Things ProfZero doesn't like - Increasing correlations

10 juin 2022

INVESTMENT CONTEXT

• On June 9, the ECB governing council announced its intention to raise interest rates by 25bps in July; a "larger increment", possibly sized at 50bps, is envisaged for September if inflation persists
  
• For the third time this year the World Bank cut its economic growth forecast for 2022, this time to 2.9%, after January and April revisions to 4.1% and 3.2% respectively, and warned about coming years of above-average inflation and possibly stagflation
  
• The OECD slashed its global growth forecast to 3% - down from 4.5% it predicted only a few months ago
  
• U.S. inflation in May unexpectedly hit 40-year high at 8.6%, up from April's reading at 8.3% considerably adding pressures to the Fed
  
• Freeport LNG terminal in Texas, crucial for energy supplies to Europe, will be closed for at least three weeks following an explosion at its Texas Gulf Coast facility
  
• Mortgage demand is at the lowest level in 22 years in front of rising rates
  

PROFZERO'S TAKE

• Equities cratered on June 9 and 10, as investors processed the combined news of the ECB announcing its path to increase interest rates and surprisingly surging inflation in the U.S. Albeit money-market traders already priced in the ECB 25bps hike scheduled for July, now they are factoring a 40% probability of a heftier 50bps raise for September - one that would bring interest rates into positive territory almost 2 quarters ahead of forecasts after 8 years of ultra-loose monetary policy. ProfZero largely anticipated that markets didn't fully bake-in the ECB's course on monetary policy; now that that pocket of volatility has been uncovered, ProfZero sees turmoil on equity markets as the positions that were constructed in an attempt to call the bottom are unwound; yet with more clarity on the Regulation's side, now investors can rely on a more detailed strategic frame
  
• ProfZero does not like swelling correlations. They signal generalized distress amongst traders, with algorithms amplifying the sentiment. Seeing the blockchain space fall along with the market at large while BTC comes at the closing point of a mid-term triangle indicates a possibly painful breakout may be in the making
  

PROFONE'S TAKE

• After the bank cut again its world economic growth forecast for 2022, World Bank's President David Malpass said “The world economy is again in danger”. According to the OECD, the world economy will pay a "hefty price" for the war in Ukraine. The macroeconomic scenario is not homogeneous, and emerging market economies are expected to bear the brunt of the worsening conditions. Some signs of relief are appearing instead in developed countries, thanks to small price declines for semiconductors and fertilizers. ProfOne reminds that June is the peak period for energy supplies to be stocked ahead of winter in the northern hemisphere, while freight rates are expected to be kept high by persistent port congestion and intensifying deliveries for goods to be dispatched ahead of holiday season. Under such premises, Profs see but scant possibilities for near-term solution to the inflation equation, left alone the possibility of a "soft landing" for the economy deeper in 2022
  

PROFTHREE'S TAKE

• Mixed news coming from China - trade data showed exports bounced back in May, growing at 16.9% on a yearly basis, while also imports rose to 4.1% after both indicators had hit the floor in April amidst COVID-related restrictions. Yet, albeit trade figures beat expectations, investors somewhat shifted their attention to a new lockdown in one district of Shanghai, which capped the gains in Asian markets. ProfThree has set its eyes on the containment of COVID in Inner Mongolia, China’s key coal mining province, which now accounts for almost a half of total Omicron cases in the country. With coal supply and the related logistics under strain, prices might surge even higher, compounding to global energy supply and security concerns