Fixed Income

Next Thursday May 26, we will hold the BCA Debate – High Inflation: Here To Stay,Or Soon In The Rear-View Mirror? – a Webcast in which I will debate my colleague, Chief Commodity & Energy Strategist, Bob Ryan on the outlook for inflation, and take the side that inflationary fears will soon recede. I do hope you can join us. As such, the debate will replace the weekly report, though we will renew the fractal trading watchlist on our website. Dhaval Joshi Executive Summary The second quarter’s synchronised sell-off in stocks, bonds, inflation protected bonds, industrial metals and gold is an extremely rare star alignment. The last time that the ‘everything sell-off’ star alignment happened was in early 1981 when the Paul Volcker Fed ‘broke the back’ of inflation and turned stagflation into an outright recession. In 2022, the Jay Powell Fed risks doing the same. If history repeats itself, then the template of 1981-82 could provide a useful guide for 2022-23. In which case, bond prices are now entering a bottoming process.  Stocks would bottom next. While the near term outlook is cloudy, we expect stock prices to be higher on a 12-month horizon, especially long-duration stocks that are most sensitive to bond yields. But just as in 1981-82, the biggest casualty will be industrial metals, which are likely to suffer at least double-digit losses over the coming year. Fractal trading watchlist: FTSE 100 versus Stoxx Europe 600, Czech Republic versus Poland, Food and Beverages, US REITS versus Utilities, CNY/USD. 2022-23 Could Be An Echo Of 1981-82 Bottom Line: The 1981-82 template for 2022-23 suggests that bonds will bottom first, followed by stocks. But steer clear of gold and industrial metals. Feature Investors have had a torrid time in the second quarter, with no place to hide.1  Stocks are down -10 percent. Bonds are down -6 percent. Inflation protected bonds are down -6 percent. Industrial metals are down -13 percent. Gold is down -6 percent. To add insult to injury, even cash is down in real terms, because the interest rate is well below the inflation rate! (Chart I-1) Chart I-1The 'Everything Sell-Off' In 2022 Last Happened In 1981, When Stagflation Morphed Into Recession Such a star alignment of asset returns, in which stocks, bonds, inflation protected bonds, industrial metals, and gold all sell off together, is unprecedented. In the eighty calendar quarters since the inflation protected bond market data became available in the early 2000s there has never been a quarter with an ‘everything sell-off’. Everything Has Sold Off, But Does That Make Sense? The rarity of an ‘everything sell-off’ is because there are virtually no economic or financial scenarios in which all five asset-classes should fall together (Chart I-2 and Chart I-3). Chart I-2An 'Everything Sell-Off' Is Extremely Rare Chart I-3An 'Everything Sell-Off' Is Extremely Rare A scenario dominated by rising inflation is bad for bonds, but good for inflation protected bonds, especially relative to conventional bonds. Yet inflation protected bonds have not outperformed either in absolute or relative terms. A scenario of rising inflation should also support the value of stocks, industrial metals and certainly gold, given that all three are, to varying degrees, ‘inflation hedges.’ Yet the prices of stocks, industrial metals, and gold have all plummeted. The rarity of an ‘everything sell-off’ is because there are virtually no economic or financial scenarios in which all asset classes should fall together. Conversely, a scenario dominated by slowing growth is bad for industrial metal prices, but good for conventional bond prices – as bond yields decline on diminished expectations for rate hikes. Yet conventional bonds have sold off. What about a scenario dominated by both rising inflation and slowing growth – which is to say, stagflation? In this case, we would expect inflation protected bonds to perform especially well. Meanwhile, with the economy still growing, the prices of industrial metals should not be collapsing, as they have been recently.  In a final scenario of an imminent recession we would expect stocks, industrial metals and even gold to sell off, but conventional bonds to perform especially well. The upshot is there are virtually no economic scenarios in which stocks, bonds, inflation protected bonds, industrial metals, and gold plummet together, as they have recently. So, what’s going on? To answer, we need to take a trip back to the 1980s. 1981 Was The Last Time We Had An ‘Everything Sell-Off’ Inflation protected bonds did not exist before the late 1990s. But considering the other four asset-classes – stocks, bonds, industrial metals, and gold – to find the last time that they all fell together we must travel back to 1981, the time of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and the Paul Volcker Fed. And suddenly, we discover spooky similarities with the current Zeitgeist. Just like today, the world’s central banks were obsessed with ‘breaking the back’ of inflation, which, like a monster in a horror movie, kept appearing to die before coming back with second and third winds (Chart I-4). Chart I-4In 1981, Just As In 2022, Central Banks Would 'Do Whatever It Takes' To Kill Inflation Just like today, the central banks were desperate to repair their badly damaged credibility in managing the economy. As the biography “Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence” puts it: “He restored credibility to the Federal Reserve at a time it had been greatly diminished.” And just like today, central bankers hoped that they could pilot the economy to a ‘soft landing’, though whether they genuinely believed that is another story. Asked at a press conference if higher interest rates would cause a recession, Volcker replied coyly “Well, you get varying opinions about that.” 