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Turning Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Inside Out

Turning Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Inside Out

For much of the current expansion, cycle investors have been forced taught to believe in a Heads-I-Win-Tales-You-Lose investing environment in which good economic news was good for equities and bad economic news was also good for equities. Good news obviously indicates a positive environment, but bad news meant further central bank intervention, which would inevitably raise asset prices.

Those who didn’t buy-the-dip were severely punished. Many fund managers who dared to take fundamentals into consideration and were wary, or put on portfolio protection, saw their clients take their money and go elsewhere. An entire generation of market participants learned that it’s easy to make money, just buy the dip. That mode just may be changing as the past two weeks the major indices have taken some solid hits. Keep in mind that while the headlines keep talking up the equity markets, the total return in the S&P 500 has been less than 5% while the long bond has returned over 18%. Austria’s century bond has nearly doubled in price since it was first offered less than two years ago!

Earnings Season Summary

So far, we’ve heard from just under 2,000 companies with the unofficial close to earnings season coming next week as Wal Mart (WMT) reports on the 15th. The EPS beat rate has fallen precipitously over the past week down to 57.2%, which if it holds, will be the lowest beat rate since the March quarter of 2014. Conversely, the top line beat rate has risen over the past week to 57.4% which is slightly better than last quarter, but if it holds will be (excepting last quarter) the weakest in the past 10 quarters. The difference between the percent of companies raising guidance versus percentage lowering is down to -1.8% and has now been negative for the past four quarters and is below the long-term average.

With 456 of the 505 S&P 500 components having reported, the blended EPS growth estimate is now -0.72% year-over-year, with six of the eleven sectors experiencing declining EPS. This follows a -0.21% decline in EPS in Q1, giving us (if this holds) an earnings recession. The last time we experienced such a streak was the second quarter of 2016.

The Fed Disappoints

Last week Jerome Powell and the rest of his gang over at the Federal Reserve cut interest rates despite an economy (1) the President is calling the best ever, (2) an unemployment rate near the lowest level since the 1960s, at a (3) time when financial conditions are the loosest we’ve seen in over 16 years and (4) for the first time since the 1930s, the Fed stopped a tightening cycle at 2.5%. We have (5) never seen the Fed cut when conditions were this loose. They were looking to get some inflation going, Lord knows the growing piles of debt everywhere would love that, but instead, the dollar strengthened, and the yield curve flattened. Oops. That is not what the Fed wanted to see.

The President was not pleased. “What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, The European Union and other countries around the world,” he said in a tweet. “As usual, Powell let us down.”

The dollar’s jump higher post-announcement means that the Fed in effect tightened policy by 20 basis points. Oops2. The takeaway here is that the market was not impressed. It expected more, it priced in more and it wants more. Now the question is, will the Fed give in and give the market what it wants? Keep in mind that both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are turning decisively more dovish, which effectively strengthens the dollar even further.

Looking at past Fed commentary, the track record isn’t exactly inspirational for getting the all-important timing right.

But, we think the odds favor a continuation of positive growth, and we still do not yet see enough evidence to persuade us that we have entered, or are about to enter, a recession.” Alan Greenspan, July 1990

“The staff forecast prepared for this meeting suggested that, after a period of slow growth associated in part with an inventory correction, the economic expansion would gradually regain strength over the next two years and move toward a rate near the staff’s current estimate of the growth of the economy’s potential output.” FOMC Minutes March 20, 2001

“At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems to likely be contained.” Ben Bernanke, March 2007

“Would I say there will never, ever be another financial crisis? You know probably that would be going too far but I do think we’re much safer and I hope that it will not be in our lifetimes and I don’t believe it will be.” Janet Yellen, June 2017 (This one is going to be a real doozy)

This time around Fed Chairman Powell told us that what we are getting is a “mid-cycle policy adjustment.” Wait, what? We are now (1) in the longest expansion in history with (2) the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years as (3) corporate leverage levels reaching record levels at a (4) time when more of it is rated at just above junk than ever before in history. This is mid-cycle? I’m pretty sure this one will be added to the above list as some serious Fed facepalming. Now I think these folks are incredibly bright, but they are just tasked with an impossible job and live in a world in which their peers believe they can and ought to finesse the economy. So far that theory hasn’t turned out all that well for anyone who doesn’t already have a good-sized pile of assets.

