Thursday, January 18, 2007
If this is recovery why did the BoJ stand pat?
EUR/USD 1.2934 Hi 1.2980 Low 1.2895
USD/JPY 121.36 Hi 121.61 Low 120.46
AUD/USD 0.7879 Hi 0.7895 Low 0.7853
EUR/JPY 156.95 Hi 157.39 Low 155.94
Suddenly everybody is standing pat. Well except for the Bank of England which is hiking. The BoJ is standing pat, the European Central Bank is standing pat and Commodities are tumbling. What's the problem? I thought economic recovery was a slam dunk. I mean how strong can the Japanese economy be if it can't take a 0.5% cash rate? Somewhere, someone is not telling it like it is.
And if the Global Economy is in trouble, which is what the BoJ, the ECB and the Global Commodities Market is telling us, then now is not the time to load up on USDs. Because of all the major economies the U.S. economy is the most at risk right now. It is an economy built on debt and military expansionism. If you want a manufacturing job in the U.S. right now the only real industry in expansion is the military machine. Everything else has or is being outsourced. The U.S. doesn't have a balanced, well-managed economy. Which is why they have a Trade Deficit, a Current Account Deficit and a Government Deficit. Oh and a Household Sector which is up to its eyeballs in debt. And you just have to take a look at the leadership over there to know that effective economic management is just not what they do. So don't hold your breath waiting for the cavalry to arrive. There is no cavalry.
And they don't do crisis management either. Which is why no-one is dealing with the Iraqi debacle. They haven't a clue. What the U.S. leadership does do is work out how they can use their positions to gain more power and money, but that really won't do the U.S. economy much good in its entirety. It's called stealing. Or if you prefer War Profiteering. But it comes pretty much to the same thing in the end. And that's bad news for Mr and Mrs Joe Average; only out in Couch Potato Land they haven't really worked that out yet. I don't know where Cheney's bunker is but when Mr and Mrs Joe Average work out what's happening he may need to use it.
Today we saw the release of some fairly positive (well better than expected anyway) data related to the Housing Sector in the States. This hasn't done much to console the Stock Market, which is the only market still holding. Fixed Interest Markets have taken a hit, the Commodity Bubble has deflated but Stocks are holding. For now. What everyone is talking about on financial markets, while the Pundits Hype the Economic Recovery Story, is the rate of Housing Foreclosures in the States and what will happen when ARM Floating Rate Mortgages start to reset in 2007. And with CPI and PPI coming out higher than market expectations the chance of relief in the form of RATE CUT has evaporated. So things don't look so good for Mr and Mrs Joe Average.
The USD/JPY got a mild boost overnight by the failure of the BoJ to hike rates. The USD hasn't performed quite so well against the Euro. And the outlook for the USD is still clouded. Since year end the USD has climbed on short covering and interest rate differentials. There is also a weird theory making the rounds that slower global economic growth will be beneficial to the USD. Why I don't know. That theory doesn't seem to be based on anything more than conjecture. With the BoJ non-event now out of the way it is probably time to buy the rumour and sell the fact. And a USD/JPY correction would certainly add weight to overall USD weakness.
OIL 53.36
GOLD 635.20
The OIL price is following the Commodity Bubble down. A break below USD 50 could be ugly. Or at least we could see some stops triggered. Despite the recent turn for the worst in U.S. weather the OIL market has no legs. When you consider the potential for further trouble in the Middle East and the Bush Administration's psychotic (though not yet official) plan for an attack on Iran, the failure of the OIL market to make any gains AT ALL starts to look like a worrying indication that global industrial growth may be in more trouble than is presently being forecast by Global Equity Markets.
One of these two markets is wrong. Either Commodities start to see strength or Global Stock Markets start to reflect the economic weakness that Commodity Markets are currently predicting.
USD/JPY 121.36 Hi 121.61 Low 120.46
AUD/USD 0.7879 Hi 0.7895 Low 0.7853
EUR/JPY 156.95 Hi 157.39 Low 155.94
Suddenly everybody is standing pat. Well except for the Bank of England which is hiking. The BoJ is standing pat, the European Central Bank is standing pat and Commodities are tumbling. What's the problem? I thought economic recovery was a slam dunk. I mean how strong can the Japanese economy be if it can't take a 0.5% cash rate? Somewhere, someone is not telling it like it is.
