* The ECB is cornered - again.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Upbeat ECB forecasts for the Eurozone to be expected for today. Simoultaneously the ECB is mulling whether to buy PIIGS bonds again. The Eurozone Emergencyfund is also out declaring an 8BN Usd bond issue for this SPV(Special Purpose Vehicle), a classic vehicle from the the financialcrisis, by the way. Evidently, Asian Central banks seems to have a vested interest in ensuring its success.
This all boils down to a a correction in the market, in my book.
Eur/Usd has fallen 12 cents in 3 weeks, so a correction towards the mid 1.3350 should be in order, it could even stretch above that. Anyway, Im viewing this from a xmas perspective and I am not expecting these festivities to last beyond xmas.
I believe markets are currently ignoring Chinas liquidity depleting measures. I am not. I am hearing the Chinese loud and clear. The Chinese liquidity generator is gearing down. Deleverage.
Get ready for higher rates and stagflation.
If this is the case. This xmas rally should be treasured.
*Positions and positionchanges
Ive bought Eur/Usd for a move towards 1.3350. Trusting ECB to oblige market expectations today.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
02 December 2010
01 December 2010
Keeping an eye on tommorrows ECB meeting; The ECB seems willing to buy peripheral bonds
* It seems the ECB has become worried enough to consider buying peripheral bonds again.
This will of course only help short term, but this is nonetheless a shortterm solution to try and normalise current markets.
If they do, markets will shift towards a positive risk on mode, benefitting Eur/Usd, equities,etc.
*Positions and positionchanges
Ive taken profit on my short Eur/Usd position. Iam now awaiting the ECB meeting tommorrow.
As usual, good luck.
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
This will of course only help short term, but this is nonetheless a shortterm solution to try and normalise current markets.
If they do, markets will shift towards a positive risk on mode, benefitting Eur/Usd, equities,etc.
*Positions and positionchanges
Ive taken profit on my short Eur/Usd position. Iam now awaiting the ECB meeting tommorrow.
As usual, good luck.
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
16 November 2010
The curse of fixed exchange rates
* Fixed exchange rates creates huge misallocations of resources and have very much contributed to the global problems we are witnessing today.
China, Europe, the Baltics etc are good examples of it.
Without floating exchangerates there is less of a " mark to market" of a countries worth. The interestrates mechanism is not capable of compensating fully for the lack of exchangerate flexibility.
The US of A is admittedly in trouble and they do have a floating exchangerate, but- one of the reasons it could build up such extreme imbalances was the fact that the USD is the worlds reservecurrency. Im just saying that this is a distortion in itself. Without such a status, the Usd would probably have been punished way earlier and quite severely, too.
Well, now the world order is what it is.
*The Eurozone is in deep trouble, much due to the common currency and a lack of common fiscal policy.
However, human nature, acting on economic incentives, creates far greater risks with fixed exchangerate regimes compared with floating ones.
Politicians have really stepped in it this time around. My view is that there is very little chance that any politician will be able to pull off extreme internal devaluations in these countries. No one else has succeeded so far.
The Baltics, you say? Right. Latvia failed to live up to its "money for budgetpromises" set up - twice. And still got the money (the EU commission was willing to pay all along, no matter what. )Estonia is now generating inflation - what happened to the internal devaluation?
Anyway, with the PIIGS countries its on a whole other scale. I doubt the Germans are willing or capable to pay that bill. Mrs Merkel has already stated bondholders will face some losses on any government default from 2012 onwards, as the EFSF set up changes - PIIGS bonds, anyone? Chile ,Norway and Russia has got the message loud and clear - and stopped buying PIIGS bonds.
Having said that - there might actually be a bailout of Ireland. When/if this happens, I suspect the markets will rally, anticipating bailouts for all of the PIIGS countries if necessary.
This conclusion is on very shaky ground and I would be more prone to sell into it.
*Chinas role as a liquidity generator is over.
From now on liquidity is set to tighten.
Since China does not seem to dare using the most efficient weapon - FX, in fighting cost push inflation. The consequences could actually become worse if they dont, due to overkill behaviour with blunt instruments such as the interest rate and bankreserve requirements.
*Emergings are getting hit by tidalwaves of liquidity and Turkey has now started what might become a new emerging country trend; keeping the repo rate stable but cutting the Depo waaay down.
Turkey reently cut by their depo by 400bp!
No more carry here, hot money!
Hmmmmm, and where are all the long funds, pensionfunds and lifers invested? Could it be?,,,,,, oh yes,,,,,, emerging markets, the secret holy grail,,,, could become scary, this.