Domestic Economy (in summary because it is August after all)

  • We are 3-year lows for the US ISM manufacturing and services PMIs.
  • We are seeing a shrinking workweek, contracting manufacturing hours and factory overtime is at an 8-year low.
  • Just saw a contraction in the American consumer’s gasoline consumption.
  • American households just cut their credit card balances, something that happens only about 10% of the time during an expansion. Keep in mind that Q2 consumer spending was primarily debt-fueled when looking towards Q3 GDP.
  • The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Leading Economic Indicator for the US fell to a 10-year low in June, having declined for 18 consecutive months. A streak of this nature has in the past always been indicative of a recession. Interestingly that same indicator for China just hit a 9-month high.
  • The Haver Analytics adjusted New York Fed recession risk model has risen from 50% in early January to a 10-year high of 80%.

Global Economy

  • The IMF has cut world GDP forecasts for the fourth consecutive time.
  • We have 11 countries so far in 2019 experiencing at least one quarter of shrinking GDP and 17 central banks are in cutting mode with Peru the latest to cut, the Royal Bank of Australia hinting at further cuts and Mexico and Brazil likely next in line.
  • Some 30% of the world’s GDP is experiencing inverted yield curves.
  • Over half the world’s bond market is trading below the Fed funds rate.
  • Despite the sanctions on Iran and OPEC output cuts, WTI oil prices have fallen over 20% in the past year.

Europe

  • The Eurozone manufacturing PMI for July fell to 46.5, down from 47.6 in June and is now at the lowest level since the Greek debt crisis back in 2012 as employment declined to a six-year low with a decline in exports. Spain came in at 48.2, 48.5 for Italy and 49.7 for France.
  • Germany, long the economic anchor for the Eurozone and the world’s fourth-largest economy, has negative yields all the way out 30 years and about 40% of Europe’s investment-grade bonds have negative yields. The nation’s exports declined 8% year-over-year and imports fell 4.4% in June as global demand continues to weaken.
  • France had its industrial production contract -2.3% in June versus expectations for -1.6%.
  • Italy’s government is back in crisis mode as the two coalition ruling parties look to be calling it quits. Personally, I think Salvini (head of the League) has been waiting for an opportune time to dump his Five Star partners and their recent vote against European Infrastructure gave him that chance. The nation is likely heading back to the polls again at a time when Europe is facing a potential hard Brexit, so we’ve got that going for us.
  • The UK economy just saw real GDP in Q2 contract 0.2% quarter-over-quarter. Domestic demand contracted -3%. Capex fell -0.5% and has now been in contraction for five of the past six quarters. Manufacturing output also contracted -2.3% in the worst quarter since the Great Financial Crisis.

Asia

  • South Korean exports, a barometer for global trade, fell 11% year-over-year in July. The trade war between South Korea and Japan continues over Japan’s reparations for its brutal policy of “comfort women” during WWII.
  • The trade war with China has entered the second year and this past week it looks unlikely that we will get anything sorted out with China before the 2020 election. The day after Fed’s rate decision Trump announced that the US would be imposing 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods starting September 1st. In response, China devalued its currency and word is getting out that the nation is preparing itself for a prolonged economic war with the US. The rising tension in Hong Kong are only making the battle between the US and China potentially even more volatile and risky. Investors need to keep a sharp eye on what is happening there.
  • Auto sales in China contracted 5.3% year-over-year in July for the 13th contraction in the past 14 months.
  • Tensions are rising between India and Pakistan thanks to India’s PM Modi’s decision to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy.

