Get started

Epidemia

China problems, Central Banks & euro riseThis week begins to give a first idea of ​​the economic consequences of the epidemic (so far in the context of China). We are talking about the manufacturing PMI index for China, which fell to 35.7 in February (compared to 50 in January). The non-manufacturing index came out even worse, showing a value of 29.6 (the lowest in history). Recall that any value below 50 indicates a decrease in economic activity. And this is only the first swallow. Then there will be new indicators, and each of them will plunge financial markets into an ever greater depression, at least for some time. Meanwhile, in China itself, the epidemic continues to decline rapidly. In Wuhan (the epicenter of the epidemic), they even began to close the first temporary hospitals due to the lack of patients. But the relay race in China is confidently intercepted by the world as a whole. South Korea, Italy, Iran - current epicenters, which are also not localized, but, on the contrary, spread the virus to other countries. If we draw an analogy with China, then at best for the next month we will find exclusively disappointing news. So you should not count on something good from March. Accordingly, the outcome from risky assets is likely to continue, respectively, gold and other safe-haven assets will find fundamental support. This week we will continue to use the bundle of buying gold - buying USDJPY as a promising medium-term position. In our opinion, the strengthening of the yen, if it continues, will be limited, but the opportunities for gold growth look much more extensive in this regard. Our disbelief in the significant strengthening of the yen is due to the fact that Japan is experiencing serious economic difficulties and traditionally one of the components of the equation to solve them was the devaluation of the yen, so the Bank of Japan is either around 107 or about 105, but most likely it will intervene and prevent the yen from strengthening. In general, central banks are again in the spotlight. Everyone expects salvation from them. As it was during the crisis of 2007-2009. So far, they live up to expectations, since all key central banks have noted rather aggressive statements about their readiness to act. Markets traditionally focus on the Fed. This is mainly due to the current difficulties of the dollar and the frank success of the EURUSD pair. With each new hundred growth points of EURUSD, our desire to sell a pair grows stronger, as does our desire to increase transaction volumes for sale. Part of the dollar’s problems lies in the plane of the presidential election. We try to minimize the analysis of the political plane, focusing on the economy. But today is the so-called Super Tuesday. The day when 1344 of the 1991 Democratic Party delegates cast their ballots for a particular candidate. So far, Sanders is the undisputed leader (probability of victory = 57%), but Biden still has chances (probability of victory = 31%). So the day for the US political sphere is very significant. The pound was under pressure yesterday due to the negotiation process between the UK and the EU on a trade agreement. There is already a familiar game of tug of war and trade for the best conditions, tied to mutual threats. As in the case of Brexit, we prefer to see not the current noise, but the perspective. And it is such that the parties are likely to agree in one form or another. Accordingly, the pound will receive its positive sooner or later. So in the medium term, we do not see any problems for medium-term purchases of the British pound. Rather, on the contrary, we see good shopping opportunities. In current conditions, sales of the EURGBP pair seem ideal to us.
Short
by Trade24Fx
2
The week results: the epidemic & the Friday bloodbathThe past week has so far been considered the most eventful of the last few months. And the point is not even in the number of new events that took place, but in the price dynamics in the financial markets. One of the strongest drops in the US stock market in history (during the week Nasdaq lost up to 15% of its capitalization), the Fear Index grew almost three times, the oil decreased by almost 20%. The culmination was a natural "blood bath", which was arranged by traders in the financial markets on Friday, when, for example, gold was reduced by $80 during the day. How did markets get to such a life? We wrote about this quite actively for more than six months and now we are faced with the results of those temporary bombs that were planted. Epidemic coronavirus is still able to be a "black swan", which freed all the energy that accumulated markets. More precisely, not all, because it is still only in the process of development. The main event of the past week - the coronavirus epidemic ceased to be a local problem in China and became a global disaster (the number of newly diagnosed cases outside China steadily exceeded the number of cases in China). It was after this that investors became completely scared. And if the week began with the fact that the problems were in South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran, then it ended with a radical expansion of the list. Now it has the USA, France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and many others. The total number of cases in the world over the week has grown significantly and has already exceeded 7,000. Naturally, now no one has any doubts that the world economy will suffer and will suffer very much. Out of habit, everyone turned their eyes to the Central Banks, which have recently been playing the role of traditional savers of the economy. Fed Chairman Powell said at the end of last week that the US Central Bank is ready to act. Accordingly, the markets instantly rebuilt their expectations and now assess the probability of a rate cut in March at 100%. Typically, 95% of traders expect a decline of 0.5%. So the problems of the dollar on Thursday and Friday are generally understandable. One side. On the other hand, other central banks, in particular the ECB, may also lower rates. Thus, we continue to consider the growth of the EURUSD pair abnormal and this week will be very active in selling the euro against the US dollar. Not forgetting, of course, about the feet. In general, in the current conditions, when the most terrible volatility has increased many times, a trader can do it - work without stops and try to impose his will on the market. So we’ll definitely put the stops - it’s better to re-enter the position when the dust settles, rather than stand against the market and lose the deposit in one day, essentially out of the blue. What else do we plan to do this week? Definitely buy gold and at the same time buy a pair of USDJPY. It’s a kind of under-hedge on safe-haven assets that did absolutely nothing on Friday, but we believe that the markets will return to some semblance of rationality and this hedge will work. This week, we are inclined to start buying oil, because a) the achievement of the $ 44 mark for the WTI brand corresponds to our goals, which we announced when it was still in the region of $ 60; b) OPEC is seriously concerned about what is happening, and this week there will be a meeting within the framework of which amendments may be made to the OPEC+ agreement - they announce an additional reduction in oil production by 1 million BPD. It is very serious. But again, these purchases are a rather risky attempt to catch a U-turn, which is not yet available. So we advise fans to take risks, do not forget about the stops, and we recommend that conservative traders put the oil trade on hold or at least wait until the end of the week and OPEC's decision.
