Australia at risk as USD rises

NAB are predicting that the RBA will cut rates twice in 2017.

This ties in with the Credit Suisse view: if Donald Trump succeeds in reducing the US trade deficit, it will cause a USD shortage in international markets. And, in Australia, “a USD shortage tends to exert downward pressure on rates, bond yields, the currency and even house prices.”

Macrobusiness joins the dots for us: “a rising USD this year is very bad for commodity prices and national income while being bearish for interest rates and the AUD.”

Source: CS: Australia at risk as USD rises – MacroBusiness

Trump’s Dumb War on Nafta | Bloomberg View

Bloomberg editorial view:

America’s trade pact with Mexico and Canada reshaped all three economies, creating a highly integrated and competitive economic zone. The evidence is clear that, in the aggregate, this helped American workers — and not just because Nafta and other free-trade agreements make goods cheaper and promote U.S. exports. A subtler point is equally important: When a U.S. firm takes advantage of Nafta by moving jobs abroad, those investments spur demand for workers at home.

This surprising and little-understood benefit isn’t theoretical speculation. On average, the evidence shows, when U.S. manufacturers create 100 new jobs in Mexico, they create roughly 250 new jobs at home. U.S. manufacturing employment has declined over the years — but, as one study of Nafta puts it, more manufacturing jobs are lost from companies that don’t invest abroad. When U.S. companies build foreign plants, they not only hire more U.S. workers, they also invest and spend more on research and development — at home.

This striving for success in a connected global economy is disruptive: Some workers lose in the process, even as others (in larger numbers) gain. So the U.S. needs a stronger social safety net, better schools, more support for training and worker mobility, subsidies for low-wage employment and other measures. Sheltering U.S. firms from competition with import barriers, or blocking their foreign investments with threats or other interventions, will make them less competitive — and make Americans overall worse off.

NAFTA is not to blame for poor economic growth in the US. It’s open to debate whether the evidence presented in this article is correct, but imposing tariff protection is seldom the answer. It’s often a case of short-term gain, long-term pain as protected industries lose competitiveness.

Source: Trump’s Dumb War on Nafta – Bloomberg View

Dow breaks 20,000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the important psychological barrier of 20,000 this week. The news was greeted with cheers from the media, many advisers and investors.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Older readers may recall a similar event when the Dow broke 1000 on November 14, 1972. Here is an excerpt from the New York Times that day:

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 1,000 mark yesterday for the first time in history.

It finished at 1,003.16 for a gain of 6.09 points in what many Wall Streeters consider the equivalent of the initial breaking of the four-minute mile.

“This thing has an obvious psychological effect,” declared one brokerage-house partner. “It’s a hell of a news item. As for the permanence of it — well, I just don’t know.”

Last Friday, the Dow surpassed 1,000 during the course of a day’s trading, but it fell back below the landmark figure by the end of the session.

But yesterday the market was not to be denied. The Dow finally put it all together, the peace rally, the re-election of President Nixon, the surging economy, booming corporate profits and lessening fears about inflation and taxes and controls and other uncertainties of 1973.

…..International Business Machines, Wall Street’s best known glamour issue, moved up 11 1/4 points to 388, its best price of the day.

…..An office broker, watching the stock tape from his desk downtown, murmured in wonderment: “There’s a sort of renewed confidence in the whole economic outlook.”

The broker who questioned the permanence of the move must have had a crystal ball. Three months later, the Dow reversed below 1000, commencing a bear market that ended at 570.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Four years later, in 1976, the Dow again rallied and broke 1000. Only to retreat in another bear market that carried as low as 750. A third advance carried the Average above 1000 in 1981, before another retreat, this time to 780.

Only in 1982, a full ten years after the first breakout, did the Dow finally break clear of 1000, advancing strongly over the next few years.

The next significant barrier for the Dow was 10,000. Breakout took place in 1999, during the Dotcom boom, with a minimum of fuss. At least one pundit at the time predicted the Dow would reach 100,000 by 2020.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Contrary to initial indications, the 10,000 level also proved a formidable barrier, with breach of support in 2001 heralding the start of a bear market that fell as low as 7200.