US Dollar

When we look at how far the dollar has strengthened is have effectively contracted the global monetary base by more than 6% year-over-year. This type of contraction preceded the five most recent recessions. While the headlines have been all about moves in the equity and bond markets, hardly anyone has been paying attention to what has been happening with the dollar, which looks to be poised the breakout to new all-time highs.

Reaching for new all-time highs?

A strengthening dollar is a phenomenally deflationary force, something that would hit the European and Japanese banks hard. So far we are seeing the dollar strengthen significantly against Asian and emerging market currencies, against the New Zealand Kiwi and the Korean Won, against the Canadian dollar and the Pound Sterling (Brexit isn’t helping) and China has lowered its peg to the dollar in retaliation against new tariffs in the ongoing trade war. There is a mountain of US Dollar-denominated debt out there, which is basically a short position on the greenback and as the world’s reserve currency and the currency that utterly dominates global trade. As the USD strengthens it creates an enormous headwind to global growth.

The deflationary power of a strengthening US dollar strength in the midst of slowing global trade and trade wars just may overpower anything central banks try. This would turn the heads-I-win-tales-you-lose buy-the-dip strategy inside out and severely rattle the markets.

The bottom line is investors need to be watching the moves in the dollar closely, look for those companies with strong balance sheets and cash flows and consider increasing liquidity. The next few months (at least) are likely to be a bumpy ride.

In the Midst of Rising Unknowns, Focus on What We Do Know

In the Midst of Rising Unknowns, Focus on What We Do Know

As someone famous (or infamous depending on your leanings) once said, “there are known knowns….there are known unknowns…but there are also unknown unknowns.”

We’ve got a whole lot of the second two going around these days and that is not good for growth. Life and investing requires dealing with uncertainty to be sure, but holy cow these days investors and businesses are facing a whole other level of who-the-hell-knows and that is a headwind to growth.

  • The bumbling battle over Brexit
  • China’s earnings recession
  • Slowing in Europe
  • Yield curve inversions
  • Record levels of frustration with Capital Hill
  • The Cost of Corporate Uncertainty
  • The battle over the GDP pie
  • Beware Reversion to the Mean

Brexit

The United Kingdom, in or out? The mess that has become of Brexit is wholly unprecedented in modern history. As of March 29th, the day the UK was set to leave the EU, Brexit has never been more uncertain nor has the leadership of the UK in the coming months. This graphic pretty much sums it up.

Many Brits are unhappy with the state of their nation’s economy and are blaming those folks over in Brussels, as are many others in the western world – part of our Middle Class Squeeze investment theme.

China

Its economy is slowing, but just how bad it is and just how dire the debt situation in the nation is difficult to divine given the intentional opacity of the nation’s leadership. The ongoing trade negotiations with America run as hot and cold as Katy Perry depending on the day and when you last checked your Twitter feed.

Most recently China’s industrial profits fell 14% year-over-year in the January and February meaning we are witnessing an earnings recession in the world’s second largest economy.

Europe

Last week the markets ended in the red, driven in part by weaker than expected German manufacturing PMI from Markit with both output and new orders falling significantly – new orders were the weakest in February since the Financial Crisis.

Markit German Manufacturing PMI

It wasn’t just the Germans though as the French Markit Composite Index (Manufacturing and Services) dropped into contraction territory as well in February, coming in at 48.7 versus expectations for 50.7, (anything below 50 is in contraction). The French PMI output index is also in contraction territory.

This led to the largest one-day decline in the Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index in years, (hat tip TheDailyShot).

Yield Curve Inversion

This pushed the yield on the German 10-year Bund into negative territory for the first time since 2016 while in the US Treasury market, the 10-year to 3-month and 10-year to 1-year spreads went negative – an inverted yield curve which has been a fairly reliable predictor of US recessions. The 10-year 3-month inverted for the first time in 3,030 days – that is the longest period going back over 50 years. The Australian yield curve has also inverted at the short end.

