Is an Economic Reflation Finally Starting, September 15, 2017

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Assuming that North Korea is another temporary headwind on stocks (and again it will be temporary as long as they don’t shoot a missile at Guam), then the bigger story of the week is the outperformance of the cyclical sectors and the underperformance of YTD sector outperformers (super-cap internet, utilities, etc.).

I continue to believe that if we are going to see the stock market extend this 2017 rally, it will have to be driven by the expectation of an economic reflation. And, after months of lack luster inflation data, this week provided some hope for that cause. Now, today’s growth data needs to be better than expected to complete the week.

But, even then, one month does not make a trend—so I’m not saying abandon utilities, healthcare and super cap internet for banks and small caps. All I’m saying is that we need to be prepared to make a switch, if we get the compelling signals in the near future.

Regardless, the upcoming economic data (especially the Core PCE Price Index at the end of the month) just got a lot more important.

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CPI Preview, September 14, 2017

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I normally don’t do CPI previews (sometimes if it’s a non-event number, I won’t even bother you with a CPI review), but this number is different for two reasons.

First, the fledgling hopes of an economic reflation have pushed stocks to new highs. Second, if this CPI report does meet or beat estimates, then it might continue the sector rotation that has seen cyclical sectors (banks in particular) outperform this week at the expense of YTD outperformers such as utilities, healthcare and super-cap internet. So, it will raise the question of whether a tactical rotation is necessary.

Hawkish If: Core CPI beats the 0.2% m/m expectation.
Likely Market Reaction (assuming it’s a small beat): Stocks should continue to rally. Look for Treasury yields and the dollar to continue to rally, and for..(withheld for subscribers only—unlock specifics and ETFs by signing up for a free two-week trial).

Neutral If: Headline CPI meets the 0.3% m/m expectation while core CPI meets the 0.2% m/m expectation. Likely Market Reaction: A mild continuance of the…(withheld for subscribers only—unlock specifics and ETFs by signing up for a free two-week trial).

Dovish If: CPI misses the headline or core expectations of 0.3% m/m or 0.2% m/m. Likely Market Reaction: An unwind of the…(withheld for subscribers only—unlock specifics and ETFs by signing up for a free two-week trial).

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Green Shoots of A Global Reflation, September 13, 2017

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Are We Seeing “Green Shoots” of A Global Reflation?
• Chinese August CPI rose 1.8% yoy vs. (E) 1.7% yoy.
• British Core CPI rose 2.7% vs. (E) 2.5% yoy.

Takeaway

Are there “green shoots” of inflation? I reference the Bernanke comments regarding economic growth here, because very quietly we’ve seen two better-than-expected inflation numbers in two big economies (technically three if you count the uptick in Indian CPI, although that’s not widely followed).

August Chinese CPI beat (it came out Friday but couldn’t be priced in until markets opened on Monday) but it was the big uptick in core British CPI that saw the market extend the rally on Tuesday.

So, the logical question, given these two surprise beats is, “Will US CPI also surprise markets?”

The inclination is to believe in the trend, but to be clear, higher Chinese and British CPIs have no real bearing on US CPI—so strong numbers in those two reports don’t increase the likelihood of a strong CPI number.

But, if it comes, expect some potentially big market moves across Treasury yields, the dollar, and in stock
sector trading (banks and cyclicals will scream higher while defensives, including parts of tech, will likely badly lag). But again, that will depend on tomorrow’s number.

From a market standpoint, looking at the effects of the strong Chinese and British CPI, the clear ETF winner is…(withheld for subscribers only—unlock specifics and ETFs by signing up for a free two-week trial).

I continue to believe that an economic reflation (better growth, higher inflation) remains the key to a sustained US and global stock rally. And while two numbers don’t make a trend, they were the first positive surprises we’ve had on inflation in months, and we think that’s potentially very important (if it continues).

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New Stock Highs, September 12, 2017

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Stocks surged to a new record high on Monday after the damage from Hurricane Irma wasn’t as bad as feared, and in the absence of North Korea performing an ICBM test over the weekend. The S&P 500 rose 1.08%.

Stocks were higher from the start on Monday thanks to the two aforementioned positive catalysts: Hurricane Irma and North Korea. Both events turned out to be not as bad as feared, and that caused a classic “buyers chasing” rally.

Reflecting the fact that it was those two “not negative” macro catalysts that sent stocks higher on Monday was the fact that the S&P 500 gapped higher at the open and rallied throughout the morning on that buyers chase. Then, stocks spent the afternoon grinding sideways near the day’s highs.

