Fickle Stock Markets and Daughter’s Driving
Posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2015
‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.’ – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
It has been some time since our last quarterly letter but then again not much of anything of consequence has happened since the summer began. As you can see from our above quote, stolen from Vladimir Lenin, this week has seen some market moving news. China’s devaluation this week felt earth moving. A little background perhaps? Currencies are a tool which governments can use to speed up or slow down their economies. China has seen a serious deterioration in its export driven economy in recent weeks. A weaker currency is a lever to pull to get exports going again. Look at the relationship between the US and China. If I wanted to buy Chinese manufactured goods I would use US Dollars to do it. If the Chinese currency goes lower versus the US Dollar than my Dollars go farther. Instead of it costing $600 dollars for a piece of furniture maybe it only costs $540 now. If I am a dealer here in the US maybe I increase my purchases by 10%. A nice little jumpstart to the Chinese economy and cheaper goods here in the US. Cheaper goods is a good thing right? Well, maybe not so much. You now have the idea that China is not only exporting goods but cheaper goods and prices begin to fall. The Federal Reserve here in the US has been trying to ignite INFLATION and not having much success. Now we may be seeing waves of deflation hitting our shores further pushing the Federal Reserve into a bind. China is now exporting deflation around the world.
This puts the Federal Reserve in a bigger bind than they were previously. The IMF and World Bank have asked them not to raise interest rates. Higher interest rates in the US will only make the Dollar rise faster and higher. Why is that a problem? I can go travel internationally for less money. The problem is that many countries tie their currencies to the US Dollar. Their currencies are rising and that is harming their economies. These countries may have to devalue their currencies and around and around we go in a race to the bottom. Eventually something will have to give. For now my money is on a currency like the Malaysian Ringgit. A currency in a far off land none of us are concerned about until we are all very concerned. This sounds much like the beginnings of the 1997 Asia Financial Crisis. That crisis started with the collapse of the Thai Baht. The crisis migrated its way to Russia where they defaulted on their debt and soon to the US where the collapse of a large hedge fund forced the Federal Reserve to intervene. We are all interconnected. Watch out for currency crises.
From Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader comes an interesting statistic. Friday’s have historically been up days in the market. No one likes to have risk on a weekend so shorts like to cover. Shorts have infinite risk. If you are short over a weekend and the company that you are short is purchased you have infinite risk. Not much fun at the beach worrying about that so you cover your position driving prices higher. Goepfert points out that over the last 3 months out of 12 Fridays the S&P 500 has been down 10 times. Investors seem to be seeing the glass as half empty and not half full with the unexpected weekend surprise being skewed to the downside.
Clients are asking about my feelings on commodities and crude oil in particular. Anecdotally, I am hearing advisors ask about eliminating commodities from model portfolios. As clear as a bell being rung we may be closer to the bottom in commodities than the top.
“Corporate insiders in the energy sector have dried up their selling activity while making some buys. At the same time, sentiment on crude oil has soured to one of its worst levels in over a decade. When we’ve seen this kind of difference in opinion between insiders and public, energy stocks have consistently rallied.” – Jason Goepfert – Cashin’s Comments – 7/28/2015
When there is no one left to sell…
Keep an eye on gold, silver and oil but especially copper. Copper may tell us whether China – the global growth engine- is getting back on its feet.
It is getting harder and harder to generate a return in these markets. The S&P 500 has moved in a 5% range since last November when the Federal Reserve stopped increasing its balance sheet. Bonds have continued to do well as interest rates are back to recent lows. The 200 day Moving Average (DMA) is critical support on the S&P 500. China’s actions may be the key. If they continue to let their currency depreciate then markets may suffer. Keep an eye on the US Dollar. If the Federal Reserve raises rates while China continues to depreciate then the probability of downside risks accelerate. We could be in for a bumpy ride here. September and October can be the cruelest times of the year for investors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has swung to either side of breakeven in 2015 over 20 times. No other year has been so fickle, the closest being the 20 times the blue chip index swung in both 1934 and 1994, according to research compiled by Bespoke Investment Group. This shows the lack of conviction by market participants going back to last November. As a reminder, 1934 finished up 4.1% for the year while in 1994 the Dow Jones closed higher by just 2.1%. The years after the most fickle years look like this. 1935 was up 38.6% and 1995 was up 33.5%. Not enough data to go on but we will keep digging.
My oldest got her Driver’s License on Friday. Time is flying by. After her test, the first thing that I did was call my insurance agent. For all of you, this is a good time of the year to check out your insurance and make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck whether it be home, auto, life or liability. If you need help I have some excellent resources for you. As a disclosure I am a fee only Registered Investment Advisor. I do not make money on your insurance needs. My only goal is to help you protect your assets and save money.
I think we aspire less to foresee the future and more to be a great contingency planner… you can respond very fast to what’s happening because you thought through all the possibilities, – Lloyd Blankfein
To learn more about us and Blackthorn Asset Management LLC visit our website at www.BlackthornAsset.com .
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill
Disclosure: This blog is informational and is not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. If you are thinking about investing consider the risk. Everyone’s financial situation is different. Consult your financial advisor.