No Love for Capital Hill

Americans’ view of their government is the worst on record – another manifestation of our Middle-Class Squeeze Investment theme. Gallup has been asking Americans what they felt was the most important problem facing the country since 1939 and has regularly compiled mentions of the government since 1964. Prior to 2001, the highest percentage mentioning government was 26% during the Watergate scandal. The current measure of 35% is the highest on record.

Few issues have every reached this level of importance to the American public: in October of 2001 46% mentioned terrorism; in February of 2007 38% mentioned the situation in Iraq, in November 2008 58% mentioned the economy and in September 2011 39% mentioned unemployment/jobs.

While America appears to be more and more polarized politically, the one thing that many agree upon, regardless of political leanings – government is the greatest problem.

It isn’t just the US that is having a tiff with its leaders. Last weekend over 1 million (yes, you read that right) people protested in London calling for a new Brexit referendum – likely the biggest demonstration in the UK’s history and then there are all the firey protests in France.

The Cost of Corporate Uncertainty

When companies face elevated levels of uncertainty, they scale back and defer growth plans and may choose to shore up the balance sheet and reduce overhead rather than invest in opportunities for growth. So how are companies feeling?

A recent Duke CFO Global Business Outlook Survey found that nearly have of the CFOs in the US believe that the nation will be in a recession by the end of this year and 82% believe a recession will have begun before the end of 2020.

It isn’t just in the US as CFOs across the world believe their country will be in a recession by the end of this year – 86% in Canada, 67% in Europe, 54% in Asia and 42% in Latin America.

All that uncertainty is hitting the bottom line. Global earnings revision ratio has plunged while returns have managed to hold up so far.

It isn’t just the CFO that is getting nervous as CEOs are quiting at the highest rates since the financial crisis – getting out at the top?


The GDP Pie

To sum it up, lots of unknowns of both the known and unknown variety and folks are seriously displeased with their political leaders.

So what do we actually know?

We know that US corporate profits after tax as a percent of GDP (say that five times fast) are at seriously elevated levels today, (nearly 40% above the 70+ year average) and have been since the end of the financial crisis. No wonder so many people are angry about the 1%ers.

Corporate profits have never before in modern history been able to command such a high portion of GDP. This is unlikely to continue both because of competition, which tends to push those numbers down and public-policy. If the corporate sector is going to command a bigger piece of GDP, that means either households or the government is going to have to settle for a smaller portion.

It isn’t just the corporate sector that has taken a bigger piece of the GDP pie. Federal government spending to GDP reached an all-time high of 25% in the aftermath of the financial crisis and has remained well above historical norms since then.

Given the level of dissatisfaction we discussed earlier concerning Capital Hill, it is highly unlikely that we will see a reduction in government deficit spending. When was the last time a politician said, “So you aren’t satisfied with what we are doing for you? Great, then we’ll just do less.”

That leaves the households with a smaller portion of the economic pie – evidence of which we can see in all the talk around how wage growth remains well below historical norms.

Reversion to the Mean

Given the current political climate, it is unlikely that government spending as a percent of GDP is going to decline in any material way, which leaves the battle between the corporate and household sector. Again, given the current political climate (hello congresswoman AOC) it is unlikely that the corporate sector is going to be able to maintain its current outsized share of GDP – the headlines abound with forces that are working to reduce corporate profit margins and as we’ve mentioned earlier, global earnings are being revised downward significantly. If the corporate sector’s portion of GDP falls to just its long-term average (recall today it is 40% above and has been above that average for about a decade), it would mean a significant decline in earnings.

The prices investors are willing to pay for those earnings are also well above historical norms.

Today the Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio (CAPE) is 82% above the long-term mean and 93% above the long-term median. What is the likelihood that this premium pricing will continue indefinitely? My bets are it won’t.

The bottom line is that the level of both corporate profits and what investors are willing to pay for those profits are well outside historical norms. If just one of those factors moves towards their longer-term average, we will see a decline in prices. If both adjust towards historical norms, the fall will be quite profound.

Greece – Lazy, Stupid or Evil?

Greece – Lazy, Stupid or Evil?