Outside of Irma/North Korea, there weren’t any notable catalysts in the markets Monday. Economic data was non-existent, as was any notable political or geopolitical news (outside of North Korea). Also helping stocks rally was the fact that the week’s important events (CPI, Retail Sales, Industrial Production) are on Thursday and Friday, and there aren’t many looming catalysts on the calendar between now and then.

Stocks maintained their gains into the close to finish the day at a new all-time high.

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Weekly Market Cheat Sheet, September 11, 2017

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Last Week in Review

The economic data remains remarkably consistent: Growth data remains good but not great while inflation data relentlessly disappoints. From a market standpoint, that means that the economy isn’t at imminent risk of a material loss of momentum, but at the same time there are no signs of the type of acceleration that would lead to a rising tide carrying stocks higher.

From a Fed standpoint, inflation remains lackluster, and that’s causing a reduction in expectations for a December rate hike. That’s not a medium/longer-term good thing for stocks, because it further throws into doubt the chances for reflation—and economic reflation remains the key to sustainably higher stock prices.

Looking at last week’s data, there weren’t many numbers, but the numbers we got reinforced the “slow growth/low-inflation” trend.

The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (or service sector PMI) rose to 55.3 from 53.9. So, there was acceleration in activity in August. But that acceleration missed estimates of 55.8, and while a number in the mid-50s is solid, it’s not the type of number that implies we’re seeing real acceleration.

The other notable number last week that was largely ignored by the media was August productivity and unit labor costs. An uptick in productivity, if it’s consistent and material, could lead to an economic acceleration.

The reason for that is simple: The economy is basically at full employment. But, if those workers get more productive, the total economic output increases, and we get a stronger economy.

August productivity rose to 1.5% vs. (E) 1.3%, so that is a good sign. It’s not nearly the acceleration we need, but it’s a step in the right direction.

However, that productivity number wasn’t the important one from this release. The important number was unit labor costs. Rising unit labor costs is a precursor to larger inflation, so it’s an important number. And, unfortunately, it once again missed expectations. Unit labor costs rose 0.2% vs. (E) 0.3%, providing even more fodder for the “doves” on the Fed to not hike rates in December.

Finally, turning to the ECB meeting last week, you know by now it was slightly hawkish. Draghi signaled the ECB will reveal the details of QE tapering at the October meeting, and he again chose not to try and “talk down” the euro, which led to the euro hitting new multi-year highs (and the dollar hitting multi-year lows).

From a market standpoint, that dollar weakness is a slight tailwind on US stocks, although not a material one. Until we get better inflation or growth data here in the US, the trend of euro strength/dollar weakness will continue.

This Week’s Preview

All the important economic reports this week come out Thursday and Friday, which is nice because that gives us a bit of time to get ourselves squared away following all the hurricane issues from last week.

The most important number this week is CPI, out Thursday. As you know, inflation remains the key issue with the economy and Fed expectations. Frankly, we need CPI to start firming because it’ll give us hope of a looming economic reflation. If, however, this number disappoints, as it has for a few months, we’ll see new lows in the dollar and new lows in Treasury yields, neither of which are a good thing for stocks beyond the very short term.

After CPI, there are three important growth numbers out this Friday: Retail Sales, Industrial Production and Empire Manufacturing Survey.

Starting with the first two, remember there remains a large gap between “hard” economic data and surveys. Put plainly, actual economic data is not rising to the level that’s being implied by the PMIs and/or consumer confidence. The longer that occurs, the more likely it is that the surveys are exaggerating economic growth.

So, the sooner hard economic data begins to accelerate, the better. If retail sales and industrial production can beat estimates, that will be an economic positive.

Turning to Empire Manufacturing, that’s the first data point from September, and that’s always anecdotally important because we don’t want to see any steep drop off that might imply a loss of momentum.

Bottom line, this week gives us more color into the state of growth and inflation in August. We need to see both begin to accelerate if we are to hold out hope that we can see an economic reflation create a “rising tide” for stocks in Q4 ’17 or Q1 ’18.

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EIA Report Analysis and Oil Update, September 8, 2017

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Yesterday’s EIA report was taken with a grain of salt, as the effects of Hurricane Harvey badly skewed the data resulting in a print that was basically worthless from a fundamental analysis standpoint. As would be expected with a large number of refinery outages, crude stocks rose +4.6M bbls, but that was slightly less than estimates calling for a +5.0M build.

EIA Report Analysis and Oil Update

Meanwhile, both gasoline and heating oil inventories declined (as refineries runs were way down) by -3.2M bbls and -1.4M bbls, respectively (but both declines were smaller than expected). On balance, the headline prints were largely dismissed. WTI finished the day down 0.22% while RBOB gasoline futures fell 0.98%.

