Three snapshots for Tuesday
The euro zone just avoided recession in the first quarter of 2012 but the region’s debt crisis sapped the life out of the French and Italian economies and widened a split with paymaster Germany.
Click here for an interactive map showing which European Union countries are in recession.
The technology sector has been leading the way in the S&P 500 in performance terms so far this year with energy stocks at the bottom of the list. Since the start of this quarter financials have seen the largest reverse in performance.
Research Radar: Very 20th century
Wednesday’s market commentaries are loaded with the buzz around another technical UK recession in Q1 (the first time Britain has suffered what many see as a ‘double-dip’ since the 1970s); guessing about Wednesday’s FOMC outcome; and the European Commission letting Hungary off the hook about its controversial constitutional changes. In aggregate, and probably due to the looming FOMC, markets are fairly stable – world equities, including euro stocks, emerging markets and even Britain’s FTSE are all higher. The US dollar, Treasuries, volatility gauges, gold and even peripheral euro government bond yields are all down a bit.
Following is a selection of some of Wednesday’s interesting research ideas:
- Barclays’ Barry Knapp reckons US and world equities face a dilemma from the endless distortion to multiples and risk premia from monetary intervention and QE that is artifically lowering the risk-free rate akin to the “financial repression” of the 1950s — no one is sure now if equity is cheap or bonds just very expensive. He concludes that best thing for equities in the medium to long term is to avoid further QE but the problem is that stocks will almost certainly suffer in the short run if the Fed takes QE3 off the table. What’s more, Wednesday’s FOMC could be problem for markets initally if the Fed frets about the growth outlook, but a worsening of the economy might bring QE3 sooner than similar bouts in 2010 and 2011.
- ING’s James Knightley says UK GDP numbers mask business survey improvements and better March data and expects the economy to return to growth in Q2 as well as upward revisions to Q1. Flagging up improving business sentiment in the April CBI survey, he says the Bank of England is unlikely to do more QE and reckons any post-GDP rally in gilts or fall in sterling should be short-lived.
- However, Citi’s Michael Saunders is far gloomier in flagging ” the worst recession/recovery cycle opf the last 100 years” and dismisses suggestions that the persistent weakness of the economy since 2008 can be blamed on things like quarterly construction swings. “We expect the economy will continue to underperform, given the headwinds from fiscal drag, high household debts, the EMU crisis and poor credit availability. A less-tight fiscal policy probably would not help significantly, given the likelihood that fiscal slippage would trigger market pressure. A lower pound would help, but the key policy lever is QE and we continue to expect extra QE.”
- Standard Chartered reckons it’s time to book profits on a short EUR/GBP position, as the market looks primed for a correction. “An unexpectedly weak UK GDP report for Q1 has tempered expectations the economy will outperform”
- Societe Generale’s cross-asset team says it remains bullish on crude oil prices due to supply and capacity worries and geopolitical concerns and it targets $135 per barrel for Q3 — a price they say is not priced into futures markets. They say portfolios should be hedged for the possibility that 20-year-high oil/equity correlations will drop sharply and there several ways to gain exposure to rising crude — Brent Sept call option spreads, US 5-year inflation-protected TIPS, long global oil services stocks, long Russia’s rouble and Mexico’s peso and short Thailand’s baht and Korea’s won. Seperately, SG’s Dylan Grice worries about Australia — “What do you call a credit bubble built on a commodity bull market built on a much bigger Chinese credit bubble? Leveraged leverage? A CDO squared? No, it’s Australia.”
from MacroScope:
UK recession in charts
Britain's economy slid into its second recession since the financial crisis after official data unexpectedly showed a fall in output in the first three months of 2012:
Starting real GDP at 100 in 2003 for the UK, U.S. and euro zone shows UK GDP flat since mid-2010 and well below the 2007 peak.
Survey data had been suggesting a stronger GDP number and perhaps points to upwards revisions to come.
As this chart shows past revisions have been substantial.