My regular readers are already familiar with what I like to call BUC

Lenores Law BUC

Lately I’ve been mulling over a new one, which applies quite well to the discussions around Greece, but I think is universally applicable – L4

Lenores Law L#

I was speaking with a friend of mine who lives in the States and she was asking me about the view of Greece from Italy, (I’m working from Genova, Italy at the moment) and commented on how the country really needs to get its act in gear and what is wrong with those lazy Greeks who want Germany to endlessly subsidize them.

Dog-with-perked-ears

 

My ears immediately perked up!  That sounds a lot like L4.

 

 

 

Yes, Greece is a disaster, but having been to the country, (I’m in love with Santorini and Mykonos) and having seen just how hard many of the Greeks work, my ire got up hearing that as the explanation for why the nation is struggling.  Let’s look at the data on just how lazy those Greeks really are.

Data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) shows that in 2013, Greece had the second highest number of average annual hours actually worked per worker at 2,037 hours- only Mexico worked more!

How many hours for those diligent, finger-wagging Germans?  1,388 – two thirds the hours that those lazy Greeks worked! The Germans sit at number 34, BEHIND Russia, Ireland, United States, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, France, Denmark and Norway!  Yes, the average annual hours worked in Germany in 2013 was LESS than Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal!

So what gives?  Why is Greece and for that matter Italy, Spain and France struggling?

There is no easy answer for that, but lets take a quick look at the data.

According to data compiled by the World Bank benchmarked to June 2014, out of 189 countries ranked for ease of doing business, Greece was number 61 while Germany was number 14.  (The lower the number the easier it is.)  Italy sits at number 56, Spain at 33 and Portugal at 25.  For comparison, the United States is number 7.

For getting credit, Greece ranks number 71 while Germany was 23.

For getting electricity Greece ranks 80 while Germany ranks 3.

For enforcing contracts, Greece ranks 155 while Germany ranks 13.

So maybe it isn’t that those Greeks are lazy, stupid or evil.  Maybe they just have government bureaucracy that makes it excruciatingly difficult to earn a living, no matter how hard you work!  As a gentleman named Henry David Thoreau once said in “Civil Disobedience, “That government is best which governs least.”

Or as another fellow for whom I have a rather mad crush said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

The New, New Normal

I’m fairly certain that when the G20 convened, many of the attendees believed that as a result of their high-minded meetings, some brilliant announcement would be given to the markets and once again the world would be deemed safe, at least for a little while.  Instead, the Cannes meeting ended with no solutions and not even a pledge to find solutions. Is this the new normal?  Papandreou is on his way out, which means the odds for passage of the latest rescue plan are improving, but at this point, that means very little for long-term Greek prospects.

Last week the ECB reversed its rate increase from earlier this year, cutting short-term lending rates by 25 basis points to 1.25%.  This should hardly come as a surprise with the Eurozone economy deteriorating at a faster pace than was expected.  Markit, a global financial information services company, reported that Eurozone GDP fell at a quarterly rate of 0.5% in October with little chance for a pick up in the near term.  Output fell and new order inflows contracted at the fastest pace since June 2009.  Eurozone PMI fell to a 28 month low of 46.5 in October, dropping from 49.1 in September.  This is the sharpest drop since November 2008.

In Germany, whose strength has been keeping Europe afloat, industrial production dropped 2.7% in September, on the heels of a 0.4% drop in August.  German factory orders dropped 4.3% in September.

One of the most concerning trends last week was the rise in Italian bond yields, with the 10 year soaring at one point to 6.64% while at the same time German bund yields dropped 2 basis points to 1.79%.  Italy is rapidly approaching the levels that pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal into bailout mode, but this time the stakes are markedly higher.  Italy’s economy is the 8th largest in the world and its bond market is the third largest!  That’s a bigger problem that all the aforementioned nations combined and it is highly unlikely that Berlusconi’s majority government will survive.  Contagion anyone?  Over the weekend Italy rejected an offer for IMF assistance, but conceded to intensive monitoring with published quarterly fiscal results.  Talk about too little too late!