2022 has spooky similarities with 1981. In fact, in its single-minded aim ‘to do whatever it takes’ to kill inflation, the Volcker Fed hiked the interest rate to near 20 percent, thereby triggering what was then the deepest economic recession since the Depression of the 1930s (Chart I-5 and Chart I-6). With hindsight, it was a price worth paying because the economy then began a quarter century of low inflation, steady growth, and mild recessions – a halcyon period for which the Volcker Fed’s aggressive tightening in the early 1980s have been lauded. Chart I-5In 1981, The Fed Hiked Rates To Near 20 Percent... Chart I-6...And Thereby Morphed Stagflation Into Recession Granted, the problems of 2022 are a much scaled down version of those in 1981, yet there are spooky similarities – a point which will not have gone unnoticed by the current crop of central bankers. It is no secret that Jay Powell is a big fan of Paul Volcker.   The Echoes Of 1981-82 In 2022-23 The answer to why everything sold off in early 1981 is that central banks took their economies from stagflation to outright recession, and the risk is that the same happens again in 2022-23 (Chart I-7). Chart I-7The Echoes Of 1981-82: Aggressive Rate Hikes In 2022-23 Will Morph Stagflation Into Recession In the transition from stagflation fears to recession fears, everything sells off because first the stagflation casualties get hammered, and then the recession plays get hammered. This leaves investors with no place to hide, as no mainstream asset is left unscathed. Just as in 1981, a transition from stagflation fears to recession fears likely explains the recent ‘everything sell-off’ because the sell-off in April was most painful for the stagflation casualties – bonds. Whereas, the sell-off in May has been most painful for the recession casualties – industrial metals and stocks.  In a stagflation that morphs to recession, everything sells off. What happens next? The template of 1981-82 could provide a useful guide. Bond prices bottomed first, in the late summer of 1981, as it became clear that the economy was entering a downturn which would exorcise inflation. Of the three other asset classes – all recession casualties – stocks continued to remain under pressure for the next few months but were higher 12 months later. Gold fell another 30 percent, though rebounded sharply in 1982. But the greatest pain was in the industrial metals, which fell another 30 percent and did not recover their highs for several years (Chart I-8). Chart I-82022-23 Could Be An Echo Of 1981-82 2022-23 could be an echo of 1981-82, with bond prices now entering a bottoming process.  Stocks would bottom next, with one difference being a quicker recovery than in 1981-82 because of their higher sensitivity to bond yields. While the near term outlook is cloudy, we expect stock prices to be higher on a 12 month horizon, especially long-duration stocks that are most sensitive to bond yields. But just as in 1981-82, the biggest casualty of a stagflation that morphs into a recession will be the overvalued industrial metals, which are likely to suffer at least double-digit losses over the coming year. Fractal Trading Watchlist This week’s new additions are Czech Republic versus Poland, and Food and Beverages versus the market, which appear overbought. And US REITS versus Utilities, and CNY/USD, which appear oversold. Finally, our new trade recommendation is to underweight the FTSE 100 versus the Stoxx Europe 600. The resource heavy FTSE 100 is especially vulnerable to our anticipated sell-off in commodities, and its recent outperformance is at a point of fragility that has marked previous turning points (Chart I-9). Set the profit target and symmetrical stop-loss at 5 percent. Chart I-9FTSE 100 Outperformance Is Near Exhaustion Fractal Trading Watchlist: New Additions Chart I-10Czech Outperformance Near Exhaustion Chart I-11Food And Beverage Outperformance Near Exhaustion CHART 1 Chart I-12US REITS Are Oversold Versus Utilities CHART 12 Chart I-13CNY/USD At A Support Level Chart 1The Strong Trend In The 18-Month-Out US Interest Rate Future Is Fragile Chart 2The Strong Trend In The 3 Year T-Bond Is Fragile Chart 3AUD/KRW Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 4Canada Versus Japan Is Reversing Chart 5Canada's TSX-60's Outperformance Might Be Over Chart 6US Healthcare Providers Vs. Software At Risk of Reversal Chart 7A Potential Switching Point From Tobacco Into Cannabis Chart 8Biotech Is A Major Buy Chart 9CAD/SEK Reversal Has Started Chart 10Financials Versus Industrials To Reverse Chart 11Norway's Outperformance Could End Chart 12Greece's Brief Outperformance To End Chart 13BRL/NZD At A Resistance Point Chart 14The Outperformance Of Resources Versus Healthcare Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 15The Outperformance Of Resources Versus Biotech Has Started To Reverse Chart 16Cotton's Outperformance Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 17Homebuilders Versus Healthcare Services Has Turned Chart 18Switzerland's Outperformance Vs. Germany Has Started To End Chart 19The Rally In USD/EUR Could End Chart 20The Outperformance Of MSCI Hong Kong Versus China Is Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 21A Potential New Entry Point Into Petcare Chart 22FTSE100 Outperformance Vs. Euro Stoxx 50 Vulnerable To Reversal Chart 23Netherlands Underperformance Vs. Switzerland Close To Exhaustion Chart 24The Sell-Off In The 30-Year T-Bond Is Approaching Fractal Fragility Chart 25The Sell-Off In The NASDAQ Is Approaching Fractal Fragility Chart 26Czech Outperformance Near Exhaustion Chart 27Food And Beverage Outperformance Near Exhaustion CHART 1 Chart 28US REITS Are Oversold Versus Utilities CHART 12 Chart 29CNY/USD At A Support Level   Dhaval Joshi Chief Strategist dhaval@bcaresearch.com Footnotes 1 The returns are based on the S&P 500, the 10-year T-bond, the 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Security (TIPS), the LMEX index, and gold.   