Hair of the dog? Citi says more LTROs in store
Just as global markets nurse a hangover from their Q1 binge on cheap ECB lending — a circa 1 trillion euro flood of 1%, 3-year loans to euro zone banks in December and February (anodynely dubbed a Long-Term Refinancing Operation) — there’s every chance they may get, or at least need, a proverbial hair of the dog.
At least that’s what Citi chief economist Willem Buiter and team think despite regular insistence from ECB top brass that the recent two-legged LTRO was likely a one off.
Even though Citi late Wednesday nudged up its world growth forecast for a third month running, in keeping with Tuesday’s IMF’s upgrade , it remains significantly more bearish on headline numbers and sees PPP-weighted global growth this year and next at 3.1% and 3.5% compared with the Fund’s call of 3.5% and 4.1%.
But its euro zone calls are gloomiest of all. First off, it sees two consecutive years of economic contraction of the bloc as a whole — a 1.0% shrinkage this year followed by 0.2% drop in 2013. Against this dire backdrop, it expects Spain to be forced to seek Troika (EU, IMF and ECB) support later this year that will be focussed on recapitalizing and restructuring its ailing banks and it also expects both Portugal and Ireland to need second bailouts from the same source.
And with that sort of pressure from deleveraging, austerity, sovereign debt stress and recession , the ECB will have to bring out yet another punchbowl, it reckons.
We expect that renewed EMU strains will prompt the ECB to launch at least one more multi-year LTRO and continue to pencil in one or two more rate cuts by end-2013.
Yet, just like the euphoric effects of both the binge and “morning after” drink, the problem with LTRO is that it risks causing more problems than it solves by tying the banks of weak peripheral euro states ever closer to their ailing sovereigns.
Japan… tide finally turning?
Until recently, when you mentioned ”Japan” in the investment context, you could almost hear a collective sigh of disappointment — it was all about recession, deflation and poor investment returns.
However, sentiment does seem to be finally changing, not least because Tokyo stocks have rallied almost 20 percent since the start of the year, outperforming benchmark world and emerging indexes.
The yen has also been on a (rare) declining trend since the start of February, with the selling momentum accelerating since the Bank of Japan set an inflation goal of 1 percent in a surprise move and boosted its asset buying programme by $130 billion on Feb 14.
A closely-watched survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed record optimism on Japan’s growth among fund managers, with a net 91 percent of Japanese fund managers saying they expected the domestic economy to strengthen. That’s up from a net 47 percent two months ago.
Overall, survey partipants worldwide slashed their underweight positions on Japanese equities to a net 4 percent in March from 23 percent last month. This is the smallest underweight position on Japan since August. According to Gary Baker, head of European equity strategy at BofA Merrill:
There’s quite a change in sentiment towards Japan. If you have global growth then Japan… is a big cyclical region to benefit from that. While investment story is the same, what changed there is the yen weakness… it becomes easier to play the story.
Beneath the Greek bailout hopes…
Who’s tired of the ”Markets up on Greece, markets down on Greece” headlines of the past few weeks? (I am.)
Today it’s an up day, with world stocks hitting a six-month peak on hopes that Greece will secure a second bailout package next week (finally, really).
But beneath the optimism lies a dire Greek economic and fiscal situation.
The Greek economy slumped 7 percent in the last quarter of 2011, with the rate of contraction since Q4 2008 reaching a whopping 16 percent in cumulative, real GDP terms.
Weak growth is hampering efforts to consolidate the fiscal position. Goldman Sachs, in fact, expects the deep recession has fully offset budget consolidation efforts. Analysts at the bank write:
“The fiscal adjustment, which started off with an impressive deficit reduction of more than 5% of GDP in 2010 stalled in 2011… despite a significant fiscal effort.
They add:
Euro periphery: Lehman-type shock still on cards
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The passing of Greek austerity measures is fuelling a rally in peripheral debt today with Italian, Spanish and Portuguese yields falling across the curve.
However, one should not forget that peripheral economies are still under considerable risk of becoming the next Greece — rising debt and weak economic growth pushing the country to seek a bailout — as a result of tighter financial conditions.
