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Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsGBP – Sterling rallied on Thursday, as the Bank of England said two of its policymakers had voted for an early end to pandemic-era government bond-buying and markets brought forward their expectations of an interest rate rise to March. Following the BoE’s meeting, Mizuho stated that “the 7-2 vote is the beginning of a shift towards higher rates & boosts the chances that QE ends earlier than expected. The text comments are looking more hawkish in mind. We should continue to see further strength across the board & an increase in the chance of rate hike.”
by thunderpips
2
GBP CHF - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. CHF FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook. As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF. Swiss economic data rarely proves market moving; and although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall bearish tone and a preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone has improving considerably from just a year ago because of the global vaccine roll out and the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. The Delta variant and subsequent impact on growth expectations is of course a sobering reminder that risks remain. Thus, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook remains which could prove supportive for the safe havens like the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop. However, on balance the overall risk outlook is continuing to improve and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish in the med-term . 2. Idiosyncratic drivers for the CHF Despite the negative drivers, the CHF has remained surprisingly strong over the past couple of weeks. This divergence from the fundamental outlook doesn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests. Recent research from the team has revealed an interesting correlation between the CHF simultaneous price moves in Gold and the USD which could explain some of the recent price action. We also need to be careful of the possibility of SNB FX intervention. Apart from that, ING investment bank has recently argued that recent CHF strength could be due to the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU which meant that the real trade-weighted CHF has been trading too cheap. They also expanded that the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful FX intervention lately. The bottom line is that there are often plenty of idiosyncratic drivers which might or might not impact the CHF and makes short-term price fluctuations a mixed bag for the most part. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of -6098 with a net non-commercial position of -5878. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF has now moved back into net-short territory as one would expect from a currency with an overall med-term bearish outlook. Even though we expect the currency to continue weakening in the med-term , any drastic escalation in risk off tones could continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency in the short-term.
by thunderpips
2
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: NEUTRAL 1. The global risk outlook. Global economic data continues to surprise lower and should continue to struggle to surprise to the upside after the pandemic rebound. As the USD usually moves inversely to global growth that should be supportive for the USD. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED In July the FOMC noted that the economy has made progress toward their goals, and they’ll continue to assess progress in coming meetings. They also took a more sanguine view of the virus situation by removing prior comments that sectors affected by the pandemic ‘remain weak but have shown improvement’ and instead replaced it with ‘sectors most affected by the pandemic have shown improvement but have not fully recovered’. This was initially seen as less dovish, but Powell used his usual dovish tone to correct any ‘hawkish’ takes by stressing that employment still has a ‘ways to go’ and noted that there was still "some ground to cover" when it comes to the labour market. He also reiterated that any decision to announce tapering will be done well in advance. For now, markets are looking at the incoming data to decide whether tapering will be announced at the Jackson Hole Symposium or in the fall. This past week we some interesting comments from Fed’s Waller who tilted their language and stance towards Bullard and Kaplan in expecting that two more solid employment prints (800K-1M) would mean substantial further progress has been met and tapering could then start at a faster pace. This was bullish for the USD, but the more important and market moving comments came from Fed’s Clarida who has seemingly moved into the Neutral camp (previously dovish) by saying he agrees with the median Fed projections of a first hike by early 2023 and more importantly his comments about inflation has moved away from the sanguine view expressed by the doves and is more concerned about current price pressures. This shift saw Dollar upside with all eyes on the Sep NFP to see whether markets will expect Sep or Dec to be the official tapering announcement meeting. 3. Real Yields Despite recent divergence between the USD and US real yields, we still think further downside in real yields will be a struggle so close to new cycle lows and that the probability is skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and tapering and should be supportive for the USD. 4. Economic Data CPI data failed which saw both the Core measures decelerate much faster than market had anticipated wasn’t enough to see any meaningful reaction in assets across the board. Instead, overall choppy risk sentiment was the biggest driver, with some very unexpected upside in the greenback into the close on Friday. All eyes will be on the incoming FOMC meeting, where the biggest focus point will be on the Summary of Economic Projections and whether the updated Dot Plot shows a shift in the median projections for a first lift off in rates. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2808 with a net non-commercial position of +24273. For now, with the fundamental outlook still neutral, and with positioning at current levels the incoming data will remain the key driver for the USD’s shortterm volatility . One point of caution about this week’s FOMC meeting is that the net-long positioning right now is far different compared to the very oversubscribed short positioning that was built up in the Dollar in June, which means that a change in the median Dot Plot to 2022 might not have the same impact on the Dollar as it had back in June.