And if the Global Economy is in trouble, which is what the BoJ, the ECB and the Global Commodities Market is telling us, then now is not the time to load up on USDs. Because of all the major economies the U.S. economy is the most at risk right now. It is an economy built on debt and military expansionism. If you want a manufacturing job in the U.S. right now the only real industry in expansion is the military machine. Everything else has or is being outsourced. The U.S. doesn't have a balanced, well-managed economy. Which is why they have a Trade Deficit, a Current Account Deficit and a Government Deficit. Oh and a Household Sector which is up to its eyeballs in debt. And you just have to take a look at the leadership over there to know that effective economic management is just not what they do. So don't hold your breath waiting for the cavalry to arrive. There is no cavalry.
And they don't do crisis management either. Which is why no-one is dealing with the Iraqi debacle. They haven't a clue. What the U.S. leadership does do is work out how they can use their positions to gain more power and money, but that really won't do the U.S. economy much good in its entirety. It's called stealing. Or if you prefer War Profiteering. But it comes pretty much to the same thing in the end. And that's bad news for Mr and Mrs Joe Average; only out in Couch Potato Land they haven't really worked that out yet. I don't know where Cheney's bunker is but when Mr and Mrs Joe Average work out what's happening he may need to use it.
Today we saw the release of some fairly positive (well better than expected anyway) data related to the Housing Sector in the States. This hasn't done much to console the Stock Market, which is the only market still holding. Fixed Interest Markets have taken a hit, the Commodity Bubble has deflated but Stocks are holding. For now. What everyone is talking about on financial markets, while the Pundits Hype the Economic Recovery Story, is the rate of Housing Foreclosures in the States and what will happen when ARM Floating Rate Mortgages start to reset in 2007. And with CPI and PPI coming out higher than market expectations the chance of relief in the form of RATE CUT has evaporated. So things don't look so good for Mr and Mrs Joe Average.
The USD/JPY got a mild boost overnight by the failure of the BoJ to hike rates. The USD hasn't performed quite so well against the Euro. And the outlook for the USD is still clouded. Since year end the USD has climbed on short covering and interest rate differentials. There is also a weird theory making the rounds that slower global economic growth will be beneficial to the USD. Why I don't know. That theory doesn't seem to be based on anything more than conjecture. With the BoJ non-event now out of the way it is probably time to buy the rumour and sell the fact. And a USD/JPY correction would certainly add weight to overall USD weakness.
OIL 53.36
GOLD 635.20
The OIL price is following the Commodity Bubble down. A break below USD 50 could be ugly. Or at least we could see some stops triggered. Despite the recent turn for the worst in U.S. weather the OIL market has no legs. When you consider the potential for further trouble in the Middle East and the Bush Administration's psychotic (though not yet official) plan for an attack on Iran, the failure of the OIL market to make any gains AT ALL starts to look like a worrying indication that global industrial growth may be in more trouble than is presently being forecast by Global Equity Markets.
One of these two markets is wrong. Either Commodities start to see strength or Global Stock Markets start to reflect the economic weakness that Commodity Markets are currently predicting.
Labels: BoJ, Economic Recovery or Global Recession, Stocks versus Oil Markets
Monday, January 15, 2007
Iraq, Iran, Oil, Gold and Bizarre Tilting Points
EUR/USD 1.2940 Hi 1.2960 Low 1.2914
USD/JPY 120.40 Hi 120.62 Low 120.06
AUD/USD 0.7842 Hi 0.7863 Low 0.7835
EUR/JPY 155.83 Hi 156.11 Low 155.07
Well Trichet took a giant step back last week. No more rate hikes are to be expected in Europe till after the French Presidential Election. Stocks cheered and the EURO rallied. But the FX market has no conviction. The market is confused and looking for direction. The pundits are telling us that the U.S. economy is RESILIANT, that the Japanese economy is in recovery and that the strongest European economy is Germany with France now falling behind. Only the last two statements appear to be true.
The way things are going the U.S.A. could see the yield curve flatten out altogether and then even turn positive. But that doesn't mean that the economy has turned the corner. All it means is that the Bush Administration is having trouble finding investors reckless enough to fund George W.'s bizarre Imperial Game Plan. The U.S. Consumer may well have whipped out the credit cards over the Christmas Holidays and the U.S. Consumer is 70% of the U.S. economy but economic growth is built on more than an ability and willingness to borrow and spend money. Any fool can spend money.
While every pundit out there is talking about the resiliency of the U.S Consumer and what great news that is, no-one is talking about where the money is coming from. Because that's the scary part. And the facile explanation that U.S. Treasuries are selling off because the economy and INFLATION may be stronger than previously forecast is simply rubbish. Currently 55% of the U.S. Treasury market is held by Foreign Central Banks. These Banks don't care where domestic U.S. inflation is heading. It's not like they shop at Wal Mart. The only INFLATION, in the sense of loss of purchasing power, that they care about is entirely currency related. A fall in the value of the USD and the value of their holdings falls. So the trick to keep Foreign Investors lining up at every Treasury Refunding is to keep the USD supported, despite a massive external funding requirements. This is not easy.