Fractal Trading System Fractal Trades 6-Month Recommendations Structural Recommendations Closed Fractal Trades Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields Chart II-1Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Euro Area Chart II-2Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Europe Ex Euro Area Chart II-3Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Asia Chart II-4Indicators To Watch - Bond Yields - Other Developed   Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-5Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-6Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-7Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations Chart II-8Indicators To Watch - Interest Rate Expectations  

Dear Client, This week, the US Bond Strategy service is hosting its Quarterly Webcast (May 17 at 9:00 AM EDT, 14:00 PM BST, 15:00 PM CEST and May 18 at 9:00 HKT, 11:00 AEST). In addition, we are sending this Quarterly Chartpack that provides a recap of our key recommendations and some charts related to those recommendations and other areas of interest for US bond investors. Please tune in to the Webcast and browse the Chartpack at your leisure, and do let us know if you have any questions or other feedback. To view the Quarterly Chartpack PDF please click here. Best regards, Ryan Swift, US Bond Strategist

Executive Summary Global inflation will peak sometime in the next few months, a process that has likely already begun in the US. This will give policymakers some breathing room to turn less hawkish, a more credible stance given softening global growth momentum and increased financial market volatility. Our Global Golden Rule of Bond Investing suggests that overall government bond returns should turn positive over the next year, but with widening divergences across countries for our base case scenarios. Projected government bond return expectations over the next 12 months look most attractive in Australia, Germany and the UK – where far too many rate hikes are priced in – compared to the US, where the Fed is more likely to follow through on most, but not all, discounted rate increases. Japan has the lowest expected returns, and the defensive properties of “low-beta” JGBs will be less necessary with global yield momentum set to peak in the latter half of 2022. Our Global Golden Rule Base Case Scenarios For The Next 12 Months Bottom Line: The return expectations over the next year stemming from our Global Golden Rule suggest the following country allocation recommendations in global government bond portfolios: maintain overweights in Australia, Germany and the UK, stay underweight the US and neutral Canada, but downgrade Japan to underweight. Feature Chart 1A Pause In The Global Bond Bear Market Global bond markets may finally be showing signs of settling down after a painful period of rising yields and high volatility. Government bond yields across the developed economies have fallen substantially over the past week as equity and credit markets have sold off, in a typical risk-off response to increased concerns over global growth momentum. For example, benchmark 10-year government yields have fallen by -32bps both the US and UK, -25bps in Germany and -22bps in Canada since the cyclical intraday high was reached on May 9. These moves are modest in the context of the cyclical bond bear market, with the Bloomberg Global Treasury index still down -12.1% year-to-date and -14.4% on a year-over-year basis (Chart 1). That painful selloff has been driven by expectations of intense monetary tightening in response to surging global inflation. However, last week’s release of US Consumer Price Index data for April confirmed that US goods inflation has peaked, a trend that we expect to follow suit in other countries (Chart 2). That will leave inflation momentum, and eventual interest rate hikes, to be driven more by domestic services inflation that will prove to be less correlated across countries over the next 6-12 months (Chart 3). Chart 2Inflation & Rate Hike Expectations Have Become Correlated. . .​​​​​​ Chart 3. . .Making Our Global Golden Rule All About Inflation​​​​​​ With that in mind, we revisit our framework for linking government bond returns to monetary policy outcomes versus expectations, the Global Golden Rule of Bond Investing. A Brief Overview Of The Global Golden Rule In September 2018, we published a Special Report introducing a government bond return forecasting methodology called the “Global Golden Rule.” This was an extension of a framework introduced by our sister service, US Bond Strategy, that links US Treasury returns (versus cash) to changes in the fed funds rate that were not already discounted in the US Overnight Index Swap (OIS) curve.1 The historical results convincingly showed that investors who "get the Fed right" by making correct bets on changes in the funds rate versus expectations were very likely to make the right call on the direction of Treasury yields and Treasury returns. Related Report  Global Fixed Income StrategyRevisiting Our Global Golden Rule Of Bond Investing We discovered that relationship also held in other developed market countries. This gave us a framework to help project expected global bond returns simply based on a view for future central bank interest rate moves versus market expectations.2 Specific details on the calculation of the Global Golden Rule can be found in those original 2018 papers. In the following pages, we present the latest results of the Global Golden Rule for the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, the euro area and Japan. The set-up for the chart shown for each country is the same. We show the 12-month policy