by thunderpips
1
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July has meant our conviction in JPY shorts has reduced versus the US Dollar , and until US10Y can convincingly break higher and take out its recent range highs we will stay more patient with USDJPY longs. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2030 with a net non-commercial position of -60295. With positioning still, the largest net-short among the majors we want to be careful of the risks going into September which is historically the worse performing month for equities. That alone doesn’t mean we are expecting equities to push lower but given the frothy price action over recent weeks (haven’t seen a 5% correction in the S&P500 in 11 months) as well as seasonality and the growing chorus of participants calling for a bigger correction, we don’t want to ignore the possibility of some increased volatility this month. That doesn’t mean we start buying the JPY of course, it just means that if we do see some jitters creeping in for risk assets it is expected to be positive for the JPY, and with the biggest net-short for the majors there is a lot of downside in the JPY that can be unwound in such a scenario.
by thunderpips
1
GBPCHF LONG OPPORTUNITYPrice is currently consolidating, trading between resistance level at 1.28 and found support on major trendline at 1.25 level. The trendline we've found support on hasn't been broken since November 2015, so a good and strong bullish move. Strong level of support can be found on this trendline, retested several times. Unlike last time we've broken this trendline and we couldn't hold it for long, now we have a better and consolidation. Tehnically some more bullish momentum with a higher high on the RSI. Please note that this is not financial advice and we are just sharing our thoughts. We encourage anyone trading financial instruments to do their own analisys and trade responsably
Long
by HOUSEofTRADING
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July has meant our conviction in JPY shorts has reduced versus the US Dollar , and until US10Y can convincingly break higher and take out its recent range highs we will stay more patient with USDJPY longs. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2030 with a net non-commercial position of -60295. With positioning still, the largest net-short among the majors we want to be careful of the risks going into September which is historically the worse performing month for equities. That alone doesn’t mean we are expecting equities to push lower but given the frothy price action over recent weeks (haven’t seen a 5% correction in the S&P500 in 11 months) as well as seasonality and the growing chorus of participants calling for a bigger correction, we don’t want to ignore the possibility of some increased volatility this month. That doesn’t mean we start buying the JPY of course, it just means that if we do see some jitters creeping in for risk assets it is expected to be positive for the JPY, and with the biggest net-short for the majors there is a lot of downside in the JPY that can be unwound in such a scenario.