Recovery in 2003 appeared robust, with two secondary corrections respecting the new support level at 10,000. But the global financial crisis in 2008 saw the Dow fall to 6500. It took more than ten years after the initial breakout before we could comfortably say that the Dow had broken clear of 10,000.

The next important barrier is the current 20,000. It may be naive to think we have seen the last of it.

If past records are anything to go by, we could be in for an interesting decade.

How to survive the next four years

Donald Trump

We are entering a time of uncertainty.

Donald Trump started his presidency with a continuation of the confrontational approach that he exhibited throughout his campaign, with scant regard to unifying the country and governing from the middle. Instead he has signed off on two controversial oil pipelines that, while they would create jobs, have met fierce opposition and are likely to polarize the nation even further.

Subtlety is not Trump’s strong point. Expect a far more abrasive style than the Obama years.

Trump also signed off on constructing a wall along the border with Mexico. Again, this will create jobs and slow illegal immigration — two of his key campaign promises — while harming relations with the Southern neighbor.

Another key target is the trade deficit. The US has not run a trade surplus since 1975. Expect major revision of current trade agreements like NAFTA, which could further damage relations with Mexico, and a slew of actions against trading partners such as China and Japan who have used their foreign reserves in the past to maintain a trade surplus with the US. Floating exchange rates are meant to balance the flow of imports and exports on current account, minimizing trade surpluses/deficits over time. But this can be subverted by accumulating excessive foreign reserves to suppress appreciation of your home currency. Retaliation to US punitive actions is likely and could harm international trade if not carefully managed.

Apart from wars, Trump and chief strategist Steve Bannon also seem intent on provoking a war with the media, baiting the press in a recent New York Times interview:

Bannon delivered a broadside at the press…. saying, “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Bannon also said, “I want you to quote me on this. The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States…..”

Trump and Bannon’s strategy may be to provoke retaliation by the media. One-sided reporting would discredit the press as an objective source of criticism of the new presidency.

On top of the Trump turmoil in the US, we have Brexit which threatens to disrupt trade between the UK and European Union. If not managed carefully, this could lead to copycat actions from other EU member states.

Increasingly aggressive steps by China and Russia are another destabilizing factor — with the two nations asserting their global power against weaker neighbors. Iran is another offender, attempting to establish a crescent of influence in the Middle East against fierce opposition by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni partners. Also, North Korea is expanding its nuclear arsenal.

We live in dangerous times.

But these may also be times of opportunity. Trump has made some solid appointments to his team who could exert a positive influence on the global outlook. And confrontation may resolve some long-festering sores on both the economic and geo-political fronts.

How are we to know? Where can we get an unbiased view of economic prospects if confrontation is high, uncertainty a given — the new President issuing random tweets in the night as the mood takes him — and a distracted media?

There are two reliable sources of information: prices and earnings. Stock prices reflect market sentiment, the waves of human emotion that dominate short- and medium-term market behavior. And earnings will either confirm or refute market sentiment in the longer term.

As Benjamin Graham wrote:

“In the short term the stock market behaves like a voting machine, but in the long term it acts like a weighing machine”.

In the short-term, stock prices may deviate from true value as future earnings and growth prospects are often unclear. But prices will adjust closer to true value as more information becomes available and views of earnings and prospects narrow over time.

We are bound to experience periods of intense volatility over the next four years as hopes and fears rise and fall. These periods represent both a threat and an opportunity. A threat if you have invested on hopes and expectations rather than on solid performance. And an opportunity if intense volatility causes prices to fall below true value.

It will pay to keep a close watch on technical signals on the major indexes. As well as earnings growth in relation to index performance.

Also, keep a close eye on long-term indicators of market risk such as the Treasury yield curve and corporate bond spreads. These often forewarn of coming reactions and will be reviewed on a regular basis in future newsletters.

Is Globalization to Blame? | Boston Review

From Dean Baker:

Among the many myths about globalization, the worst is that the loss of large numbers of manufacturing jobs in the United States (and Europe) was inevitable…..