If the confidence of Foreign Investors is not maintained then the whole charade falls over.
So the USD is crucial. And confidence in the Bush Administration's commitment to a STRONG DOLLAR POLICY is crucial. Everything else is expendable. And that means the U.S. Consumer is expendable. So don't bank on a Consumer Driven economic recovery happening in the U.S. any time soon.
OIL 53.20
GOLD 627.90
Over the quiet trading days of year end and New Year the GOLD bears got to work. They didn't get all that far, but they did try. GOLD didn't break below USD 600 but GOLD bearishness hasn't disappeared entirely. What the world is waiting for now is to see how the Bush Administration's New Plan for the Middle East pans out. The expectation is that the SURGE in Iraq is just a distraction. The real escalation will happen when the U.S., or one of its allies, attacks Iran.
And the time table is becoming clearer. We are talking APRIL. China and Russia were persuaded just before Christmas to vote for sanctions against Iran at the United Nations. No-one knows what kind of horse trading went on to persuade China and Russia to drop their U.N. veto. But they did and now they are sidelined. The Saudis, for reasons to do with some obscure rivalry with "The Persians" aka Iran, are on board and so are the Israelis. After all they are the mostly heavily armed nation in the Middle East and hence believe that any military conflict will go their way. So we have clocks ticking.
Before April the French will be too involved with their Presidential election to make trouble. Tony Blair will still be in office, advocating the use of force and playing poodle to George W.'s cowboy. Oh and there is an off-chance that France will elect the Pro-American Sarkozy. So that's France out of the game. And if it's not Sarkozy it will be the ineffectual Royal. Both French Presidential candidates are great admirers of Tony Blair. Why? Well not for his achievements, obviously, but because he showed everyone how to use the media to gain and hold power. Photo opportunities anyone? What the world doesn't need is more of these kinds of politicians. So France really is out of the game.
Now I'm guessing that an American attack on Iran is going to be bad news for pretty much everybody. First, for the Iranians and then for the rest of us. But hey after you've slaughtered 650,000 Iraqi civilians where are the moral guidelines? The point is winning. Though, strangely in a Nation where "IS" needs to be defined, no-one has been asked to define "WINNING". Nor has anyone explained how you "WIN" an "ENDLESS WAR" on Terror. Doesn't endless mean there is no end point? Well exactly. Orwell had the blueprint but no-one reads books anymore so Cheney and his buddies have everything wrapped up.
Either way ugly GEOPOLITICS will help keep GOLD bid and, unless someone changes George W.'s medication, that seems unlikely to change. Or at least that's the conventional wisdom.
But there are other views out there. And if you take the view that war is profitable but unpredictable, unless relatively contained, then you could take the view that there will be no escalation, just lots of veiled threats. So we could, right now, be right on the brink of some bizarre equilibrium where there is no resolution and no escalation. Or at least an attempt by the powers-that-be to hold on to a bizarre equilibrium.
The trouble with that point of view is that a) it overestimates the intelligence of the people involved by a large margin and b) it underestimates the imponderables and the unpredictable. This is Karl Rove's November election strategy to the power of 100 and we all know that the Karl Rove strategy failed. These people may be devious but they are not really smart, they just think they are.
So we don't really know how things will fall but we do know that it would be unwise to take any serious bets on direction until the GEOPOLITICAL situation becomes clearer. There is a lot of deviousness around right now and not a whole lot of smarts. The U.S. Administration overestimates its own economic smarts. Ultimately that is bad news for the USD, U.S. Financial Markets and the U.S. economy. And bad news travels fast.
USD/JPY 120.40 Hi 120.62 Low 120.06
AUD/USD 0.7842 Hi 0.7863 Low 0.7835
EUR/JPY 155.83 Hi 156.11 Low 155.07
Well Trichet took a giant step back last week. No more rate hikes are to be expected in Europe till after the French Presidential Election. Stocks cheered and the EURO rallied. But the FX market has no conviction. The market is confused and looking for direction. The pundits are telling us that the U.S. economy is RESILIANT, that the Japanese economy is in recovery and that the strongest European economy is Germany with France now falling behind. Only the last two statements appear to be true.