rate “surprise”, defined as the actual change in the central bank policy rate over the preceding 12-months versus the expected 12-month change in the policy rate from a year earlier extracted from OIS curves (a.k.a. our 12-month discounters). We then compare the 12-month policy rate surprise to the annual excess return over cash (treasury bills) of the Bloomberg government bond index for each country. We also show the 12-month policy rate surprise versus the 12-month change in the government bond index yield. The very strong historical correlation between those latter two series is the backbone of the Global Golden Rule framework. After that, we present tables showing expected yield changes and excess returns for various maturity points, as well as the overall government bond index, derived from the Global Golden Rule regressions. The expected change in yield is derived from regressions on the policy rate surprises, with different estimations done for each maturity point. In the tables, we show the results for different scenarios for changes in policy rates. For example, the row in the return tables labeled “+25bps” would show the expected yield changes and excess returns if the central bank for that particular country lifts the policy interest rate by +25bps over the next 12 months. Showing these scenarios allows us to pick the one that most closely correlates to our own expectation for central bank actions, translating that into government bond return expectations. Global Golden Rule: US Chart 4Risk/Reward Favors Less UST-Bearish Fed'Surprises' US Treasuries have delivered a painful loss of -7.8% versus cash over 12 months. Bearish outcomes of such magnitude were last seen during 1994 and 1999 when the Fed was aggressively lifting the funds rate. The Fed delivered a smaller hawkish surprise over the past year than those 1990s episodes, with a trailing 12-month policy rate surprise of -72bps. Thus, the Golden Rule underestimated losses realized by US Treasuries, as US bond yields moved to price in far more Fed tightening than what was expected one year ago. The US OIS curve now discounts +229bps of rate hikes over the next 12 months, taking the fed funds rate to 3.3% (Chart 4). That is a more aggressive profile than was laid out in the March 2022 Fed “dots”, where the median FOMC member projection called for the funds rate to climb to 2.8% in 2023. That means there is less scope for Fed rate hikes to surprise versus market expectations that are already very hawkish, at a time when US growth and inflation momentum is rolling over. Our base case calls for the Fed to deliver +200bps of rate increases over the next year, +50bps at the next two policy meetings followed by +25bps at the subsequent four meetings. That outcome produces a Golden Rule forecast of the overall US Treasury index yield falling -13bps, generating a total return of +3.73% (Tables 1 & 2). Table 1US: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 2US: Expected Changes In Treasury Yields Over The Next 12 Months Global Golden Rule: Canada Chart 5Canadian Bonds Selloff After A Hawkish BoC Canadian government bonds have sold off hard over the past 12 months, delivering an excess return over cash of -7.5% (Chart 5). That loss reflects the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) hawkish turn, but is a less severe outcome compared to other developed economy government bond markets that saw a major repricing of rate hike expectations like the US and Australia. Losses in the Canadian government bond market were consistent with the +34bps of hawkish surprises delivered by the BoC, which tightened by +75bps on a 12-month basis versus the +41bps expected by markets in May 2021. Rate expectations are highly aggressive on a forward basis. The Canadian OIS curve now discounts 210bps of interest rate increases over the next 12 months. However, high household debt in Canada, fueled by a relentlessly expanding housing bubble, will limit the ability of the BoC to match the Fed’s rate hikes over the next 6-12 months. Higher debt levels also imply a lower nominal neutral rate of interest, as the BoC has less room to hike before debt servicing costs become overly burdensome for overleveraged Canadian consumers. Our base case is that the BoC will deliver +150bps of tightening over the next 12 months. This produces a Golden Rule forecast of a decline in the overall Canadian government bond index yield of -17bps, delivering a projected total return of 4.52% (Tables 3 & 4). Table 3Canada: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 4Canada: Expected Changes In Government Bond Yields Over The Next 12 Months Global Golden Rule: Australia Chart 6Aggressive Rate Hike Expectations On A Forward Basis For Australia Australian government bonds have delivered a negative excess return over cash of -9.6% over the past year (Chart 6). This is the biggest sell-off among all the countries covered in our Global Golden Rule framework. The magnitude of those realized losses far exceeded what would have been predicted by the Golden Rule a year ago, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivering only a modest hawkish surprise. An unexpectedly high Australian headline inflation print of 5.1% in Q1 of this year led the RBA to deliver a surprise +25bps rate hike in April. This created a mild hawkish policy rate surprise of -17bps over the past 12 months, as only +8bps of tightening had been discounted in the Australian OIS curve in May 2021. The Australian OIS curve is now discounting 292bps of rate hikes over the next year, taking the cash rate to just over 3% - a level last seen in 2013 when the neutral rate in Australia was much higher by the RBA’s own reckoning. The RBA appears confident in the Australian economy, forecasting the unemployment rate to reach a 50-year low around 3.5% in 