Rescued by the Fed Again?
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S&P 500 recovered only to dive again – carving out a base? The bulls are attempting to, but neither value, nor tech, nor the credit markets are convincing. The dust is settling though, and the bears are equally in need of a fresh reason to sell – the intraday tug of war is entirely reasonable as Evergrande failed to spook the markets more. Just wait for what happens when the markets come face to face with another unacknowledged event of this magnitude. In our era, it‘s about the contagion effect, manic-depressive market psychology, and uncertainty of the impact.
It‘s not only about China real estate cooling down, spilling over to Hong Kong. Wtll the House approval on the bill to suspend fresh borrowing obstacles and avoid a partial shutdown do? What would the Senate say – and then everyone as the tax tsunami keeps approaching? Global liquidity isn‘t rising after all either.
Fed taper is a side show, but still one that too many are glued to. The dollar would suffer if it doesn‘t materialize later today – and it won‘t be announced, which would make precious metals rejoice.
Back to stocks, these are also likely to welcome no taper. The Fed has been already tightening (which means these days it was decreasing the pace of expansion) through the back door, bringing down inflation expectations in spite of the real world input costs, shipping rates and frail supply chains challenges on top of the job market issues. Transitory inflation is still the mainstream thesis – the shift to real assets will become more accentuated once the realization of a higher and entrenched inflation arrives. And it‘s not about real estate and owners‘ equivalent rent either.
Commodities did welcome yesterday‘s reprieve, and Treasury yields are unlikely to clobber them the way perceived systemic risks could (did). In a decelerating real economy faced with numerous deflationary pressures, the slow and steady rising yields phase, is deferred for now. And when these do rise again, it may or may not be about returning economic growth, but forced by the systemic realities. Remember that rates are very low by historic comparisons, and the resilence to absorb a modest rise (think 10-year more than a bit above 2%) won‘t be there without consequences.
Cashing in on the S&P 500 short profits yesterday, was reasonable from the total portfolio risk point of view (did I say a fresh high was reached?).
Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).
S&P 500 and Nasdaq Outlook
Daily hesitation followed by more downside, but volume is decreasing – stocks look readying an upswing attempt.
Credit Markets
High yield corporate bonds merely kept opening gains – there is still hesitation, and the window of opportunity for the bulls is narrow.
Gold, Silver and Miners
Positive price action of gold, joined by silver – the waiting miners reveal that a little consolidation is likely before the Fed speaks.
Crude Oil
Oil stocks show that the appetite for oil might be returning, and that‘s confirmed by the volume examination. Commodities such as oil and copper stand to benefit from calming the Evergrande and central bank jitters.
Copper
Copper gave up opening losses only to rebound before the closing bell. Volume could have been larger, but the beaten down red metal can keep rebounding at its own pace – the smaller volume is an indication it won‘t be a one-way path.
Bitcoin and Ethereum
Bitcoin and Ethereum haven‘t really recovered from the selloff, and the bears are holding the upper hand now.
Summary
My yesterday‘s question „Is the selling over, is it not?“ has the same answer „Still inconclusive, but time for the bears is running short.“ It looks like the markets are positioning for a return to risk-on based on today‘s FOMC, which is what quite a few would like to take as an opportunity to sell into strength. The point is the Fed won‘t surprise today, and the price gyrations are likely to continue, albeit at a lesser magnitude.
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