by thunderpips
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: NEUTRAL 1. The global risk outlook. Global economic data continues to surprise lower and should continue to struggle to surprise to the upside after the pandemic rebound. As the USD usually moves inversely to global growth that should be supportive for the USD. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED In July the FOMC noted that the economy has made progress toward their goals, and they’ll continue to assess progress in coming meetings. They also took a more sanguine view of the virus situation by removing prior comments that sectors affected by the pandemic ‘remain weak but have shown improvement’ and instead replaced it with ‘sectors most affected by the pandemic have shown improvement but have not fully recovered’. This was initially seen as less dovish, but Powell used his usual dovish tone to correct any ‘hawkish’ takes by stressing that employment still has a ‘ways to go’ and noted that there was still "some ground to cover" when it comes to the labour market. He also reiterated that any decision to announce tapering will be done well in advance. For now, markets are looking at the incoming data to decide whether tapering will be announced at the Jackson Hole Symposium or in the fall. This past week we some interesting comments from Fed’s Waller who tilted their language and stance towards Bullard and Kaplan in expecting that two more solid employment prints (800K-1M) would mean substantial further progress has been met and tapering could then start at a faster pace. This was bullish for the USD, but the more important and market moving comments came from Fed’s Clarida who has seemingly moved into the Neutral camp (previously dovish) by saying he agrees with the median Fed projections of a first hike by early 2023 and more importantly his comments about inflation has moved away from the sanguine view expressed by the doves and is more concerned about current price pressures. This shift saw Dollar upside with all eyes on the Sep NFP to see whether markets will expect Sep or Dec to be the official tapering announcement meeting. 3. Real Yields Despite recent divergence between the USD and US real yields, we still think further downside in real yields will be a struggle so close to new cycle lows and that the probability is skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and tapering and should be supportive for the USD. 4. Economic Data CPI data failed which saw both the Core measures decelerate much faster than market had anticipated wasn’t enough to see any meaningful reaction in assets across the board. Instead, overall choppy risk sentiment was the biggest driver, with some very unexpected upside in the greenback into the close on Friday. All eyes will be on the incoming FOMC meeting, where the biggest focus point will be on the Summary of Economic Projections and whether the updated Dot Plot shows a shift in the median projections for a first lift off in rates. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2808 with a net non-commercial position of +24273. For now, with the fundamental outlook still neutral, and with positioning at current levels the incoming data will remain the key driver for the USD’s shortterm volatility . One point of caution about this week’s FOMC meeting is that the net-long positioning right now is far different compared to the very oversubscribed short positioning that was built up in the Dollar in June, which means that a change in the median Dot Plot to 2022 might not have the same impact on the Dollar as it had back in June.
by thunderpips
2
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July has meant our conviction in JPY shorts has reduced versus the US Dollar , and until US10Y can convincingly break higher and take out its recent range highs we will stay more patient with USDJPY longs. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2030 with a net non-commercial position of -60295. With positioning still, the largest net-short among the majors we want to be careful of the risks going into September which is historically the worse performing month for equities. That alone doesn’t mean we are expecting equities to push lower but given the frothy price action over recent weeks (haven’t seen a 5% correction in the S&P500 in 11 months) as well as seasonality and the growing chorus of participants calling for a bigger correction, we don’t want to ignore the possibility of some increased volatility this month. That doesn’t mean we start buying the JPY of course, it just means that if we do see some jitters creeping in for risk assets it is expected to be positive for the JPY, and with the biggest net-short for the majors there is a lot of downside in the JPY that can be unwound in such a scenario.
by thunderpips
GBP CHF - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. CHF FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook. As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF. Swiss economic data rarely proves market moving; and although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall bearish tone and a preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone has improving considerably from just a year ago because of the global vaccine roll out and the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. The Delta variant and subsequent impact on growth expectations is of course a sobering reminder that risks remain. Thus, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook remains which could prove supportive for the safe havens like the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop. However, on balance the overall risk outlook is continuing to improve and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish in the med-term . 2. Idiosyncratic drivers for the CHF Despite the negative drivers, the CHF has remained surprisingly strong over the past couple of weeks. This divergence from the fundamental outlook doesn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests. Recent research from the team has revealed an interesting correlation between the CHF simultaneous price moves in Gold and the USD which could explain some of the recent price action. We also need to be careful of the possibility of SNB FX intervention. Apart from that, ING investment bank has recently argued that recent CHF strength could be due to the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU which meant that the real trade-weighted CHF has been trading too cheap. They also expanded that the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful FX intervention lately. The bottom line is that there are often plenty of idiosyncratic drivers which might or might not impact the CHF and makes short-term price fluctuations a mixed bag for the most part. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of -6098 with a net non-commercial position of -5878. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF has now moved back into net-short territory as one would expect from a currency with an overall med-term bearish outlook. Even though we expect the currency to continue weakening in the med-term , any drastic escalation in risk off tones could continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency in the short-term.