2023. However, we believe the RBA will be more measured in its pace of rate increases over the next year than markets expect, as global traded goods inflation cools and Australian wages are still not overheating. According to the Golden Rule projections, our base case of +150bps of tightening will produce a decline in Australian government bond index yield of -92bps, delivering a projected total return of 9.29% (Tables 5 & 6). Table 5Australia: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 6Australia: Expected Changes In Government Bond Yields Over The Next 12 Months Global Golden Rule: UK Chart 7The BoE Will Hike Less Than Markets Expect UK government bonds have gotten hit hard over the past year, delivering a negative excess return over cash of -7.9% - one of the worst performances seen over the past quarter century (Chart 7). The size of that loss was in line with the Global Golden Rule forecasts, given the magnitude of the rate shock seen in the UK. The Bank of England (BoE) hiked rates by 90bps over the past 12 months, which was a hawkish surprise of -79bps compared to what was discounted one year earlier. The UK OIS curve is now priced for another +139bps of rate hikes over the next year. This would take the BoE’s Bank Rate to 2.4%, a level that would push the UK unemployment rate up by two percentage points and lower UK inflation to below 2% within the next 2-3 years, according to the BoE’s own forecasting models. As we discussed in our report last week, where we upgraded our stance on UK Gilts to overweight, the neutral level of UK policy rates is between 1.5-2%, at best, with UK potential growth barely above 1%. Thus, markets are already pricing in a very restrictive monetary policy stance from the BoE that is unlikely to be fully delivered before UK growth and inflation decline sharply. Our base case calls for the BoE to deliver only another +75bps of hikes over the next year, which will produce a fall in the UK government bond index yield of -21bps and a total return of 4.12% (Tables 7 & 8). Table 7UK: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 8UK: Expected Changes In Gilt Yields Over The Next 12 Months Global Golden Rule: Germany Chart 8German Bunds Stand To Gain From An ECB Dovish Surprise German government bonds suffered major losses over the past year, underperforming cash by -8.5% over the past year. We saw no policy surprise from the European Central Bank (ECB) over that time relative to market expectations (Chart 8). The dramatic sell-off instead reflected surging expectations of future tightening as the euro area faces an energy-driven inflation spike. The trailing 12-month policy rate surprise for Germany (and the overall euro area) remains stuck near zero. However, markets now expect a very aggressive move by the ECB, discounting a full +156bps of tightening over the next 12 months. This would push the ECB’s main refinancing rate to levels last seen in the disastrous tightening cycle during the 2011 European debt crisis. As argued by our colleagues at BCA Research European Investment Strategy, the euro area is heading into a growth slowdown and energy inflation looks set to peak. Even if the hawks are able to sway the ECB Governing Council to begin hiking rates this summer, the slowing trajectory of growth and inflation make it highly unlikely that the ECB will deliver the full amount of tightening currently discounted. Our base case is that the ECB will deliver only +50bps of tightening over the next 12 months, enough to push the deposit rate out of negative territory to 0%. As shown in Tables 9 & 10, this is consistent with the Germany government bond index yield falling -55bps, delivering an index return of 5.07% over a 12-month horizon. Table 9Germany: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 10Germany: Expected Changes In Bund Yields Over The Next 12 Months Global Golden Rule: Japan Chart 9The Upside On A BoJ Dovish Surprise Is Limited Japanese government bonds (JGBs) have delivered an excess return versus cash of -1.8% over the past twelve months (Chart 9). The policy rate surprise was flat as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept the policy rate unchanged at -0.1%. Admittedly, the Golden Rule framework is poorly suited to project Japanese bond returns. The BoJ has been unable to lift policy rates for many years, while instituting yield curve control on 10-year JGBs since 2016 to anchor yields near zero. With no variability on policy rates or bond yields, a methodology that links bond returns to unexpected policy interest rate changes will have poor predictive power. However, rates traders are making some attempt to challenge the BoJ’s ultra-dovish posture. The Japan OIS curve now discounts +9bps of tightening, approximately enough to push the policy rate to zero, over the next 12 months. With the yen weakening rapidly and the cost of imported energy elevated, consumer price inflation in Tokyo (excluding fresh food) hit the BoJ’s 2% target in April. However, as evidenced in the minutes of the March BoJ meeting, policymakers see a sustainable inflation overshoot as unlikely. Our base case is the “Flat” scenarios shown in Tables 11 & 12, with the BoJ keeping policy rates unchanged for the next twelve months and delivering a slight dovish surprise. That generates a Golden Rule forecast of a -6bps fall in the Japanese government bond index yield, with a total return projection of 0.87%. Table 11Japan: Government Bond Index Total Return Forecasts Over The Next 12 Months Table 12Japan: Expected Changes In JGB Yields Over The Next 12 Months Investment Implications Of The Global Golden Rule Projections For all the countries discussed above, our base case calls for the respective central banks to deliver less tightening than markets are discounting over the next year. This suggests that government bonds