These three commodities [thermal coal, coking coal and iron ore] make up half of Australia’s terms of trade. The first few months of next year are not going to be kind to the TOT. Not kind at all.
via Bulk trouble – macrobusiness.com.au | macrobusiness.com.au.
Thermal coal:
Coking coal:
Iron ore:
The cause of current anemic GDP growth is evident from the recently-released Z1 Flow of Funds report. GDP recovery from 2008/2009 is accompanied by only a modest rise in Domestic (Non-Financial) Debt — which is now constraining further growth.
Domestic (Non-Financial) Debt is made up of Government Debt and Private (Non-Financial) Debt — which can be further broken down into Household and Corporate debt. The Financial sector is excluded as it mainly acts as a conduit, channeling debt to other sectors of the economy. We can see below that Private (Non-Financial) Debt contraction was far greater than overall Domestic (Non-Financial) Debt. What saved the economy was a sharp spike in Government Debt in 2009, offsetting the fall. The massive fiscal deficit may have left a public debt hangover, but failure to offset the contraction in private borrowing would have had more serious consequences: a GDP collapse similar to the 1930s.
Resumption of corporate borrowing has dragged Private (Non-Financial) Debt growth into positive territory but growth remains anemic and households continue to de-leverage. Cessation of government borrowing would cause a fall in overall Domestic (Non-Financial) Debt growth to near zero and a sharp fall in GDP. The economy needs to be gradually weaned off stimulus spending in order to minimize disruption to growth. And not before Private sector borrowing recovers. We need a clear deficit-reduction plan, over 5 to 10 years, in order to restore corporate sector confidence and encourage new capital investment.
The only alternative is further quantitative easing (QE3), where continuous deficits are funded by borrowing from the Fed. But that poses a whole new set of problems — and could lead us back to square #1.
Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 8.3% in December…….
Risk aversion increased markedly in this survey. When asked about “the wisest place for savings” 26.6% of respondents nominated “pay down debt”. That was an increase from 18.7% in September. Since we started measuring that component in 1997 there has only been one higher measure, in March 2010. Only 6.6% of respondents nominated equities – the lowest percentage since 1993; while the 14% nominating real estate was, apart from 2008, the lowest since the survey began in 1974.
Comment: ~ Equities at their lowest level since 1993 is a great contrarian indicator. There is still risk of further downside, so too early to invest at present, but this will be a good number to watch in 2012.
Yields on the 10-year Commonwealth bond hit a record intraday low of 3.78 percentage points yesterday…….CPI inflation for the September quarter was still running at 3.5%. That means investors are close to giving the Australian government money for free.
On top of that….. Investors seem happy to park their money with the Australian government despite the large risk that the dollar will take a serious tumble (though of course they are themselves mitigating that risk somewhat through their own purchases). If investors are separately hedging, which, frankly, they’re mad if they’re not, that will add further cost to the transaction, enough surely, to push the return negative.
via Australia: The safe haven – macrobusiness.com.au | macrobusiness.com.au.
Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed below short-term support at 12000. Bearish divergence on 21-day Twiggs Money Flow warns of medium-term selling pressure — and a correction to test primary support at 10600. Reversal (of TMF) below zero and follow-through (of DJIA) below 11900 would strengthen the signal.
The SENSEX is testing primary support but has so far (Tuesday 12:30 p.m.) held above 15800. Breakout would signal a primary decline to 14000*. The peak below zero on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow warns of strong selling pressure.
* Target calculation: 16 – ( 18 – 16 ) = 14
Yesterday, the Shanghai Composite Index broke through primary support at 2300. Today the index followed through, falling to 2260. Dow Jones Shanghai Index shows a similar fall below 280. The weekly chart shows an earlier break in August below primary support at 330, leading to a re-test of the 2010 low at 280. Now primary support at 280 has failed, signaling a decline to 240*. Declining 63-day Twiggs Momentum, below zero, warns of a strong primary down-trend.
* Target calculation: 280 – ( 320 – 280 ) = 240
The ASX 200 rallied on news of EU progress and is headed for resistance at 4350. Breakout would offer a target of 4850* but weakness in China makes this unlikely.
* Target calculation: 4350 + ( 4350 – 3850 ) = 4850
On the long-term (quarterly) chart it is clear that we are still in bear territory. Only breakout above 5000 would reverse the trend.
The Shanghai Composite index broke primary support at 2300 Monday, signaling a decline to 2100*. Follow-through on Tuesday would strengthen the signal. The sharp fall on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow warns of strong selling pressure.
* Target calculation: 2300 – ( 2500 – 2300 ) = 2100
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index held above 18500 Monday, but another test of medium-term support at 17500 is likely.
The FTSE 100 encountered resistance at 5600, respecting the descending trendline. David Cameron’s veto of the EU treaty proposal is likely to inject further uncertainty — and another test of medium-term support at 5050. 13-Week Twiggs Money Flow is reasonably strong but, again, we need to allow a few weeks for markets to absorb the latest news.
