Intensified recession mood as US bond yield curve remains invertEUR/USD 🔼
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Almost three weeks of an inverted US bond yield curve has led investors all but confirm the recession, and sluggish GDP data on Thursday could be the nail in the coffin. The latest price to yield readings of the two- and ten-year Treasury notes were at 3.0081 and 2.785, respectively, which remained inverted since 6 July.
Meanwhile, major currencies have retrieved lost ground against the greenback. EUR/USD has a minor uptick to 1.022, despite Monday's Germany IFO business climate index declining to 88.6, falling short of the 90.2 forecasts. GBP/USD returned above the 1.2000 level to close at 1.2042.
AUD/USD rose and stabilized at 0.6950 level, reaching a closing price of 0.6953. The Australia Consumer Price Index will be available on Wednesday morning to reveal recent price level changes. USD/CAD slumped to 1.2848, after slowing at the 1.2850 level.
The jury is still out on gold being the proper hedge option for the possible recession, gold futures retreated from a high of 1,733.3 to 1,719.1. WTI oil futures gained $2 to $96.7 a barrel, lower than expected gas demand in the ongoing US driving season has eased the supply shock impacts.
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Treasurybonds
10-Year Treasury Yield Trendline Breakout Faces Next TestThe 10-year Treasury yield confirmed a breakout under a near-term rising trendline from March, opening the door to reversing the uptrend since then.
Rising concerns about a recession in the United States, also amid a general slowdown in global growth expectations, are pressuring bond yields lower.
Ahead, the 10-year rate is facing the May low at 2.705 where the 100-day Simple Moving Average is fast approaching. The latter could still reinstate the dominant upside focus.
Otherwise, more pain may be in store. Below is the 61.8% Fibonacci extension at 2.3667. Resuming the uptrend entails a push back above the current 2022 high at 3.497.
TVC:US10Y
10 yr My W4 on weekly HTF chart is looking likely. If the Fed & ECB are in the debt market trying to stabilize the system via repo swaps then this dump is going to be a normalization process and the markets will chop around in some f**ked up range until W4 is complete around 1.9%-2.2% during this normalization period bullish momo will fizzle out and bears will short all pumps and win , but the greedy bears will get squeezed as all big dumps in markets will get bought up quick and change the direction b4 most traders know what even happened. I suggest only buying your core positions until w4 is finally done projected to finish July-Sept 2022. This would be a good move for the patient investors here to hold and add because once the W4 finishes and markets stabilize (if the fed pivots like I am saying above) W5 will line up on the 10 yr with W5 for stocks & crypto. Conversely If W4 becomes a fear trade (inflation narrative grows momo, war in Ukraine gets worst possibly nuclear war, china invades Taiwan or anything else unforeseeable) then W4 will decimate markets and 3200 SP500 is possible and $12K BTC.
10 year We must see how the markets react to this dump to the 10 yr, my gut thinks this could be a fear trade which causes money to leave risk and head into USA gov bonds. I would assume that at some point around 2.4% (618% golden ratio) a bottom will be found and the inflation narrative will be silenced for at least some time while Oil has a decent pull back to $60. Then the W5 will kick in and maybe intitially seem bullish while rates climb in a structured manor till around 3% or 3.2%. After rates hit that level inflation may start to appear again in the MSM. Once w5 really kicks in and heads towards 3.5%-4% plus this will likely be the debt market melt down. So watching DXY, stocks and crypto how this all plays out
Out The MoneynessThe 2yr yield is inverted to emphasize value rather than yield. The untethering of the DXY from the treasuries are something to watch.
There's a lot to see here. Im viewing it from the lenses of liquidity and solvency.
This is developing. The purpose of this post is to serve as a repository of notes along the way regarding this topic.
DXY shows relative strength of the dollar. But the bonds sell off seems to show it as contextually weak albeit stronger (and in this case the most liquid). I would view this more as a moment of underperforming by the least in a group of underperformers rather than outright comparative outperformance.
