Red Flag Warning
Posted on Saturday, November 11th, 2017
Just days after our latest blog post, Bump in The Silk Road, some very interesting comments from central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan were posted on the central bank’s website. Here is a snippet from Bloomberg.
Latent risks are accumulating, including some that are “hidden, complex, sudden, contagious and hazardous,” even as the overall health of the financial system remains good.
“High leverage is the ultimate origin of macro financial vulnerability,” wrote Zhou, 69, who is widely expected to retire soon after a record 15-year tenure. “In sectors of the real economy, this is reflected as excessive debt, and in the financial system, this is reflected as credit that has been expanding too quickly.”
The latest in a string of pro-deleveraging rhetoric from the PBOC, Zhou’s comments were speculated to have contributed to a rout in Hong Kong shares. They signal policy makers remain committed to the campaign to reduce borrowing levels across China’s economy. Concern that regulators may intensify this drive after last month’s twice-a-decade Communist Party congress helped push yields on 10-year sovereign bonds to a three-year high.
You can feel the pressure building in Washington DC. Republicans are scrambling and their candidate in the Alabama Senate race is in hot water. A loss to the Democrats in the Senate could make passing legislation that much more difficult. That could force Republicans to negotiate more aggressively with the Democrats if they want their tax bill passed. Complicating matters, the government’s current funding agreement expires Dec. 8. While the last agreement just punted to December the next agreement will have a lot more on the line. Also, members of Congress could be distracted by anger emanating from their constituents surrounding health insurance. The window just opened 10 days ago for 2018 and the increases are outrageous. We are hearing it from contacts looking for advice on how to proceed. The open enrollment period ends December 15th. 16 days earlier than last year. The pressure is building. It is going to be an interesting December.
The market seems a bit on edge as everybody knows it can’t just go higher EVERY day. The S&P had its first down week in 8 weeks and even BitCoin went down! Japan was up 23 out of the last 25 days. It broke. Whether the machines broke or investors broke is the question. Investor’s answer was to sell first and ask questions later. It just shows how on edge investors are with the market seemingly up every day everywhere.
We told you things can get weird when the President is out of the country. Saudi Arabia didn’t waste any time announcing their purge. That got oil and oil related stocks hopping. West Texas is at prices it has not seen in 2 years as oil remains in the mid $50 a barrel range with $60 in its sights. High yield bonds have seen huge outflows and that is a red flag warning sign for stocks. The ten year yield bounced higher late in the week to get back to the 2.4% level. The red flag there is its performance in the post Japan mini melt down. Yields jumped higher. Logically, you would think that yields would head lower in a flight to safety. Instead, it appears to be a flight to deleveraging. It is sign that there is too much risk and leverage in the system. If yields and stocks go down together that will be a problem as risk parity funds as they will be forced to cash in some bets. If there is a meltdown that is where it where we will see it start. That boat, that includes the volatility selling crew, is just too crowded.
There are rumors of more indictments when Trump gets back into town. Political uncertainty, rumors of the Saudi king abdicating over the weekend, Japanese flash crashes, and the tax cut bill seems to be DOA for now. S&P 500 is exhibiting signs of slowing its ascent as the rally is showing some cracks. The bulls could use a time out. The animal spirits are unpredictable and still in control. Gotta be in it to win it but, maybe just a little less in.
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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.