by thunderpips
3
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: NEUTRAL 1. The global risk outlook. Global economic data continues to surprise lower and should continue to struggle to surprise to the upside after the pandemic rebound. As the USD usually moves inversely to global growth that should be supportive for the USD. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED In July the FOMC noted that the economy has made progress toward their goals, and they’ll continue to assess progress in coming meetings. They also took a more sanguine view of the virus situation by removing prior comments that sectors affected by the pandemic ‘remain weak but have shown improvement’ and instead replaced it with ‘sectors most affected by the pandemic have shown improvement but have not fully recovered’. This was initially seen as less dovish, but Powell used his usual dovish tone to correct any ‘hawkish’ takes by stressing that employment still has a ‘ways to go’ and noted that there was still "some ground to cover" when it comes to the labour market. He also reiterated that any decision to announce tapering will be done well in advance. For now, markets are looking at the incoming data to decide whether tapering will be announced at the Jackson Hole Symposium or in the fall. This past week we some interesting comments from Fed’s Waller who tilted their language and stance towards Bullard and Kaplan in expecting that two more solid employment prints (800K-1M) would mean substantial further progress has been met and tapering could then start at a faster pace. This was bullish for the USD, but the more important and market moving comments came from Fed’s Clarida who has seemingly moved into the Neutral camp (previously dovish) by saying he agrees with the median Fed projections of a first hike by early 2023 and more importantly his comments about inflation has moved away from the sanguine view expressed by the doves and is more concerned about current price pressures. This shift saw Dollar upside with all eyes on the Sep NFP to see whether markets will expect Sep or Dec to be the official tapering announcement meeting. 3. Real Yields Despite recent divergence between the USD and US real yields, we still think further downside in real yields will be a struggle so close to new cycle lows and that the probability is skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and tapering and should be supportive for the USD. 4. Economic Data CPI data failed which saw both the Core measures decelerate much faster than market had anticipated wasn’t enough to see any meaningful reaction in assets across the board. Instead, overall choppy risk sentiment was the biggest driver, with some very unexpected upside in the greenback into the close on Friday. All eyes will be on the incoming FOMC meeting, where the biggest focus point will be on the Summary of Economic Projections and whether the updated Dot Plot shows a shift in the median projections for a first lift off in rates. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2808 with a net non-commercial position of +24273. For now, with the fundamental outlook still neutral, and with positioning at current levels the incoming data will remain the key driver for the USD’s shortterm volatility. One point of caution about this week’s FOMC meeting is that the net-long positioning right now is far different compared to the very oversubscribed short positioning that was built up in the Dollar in June, which means that a change in the median Dot Plot to 2022 might not have the same impact on the Dollar as it had back in June.
by thunderpips
3
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet. Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. The incoming data has been mixed with CPI and the labour market pushing higher while consumer spending disappointed. This week’s incoming BoE has some room to disappoint in our view as the market might have gotten too optimistic about how the bank will respond after the recent CPI print. Remember, the bank’s own projections expected CPI to reach 4% before cooling off, which means just above 3% shouldn’t scare them into tightening, and furthermore the bank still needs to evaluate how the labour market keeps up after furlough ends. Even though we are still bullish on the currency and expect higher rates next year, the BoE might cool some of the optimism and pick a more patient stance this week. 4. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +29314 with a net non-commercial position of +4790. Latest CFTC data showed a sizable positioning change after recent hawkish BoE comments which have taken positioning from a net-short back into net-long territory. Even though our bias remains to the upside, the move in spot and rates markets shows some caution has been thrown into the wind and means we want to take a more sober and patient approach to Sterling going into this week’s BoE. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y. However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July has meant our conviction in JPY shorts has reduced versus the US Dollar, and until US10Y can convincingly break higher and take out its recent range highs we will stay more patient with USDJPY longs. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data (updated until 14 Sep) showed a positioning change of +2030 with a net non-commercial position of -60295. With positioning still, the largest net-short among the majors we want to be careful of the risks going into September which is historically the worse performing month for equities. That alone doesn’t mean we are expecting equities to push lower but given the frothy price action over recent weeks (haven’t seen a 5% correction in the S&P500 in 11 months) as well as seasonality and the growing chorus of participants calling for a bigger correction, we don’t want to ignore the possibility of some increased volatility this month. That doesn’t mean we start buying the JPY of course, it just means that if we do see some jitters creeping in for risk assets it is expected to be positive for the JPY, and with the biggest net-short for the majors there is a lot of downside in the JPY that can be unwound in such a scenario.