Globalization need not have taken the course it did. There was nothing inevitable about large U.S. trade deficits, which peaked at almost 6 percent of GDP in 2005 and 2006 (roughly $1.1 trillion annually in today’s economy). And there was nothing inevitable about the patterns of trade that resulted in such an imbalance. Policy decisions—not God, nature, or the invisible hand—exposed American manufacturing workers to direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world. Policymakers could have exposed more highly paid workers such as doctors and lawyers to this same competition, but a bipartisan congressional consensus, and presidents of both parties, instead chose to keep them largely protected…….

Source: Is Globalization to Blame? | Boston Review

Nasdaq breaks its Dotcom high

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 broke through its all-time high at 4900, first reached in the Dotcom bubble of 1999/2000. Follow-through above 5000 would signal another primary advance. Bearish divergence on 13-week Twiggs Money Flow warns of medium-term selling pressure, possibly profit-taking at the long-term high.

Nasdaq 100

The daily chart of the S&P 500 also shows bearish divergence, but on 21-day Twiggs Money Flow, indicating only short-term selling pressure; reversal below zero would warn of a correction. Target for the advance is 2300*.

S&P 500 Index

* Target medium-term: 2100 + ( 2200 – 2000 ) = 2300

The chart below plots Forward PE (price-earnings ratio) against S&P 500 quarterly earnings. Apologies for the spaghetti chart but each line is important:

  • green bars = quarterly earnings
  • orange bars = forecast earnings (Dec 2016 to Dec 2017)
  • purple line = S&P 500 index
  • blue line = forward PE Ratio (Price/Earnings for the next 4 quarters)

S&P 500 Forward PE and Earnings

The recent peak in Forward PE was due to falling earnings. Price retreated at a slower rate than earnings as the setback was not expected to last. Forward PE has since declined as earnings recovered at a faster rate than the index. But now PE seems to be bottoming as the index accelerates. Reversal of the Forward PE to above 20 would be cause for concern, indicating stocks are highly priced and growing even more expensive, as the index is advancing at a faster pace than earnings.

Remember that the last five bars are only forecasts and actual results may vary. The only time that the market has seen a sustained period with a forward PE greater than 20 was during the Dotcom bubble. Not an experience worth repeating.

Factors that Could Derail Equity Markets | Bob Doll

Bob Doll

From Bob Doll at Nuveen Investments:

….Although we have a generally positive view toward the economy, earnings and equity markets, we think it is worth pointing out some possible risks given how quickly and how far markets have moved higher over the past month. To us, the main risk to equity markets is the surge in government bond yields and the rising value of the U.S. dollar. Higher bond yields could create a drag on equity valuations and a higher dollar could put pressure on corporate earnings.

If the current advances in yields and the dollar moderate, equity markets should not experience much damage ….we expect any equity market sell-off resulting from a possible yield/dollar spike to be short-lived.

We are also watching possible political negatives from Donald Trump’s presidency, such as escalating geopolitical turmoil, currency wars with China or anti-immigration/anti-globalization trends. Additionally, investors may become wary of improving sentiment and less attractive valuations.

….Unlike the period since the end of the Great Recession, market sell-offs have been brief and followed quickly by strong risk-on moves. As a result of this shift and a seemingly more solid economic and earnings backdrop, we think it makes sense to retain overweight positions in equities.

I am cautiously bullish. A lot of good could come out of Republican control of both Congress and the Senate, including a revision of the corporations tax code and a more cautious approach to globalization.

The dangers are high stock valuations, with the potential for a backlash if earnings falter or risk levels spike, and low business investment that could hurt future growth. I still consider a Trump administration an additional risk factor. Trump has made some solid appointments, like the highly-regarded Mike Mattis (pleased to see Michael McFaul, former Obama point man on Russia, supporting the appointment) but still has the potential to do some crazy stuff as Bob pointed out.

Source: Weekly Investment Commentary from Bob Doll | Nuveen

Trump the biggest positive and negative risk for growth, survey finds

From Zac Crellin:

The policies of a Trump administration are both the biggest downside and upside risks to the global economy, an international survey of companies by Oxford Economics has found.

While 38 per cent of respondent companies were hopeful for US growth to surge thanks to President-elect Donald Trump’s fiscal stimulus program, 27 per cent feared Mr Trump would instigate a trade war between the US and China….