should be expected to deliver positive returns versus cash, even as we expect multiple rate increases from all central banks except the BoJ. While this could argue for an above-benchmark duration stance at the overall global level, we prefer to translate the Global Golden Rule results via country allocations – as we have greater conviction on relative central bank moves in the current high inflation environment – while keeping overall global duration exposure at neutral. The return outcomes for our base case scenarios for the six countries in our Global Golden Rule framework are presented in Table 13. We show the expected returns both in local currency and hedged into US dollars, the latter allowing a comparison in common currency terms. In our base case scenarios, we expect Australian and German government bonds to deliver the strongest performance over the next year, followed by the UK, Canada, the US and Japan. Table 13Our Global Golden Rule Base Case Scenarios For The Next 12 Months Chart 10Downgrade 'Defensive' Low-Yield-Beta JGBs To Underweight Our UK upgrade to overweight last week was a change to our strategic call on Gilts. Based on the results from our Global Golden Rule update, increased exposure to UK Gilts should be “funded” in a global bond portfolio by reducing exposure to Japan, with JGBs expected to deliver the weakest returns. Cutting JGB exposure also fits with the signal from our Global Duration Indicator, which is heralding a peak in global bond yield momentum in the latter half of 2022 (Chart 10). JGBs are typically a good “defensive” overweight country allocation in an environment of rising global bond yields. Persistently low Japanese inflation prevents the BoJ from credibly signaling rate hikes when other central banks like the Fed are lifting rates in response to stronger growth or overshooting inflation as is currently the case. The relative performance of Japan versus the Bloomberg Global Treasury benchmark index (in USD-hedged terms) is highly correlated to the year-over-year momentum of the overall level of global bond yields. With our Duration Indicator signaling a peak in yield momentum, we expect JGBs, which continue to exhibit a very low “beta” to changes in global bond yields, to underperform. Thus, this week we are downgrading our strategic allocation to Japan from overweight (4 out of 5) to underweight (2 out of 5). We view this as an offsetting recommendation to our UK upgrade from last week, while leaving our other country allocations unchanged. The result is that our country recommendations now line up with the expected returns from our Global Golden Rule, as can be seen in Table 13. That includes leaving the recommended US Treasury exposure at underweight, as we expect the Fed to deliver the smallest dovish surprise out of the central banks discussed in this report. We are adding both of the view changes made over the past two weeks, upgrading the UK and downgrading Japan, to our model bond portfolio as seen on pages 20-21. Bottom Line: Our Global Golden Rule suggests that developed market government bonds are expected to deliver positive returns over the next year as softening inflation momentum leads central banks to not fully deliver discounted rate hikes. Return expectations look most attractive in Australia, Germany and the UK, especially compared to the US and Japan.     Robert Robis, CFA Chief Fixed Income Strategist rrobis@bcaresearch.com Shakti Sharma Senior Analyst ShaktiS@bcaresearch.com Deborah Acri Research Associate deborah.acri@bcaresearch.com Footnotes 1      Please see BCA Research US Bond Strategy Special Report, "The Golden Rule Of Bond Investing", dated July 24, 2018, available at usbs.bcarearch.com. 2     Please see BCA Research Global Fixed Income Strategy Special Report, "The Global Golden Rule Of Bond Investing", dated September 25, 2018, available at gfis.bcaresearch.com. GFIS Model Bond Portfolio Recommended Positioning     Active Duration Contribution: GFIS Recommended Portfolio Vs. Custom Performance Benchmark The GFIS Recommended Portfolio Vs. The Custom Benchmark Index Global Fixed Income - Strategic Recommendations* Cyclical Recommendations (6-18 Months) Tactical Overlay Trades

Executive Summary UK Stocks Are Close To A Bottom The UK economic outlook has greatly deteriorated. Weak global growth and punishing energy inflation will cause activity to contract over the next 12 months. Cost-push pressures will drag inflation above 10% in 2022. Moreover, demand-pull inflation highlights problems with the supply-side of the economy. UK yields have downside relative to those in the Euro Area. GBP/USD will bottom once global stock prices find a floor. EUR/GBP possesses more upside. UK stocks will enjoy a structural tailwind relative to their Eurozone counterparts as a result of a secular bull market in commodity prices. Nonetheless, UK equities are likely to underperform in the second half of 2022. UK small-cap stocks are massively oversold compared to large-cap shares; however, a peak in energy inflation must take place for small-cap equities to stage a rebound. TACTICAL INCEPTION DATE RETURN SINCE INCEPTION (%) COMMENT Overweight UK Gilts Within European Fixed-Income Portfolios 05/16/2022   Cyclical Buy European Healthcare Equities / Sell UK Healthcare Equities 05/16/2022   Tactical Buy European Financials Equities / Sell UK Financials Equities 05/16/2022   Tactical Bottom Line: British Gilts will outperform because of the weakness in UK economic activity, but the trade-weighted pound will remain under pressure. The performance of UK large-cap names is mostly independent from the state of the British economy. The commodity secular bull market will create a potent tailwind for this market. However, a better entry point lies ahead.       