Take this warning from JP Morgan:
Financial conditions have deteriorated far more in peripheral Europe than in the core. The drag from this on peripheral GDP is akin to that seen following the Lehman crisis.
JP Morgan uses analysis based on quantifying the impact of financial market developments and monetary policy actions on economic activity. The main variables the analysis uses is: the three-month LIBOR rate, the yield on investment grade corporate bonds, the spread of high yield corporates over that of high grade, real equity returns, the change in the real exchange rate and bank lending standards for businesses as reported in loan officer surveys.
According to JP Morgan’s calculations, the 838 basis-point rise in the peripheral HY spreads implies a drag of -2.2 percent of GDP relative to what it would otherwise have been, had the HY spread unchanged.
Facial, massage, dating… In search of recession-proof industries
Facial, massage and dating… what do they have in common?
These are the industries which seem to be recession-proof and saw improved sales and revenues in recent months.
The Professional Beauty Association says its main tracking indexes for the salon and spa industry all posted a rise in the fourth quarter of 2011, driven by stronger sales, traffic levels and a more optimistic outlook for the economy.
The Salon & Spa Performance Index, which is the main index of the three, is a quarterly composite index that tracks the health and outlook of the U.S. salon/spa industry. It rose 1% from the third quarter of 2011 to stand at 102.9 in the fourth quarter. A base level measurement of 100 is used, with values above considered positive.
The survey also showed 61% of salon/spa owners expect higher retail sales as compared to 7% that expect a decline.
“The salon and spa industry remains resilient. As with the broader economy, it is encouraging to see positive growth and expansion as indicated by the Salon & Spa Performance Index,” says Steve Sleeper, Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association.
Gray & Farrar, a matchmaking agency for the wealthy (you can see their advert on How To Spend It or places like that), saw a 50 percent growth in international sales within the last 12 months.
Correlations between downturn and long salon queues
Who said cosmetics are recession-proof and would be the last to be hit in the economic downturn? (I, at least, thought so.)
But whoever said so seems to be wrong. The Professional Beauty Association‘s three main tracking indices for the salon and spa industry extended a decline in the third quarter of 2011 to hit their lowest level in two years.
The Salon & Spa Performance Index (SSPI) is a quarterly composite index that tracks the health and outlook of the U.S. salon and spa industry. It fell 1% from the second quarter to 101.9, posting the second consecutive quarterly decline.
However, the SSPI and the two remaining indices (Current and Expectations indices) remain above a base level measurement of 100 (above 100 indicates expansion), so the situation is not that bad.
“While the third quarter is typically slower for many salons and spas due to the summer holiday season, the trend results from the Salon & Spa Performance Index are discouraging,” said Steve Sleeper, Executive Director for the Professional Beauty Association.
The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in five industry indicators (service sales, retail sales, customer traffic, employees/hours, and capital expenditures) fell to 100.3 in the third quarter — down 1.1% from the second quarter 2011.
The Expectations Index fell to 103.5, down 0.9% from the second quarter 2011 and 1.7% from the third quarter 2010.
from Anooja Debnath:
When it comes to recessions, 40 is the new 50
If it were about age, 40-somethings would cringe. But it seems a dead certainty that 40 now means 50 -- or even higher -- when it comes to predicting the chances of a recession taking place.
Going by past Reuters polls of economists, every time the probability hits 40 percent, the recession's already started or is perilously close to doing so.
After the brief recovery period from the Great Recession, Reuters once again started surveying economists several months ago on the chances of developed economies stumbling back into the muck.
As the data get nastier and euro zone politicians wrangle over the sovereign debt mess, the probability goes higher. Just not high enough or fast enough.
The probability that Britain slides back into recession hit 40 percent in the Reuters poll this week, up from one in three last month.
The last time that happened was in July 2008, a few months before U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed. The British economy contracted by 2 percent that quarter, its second contraction of 2008. And we all know what happened next. If 40 is the new 50, we're in it.
"It is a very big thing to say we are going into recession ... it is one of those things people are cautious sticking their necks out about," said Alan Clarke, who said there’s a 75 percent chance of that happening.