by thunderpips
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. Even though the announcement of more fiscal tightening than expected saw some short-term downside in Sterling, the hawkish comments from the BoE more than offset the prior negative sentiment and provided a solid push higher, and as long as there aren’t any more fiscal tightening surprises it should not matter much for GBP in the med-term . This week’s data dump will be important, but probably not enough to alter the outlook for monetary policy . 4. Political Developments Remember Brexit? Yeah, me neither, but recent rhetoric between the UK and EU hasn’t gone in a very positive direction with the UK side explaining to the EU that they are looking at all the options on the table (including article 16) if they can’t reach an agreement with the EU regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the GBP (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -9624 with a net non-commercial position of -24524. The recent flush lower in positioning means current levels for GBP still look attractive for med-term buyers, especially after the hawkish BoE comments. However, the short-term upside does look stretched at -2.07 and -2.45 standard deviation so watch out for possible mean reversion. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: NEUTRAL 1. The global risk outlook. Global economic data continues to surprise lower and should continue to struggle to surprise to the upside after the pandemic rebound. As the USD usually moves inversely to global growth that should be supportive for the USD. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED In July the FOMC noted that the economy has made progress toward their goals, and they’ll continue to assess progress in coming meetings. They also took a more sanguine view of the virus situation by removing prior comments that sectors affected by the pandemic ‘remain weak but have shown improvement’ and instead replaced it with ‘sectors most affected by the pandemic have shown improvement but have not fully recovered’. This was initially seen as less dovish, but Powell used his usual dovish tone to correct any ‘hawkish’ takes by stressing that employment still has a ‘ways to go’ and noted that there was still "some ground to cover" when it comes to the labour market. He also reiterated that any decision to announce tapering will be done well in advance. For now, markets are looking at the incoming data to decide whether tapering will be announced at the Jackson Hole Symposium or in the fall. This past week we some interesting comments from Fed’s Waller who tilted their language and stance towards Bullard and Kaplan in expecting that two more solid employment prints (800K-1M) would mean substantial further progress has been met and tapering could then start at a faster pace. This was bullish for the USD, but the more important and market moving comments came from Fed’s Clarida who has seemingly moved into the Neutral camp (previously dovish) by saying he agrees with the median Fed projections of a first hike by early 2023 and more importantly his comments about inflation has moved away from the sanguine view expressed by the doves and is more concerned about current price pressures. This shift saw Dollar upside with all eyes on the Sep NFP to see whether markets will expect Sep or Dec to be the official tapering announcement meeting. 3. Real Yields Despite recent divergence between the USD and US real yields, we still think further downside in real yields will be a struggle so close to new cycle lows and that the probability is skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and tapering and should be supportive for the USD. 4. Economic Data This week was all about NFP…where the miss showed just how difficult it’s been for economists to forecast where post-pandemic labour prints will land. Even though the headline NFP saw a monster miss (235K vs consensus of 750K), the data under the hood wasn’t all that bad with average earnings printing at 0.6% (above max forecasts), and the Unemployment rate still falling to 5.2% from 5.4% and participation staying flat at 61.7%. Thus, with the overall outcome being more of a mixed bag, the only thing the print has done is give the Fed time to kick the can down the road for another month. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the USD (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of 775 with a net non-commercial position of +21465. For now, with the fundamental outlook still neutral, and with positioning at current levels the incoming data will remain the key driver for the USD’s short-term volatility , with Fed Speak and the upcoming CPI on Sep 14th and FOMC on the 22nd the main events to keep on the radar.
by thunderpips
3
Price still pushing up after the Drop... is a short coming?Updating the movement of this pair in my last analysis after I said the drop to 1.38000 I would want to see a push up / correction and then possibly a change of direction to drop lower again to the unbalanced Daily Demand Zone - I have also marked out the 4hr Zone as well. So far the push up has tapped into a 1hr Supply but has created equal highs and hit around 50% of the initial drop. I would not be surprised if it pushed up in to the Supply Area first then reacted there. You can see from the arrows from the Imbalance Indicator where price has not visited to balance the price. All I'm doing with the analysis of this pair is logging here and hopefully providing some value as to how I trade Supply and Demand. As for the trades themselves I take them all on the lower timeframes based off the Higher Time Frame zones.
