US & Canada Archives - Page 114 of 176

February 5, 2013

Nana Rolland: North Korean Pawn in a Chinese Chess Game – WSJ.com

NANA ROLLAND at WSJ writes:

While it steps up its own provocative actions, including recurrent intrusions into Japanese waters and airspace around the disputed islands, China exhorts the U.S. to restrain its “troublemaking” Japanese friends. The implied linkage is clear: As Beijing tries to forestall North Korean brinksmanship, it expects Washington to do the same.

We have seen this gambit before. In 2003, when Beijing feared that Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian might be inching toward independence, it called on Washington to bring him to heel. In return, it agreed to host multiparty negotiations to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear-weapons programs.

Beijing got the better end of that deal…..

Colin Twiggs

Colin Twiggs is a former investment banker with almost 40 years of experience in financial markets. He co-founded Incredible Charts and writes the popular Trading Diary and Patient Investor newsletters.

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

Focusing on interest rates and financial market liquidity as primary drivers of the economic cycle, he warned of the 2008/2009 and 2020 bear markets well ahead of actual events.
He founded PVT Capital (AFSL No. 546090) in May 2023, which offers investment strategy and advice to wholesale clients.

February 5, 2013

Why QE is not working

Lars Christensen, Chief Analyst at Danske Bank, quotes David Beckworth in this lengthy but excellent 2011 paper on Market Monetarism — The Second Monetarist Counter-revolution:

“…..Declines in the money multiplier and velocity have both been pulling down nominal GDP. The decline in the money multiplier reflects: (1) the problems in the banking system that have led to a decline in financial intermediation as well as (2) the interest the Fed is paying on excess bank reserves. The decline in the velocity is presumably the result of an increase in real money demand created by the uncertainty surrounding the recession. This figure also shows that the Federal Reserve has been significantly increasing the monetary base, which should, all else equal, put upward pressure on nominal spending. However, all else is not equal as the movements in the money multiplier and the monetary base appear to mostly offset each other. Therefore, it seems that on balance it has been the fall in velocity (i.e. the increase in real money demand) that has driven the collapse in nominal spending.”

Beckworth continues:

“[the] sharp decline in velocity appears to be the main contributor to the collapse in nominal spending in late 2008 and early 2009 as changes in the monetary base and the money multiplier largely offset each other. It is striking that the largest run-ups in the monetary base occurred in the same quarters (2008:Q3, 2008:Q4) as the largest drops in the money multiplier. If the Fed’s payment on excess reserves were the main reason for the decline in the money multiplier and if the Fed used this new tool in order to allow for massive credit easing (i.e. buying up troubled assets and bringing down spreads) without inflation emerging, then the Fed’s timing was impeccable. Unfortunately, though, it appears the Fed was so focused on preventing its credit easing programme from destabilising the money supply that it overlooked, or least underestimated, developments with real money demand (i.e. velocity). As a consequence, nominal spending crashed.”

Christensen concludes:

Subsequent events have clearly proven Beckworth right and it is very likely that had the Federal Reserve not introduced interest on excess reserves then the monetary shocks would have been significantly smaller.

From Market Monetarism – The Second Monetarist Counter-revolution

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

February 3, 2013

Canada: TSX bull trap?

The TSX Composite retreated below 12800, indicating hesitancy on the part of investors. Expect retracement to test support at 12500. Failure of support would signal a bull trap. Long-term buying pressure remains strong, with rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow; another trough above zero would confirm the primary up-trend. Recovery above 12800 would signal an advance to the 2011 high at 14300*.

TSX Composite Index

* Target calculation: 12800 + ( 12800 – 11300 ) = 14300

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

February 3, 2013

S&P 500 buying pressure

The S&P 500 displays evidence of buying pressure on the daily chart, with brief retracement to test support at 1500 followed by a surge to a new 5-year high. Expect a test of the 2000/2007 highs at 1550/1565.

S&P 500 Index

Troughs above the zero line on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicate longer-term buying pressure. Breakout is likely and would signal an advance to 1750*. Reversal below 1500, however, would warn of a widely predicted correction.
S&P 500 Index

* Target calculation: 1550 + ( 1550 – 1350 ) = 1750

Declining 63-day Twiggs Momentum on the Nasdaq 100, however, warns of a reversal. Respect of resistance at 2800 would strengthen the warning, while retreat below 2500 would complete a head and shoulders reversal. Follow-through above 2900 is less likely, but would confirm a bull market signal from the Dow/S&P 500.
S&P 500 Index

These are times for cautious optimism. Central banks are flooding markets with freshly printed money, driving up stock prices, but this could create a bull trap if corporate earnings, capital investment and employment fail to respond.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

February 3, 2013

The Global Leadership Vacuum: Europe Incapable, America Unwilling | SPIEGEL ONLINE

Gregor Peter Schmitz writes:

In 1998, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called America the “indispensable nation.” But now, 15 years later, it is primarily an exhausted one, a global power in decline that has its gaze turned toward the domestic front rather than Afghanistan or the Middle East.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

January 30, 2013

Federal Reserve FOMC statement | Press Release

…..Although strains in global financial markets have eased somewhat, the Committee continues to see downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee also anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely will run at or below its 2 percent objective.

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee will continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion per month……

To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends and the economic recovery strengthens. In particular, the Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that this exceptionally low range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6-1/2 percent, inflation between one and two years ahead is projected to be no more than a half percentage point above the Committee’s 2 percent longer-run goal……

Read the complete statement at FRB: Press Release–Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement–January 30, 2013.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

January 30, 2013

History Of Federal Reserve Tightening | Business Insider

Matthew Boesler writes:

Deutsche Bank Chief U.S. Equity Strategist David Bianco says, “Don’t fear interest rate normalization.” That’s the title of one of his recent research notes, which takes a deep dive into what happened to markets each of the 15 times the Fed has embarked on policy tightening since 1965. Bianco writes, “DB economists and rate strategists forecast an unchanged Fed Funds rate until 2014. However, they forecast a 3.0% 10yr Treasury yield at 2013 end. When QE ends it will likely be akin to early-cycle Fed tightening and the uptick in long-term yields will represent a cyclical rise in rates, both of which are bullish.”

Chart analysis of previous tightening cycles at History Of Federal Reserve Tightening – Business Insider.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

January 28, 2013

For Stocks, Are Record Highs Warranted? | WSJ

Steven Russolillo at WSJ writes on the latest morning note from Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group:

Colas says he believe stocks are “clearly setup for a pullback” over the next month, given the strong complacency that has engulfed investors of all stripes. That said, he says stocks still look attractive over a longer-term time horizon.

via For Stocks, Are Record Highs Warranted? – MarketBeat – WSJ.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

January 25, 2013

Visible Hand Of The Fed | Business Insider

Lance Roberts writes:

While the Fed programs that we have witnessed since the financial crisis are historically unique — liquidity driven markets are not. We have witnessed the effects of excess liquidity in the bull market cycle prior to the 2008 financial crisis. The only difference during that cycle was that, through government intervention, real estate was turned into an ATM allowing mortgage equity withdrawals to be the liquidity source for the economy and the markets…….

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

January 25, 2013

S&P 500 threatens breakout

The S&P 500 is headed for a test of the 2000/2007 highs at 1550/1565. Expect resistance but troughs above the zero line on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicate long-term buying pressure. Breakout is likely and would signal an advance to 1750*. Breach of the rising trendline would test of support at the long-term trendline — around 1400.

S&P 500 Index

* Target calculation: 1550 + ( 1550 – 1350 ) = 1750

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.