The production portion of the report was a little shocking at first glance, but at the same time, the data made sense when you consider the impact Harvey had on the Gulf Coast oil industry. Lower 48 production declined -783K b/d last week, or 94% of the 2017 output gains.

For perspective, the average weekly change coming into this week was +24K b/d. Like the headlines, the production data was largely overlooked by traders because the data was so badly skewed by Hurricane Harvey.

Looking ahead, it will be very important to watch the production data. If output does not recover in a swift manner that will be a bullish supply side development, as the relentless grind higher in US oil output has been the single-largest headwind for oil prices this year. For now, the outlook for oil is neutral with a bias to the downside, as nothing has changed materially enough to push futures through resistance between $50 and $54/barrel in WTI.

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Why the Debt Ceiling Deal Isn’t a Positive for Markets, September 7, 2017

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Bottom Line: Fischer & Debt Ceiling Not Market Positives

The two big news items Wednesday were the resignation of Fed Vice Chair Fischer, and the agreement on a three-month debt ceiling extension/government funding deal.

Starting with the former, Fischer’s resignation makes the Fed very slightly more dovish (Fischer was a modest hawk) but really the future path of Fed interest rates depends a lot more on inflation data than it does Fed personnel.

From a market standpoint, the odds of a December rate hike appropriately declined slightly Tuesday. But again, Fischer’s departure isn’t a dovish gamechanger, and if inflation metrics move higher between now and December we’ll still get a rate hike. From a stock standpoint, other than the temporary pop yesterday, I don’t see this news as an influence.

Turning to Washington, as usual, politicians have kicked the can down the road. On a positive note, we won’t see a debt ceiling drama or shutdown drama in late-September.

On a negative note, we likely will see an even more intense budget battle into the year-end. This will be all the more contentious because now tax cuts will be thrown into the mix, assuming Republicans have a concrete plan by then.

From a market standpoint, this is a very short-term positive in so much as it removes the possibility of a crisis over the next few weeks.

However, it sets up an even bigger potential negative into the end of the year. Bottom line, the debt ceiling/government funding agreement is not an incremental positive for markets, and we don’t expect it to push stocks higher from here.

In sum, both of Wednesday’s headlines had no real impact on our overarching macro view. We remain cautiously positive on stocks, but continue to believe that tax cuts and earnings hold the key to performance for the remainder of 2017.

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European Central Bank (ECB) Interest Rate Preview, September 6, 2017

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The ECB is expected to signal it will begin to taper its QE program sometime in 2018 at tomorrow’s meeting; however, the details regarding that tapering announcement remain unclear.

Why It Matters: The dollar. The falling dollar, which is down more than 10% year to date, has been an under-appreciated tailwind on the stock market (a weaker dollar boosts exports and corporate profits). If the ECB is more hawkish than expected tomorrow, that will cause a potentially big reversal in the dollar. I say that, because “long euro/short dollar” is a very crowded trade at the moment, and if it reverses, it could be violent.

The reason this meeting will punch above its weight from a market standpoint is because the ECB commentary on tapering will be (correctly) taken as implicit commentary on the strength of the euro.

The market assumes that the ECB is not concerned about current euro strength. If the ECB fails to announce tapering intentions tomorrow, or is very vague about those intentions, the market will infer that the ECB thinks the euro is too high. If that happens, the euro will drop, hard, and the dollar will soar—and that will likely be a headwind on US stocks, and a (big) tailwind on European stocks (so HEDJ will begin to rally again).

Meeting Expectations If: ECB President Draghi confirms, at the press conference, that the ECB Governing Council intends to taper QE in 2018, and that it will reveal details of that plan at a future ECB meeting. So, Draghi announces tapering is coming, but doesn’t give any details.

Dovish If: Draghi does not announce the intention to being tapering QE sometime in 2018. This is a remote possibility, but given the strength in the euro I don’t want to completely rule it out.

Mildly Dovish If: Draghi announces that the ECB intends to taper QE, and that it will announce the details at the December meeting, at earliest. Draghi likely won’t single out December, but he won’t say details will be revealed at the “next” meeting, which would be October.

Hawkish If: Draghi announces that the ECB intends to taper QE, and says the details of the taper will be revealed at the “next” meeting. That’s the key phrase to watch for. If that’s the case, look for the euro to modestly rally as there is not clear consensus on an October reveal, and that would be taken to interpret urgency on the part of the ECB, and a disregard for the strength in the euro. It’s the latter point that would cause the euro to rally.