Notable Events since the 6/10 CPI print
Yield curve inversion along multiple points of the curve as the short end yields higher than the long end
75 bps being priced in, market wide, some stating as early as this Wednesday's announcement for June. Consensus give 95% probability for July. ~175bps being priced in with high probablility to september.
WSJ piece by Timiraos re the coming hikes.
Celsius (large cap crypto lender) becomes defacto insolvent during what looks like a bank run. Dollar withdrawals are suspended. www.washingtonpost.com
Binance briefly halts dollar withdrawals from the BTC network. One of its networks briefly down due to a "stuck transaction" twitter.com
ECB Fragmentation is popping up with increased frequency in the 10y sovereigns. Draghi's "whatever it takes" comments see the Italian 10yr sell off at a rate leading the euro area sell offs.
In the beginnings of the overnight session South Korea warns "The financial markets and economy are in critical condition." President Yoon: " The government intends to use all supply-side tools to keep inflation under control" - Yonhap
Meanwhile the BoJ amidst zero-bid scenarios on their 10y sovereigns and declares a backstop bid of 800bln yen at the next auction. The lack of liquidity in its bonds is causing havoc to the Yen. BoJ is expected to step in to defend the currency. This may have implications on its regional emerging market peers.
See Further Comments for updates.
TLT dangerously close to 2008 supportNASDAQ:TLT not looking to HOT here. The federal reserve has the following 3 options:
1) Stick to 0.50 basis points and continue the slow bleed. ~ This will piss off investors with cash on the sidelines and will most like hit the market harder.
2) Get aggressive and raise 0.75-1 basis point ~ Market may react positively. This would show the federal reserve is "serious" on fighting inflation.
3) Take the foot off the accelerator and step back into the market. Using macro environment as an excuse, for example Russia invasion of Ukraine and China lockdowns.
I think it is noteworthy to mention that China has lowered their interest rates and are outperforming US equities. It honestly looks way more attractive and this is something the fed will have to ponder. This is a lose/lose battle because the federal reserve cannot magically print supply.
US2Y Treasury Yield vs Gold The correlation between the 2Y & gold indicates that when the US2Y peaks, there is a US recession & gold rallies to new highs subsequently after.
** 1 = Peak in US2Y ( 1989 ) did not see a rally in gold because gold was depegged from the USD in the mid 1970's.
2 = Peak in US2Y ( 2000 ) saw a massive rally in gold as investors look for a safe haven from the incoming recession.
3 = Peak in US2Y ( 2007 ) saw a massive rally in gold as investors look for a safe haven from the incoming recession.
4 = Peak in US2Y ( 2020 ) saw a massive rally in gold as investors look for a safe haven from the incoming recession.
Speculation
5? = Do we see a continuation of the opposite correlation between the US2Y & Gold when the US2Y peaks?
I believe so. However, I see two scenarios for gold if & when the US2Y peaks.
Scenario #1: Gold rallies to new highs after the peak in yields
Scenario #2 ( Base Case ): After peak in US2Y, Gold rallies to tests previous high & fails to make new highs.
USD/JPY Readying to Resume the Uptrend to 2002 High?The US Dollar has been gaining ground once more against the Japanese Yen amid a rise in Treasury yields . This has been due to a combination of confidence from the Federal Reserve about the economy, and a solid US non-farm payrolls report this week.
Next week, all eyes are on US CPI . Still-strong inflation, combined with rising crude oil prices, may keep the markets focused on a hawkish central bank. That could continue boosting bond yields, pushing USD/JPY higher.
Keep a close eye on the 130.83 - 131.34 resistance zone for now. USD/JPY was unable to breach this zone yet, opening the door for a turn lower back to support (126.36 - 126.95).
Otherwise, breaking higher would place the focus on the 2002 high at 135.16.
FX_IDC:USDJPY
US10 YR Treasury ETF: Bullish Divergence at PCZ of Bullish BatThere is RSI Bullish Divergence at the PCZ of a Bullish Bat that's Visible on the Weekly Timeframe. This may also signal the beginning of a moderate pullback within the DXY as initially, I expect the DXY to show a Negative Correlation with Rising US BOND prices.
