’s, but the dynamics of the two economies are much different. Where with Japan, as the Economist notes, it was a “homogenous society” that was somewhat isolated from the rest of the world, whereas Europe is much more linked to the global economy through emerging markets, and thus contagion once again rears its ugly head.

The greatest fear though is whether their economies will attract new investment going forward. It seems inevitable that growth levels will have trouble measuring up against the debt overhang of the majority of their economies. Thus, the resulting question is how much of that debt could ultimately be subject to restructuring or haircuts. Already in mortgage markets in countries like Ireland, lenders are offering non-recourse loans that prevent lenders from pursuing the borrowers personally. Reckless lending practices are already coming back into place, where mismanagement of debt was the problem in the first place.

With a lack of coordination between fiscal and monetary policy, the negative outlook for Europe continues to weigh on financial markets. If the ECB were to embark on a QE style stimulus where they were to purchase sovereign debt, the question becomes whether that would make a difference and actually address some of the structural problems in their economy. As former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke remarked regarding his own experimental monetary policy, they would have to weigh the “benefits, costs and risks.”

Fed Free

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It’s a challenge to put a finger on what was the most significant event that took place in financial markets this past week. It might have been the price of crude oil further deteriorating to touch below 80 dollars a barrel for a brief instance on Wednesday, or the volatility index, the VIX coming within a hair of a 30 print. For certain, the most revealing of all markets was for US Treasury bonds as investors in a herd fashion reached for the safe haven and saw yields dip below the 2 handle and touch a low of 1.85 per cent. It is uncertainty that continues to be the theme that casts a shadow over economic growth prospects, but as commentators noted this week, investor complacency amongst the masses leading to excessive risk taking is what is fundamentally shifting these markets.

This correction we are witnessing in the equity markets almost seemed long overdue, and the supply glut in the global oil market was perhaps the catalyst that acted to push these markets over the edge. The S&P500 moving over 1000 trading sessions without seeing that down move of 10 per cent or greater has left behind a number of investors waiting to participate in the rebound of US equity markets, and as the buying that took place on Thursday and Friday of this week, and the speedy rebound (for the time being) highlighted how welcomed this correction was.

But perhaps there was another factor contributing to the turnaround we saw towards the end of the week, and it was inspired by comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Bullard made the point that the FOMC should remain adaptive to when they choose to end their bond purchase program, and even hinted that an end to Quantitative Easing, expected to be announced at the end of this month, could only be temporary as they stand ready to support financial markets and continue to artificially boost asset prices. Bring on the speculation for QE4.

Former PIMCO CEO, Mohammed El-Erian comments that investors should be careful what they wish for. One of Ben Bernanke’s famous quotes when justifying the Fed’s accommodative policy was that the benefits were always outweighing the costs and risks. If the Fed was to embark on QE4, it would become incrementally harder for their policy committee to justify whether the benefits would outweigh the increasing costs and risks.

The US economy continues to experience record low interest rates. Falling oil prices will ultimately create yet another significant boost to an economy that is 70 per cent consumer driven and now sees gasoline prices 25 percent off their summer highs. And employment as a whole continues to see strong and stable growth above 220 thousand new positions a month. The takeaway though is not what’s driving the US economy via Fed policy. It’s how Fed policy is impacting financial markets, and that’s the reason for concern.

As has always been, the single biggest risk of the Fed’s accommodative policy is how investors have become dependent on their asset purchases in order to see risk assets trade higher. Thursday and Friday are further evidence of this. A sobering reminder comes with this, which is how overcrowded consensus trades have become, and really a question about how deep the liquidity or support in these markets really is when the majority of investors with the same mentality are all selling.

Global Slump

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There have been an increasing number of factors that have begun to put pressure on global financial markets. Just over the past week the International Monetary Fund once again revised lower their outlook for growth, and cited that the global recovery was relatively uneven between different geographic regions. This triggered yet another down move in energy markets, which translates to pressure on a number of smaller commodity based economies (like Canada) and emerging market economies. As well, the Fed released minutes from their September meeting midweek and cited concerns over a stronger US dollar, which led investors to briefly question the timing of the Fed’s tightening schedule. Finally, manufacturing data out of Germany signalled the Eurozone’s perhaps only remaining beacon of light may too be headed for recession.

The aforementioned reasons could all be factors that three years ago would be used to explain higher gold prices. That they are not today gives reason to believe that there will remain attractive buying opportunities in the months to come. Ultimately investors’ appetite for precious metals is not yet there. Gold, as we have witnessed, is not performing as its typical safe haven asset for capital, and part of the reason may still be tied to a loss of confidence following a year when the asset class of precious metals were nearly decimated and gold lost close to 30 percent. In a global environment where investors where holding gold for its relative stability, this traumatizing event would inevitability lead many to seek a safe harbor elsewhere.

The forward looking question though is can gold outperform the US dollar? As the IMF outlines in their most recent report, we remain in an unbalanced global recovery. As North American economists look to whether the US and North American economies can “go at it” alone, with 60 per cent of US exports destined for Canada and Mexico, the IMF, with a more international focus, is left to ponder whether US growth is strong enough to support the rest of the world. The scenario though with the United States acting as the leader and the first to step forward from accommodative monetary policy is the reason for the US dollar strength.

As we witness outside the US, Europe is at a near standstill and recent data seems to point to being on the cusp of a German recession. Brazil, who was once the poster child of the emerging market economies (the B in BRIC) is ahead of Germany now actually in a recession. Analysts continue to call for a slowdown in China as their GDP growth retreats from once double digits to below 7.5 per cent. Passing on the debate of whether the landing will be soft or hard, their demand for the world’s resources at this point seem to be tapering off. This leads to commodities. We remain plagued with the uncertainty of where this global supply glut can meet a slumping demand.

Gold cannot behave like a commodity forever. Unfortunately, it seems it will until investor confidence is restored in its ability to act as a relatively stable asset that’s uncorrelated with most other markets, making it that ideal hedge. And as has been most often the case with the precious metal, its shine is revealed after its bigger moves rewarding those already holding it. Right now, however, it maintains it’s near perfect negative correlation to the US dollar, and any dollar strength is inevitability bad for gold in the near term.