Latest from BCA Research
The US High Quality (USHQ) portfolio underperformed its benchmark through April, returning 7.02%, while its SPY benchmark returned 11.55%. On a trailing three-month basis, the USHQ portfolio’s performance was weaker than the benchmark as well, with USHQ underperforming by approx. 338bps.
Improving job growth keeps Fed rate cuts off the table, but evidence of labor market tightening will be required before rate hikes become part of the discussion.
MoF FX intervention has drawn a line at 160, triggering a sharp yen squeeze. But with near-term fundamentals still stacked against the currency, USD/JPY remains poised to retest the highs before any durable turn.
Aggregate Senate betting market pricing appears too pessimistic on Democrats relative to state-level odds and early polling, suggesting a potential mispricing and a relatively sanguine attitude towards the still-unresolved conflict in Iran and its aftermath.
India is probably the most vulnerable among the G-20 economies should the Strait of Hormuz not reopen fully by the end of this month. Growth will slow, while inflation will rise materially. Investors should brace for further weakness in the currency and stock prices.
New Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, is betting that an AI-driven productivity acceleration will get the Fed out of jail for persistently missing its 2 percent inflation target. But history informs us that while new technology adoption is exponential, total productivity growth is not. So, if Warsh’s bet goes wrong, as is likely, the US inflation overshoot will persist. We discuss the investment implications. Plus, a new trade is short cotton.
China’s K-shaped economy is widening, with resilient exports and subdued domestic consumption. Over the next 6–12 months, we see a higher probability that global capex momentum persists than China delivers meaningful consumer-focused stimulus.
The global economy has weathered the oil shock reasonably well so far. However, the risk of a recession will increase meaningfully if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed into June.
The tenuous ceasefire holds, with the "new geopolitical equilibrium scenario" remaining in place. Enough crude trickles through Hormuz to avert a global recession, but not to alleviate building inflationary pressures, a product of a complicated geomacro context that is not transitory. The Fed will look to ignore these in the short term, fueling the equity rally in the US. Chinese equities may pop thanks to the upcoming détente. When does it all end? Beware of major IPOs!