The #1 Chart to WatchLadies and Gentlemen, please take your seats.
(...the music stops)
Okay, thanks for playing. Good luck to all of you!
The investment strategies that have worked for the last 40 years will no longer work. The true bear market is here. This will absolutely 100% NOT be a recession that will be forgotten easily.
It most likely will be a depression via stagflation which we have never really experienced long-term.
Our leaders won't admit it but *News Flash* the Supply Chains are NOT getting fixed like they were before. China has no incentive or interest to fix them and we are the world's biggest debtor. We got 20% of all our imports from them in 2021. That doesn't sound like a lot but that 20% is involved in the supply chains of 70-80% of our goods. The Chinese gov has already warned its people of the incoming food shortage and have been far more honest with their people than our Western leaders have been.
Good luck in the New World Order!
Courtesy of the World Gov. Summit 2022, the IMF, World Bank, etc.
(Not Financial Advice, Just what I see.)
$US10Y Breaking Out OF 40 Year TrendHistorically, in the absence of QE (Quantitative Easing), the US10Y (US 10 Year Treasury Bon) exceeds inflation. This means that bond yields must rise to exceed inflation for non-Federal Reserve buyers to enter the market place. Non-Government buyers will not buy a bond below inflation as their real returns would be negative.
A SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS/CONSIDERATIONS:
How The Fed May Reduce The Balance Sheet:
- If they flood the market, we could see a squeeze on the bond market as the FED represented 2/3 of the bond market prior to ending their aggressive purchasing of bonds last week.
How The New "Standing Repo Facility (S.R.F)" Will Effect The Bond Market:
- Unclear, as it is untested in this Quantitative Tightening (QT) climate.
- The premise is that the S.R.F is a tool that FED now has to avoid what happened in 2019. The goal is to help prevent a spike in bond yields.
Explanation from Federal reserve website:
www.federalreserve.gov
"When the Federal Reserve conducts an overnight repo, it buys a security from an eligible counterparty and simultaneously agrees to sell the security back the next day. The difference between the purchase price and the sale price of the securities implies a rate of interest earned by the Federal Reserve on the transaction. The FOMC sets the S.R.F minimum bid rate, which is the minimum interest rate the Federal Reserve is willing to receive in an S.R.F operation; if the amount of bids exceeds the operation limit, the actual interest rate that a counterparty pays is determined through an auction process. The securities accepted in S.R.F operations include Treasury securities, agency debt securities, and agency mortgage backed securities."
Inflation, bond yields, the dollar and the Fed! Macro series pt1Part 1 Hello everyone! It's been a few weeks since my last update on the markets, and this one is going to be a very special one. Will go through many different aspects of most major markets, by using both technical and fundamental analysis. It will be an in-depth analysis with lots of charts of several instruments, that have the potential to give us a clear picture of where we are and what is going right now in the global landscape. Because there are so many things I'd like to mention, I've broken the analysis down in different parts, all of which you will be able to find on the links down below.
The first and most important pieces of the puzzle are the US Dollar and interest rates, as together they are one of the largest components in essentially every market as they partially determine the liquidity and demand, by ‘setting a price for money’. In 2020 many forecasters predicted that the value of the dollar would collapse and said it was dead as it had lost 10-15% of its value relative to other fiat currencies. Yet they were very wrong in 2021 as the dollar bottomed and started rising along with interest rates, despite inflation skyrocketing in the latter part of the year. At the same time many claimed that the bond market would collapse, yet even though long term US bond yields had been rising from Aug 2020 up until Mar 2021, just to barely get to pre-pandemic levels where bond yields were already really low. Then went sideways until the end of 2021, where they started rising again. During that time short term US bond yields were close to 0 and only started rising at the end of Sep 2021 as inflation started climbing fast and the market started anticipating the Fed raising rates. Therefore, as those yields were rising due to inflation going up, so did the USD which might seem counterintuitive. Why would it go up if it’s losing purchasing power?