It is amazing to think that just 11 days ago, on October 27th, the market soared on promises that the EFSF would magically be expanded and levered up by some as yet still unidentified sources and all would be well in the world!  Once again, China was touted as being keen on getting involved.  Is anyone really surprised at this point that they aren’t?  Then in what can only be described as irony on a global scale, the ECB left China after being rejected and headed over to Japan, who debt to GDP is nearing a mind-boggling 228%, with hat in hand looking for support.  That’s like going to the neighborhood crack dealer in search of rehab options!

Italy is now clearly being targeted as the next bailout candidate, but there just isn’t enough firepower to handle the land of linguine.  It needs to refinance $413 billion in the coming year with market rates currently at levels that it simply cannot afford.  How much more can the ECB take on?  They’ve already bought over $100 billion of Italian bonds since August, with very little impact on yields.

Greece’s default appears more likely and more imminent that ever before and there are entirely too many under-capitalized European banks, which means, systemic risk.  This coming at a time when Italy, (remember that this is the 8th largest economy in the world) will need to refinance $413 billion!  Ah fusilli!

For anyone who thinks that Europe’s woes won’t creep across the pond, keep in mind that between 15% and 20% of S&P500 sales and exports are derived from Europe.  Europe is also China’s largest export market, so this has significant global implications outside of the danger to credit markets.

Bottom line – there is no end in sight to the Eurozone debt crisis and the U.S. will not go unscathed.  To make it even more exciting, countries responsible for half of global GDP will be holding elections in the next year, and we all know how candidates love to take advantage of a crisis and stir the pot!  Volatility and fear will be the norm.  Invest accordingly.

How and Why of Greek Debt

How and Why of Greek Debt

When a nation has more debt than it can manage, it has two options (1) inflate its way out by printing more money or (2) restructure the debt.

Typically the most politically feasible solution is to inflate.  Generally wages tend to keep up to some degree with inflation, so the employed feel as if they are getting a raise and don’t gripe too much.  Those in the population who have debts prefer inflation as the relative “cost” of their debt decreases over time, e.g. with 5% inflation, debt declines in real terms by 5% every year.  It is the savers who suffer most as they watch inflation eating away at what they’ve built – in a converse to inflation reducing debt, savings declines in value by 5% every year.  This is why inflation is often referred to as a hidden tax.

The Europeans cannot inflate their way out of too much debt for the PIIGS as the U.S. is way ahead of them in the race to the bottom and they have conflicting needs across countries.  A monetary union without a political, fiscal and cultural union is complicated at best.  So why the continued kick the can?  The largest banks (German Deutsche Bank, the French BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole SA among many others) have not increased their reserve capital, which would dilute shareholders, and do not want to take losses on their significant holdings of PIIGS bonds.  The euphemistic “restructuring” of these bonds would by definition require some sort of write down in value for the banks.http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Who-holds-Greek-debt.jpg

Bank’s hold these bonds as assets on their balance sheets.  They are required to maintain a certain level of assets relative to the amount of loans they give.  If the value of their assets were to suddenly drop, they could find themselves in violation of the regulations concerning this ratio.  As you can imagine – that is not good for the banking sector and lending!  We saw the last time this occurred the credit markets effectively shut down, any type of borrowing was nearly impossible, and the engine of the global economy geared way down.

So how did the U.S. get out of the bog in which the Eurozone is currently mired?  In the Spring of 2009, the U.S. banks were eventually forced to raise hard common equity that was then used to absorb losses on loans.  The fixed income market did bottom out in the Fall of 2008, but when banks sought this equity, their stocks did not wither on the vine, albeit life wasn’t exactly rosy.  Rather than taking this approach, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the German and French banks are giving Greece just enough liquidity to roll their debt, not the permanent equity investments that were made here in the U.S.  The Euro approach is just a temporary patch on a cracking dam.  Only when the European banks raise equity, as we did here, and the PIIGS debt is restructured will there be a true resolution.