Source: Trump the biggest positive and negative risk for growth, survey finds

Priming the Pump

US stocks are buoyant on hopes that a Donald Trump presidency will benefit business, with major indexes flagging a bull market. But promises come first, the costs come later. While I support a broad infrastructure program and the creation of a level playing field in global markets, the actual execution of these ideas is critical and should not be allowed to be hijacked by the establishment for their own ends.

Erection of trade barriers is a useful negotiating position but is unlikely to be achieved without enormous damage to the global economy. As long as your trading partners think you are crazy enough to do it, they may be more amenable to establishing fair ground rules for international trade. If they don’t believe the threat, they will be happy to continue on their present path. So Trump walks a fine line between reassuring his allies and the domestic market, while keeping others guessing about his intentions.

Before we get carried away with hopes and expectations, however, we need to evaluate the current state of the economy in order to assess the current potential for growth.

The Cons

Let’s start with the negatives.

Construction spending is slow, at about three-quarters of pre-GFC (and sub-prime) levels. It will take more than an infrastructure program to restore this (though it is a step in the right direction). What is needed is higher growth expectations for the economy.

Construction Spending to GDP

Industrial production is close to its pre-GFC peak but has been declining since 2014.

Industrial Production Index

Job growth is slowing. Decline below 1.0 percent would be cause for concern.

Employment Growth

Rail and freight activity also reflects a slow-down since 2015.

Rail & Freight Index

The Philadelphia Fed’s broad-based Leading Index has also softened since 2014. Decline below 1.0 percent would be cause for concern.

Leading Index

One of my favorite indicators, this graph compares profit margins (per unit of gross value added) to employee costs. There is a clear cycle: employee costs (per unit) fall after a recession while profits rise. As the economy recovers and approaches full capacity, employee costs start to rise and profits fall — which leads to the next recession. At present we can clearly see employee costs are rising and profit margins are falling.

Profits and Employee Costs per unit of Value Added

It will be difficult for corporations to continue to grow earnings in this environment. Business investment is falling.

Gross Private Nonresidential Fixed Investment

Plowing money into stock buybacks rather than into new investment may shore up corporate performance for a while but hurts construction and industrial production. Turning this around is a major challenge facing the new administration.

The Pros

Retail sales are rising as increased employee compensation costs lift consumer confidence. Solid November sales with strong Black Friday numbers would help lift confidence even further.

Retail Sales

Light vehicle sales are also recovering, a key indicator of consumers’ long-term outlook.

Light Vehicle Sales

Rising sales and infrastructure investment are only part of the solution. What Donald Trump needs to do is prime the pump: introduce a fairer tax system, minimize red tape and reduce political interference in the economy, while enforcing strong regulation of the financial sector. Not an easy task, but achieving these goals would help restore business confidence, revive investment, and set the economy on a sound growth path.

In the short run, the market is a voting machine
but in the long run it is a weighing machine.

~ Benjamin Graham: Security Analysis (1934)

It’s a bull market

Dow Jones Industrial Average successfully tested the new support level at 18000 and has now broken resistance at 19000, confirming the target of 20000*. Rising Twiggs Money Flow indicates selling pressure has ended. Expect a brief retracement to test support at 19000 but respect is likely.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

* Target medium-term: 18000 + ( 18000 – 16000 ) = 20000

Charles Dow, founder of Dow Theory more than a century ago, always waited for confirmation from the Rail Average. Nowadays, railways have diminished in importance and we use the broader Transport Average which currently signals a primary up-trend after a lengthy “line” or narrow consolidation over the last 3 months.

Dow Jones Transport Average

It is also advisable to look for confirmation from the broader S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index.

The S&P 500 broke resistance at 2200, signaling a primary advance with a target of 2300*. Rising Twiggs Money Flow again indicates that selling pressure has ended.

S&P 500 Index

* Target medium-term: 2200 + ( 2200 – 2100 ) = 2300

The Nasdaq 100 recently set an all-time high after breaking resistance at its March 2000 high of 4700. Retracement twice respected the new support level and follow-through above 4900 would confirm another primary advance.

Nasdaq 100