G
by jp7fx
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsGBP – Sterling edged up on Wednesday after data showed British inflation hit a more than nine-year high last month, fuelling expectations the Bank of England could act sooner to hike rates, with Rabobank stating that “the strength of the August UK CPI inflation data is fanning expectations that the BoE may take a slightly hawkish bias at next week’s policy meeting.” CAD – The Canadian dollar strengthened across the board on Wednesday, supported by rising oil prices and domestic data, with CPI climbing to its highest level in 18 years.
by thunderpips
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsUSD – The dollar fell against major currencies on Tuesday after data showed a less-than expected rise in US inflation last month, creating uncertainty about the timing of the Federal Reserve’s tapering of asset purchases. Commenting on the report, City Index noted that “the softer inflation prints caused investors to push back on bets that the Fed could move sooner to taper bond purchases. Easing inflation would take the heat off the Fed to move prematurely… The evidence does appear to be building that peak inflation has passed. That said, supply chain bottlenecks are expected to persist for a while so it’s unlikely that either PPI or CPI will drop dramatically or rapidly.” GBP – Sterling hit a new 5-week high against the dollar and a 3-week high to the euro on Tuesday, supported by labour market data that showed the total number of payrolled employees in Britain has climbed to pre-pandemic levels. Commenting on its implications for the UK’s monetary policy outlook, UBS stated that “what will be interesting from the BoE this month is how they balance the data which has mostly been strong and therefore supportive of what they said last month about rate hikes with the weaker elements such as retail sales… So the BoE may be incrementally more dovish this month because of pressures on consumers. But at the big picture level the BoE will be one of the earlier hikers and that sits well with pound, which is still somewhat undervalued.”
by thunderpips
4
Do NOT Use Charts...Do NOT use charts if you cannot do what I mention in this post. If you are unable to spot the dangerous consequences that come with becoming a chartist then do not look at another chart again. As you continue on your journey to become the best damn technical analyst around, you will fail if you DO NOT see the pitfalls that come with it. Every time you take a loss, make a change, add this or that always be aware that you may be tricked by your own fears. Ninja Tip #333: When you find a new pattern, strategy or nuance try this, Instead of trying to break your strategy, try instead to make it work. When you try to make something work, guess what? It will improve your odds because you are no longer forcing, pushing, hesitating, changing, instead you are simply adapting and overcoming.
Short
by NinjaTradingServices
GBP CHF - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. Even though the announcement of more fiscal tightening than expected saw some short-term downside in Sterling, the hawkish comments from the BoE more than offset the prior negative sentiment and provided a solid push higher, and as long as there aren’t any more fiscal tightening surprises it should not matter much for GBP in the med-term . This week’s data dump will be important, but probably not enough to alter the outlook for monetary policy . 4. Political Developments Remember Brexit? Yeah, me neither, but recent rhetoric between the UK and EU hasn’t gone in a very positive direction with the UK side explaining to the EU that they are looking at all the options on the table (including article 16) if they can’t reach an agreement with the EU regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the GBP (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -9624 with a net non-commercial position of -24524. The recent flush lower in positioning means current levels for GBP still look attractive for med-term buyers, especially after the hawkish BoE comments. However, the short-term upside does look stretched at -2.07 and -2.45 standard deviation so watch out for possible mean reversion. CHF FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook. As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF. Swiss economic data rarely proves market moving; and although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall bearish tone and a preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone is improving with coronavirus vaccines being rolled out as well as the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. Of course, risks remain as many countries are now battling third waves of the virus. As such, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook which could prove supportive for the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop; however, on balance the overall risk outlook is continuing to improve and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish . 2. SNB Intervention Despite the negative drivers, the CHF has remained surprisingly strong over the past couple of weeks. This divergence from the fundamental outlook doesn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests, thus be careful when trading the CHF and always keep the possibility of SNB intervention in mind. In a recent note ING investment provided their rationale for the recent strength in the CHF and suggests that the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU means the real trade-weighted CHF is trading too cheap. Furthermore, the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful intervention lately. However, as intervention is always the possibility it’s a risk to always keep in mind when trading the CHF. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the CHF (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -3755 with a net non-commercial position of +220. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF still the third largest net-long positioning among the majors, which is at odds with the current fundamental bearish outlook for the currency. Even though we expect the currency to weaken in the med-term , any drastic escalation in risk off tones could still continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency.