* Dont mention commodities - dont mention China
"All" banks are touting the mantra of commodities and portfolio diversification. The latter actually sounds good. The only problem is that currently, all assets are driven by hot money and the correlation is way up there. I bet that on a sensitivity based analysis, it doesnt look good either. Conclusion anyone?
There is currently no real portfolio diversification in owning various assets. Anyone thinking so might be facing some quite straining scenarios going forward. Assetmanagers should be cautious. They should be using instruments to protect themselves. There should actually be room for a new breed of assetmanagers out there. The old "fire and forget, buy - and hold em" assetmanagers have had some great twenty years, but those days are now most likely over.
* New positions and position changes
Im getting ready to take some shortterm profits in FX and commodities.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
China, Europe, the Baltics etc are good examples of it.
Without floating exchangerates there is less of a " mark to market" of a countries worth. The interestrates mechanism is not capable of compensating fully for the lack of exchangerate flexibility.
The US of A is admittedly in trouble and they do have a floating exchangerate, but- one of the reasons it could build up such extreme imbalances was the fact that the USD is the worlds reservecurrency. Im just saying that this is a distortion in itself. Without such a status, the Usd would probably have been punished way earlier and quite severely, too.
Well, now the world order is what it is.
*The Eurozone is in deep trouble, much due to the common currency and a lack of common fiscal policy.
However, human nature, acting on economic incentives, creates far greater risks with fixed exchangerate regimes compared with floating ones.
Politicians have really stepped in it this time around. My view is that there is very little chance that any politician will be able to pull off extreme internal devaluations in these countries. No one else has succeeded so far.
The Baltics, you say? Right. Latvia failed to live up to its "money for budgetpromises" set up - twice. And still got the money (the EU commission was willing to pay all along, no matter what. )Estonia is now generating inflation - what happened to the internal devaluation?
Anyway, with the PIIGS countries its on a whole other scale. I doubt the Germans are willing or capable to pay that bill. Mrs Merkel has already stated bondholders will face some losses on any government default from 2012 onwards, as the EFSF set up changes - PIIGS bonds, anyone? Chile ,Norway and Russia has got the message loud and clear - and stopped buying PIIGS bonds.
Having said that - there might actually be a bailout of Ireland. When/if this happens, I suspect the markets will rally, anticipating bailouts for all of the PIIGS countries if necessary.
This conclusion is on very shaky ground and I would be more prone to sell into it.
*Chinas role as a liquidity generator is over.
From now on liquidity is set to tighten.
Since China does not seem to dare using the most efficient weapon - FX, in fighting cost push inflation. The consequences could actually become worse if they dont, due to overkill behaviour with blunt instruments such as the interest rate and bankreserve requirements.
*Emergings are getting hit by tidalwaves of liquidity and Turkey has now started what might become a new emerging country trend; keeping the repo rate stable but cutting the Depo waaay down.
Turkey reently cut by their depo by 400bp!
No more carry here, hot money!
Hmmmmm, and where are all the long funds, pensionfunds and lifers invested? Could it be?,,,,,, oh yes,,,,,, emerging markets, the secret holy grail,,,, could become scary, this.
* Dont mention commodities - dont mention China
"All" banks are touting the mantra of commodities and portfolio diversification. The latter actually sounds good. The only problem is that currently, all assets are driven by hot money and the correlation is way up there. I bet that on a sensitivity based analysis, it doesnt look good either. Conclusion anyone?
There is currently no real portfolio diversification in owning various assets. Anyone thinking so might be facing some quite straining scenarios going forward. Assetmanagers should be cautious. They should be using instruments to protect themselves. There should actually be room for a new breed of assetmanagers out there. The old "fire and forget, buy - and hold em" assetmanagers have had some great twenty years, but those days are now most likely over.
* New positions and position changes
Im getting ready to take some shortterm profits in FX and commodities.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
25 October 2010
No G20 deal this weekend was no surprise, Nov 11-12 is where the chance lies. Will we see more drunk driving til then? Use options.
* Implied and realised assetvolatilities are set to rise - no matter the Nov G20 outcome.
Depending on the outcome, the speed of the rise will vary. In any case, global liquidity has seen its top this time around. Global liquidity to get reduced going forward.
Im using options instead of underlying.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
Depending on the outcome, the speed of the rise will vary. In any case, global liquidity has seen its top this time around. Global liquidity to get reduced going forward.
Im using options instead of underlying.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
21 October 2010
This weekends G20 meeting = a stronger Usd.