The Bank of England’s (BoE) latest policy meeting was a cold shower for market participants and their aggressive interest rate pricing in the SONIA curve. Money markets expected a peak in the Bank Rate of 2.7% in 2023, but the BoE’s new Market Participants Survey is calling for it to peak at 1.75% before easing off to 1.5% in 2024. The UK economy is in trouble. Inflation is high and broad-based, which explains why investors are pricing in such an aggressive path for the Bank Rate. Yet, economic activity is weakening and could even contract in early 2023. The BoE clearly puts more weight on growth than investors do. What are the implications of the inflation, growth, and policy outlook for British assets? BCA has upgraded its view on UK bonds to overweight within global fixed income portfolios. We expect more softness in the pound versus the euro. UK large-cap stocks will continue to trade in line with energy dynamics, which means it is still too early to buy British small-cap equities. In the meantime, UK financial and healthcare names will underperform their Euro Area counterparts. Growth To Weaken Further The -0.1% month-over-month GDP contraction in March underscores that UK economic activity has already decelerated sharply. However, the deterioration is only starting. Most sectors of the economy show ominous signs for the quarters ahead. Consumer Sector The biggest hurdle facing UK consumers, like most of their European neighbors, is the surge in inflation, particularly energy and food prices. Safety nets are looser than on the continent, and UK households’ real disposable income are contracting sharply. The impact of this weakening of activity is already visible. UK consumer confidence is falling in line with the knock to real disposable income (Chart 1, top panel). Moreover, real retail sales have already slowed sharply, and the BRC Like-For-Like Retail Sales measure is contracting on an annual basis (Chart 1, bottom panel). As a result, the outlook for consumption is worsening. Ofgem, the UK gas and electricity market regulator, lifted its energy price cap by 54% on April 1st and plans to increase it again by an expected 40% in October. Consequently, the BoE anticipates the share of households’ disposable income spent on energy to hit 7.7% by the end of the year — its highest level since the early 1980s (Chart 2). Chart 1Falling Real Incomes Hurt Chart 2Intensifying Energy Drag The savings cushion developed during the pandemic will not be enough to prevent weaker retail sales. More than 40% of households plan to dip into their existing savings and curtail their savings rate; however, UK excess savings skew heavily toward the richer households. Poorer households with low savings are the ones who spend the largest share of their income on energy (Chart 3), and they are also the ones with a higher marginal propensity to consume. Thus, the knock to these households portends further weakness in consumption volumes. Chart 3The Poor Are Hit Harder Chart 4No Salvation From Housing Housing is unlikely to save the day. While house prices and housing transactions are robust (Chart 4, top panel), mortgage approvals are declining rapidly and average sales per chartered surveyors are also softening (Chart 4, bottom panels), which suggests housing activity will slow. Rising mortgage rates are a problem. Since January, the quoted rates on mortgages with 90% LTV and 75% LTV are up 65bps and 70bps, respectively, which is hurting housing marginal demand. Moreover, 20% of the UK’s mortgage stock carries variable rates, which further hurts aggregate demand. Business Sector The business sector is also feeling the crunch from rapidly rising energy and input costs. It also dreads the deterioration in consumer sentiment and its implication for future final demand. Chart 5Dwindling Capex Outlook Business confidence is falling abruptly. The CBI Inquiry Business Optimism measure has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, when the UK GDP was contracting at a 21% annualized rate (Chart 5). Unsurprisingly, the collapse in business confidence prompted a rapid slowdown in CAPEX. The BoE’s Agents Survey reports that 40% of UK firms have unsustainably low profit margins because of rising input prices and partial pass-through. As a result of financial stress, further capex weakness is likely in the coming quarters. The impact on overall activity of these expanding worries is evident. UK industrial production has slowed very sharply and is now a meager 0.7% on an annual basis. The situation will degrade. Export growth remains strong, which is helping the business sector; however, the rapid slowdown in global industrial production indicates that UK exports will follow suit (Chart 5, second panel). This will have a knock-on effect on corporate profits (Chart 5, bottom panel), which will depress capex further. Other Considerations Chart 6No Offset From The Government The problems of the private sector may be encapsulated in one indicator. After a surge that boosted GDP, the UK’s nonfinancial private sector’s credit impulse is rapidly contracting (Chart 6), which confirms that risks to activity are building. The public sector will not provide an offset. According to the IMF Fiscal Monitor’s projections, the UK’s fiscal thrust will equal -3.3% of GDP in 2022 and -1.4% in 2023, even after the small giveaways from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement (Chart 6, bottom panel). Together, these developments confirm our view that UK GDP may also flirt with a recession in the coming 12 months. Bottom Line: The UK economy is facing potent headwinds and activity is set to contract over the coming quarters. Surging energy costs are hurting household consumption and businesses are cutting investment. This time around, government spending is unlikely to come to the rescue, at least not until further pain is inflicted on the UK’s private