You can kind of get a feel for where we are by days like today. In the morning, a foreign central bank in almost grand standing (for now) is obliged to crash a money market of its own making and the world responds, initially, by cheerful enthusiasm. As O/N HIBOR was making its way up to 66%, oil prices (February [...]
If the PBOC was desperate last week, the catalog of words describing their likely stance this week is unbelievably short (pun intended). In the handbook of central bank operations, when conditions truly spiral out of control the first entry in that chapter says to blame speculators. Primary among them, subchapter one in the handbook, are the short sellers. If you [...]
When analyzing the full and true nature of the dissonance between the idea of continued recovery and the financial markets’ scenario for something much worse you realize that this is not a new occurrence. In curve after curve, negativity has been building for years. Financial curves are important because they tell us the health of the monetary economy, namely assumptions [...]
The PBOC wasted no time this week showing that it was serious about its desperation last week. The central bank fixed the CNY reference contrarily upward to 6.583 this morning from Friday’s 6.600. As we have been documenting during this unabated “dollar” problem, whenever the PBOC attempts a contrary maneuver with the fix it typically sets off enormous fireworks. Sure [...]
Four charts that perfectly capture this week. Illiquidity, a little fear, and very suggesting symmetry dollar to yuan, or China much more than China. Needless to say, not a constructive ending with which to start next week (more here, subscription required).
Lost amidst the celebrations about the new auto sales record achieved in 2015 was that sales in December were more than disappointing. There were an overwhelming number of articles on the subject, and nearly all of them identical in focusing almost exclusively on 2015 as a whole rather than how sales were at the end. It is entirely understandable, not [...]
Every once in a great while, you run into a mainstream article or news story that actually breaks through the thick cloud of conventional nonsense that passes for expert commentary. Despite clear signs about why people the world over should be worried about China, day after day we are told there is nothing to worry about. Their currency is in [...]
I think it entirely fitting, even useful in the long run, that December’s payroll report was yet another perfect month; the fourth of 2015 by my unofficial count. There was absolutely nothing wrong with any of the components, at least in the raw job count estimated by various statistical regressions and adjusted with imputations (wages, not so much). The problem [...]
The focus on China as if their problems were only Chinese is highly misplaced, though you can understand the appeal of the excuse. This sentiment was expressed over and over today (just as it was in August): Do we all live in China now? Investors could be excused for thinking that, given that arcane indicators such as a Chinese manufacturing [...]
The Census Bureau released its estimates for November US trade. It was yet another debacle for the FOMC narrative about an economy poised to overheat. November was the month in between the two FOMC meetings where they first declared (October) risks diminished and then (December) recovery conditions fully met. Instead, both exports and imports in that interim shrunk considerably, casting [...]
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