Well fiat currencies are trading against other fiat currencies and the world is heavily interconnected, so it’s a relative game and inflation wasn’t just US phenomenon. However most importantly it was clear that inflation didn’t come due to the Fed doing QE or lowering rates, but due to several other factors. To name a few 1. Government spending, 2. Credit creation during Covid, 3. Deferred loan/rent payments, 4. Wealth effect due to stocks/housing going up, 5. Supply chain issues, 6. Supply shortages due to labor shortages or businesses closing, 7. Pend up demand, 8. Higher demand for goods than services, as well as demand of new types of goods, and finally and most importantly 9. Issues in the energy sector and particularly due to the fact that many oil and natural gas wells got shut and weren’t reopened. Now you might be thinking ‘wait a second, where does QE fit into all of this?’. Unlike what most people believe about QE or low interest rates, the Fed doesn’t print money. It simply creates reserves which the banks can’t use to buy anything and low interest rates are a sign that the economy is in trouble as banks aren’t willing to lend to anyone other than big institutions. QE isn’t inflationary as it is just an asset swap and the Fed doesn’t determine anything aside from short-term rates. So, what does the Fed actually do? Essentially, they are trying to push banks to lend, yet banks refuse to do so, and in turn the Fed tries to manage expectations. It all boils down to the Fed making people believe they know what they are doing and that they are a powerful institution that can either create or fight inflation. Therefore, in the list of factors there is another one (no. 10) which is that the Fed convinced everyone that they flooded the world with cash and that affected the spending/investing habits of the people that believed them. Yet there was a market that hasn’t really believed them, and that is the bond market.
The bond market keeps indicating that we are stuck in a low growth environment where inflation isn’t a long-term issue, just a short term one. It is also telling us that there is too much debt and too many problems, many of which policy makers haven’t been able to solve. Not only that, but many of the policies have been making things worse and worse, and that in 2022 it looks like inflation is probably going to slow down. Hence if markets and the data are telling us inflation isn’t going to be a major issue in 2022 and the sources of inflation are elsewhere, why will the Fed raise rates? Can it raise rates? By how much? What impact will that have on the economy?
For the first question there are some pretty clear explanations. One of them is that Fed wants to raise rates is so that people keep believing in that they can control inflation and that they aren’t just there to pump the stock market. Many believe in the Fed put, which is the belief that the Fed doesn’t want to do anything to upset the markets and that if things go bad the Fed will support the stock market because it can. However, another one is that there are also many people who are upset about inflation and want someone to do something. These people demand the Fed to act, as the Fed itself claims to have the tools to fight inflation and that it created the inflation in the first place. Hence at the moment the Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place, as markets are at ATHs, housing at ATHs, the economy is slowing down and overall is in a pretty bad place, while for most people the costs of living are up by 10-20% compared to 2 years ago. By the Fed’s own mandates and admissions, inflation above 2% is high (CPI was at 7% YoY) and their reasoning for QE + low rates has been their goal of full employment… and as we’ve reached a point where unemployment is very low and there are even labor shortages as many people haven’t gotten back to the labor force since the pandemic begun. This in turn puts pressure on wages and inflation, hence the Fed has to act based on its own ‘goals’. Yet if they act, and especially if they act quickly, the markets could crash and this could have even more implications on the economy. It is pretty clear that they have to walk a fine line, except it’s also pretty much impossible for their actions not to affect the markets which are overleveraged and are showing signs of weakness. On the one hand they need the markets to come down a bit, in order to slow down the wealth effect which affects inflation, as well as prevent excess speculation from going even further… and on the other hand they must not overdo it because the whole system could grind to a halt.