Short
by Trade24Fx
Beating continues, what to do with euro, yen & poundYesterday was largely typical of the current week: investors continued exodus from risky assets and increased positions in safe-haven assets. Perhaps the main result of the day can be considered the return of the yen to the fold of safe-haven assets. Recall that last week, after the devastating data on Japan's GDP, there was talk that the yen could no longer be a full-fledged refuge. But, judging by its growth yesterday, it’s quite possible for itself. True, such a strong growth of the yen raises questions, but are its buyers too carried away? In the end, no one canceled the failed GDP data, as did the fact that the country was one step away from the recession. So today we are inclined to look for points for purchases of a pair of USDJPY. Meanwhile, a survey of European companies operating in China showed that 577 out of 577 respondents surveyed expect their performance to worsen due to the epidemic and the downtime of the Chinese economy. The results, although obvious, are no less indicative of this. The epidemic continues to expand around the world (the number of new cases in the world steadily exceeded the number of new cases of infection in China) and the point is not even the increase in the number of new cases, but the fact that an increasing number of countries are taking certain preventive measures, including restricting travel, school closures, etc. All this, ultimately, will lead to an increase in the scale of economic losses. Well, the list of companies that have publicly announced the deterioration of their financial results in the future has been replenished with such titans as Microsoft, Anheuser-Busch InBev, etc. Actually, as we predicted in our previous reviews. Investors, meanwhile, are urgently reviewing their expectations regarding the actions of the Central Banks. In particular, 90% of traders expect a Fed rate cut in April. So yesterday's dollar difficulties in the foreign exchange market are generally understandable. Nevertheless, the growth of the euro against the dollar seems very abnormal to us and we are inclined to sell a pair of EURUSD today in double, if not triple volumes. Recall that the Eurozone economy continues to experience serious difficulties, and this is still without the consequences of a coronavirus. The situation in Italy also does not contribute to the purchase of the euro. Therefore, we sell the euro against the dollar at full capacity. As for the general list of our positions for today, it is generally unchanged: we are looking for points for buying gold (but we are careful - we buy on the slopes with mandatory stops), we sell oil, we sell EURUSD, we buy GBPUSD. The only sales of USDJPY today we are replacing with the purchase of a pair with small stops.
by Trade24Fx
The epidemic continues, Carney's last word, Brexit dayAs we warned in our two previous reviews, investors relaxed clearly prematurely. Actually, the dynamics of underlying assets on Wednesday confirmed this. And the front pages of publications clearly indicate what investors should think and worry about now - the coronavirus epidemic. Yesterday we wrote that its scale has already exceeded SARS, and the epidemic is still in full swing. The number of deaths has already approached two hundred, and the number of cases is clearly aimed at overcoming the 10,000 mark. Meanwhile, analysts are accelerating the theme of global recession and coronavirus as a trigger. We already wrote earlier that there are prerequisites for this and current events are really great for the role of a catalyst. In general, our recommendations on buying safe-haven assets are still working and their decline on Tuesday was only a great opportunity for cheaper purchases. But back to the events of yesterday. The Bank of England left the bet unchanged. Since the price of the pound at the start of the day partially took into account a possible decrease in the rate, its increase upon the announcement of the decision by the Central Bank was an attempt to exclude this component from the price equation. Actually, our recommendation to buy the pound worked at 100%. For the current head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, this was the last meeting. Already in March, he will be replaced by Andrew Bailey, who previously served as Executive Director of the British Financial Supervisory Authority. Well, do not forget that today is Brexit day. On January 31, 2020, Great Britain leaves the European Union. Note that Brexit was and remains the main driver of pound movements. Moreover, it is precisely the “soft” scenario that is being implemented. Recall that when the markets were just thinking about the possibility of a “soft” Brexit, the pound was worth 1.41-1.43. From this position, its current prices look like great opportunities for medium-term purchases with very ambitious goals. The US GDP for the fourth quarter was 2.1%. Overall expected as it was the final reading.
Long
by Trade24Fx
12