* Big short Usd bets are about to go wrong
The FED is not going to devalue the Usd via a QE2 "shock and awe" approach, rather it will be pragmatic, based on a meeting by meeting approach with no commitments for any longer term approach. The bondbuying seems to be estimated to become about 100bn Usd at the time. This is way lower than the market has priced in.
There will be no "currencywar". China is preparing measures to reduce creditgrowth and inflation as well developing domestic demand and reduce leverage. This will require a stronger currency, higher interest rates and less bank lending, reducing credit further. It is necessary to stop the Chinese realestate market spiralling totally out of control. Or has it already? Over the last three months realestate prices in the most attractive locations have alledgedly risen by 40%! From an already very much inflated level. Anyone hearing the sound a bubble popping?
Both this weekends G20 meeting and the upcoming EU heads of state meeting the weekend after will both work in favour of a stronger Usd.
This will also have a negative effect on Gold, Copper and Oil - a few other overcrowded trades . The weaker Usd, continued strong Chinese growth, weak currency and a continued strong growth of global imbalances have been important variables driving these trades.
Well, time to take profit and reverse.
* This weekends G20 meeting
The probability for an agreement between US and China has, according to the best guesstimates out there, increased from 40% pre the Chinese rate hike to 60% post it. In either case, the signals seen so far, (with China basically handing over the printing press weapon to the US by hiking their rates and increasing their own sterilizationcost at the same time as the US has scaled back their QE approach to a pragmatic - meeting by meeting one instead of "shock and awe"), indicates there will be no "currency war" (silly name).
So, from here on, global rebalancing and deleveraging could be the name of the game. This means lower growth in the Western hemisphere and increased risk for ditto in the Eastern one.
In any case, its the right riskmanagement path and it is way better than the very high risk alternative of continued global imbalance building and then disaster - scenario.
* Assetliability ratios to go lower again - credit multipliers to drop and ditto for profitability.
We have likely seen the global liquidity peak this time around - time to review leverage set ups as implied and realised volatilities are set to rise
*Emerging markets - yet another overcrowded trade. This one is running the risk of turning the "holy grail" into "holy sxxt!"
Emerging market inflows are now back at the record levels at the end of 2007, beginning of 2008. Theres a big difference between now and then though - initial liquidity. While liquidity at the time was very good, it is the reverse now - despite the low volatility circumstances.
Once vol starts pumping up, liquidity will be nowhere to be found. In emerging markets this is normalprocedure, but there are always various levels for illiquidity and this time around such a scenario is running the risk of being the worst nightmare for naive investors and speculators.
Trust me, so far I have always been on the "right side" on any emerging market crisis, you do not want to be on the wrong side of it,,,,, This time around the exitdoor might get clogged up altogether.
Perhaps not today, or tommorrow, but the signs are building.
* Positions and positionchanges
No changes
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
The FED is not going to devalue the Usd via a QE2 "shock and awe" approach, rather it will be pragmatic, based on a meeting by meeting approach with no commitments for any longer term approach. The bondbuying seems to be estimated to become about 100bn Usd at the time. This is way lower than the market has priced in.
There will be no "currencywar". China is preparing measures to reduce creditgrowth and inflation as well developing domestic demand and reduce leverage. This will require a stronger currency, higher interest rates and less bank lending, reducing credit further. It is necessary to stop the Chinese realestate market spiralling totally out of control. Or has it already? Over the last three months realestate prices in the most attractive locations have alledgedly risen by 40%! From an already very much inflated level. Anyone hearing the sound a bubble popping?
Both this weekends G20 meeting and the upcoming EU heads of state meeting the weekend after will both work in favour of a stronger Usd.
This will also have a negative effect on Gold, Copper and Oil - a few other overcrowded trades . The weaker Usd, continued strong Chinese growth, weak currency and a continued strong growth of global imbalances have been important variables driving these trades.
Well, time to take profit and reverse.
* This weekends G20 meeting
The probability for an agreement between US and China has, according to the best guesstimates out there, increased from 40% pre the Chinese rate hike to 60% post it. In either case, the signals seen so far, (with China basically handing over the printing press weapon to the US by hiking their rates and increasing their own sterilizationcost at the same time as the US has scaled back their QE approach to a pragmatic - meeting by meeting one instead of "shock and awe"), indicates there will be no "currency war" (silly name).
So, from here on, global rebalancing and deleveraging could be the name of the game. This means lower growth in the Western hemisphere and increased risk for ditto in the Eastern one.
In any case, its the right riskmanagement path and it is way better than the very high risk alternative of continued global imbalance building and then disaster - scenario.
* Assetliability ratios to go lower again - credit multipliers to drop and ditto for profitability.