Keeping all of the above in mind, it seems pretty hard for the Fed to significantly raise rates. Yesterday when Powell started answering questions, he was pretty hawkish because people aren’t taking the Fed seriously, but there is a long way between them talking about being serious and them actually doing it. Doing both QT and raising rates more than 3 times this year, something that the market seems to be expecting at the moment seems a bit farfetched. Like Alex Gurevich said on his recent appearance on ‘The Market Huddle’ podcast (and I am paraphrasing a bit), the most likely scenario for the Fed is to raise rates once. In his view they could do one and not hike again for a decade. Maybe they get two or more, but 1 is more likely than 2, and 2 are more likely than 3… and so on. He also mentioned that he thinks we in the late stages of this cycle, and I happen to agree with both views. My reasoning is that the inflationary factors mentioned earlier seem to be weakening substantially and slowly giving their place to the disinflationary/deflationary factors like supply chains issues being slowly resolved, less government spending, debt accumulated during the pandemic having to be repaid and so on. Inflation in 2021 was really high, though towards the end of the year several data points started showing that it was slowing down and in 2022 we could have 2-3% inflation or even outright deflation. To sum it all up, the Fed will start raising rates too late, as real rates have already started coming up and could go up even higher inflation starts going lower. The impact this could have on an overleveraged market is substantial, something that could force the Fed to stop raising rates and even stop its talks about reducing its balance sheet… or maybe even force them to go back into cutting rates and doing QE.
Up to this point we’ve only talked about rates, but haven’t mentioned anything about the USD and how it could affect entire financial system. This is another very important factor that the Fed needs to be aware off, even if they haven’t been explicit about it recently. The USD is the global reserve currency and most of the world’s debt is denominated in USD, which means that when it goes up relative to other currencies, then debt repayments become harder especially for those who don’t earn USD. At the same time when US interest rates go up AND the USD goes up relative to other currencies, that creates immense pressure on the financial system. That’s because people/institutions have to pay more interest on their loans, while the currency they are earning and need to convert into dollars to repay their debt, is worth less and less. These two factors create some serious deflationary pressures as someone might be forced to cut their spending or even outright sell assets in order to keep up with his obligations. Of course, in a situation where the entire globe is doing well and rates go up because the economies are booming, debt is low, and it just happens that the USD is going up as it happens that the US is doing better than other countries, then the dollar going up isn’t really an issue and neither are rates. However, the dollar going up, especially along with interest rates really is an issue when the world is drowning in debt, economies aren’t doing well, markets are overleveraged and optimized to work well in a low-rate environment. Another thing to keep in mind is that the dollar going up might create a vicious loop by accelerating the sell-off in traditional markets as more and more people sell in order to meet their obligations, or take a risk off stance or to take advantage of higher interest rates or to take advantage of its rise relative to other currencies. At the end of the day the US isn’t an economy that functions in isolation and it isn’t the only one that uses or CREATES dollars. That’s something crucial that many people forget, as even if the US economy is doing great and higher rates might be appropriate for the US, the actions by the Fed could create issues in other parts of the world, which in turn could damage the US economy.
TLT Seemingly trading higher.TLT ETF seems to be in a good place to trade higher.
Fundamentals back the technicals which is a really sweet spot for this particular ETF with the 20yr TB's.
Expect a rise out of it over the coming weeks back to the previous highs and beyond but only look to "hodl" should price provide us with a bull breakout of the AP which is the previous weekly highs.
If price rejects the highs then we suggest staying clear until the breakout takes place on the proviso you would have already removed any potential risk exposure previously accumalated.
UST10Y Daily Timeframe Supply And Demand Analysis-Price has shown evidence of buyers by breaking downward trend lines, removing opposing pivot point zones, quality DBR created.
-Strong imbalance of buyers stepped in so I'm looking at them potentially stepping in again.
$ZB_F: Uptrend signal activeWe now have a good signal here indicating bonds can rally substantially in the coming weeks. I've bot a bull call spread to capture the upside here, expiring on Dec 10th, for the March contract.
It allows me to fine tune risk and maximize gains if the trade works in a way that an outright futures long position wouldn't. If you can, join on Monday on dips, if making a higher high, be ready to pay up. It's a good hedge for your portfolio in case of carrying long oil positions like I do.
Cheers,
Ivan.