by thunderpips
1
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. Virus Situation The successful vaccination program has allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers & provides a favourable environment for GBP. 2. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The BoE meeting on 5 August provided a flurry of comments with something for both the doves and the hawks. The QE vote split was more dovish (7-1) with BoE’s Saunders the only dissenter, while upgrades to growth and inflation were positive, even though price pressures is still views as mostly ‘transitory’. Reasons for a patient stance was the uncertainty surrounding the virus at the time as well as waiting for the end of the furlough scheme to assess the impact on the labour market. Thus, the bank will be in wait-and-see mode until at least Oct or Nov. The other important change was the reduction in the bank’s QT threshold from 1.5% to 0.5%, with the bank looking at a bank rate of 0.5% to stop reinvesting maturing assets and a rate of 1.0% to start selling assets and reducing its balance sheet . Market participants are mixed about what this means (it’s positive since the bank has enough confidence to lower the balance sheet even while rates are low, but on the other hand it means rates can stay lower for longer which is a negative). However, all in all the most important take away was the continued optimism about the economy despite virus uncertainty and comments that modest tightening will be required. 3. The country’s economic developments Hopes of a fast economic recovery has seen the BOE and IMF upgrade GDP projections for the UK which has widened the growth differentials between other major economies and has been a positive input for GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably already reflected in the price which means a continuation of the recent misses in economic data could make further solid gains more difficult for the GBP to maintain. Even though the announcement of more fiscal tightening than expected saw some short-term downside in Sterling, the hawkish comments from the BoE more than offset the prior negative sentiment and provided a solid push higher, and as long as there aren’t any more fiscal tightening surprises it should not matter much for GBP in the med-term . This week’s data dump will be important, but probably not enough to alter the outlook for monetary policy . 4. Political Developments Remember Brexit? Yeah, me neither, but recent rhetoric between the UK and EU hasn’t gone in a very positive direction with the UK side explaining to the EU that they are looking at all the options on the table (including article 16) if they can’t reach an agreement with the EU regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the GBP (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -9624 with a net non-commercial position of -24524. The recent flush lower in positioning means current levels for GBP still look attractive for med-term buyers, especially after the hawkish BoE comments. However, the short-term upside does look stretched at -2.07 and -2.45 standard deviation so watch out for possible mean reversion. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y. However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July has meant our conviction in JPY shorts has reduced versus the US Dollar, and until US10Y can convincingly break higher and take out its recent range highs we will stay more patient with USDJPY longs. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data for the JPY (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of +805 with a net non-commercial position of -62325. With positioning still, the largest net-short among the majors we want to be careful of the risks going into September which is historically the worse performing month for equities. That alone doesn’t mean we are expecting equities to push lower but given the frothy price action over recent weeks (haven’t seen a 5% correction in the S&P500 in 11 months) as well as seasonality and the growing chorus of participants calling for a bigger correction, we don’t want to ignore the possibility of some increased volatility this month. That doesn’t mean we start buying the JPY of course, it just means that if we do see some jitters creeping in for risk assets it is expected to be positive for the JPY, and with the biggest net-short for the majors there is a lot of downside in the JPY that can be unwound in such a scenario.
by thunderpips
3