We have likely seen the global liquidity peak this time around - time to review leverage set ups as implied and realised volatilities are set to rise
*Emerging markets - yet another overcrowded trade. This one is running the risk of turning the "holy grail" into "holy sxxt!"
Emerging market inflows are now back at the record levels at the end of 2007, beginning of 2008. Theres a big difference between now and then though - initial liquidity. While liquidity at the time was very good, it is the reverse now - despite the low volatility circumstances.
Once vol starts pumping up, liquidity will be nowhere to be found. In emerging markets this is normalprocedure, but there are always various levels for illiquidity and this time around such a scenario is running the risk of being the worst nightmare for naive investors and speculators.
Trust me, so far I have always been on the "right side" on any emerging market crisis, you do not want to be on the wrong side of it,,,,, This time around the exitdoor might get clogged up altogether.
Perhaps not today, or tommorrow, but the signs are building.
* Positions and positionchanges
No changes
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
20 October 2010
Chinese rate hike; CNY appreciationpace to increase, US QE to decrease - and so does global liquidity
* Eye of the storm - not for much longer?
China hiking rates - positive from a macro rebalancing point of view - but not from a shortterm liquidity and global growth point of view. As Ive mentioned earlier; globalrebalancing = global deleveraging.
As the cost and volume of the Chinese currency reserves have accelerated drastically, so has the exposure and the entailing risks. The cost of sterilization is sure to increase as the humongous currencyreserves have been allowed to accumulate over time, pushing inflation higher in the process. So far, the sterilization measures have not been adequate as only part of the currencyreserves have been sterilized. As imported inflation from commodities etc has also increased, a stronger currency is just what the doctor ordered.
The cost of sterilisation will now increases with the latest rate hike, (I believe this is just the beginning ), the Chinese authorities are likely to have concluded that it is in their best interest to increase the pace of Yuan strengthening. There are obvious risks to Chinese growth in this process. The authorities will have to walk a tight rope, but I doubt they have much choice. Fingers crossed.
This also means its time for liquidity drunk market participants to sober up - fast.
* What will happen from here?
Asian currencies to continue strengthening against the USD as they get dragged along by the CNY. The Usd to strengthen against everything else.
Gold and other supercrowded commodities to suffer. This will also be a structural phenomenon and not just shortterm. See global rebalancing above for explanation.
I also have a few other very interesting trades to get into from here, but Ill save those til later.
I would like to point out that Emergingmarkets in general are also supercrowded trades and would be looking for signs these are about to reverse. Liquidity is low and will not increase on any such development,,,,,,,,
*Positions and positionchanges
-Long GLL ETF (leveraged short Gold).
-Long SOIL ETF (leveraged short Oil).
-Long SCOP ETF (Short Copper).
- Short Aud/Usd
- Took profit on short Eur/Cad
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
China hiking rates - positive from a macro rebalancing point of view - but not from a shortterm liquidity and global growth point of view. As Ive mentioned earlier; globalrebalancing = global deleveraging.
As the cost and volume of the Chinese currency reserves have accelerated drastically, so has the exposure and the entailing risks. The cost of sterilization is sure to increase as the humongous currencyreserves have been allowed to accumulate over time, pushing inflation higher in the process. So far, the sterilization measures have not been adequate as only part of the currencyreserves have been sterilized. As imported inflation from commodities etc has also increased, a stronger currency is just what the doctor ordered.
The cost of sterilisation will now increases with the latest rate hike, (I believe this is just the beginning ), the Chinese authorities are likely to have concluded that it is in their best interest to increase the pace of Yuan strengthening. There are obvious risks to Chinese growth in this process. The authorities will have to walk a tight rope, but I doubt they have much choice. Fingers crossed.
This also means its time for liquidity drunk market participants to sober up - fast.
* What will happen from here?
Asian currencies to continue strengthening against the USD as they get dragged along by the CNY. The Usd to strengthen against everything else.
Gold and other supercrowded commodities to suffer. This will also be a structural phenomenon and not just shortterm. See global rebalancing above for explanation.
I also have a few other very interesting trades to get into from here, but Ill save those til later.
I would like to point out that Emergingmarkets in general are also supercrowded trades and would be looking for signs these are about to reverse. Liquidity is low and will not increase on any such development,,,,,,,,
*Positions and positionchanges
-Long GLL ETF (leveraged short Gold).
-Long SOIL ETF (leveraged short Oil).
-Long SCOP ETF (Short Copper).
- Short Aud/Usd
- Took profit on short Eur/Cad
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
19 October 2010
The ECB is playing liars poker - low yields to remain.
* The ECB is playing liars poker. Jawboning about "normalisation" of the yield curve.