Finally, I don’t want to say that something is impossible, but it’s incredibly unlikely that Draghi and the ECB will reveal detailed plans regarding the tapering of QE tomorrow. The wide consensus will only be to announce they want to start tapering QE.

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3 Catalysts for the Market, Plus a Wildcard to Watch, September 5, 2017

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Ever since I started my career I’ve viewed the post Labor Day time in the market as the “make or break” period of the year—because I’ve found the September-December months provide an inordinate share of both risks and opportunities for portfolios… and I believe this year will be no different.

So, as we start this “stretch run” into the end of the year, the current market set up remains as follows: Stocks have had a great year from a return standpoint, and momentum and the benefit of the doubt remain with the bulls. Yet at the same time, cracks are appearing in this Teflon market, and as such I view the market as being at much more of a tipping point than most analysts.

I believe we will either get the positive catalysts that will send stocks higher between now and year end, or the forces that have powered stocks higher throughout 2017 (earnings growth, momentum) will begin to recede, potentially opening an “air pocket” like we saw in August 2015 and early 2016.

I want to spend time today focusing on the key catalysts that I believe will decide whether the market extends the 2017 gains between now and year end, or whether we see a pullback.

But before I go into these catalysts, with regards to the weekend’s news, it goes without saying that a military conflict with North Korea is a near-term bearish gamechanger.

To be clear, I do not think that it will happen, but at the same time the level of tension here is rising considerably. If there is a military strike against North Korea, reducing tactical positions will be prudent, and it’s one reason why I continue to advocate buying puts on the Nasdaq or Russell with September or October expirations.

Away from North Korea, the catalysts that, in our opinion, will make or break 2017 are: Tax cuts, earnings, and the ECB/Fed decisions.

3 market catalysts to watch

Catalyst 1: Tax Cuts. Why This Matters—It Could Spark Another 5% Rally (Easily). Tax cut disappointment is a risk to the markets, but in reality, the likely market implications for the tax cut issue are either 1) Nothing, or 2) Positive.

I say that for a simple reason… the market is expecting very little in the way of tax cuts (28% corporate rate, foreign profit repatriation). So, it’ll take literally no change to the tax code to really disappoint markets and cause a tax cut related pullback. Conversely, the market has not priced in 25% (or lower) corporate tax rates and aggressive foreign profit repatriation. If that happens, expected 2018 S&P 500 EPS will rise immediately to $145/share (conservatively), which should allow the S&P 500 to rally close to 5% and still not breach 18X 2018 earnings.

Key Dates: There needs to be a formal bill introduced into one of the chambers of Congress by mid-October if we’re going to get something done by early 2018. If there’s no bill by then, look for stocks to be mildly disappointed. If there’s nothing by year end, look for it to be a headwind.

Catalyst 2: Earnings. Why This Matters—It Could Make the Market Too Expensive on a Valuation Basis. The 2017 earnings estimate for the S&P 500 is about $131/share. The 2018 S&P 500 earnings estimate is $140/ share. That’s about 7% yoy earnings growth—so that’s accounted for the vast majority of the S&P 500’s 10% YTD return.

But, there are some early signs that the growth rate of earnings is starting to peak. More specifically, a good Q2 earnings season failed to spark much of a rally in the market, so if Q3 earnings disappoint (even a little bit) that could cause some concern about that $140 2018 S&P 500 EPS, and investors might begin to book profits, which could easily snowball given extended valuations.

Key Dates: Oct. 9. That’s the unofficial start of Q3 earnings season (the big banks report that week).

Catalysts 3: Fed/ECB. Why This Matters—The Dollar. The ECB decision on the announcement of tapering (which will come this Thursday), and the Fed’s commentary at the meeting on Sept. 20, will be important for the markets for one main reason—currencies.

The Dollar Index is near multi-year lows on the expectation of ECB tapering, and that’s been an unsung tailwind on the markets so far in 2017. But, if the ECB surprises this Thursday and doesn’t announce its intention to taper QE starting in 2018, the dollar will surge and the euro will drop, and that could be a surprise headwind on U.S. stocks.

Additionally, since July the market has largely convinced itself that the Fed won’t hike rates in December, but it’s important to realize that Fed leadership (Yellen, Dudley, Fisher) haven’t really confirmed that expectation. If economic data gets better between now and then, even with low inflation, the market could have to price in another rate hike, which could also be a near-term head-wind.

Key Dates: Sept. 7 (ECB Meeting), Sept. 20 (FOMC meeting).

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