The way things are going the U.S.A. could see the yield curve flatten out altogether and then even turn positive. But that doesn't mean that the economy has turned the corner. All it means is that the Bush Administration is having trouble finding investors reckless enough to fund George W.'s bizarre Imperial Game Plan. The U.S. Consumer may well have whipped out the credit cards over the Christmas Holidays and the U.S. Consumer is 70% of the U.S. economy but economic growth is built on more than an ability and willingness to borrow and spend money. Any fool can spend money.
While every pundit out there is talking about the resiliency of the U.S Consumer and what great news that is, no-one is talking about where the money is coming from. Because that's the scary part. And the facile explanation that U.S. Treasuries are selling off because the economy and INFLATION may be stronger than previously forecast is simply rubbish. Currently 55% of the U.S. Treasury market is held by Foreign Central Banks. These Banks don't care where domestic U.S. inflation is heading. It's not like they shop at Wal Mart. The only INFLATION, in the sense of loss of purchasing power, that they care about is entirely currency related. A fall in the value of the USD and the value of their holdings falls. So the trick to keep Foreign Investors lining up at every Treasury Refunding is to keep the USD supported, despite a massive external funding requirements. This is not easy.
If the confidence of Foreign Investors is not maintained then the whole charade falls over.
So the USD is crucial. And confidence in the Bush Administration's commitment to a STRONG DOLLAR POLICY is crucial. Everything else is expendable. And that means the U.S. Consumer is expendable. So don't bank on a Consumer Driven economic recovery happening in the U.S. any time soon.
OIL 53.20
GOLD 627.90
Over the quiet trading days of year end and New Year the GOLD bears got to work. They didn't get all that far, but they did try. GOLD didn't break below USD 600 but GOLD bearishness hasn't disappeared entirely. What the world is waiting for now is to see how the Bush Administration's New Plan for the Middle East pans out. The expectation is that the SURGE in Iraq is just a distraction. The real escalation will happen when the U.S., or one of its allies, attacks Iran.
And the time table is becoming clearer. We are talking APRIL. China and Russia were persuaded just before Christmas to vote for sanctions against Iran at the United Nations. No-one knows what kind of horse trading went on to persuade China and Russia to drop their U.N. veto. But they did and now they are sidelined. The Saudis, for reasons to do with some obscure rivalry with "The Persians" aka Iran, are on board and so are the Israelis. After all they are the mostly heavily armed nation in the Middle East and hence believe that any military conflict will go their way. So we have clocks ticking.
Before April the French will be too involved with their Presidential election to make trouble. Tony Blair will still be in office, advocating the use of force and playing poodle to George W.'s cowboy. Oh and there is an off-chance that France will elect the Pro-American Sarkozy. So that's France out of the game. And if it's not Sarkozy it will be the ineffectual Royal. Both French Presidential candidates are great admirers of Tony Blair. Why? Well not for his achievements, obviously, but because he showed everyone how to use the media to gain and hold power. Photo opportunities anyone? What the world doesn't need is more of these kinds of politicians. So France really is out of the game.
Now I'm guessing that an American attack on Iran is going to be bad news for pretty much everybody. First, for the Iranians and then for the rest of us. But hey after you've slaughtered 650,000 Iraqi civilians where are the moral guidelines? The point is winning. Though, strangely in a Nation where "IS" needs to be defined, no-one has been asked to define "WINNING". Nor has anyone explained how you "WIN" an "ENDLESS WAR" on Terror. Doesn't endless mean there is no end point? Well exactly. Orwell had the blueprint but no-one reads books anymore so Cheney and his buddies have everything wrapped up.
Either way ugly GEOPOLITICS will help keep GOLD bid and, unless someone changes George W.'s medication, that seems unlikely to change. Or at least that's the conventional wisdom.
But there are other views out there. And if you take the view that war is profitable but unpredictable, unless relatively contained, then you could take the view that there will be no escalation, just lots of veiled threats. So we could, right now, be right on the brink of some bizarre equilibrium where there is no resolution and no escalation. Or at least an attempt by the powers-that-be to hold on to a bizarre equilibrium.
The trouble with that point of view is that a) it overestimates the intelligence of the people involved by a large margin and b) it underestimates the imponderables and the unpredictable. This is Karl Rove's November election strategy to the power of 100 and we all know that the Karl Rove strategy failed. These people may be devious but they are not really smart, they just think they are.
So we don't really know how things will fall but we do know that it would be unwise to take any serious bets on direction until the GEOPOLITICAL situation becomes clearer. There is a lot of deviousness around right now and not a whole lot of smarts. The U.S. Administration overestimates its own economic smarts. Ultimately that is bad news for the USD, U.S. Financial Markets and the U.S. economy. And bad news travels fast.
Labels: Gold, Oil, The possibility of war with Iran, Treasuries