The audience here is supposed to be the EU commission. Sending a clear ECB message that they will NOT agree in substituting ECB monetary policy for fiscal policy in order to finance and save the PIIGS.
Meanwhile, markets have literally believed in the ECB talk, pushing yields higher.
However, as the realisation sinks in that this is just - talk, yields will come lower and so will the Eur. Besides, a stronger Eur is NOT what the eurozone needs right now. In fact, for Eurozone stability reasons, it is necessary for the Eur to weaken. A strong Eur will wreak havoc.
On top of this, this weeks ZEW and IFO numbers are likely to show a Germany topping out and turning down, which will really cause angst among politicians and policymakers. Expect some political jawboning for a weaker Eur nearterm.
* China - best and worst case scenario
Running into the G2o meeting it might be worthwhile pointing out the obvious fact that China is running a nonconvertible, semifixed currency regime, which is NOT in line with open, free markets. These facts themselves have caused severe disruptions to the world economy cet.par.
A best case scenario, both for China and the rest of the world, would be for China to let its currency float. This will infer economic global pain, a lot of it. However, letting the China bubble grow further would not only infer economic pain but could also mean a new level of armed conflicts, beyond control. You choose; rebalancing today with upfront pain, or fingers crossed with upfront pleasure for extreme pain tommorrow?
What do you choose?
Humans normally pick the latter, while riskmanagement states the former.
You decide.
In any case, we are in for some very rough and turbulent times. Rollercoasterstyle. But as any rollercoasterrider knows, its on the way down the scary stuff starts and it always ends the same way; down at the bottom where we started. Question is; where is that?
* All in all
Shortterm we are in for a pre G20 correction in assetmarkets.
Beyond that, set up for BIG trouble continues. Big questionmark is whether there will be an agreement in the near future on rebalancing or not. Without it, assetmarkets will remain positive, til we sail out into the storm again.
* Positions and positionchanges
- Short Eur/Usd, Gbp/Usd, Eur/Jpy, Eur/Cad and Gbp/Jpy since last Friday.
- Monitoring equity indicies, gold, silver, copper, steel and oil for signs of a correction lower.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
The audience here is supposed to be the EU commission. Sending a clear ECB message that they will NOT agree in substituting ECB monetary policy for fiscal policy in order to finance and save the PIIGS.
Meanwhile, markets have literally believed in the ECB talk, pushing yields higher.
However, as the realisation sinks in that this is just - talk, yields will come lower and so will the Eur. Besides, a stronger Eur is NOT what the eurozone needs right now. In fact, for Eurozone stability reasons, it is necessary for the Eur to weaken. A strong Eur will wreak havoc.
On top of this, this weeks ZEW and IFO numbers are likely to show a Germany topping out and turning down, which will really cause angst among politicians and policymakers. Expect some political jawboning for a weaker Eur nearterm.
* China - best and worst case scenario
Running into the G2o meeting it might be worthwhile pointing out the obvious fact that China is running a nonconvertible, semifixed currency regime, which is NOT in line with open, free markets. These facts themselves have caused severe disruptions to the world economy cet.par.
A best case scenario, both for China and the rest of the world, would be for China to let its currency float. This will infer economic global pain, a lot of it. However, letting the China bubble grow further would not only infer economic pain but could also mean a new level of armed conflicts, beyond control. You choose; rebalancing today with upfront pain, or fingers crossed with upfront pleasure for extreme pain tommorrow?
What do you choose?
Humans normally pick the latter, while riskmanagement states the former.
You decide.
In any case, we are in for some very rough and turbulent times. Rollercoasterstyle. But as any rollercoasterrider knows, its on the way down the scary stuff starts and it always ends the same way; down at the bottom where we started. Question is; where is that?
* All in all
Shortterm we are in for a pre G20 correction in assetmarkets.
Beyond that, set up for BIG trouble continues. Big questionmark is whether there will be an agreement in the near future on rebalancing or not. Without it, assetmarkets will remain positive, til we sail out into the storm again.
* Positions and positionchanges
- Short Eur/Usd, Gbp/Usd, Eur/Jpy, Eur/Cad and Gbp/Jpy since last Friday.
- Monitoring equity indicies, gold, silver, copper, steel and oil for signs of a correction lower.
As usual, good luck
The comments and posts published in this blog ARE NOT trading recommendations. They can NEVER be considered as trading calls or advices. If you decide to use the information offered here for your real trading it is at your own risk.Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.Errors and Omissions may occur.Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice."www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com" will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.© 2008 "www.todaysmacrotrading.blogspot.com:The traders blog" All Rights Reserved.
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