sector. The BoE expects output to contract in early 2023, with which we agree. Inflation: The Worst Of Both Worlds UK headline inflation is likely to move into double digits territory before year-end. Worrisomely, it will also be more stubborn than that of the Eurozone, because it goes beyond higher food and energy input costs. Essentially, the UK suffers from both the cost-push inflation plaguing the rest of Europe and the demand-pull inflation witnessed in the US. Chart 7Continued Pass-Through The UK’s cost-push inflation will worsen in the second half of the year and could lift headline CPI above 10% by Q4 2022. Its main driver will be the Ofgem’s second energy cap increase scheduled for October, which is expected to increase household energy costs by 40%. Companies will also try to pass through a greater proportion of their rising costs to their consumers to protect their depleted margins. So far, the BoE’s Agents Survey reveals that on average, UK firms have passed through 80% of their non-labor input cost increases (Chart 7, top panel). In all the sectors surveyed, expected price increases are set to accelerate compared to the past 12 month and may even reach 14% in the manufacturing sector and 8% in the consumer goods sector (Chart 7, bottom panel). Demand-pull inflation is also present in the UK, unlike the rest of Europe, with core CPI at 5.7%, high service inflation, and rapidly rising wage growth. The key problem is an overheating labor market exacerbated by labor supply problems. By the end of 2021, the UK recorded 600 thousand inactive people more than before the pandemic, or individuals who are of working age but outside of the labor force and not seeking a job. This has compressed the labor participation rate to 63%, or the lowest level since the 2011-2012 period (Chart 8). So far, not even rapid wage gains have incentivized these persons to seek employment. The impact of Brexit further curtails the supply of labor. Since the pandemic began, the size of the working age population has decreased by 100 thousand as EU citizens have moved back home (Chart 8, second panel). Labor demand, however, is not weak. Job vacancies have surged to an all-time high of 1.3 million, or a ratio of one job vacancy per unemployed worker. Moreover, according to the BoE’s Agents Survey, the proportion of firms reporting recruitment difficulties is extremely elevated (Chart 8, third panel). As a result of weak labor supply but strong labor demand, wages are rising rapidly (Chart 8, bottom panel), with the KPMG/REC Indicator of pay higher than 6%. Chart 8Labor Market Tightness Chart 9Poor Productivity Weighs On Trend GDP Rapidly increasing wages and underlying inflation are indicative of a greater malaise. UK GDP is still 3.6% below its pre-COVID trend, while US GDP has already moved past its previous peak. Yet, wages and underlying inflation are just as strong in both economies. This suggests that the UK trend GDP has slowed more than in the US and that aggregate demand is colliding more rapidly with the constraint created by a weaker potential GDP. Labor supply is not the only culprit behind the slowdown in UK’s trend GDP. Since Brexit, UK capex has been particularly weak, which has depressed productivity growth and suppressed trend GDP further (Chart 9). Bottom Line: The BoE expects UK headline CPI inflation to move above 10% before the end of the year. We agree with this assessment. Cost-push inflation will remain strong in response to additional increases in regulated energy prices this fall and greater pass-through from businesses. Meanwhile, the labor market is overheated because of weak labor supply and surging job vacancies. The UK core inflation is likely to be sticky as Brexit weighs on the country’s trend GDP, which causes aggregate demand to surpass aggregate supply easily. Investment Implications The investment implications of the UK’s weak growth and strong inflation outlook are far reaching. Fixed Income Implications BCA’s Global Fixed Income Strategy service upgraded UK government bonds to overweight from underweight in their global fixed income portfolios. We heed this message and move to overweight UK Gilts relative to German Bunds within European fixed income portfolios. Chart 10The BoE's Dovish Justification The BoE’s forecast calls for a deeply negative output gap as well as a rising rate of unemployment in 2023 and 2024. According to the BoE’s model, these dynamics will weigh on headline CPI next year (Chart 10). We take the BoE at its word when it communicated a gentler pace of rate hikes than was anticipated by the SONIA curve. The BoE believes that the weakness in the UK’s trend GDP growth weighs on the country’s neutral rate of interest. Thus, there is a limited scope before higher interest rates hurt economic activity. Since the BoE already foresees a poor growth outcome and weaker inflation next year, this view of the neutral rate logically results in a shallow path of interest rate increases. In other words, the BoE is not the Fed. This view prompts our fixed income colleagues to expect the SONIA curve to move toward the gentler rhythm of interest rate hikes proposed by the BoE. As a corollary, it implies that Gilt yields have more downside. More specifically, BCA sees room for UK-German yields spreads to narrow. Investors have expected the BoE to be significantly more hawkish than the European Central Bank (ECB), and a partial convergence in expected interest rate paths is likely. Moreover, UK yields have a higher beta than German ones. As a result, the current wave of risk aversion driven by global growth fears should cause an outperformance of UK government bonds compared to German ones. Currency Market Implications The outlook for GBP/USD depends on the evolution of overall market conditions. If risk assets remain under pressure, so will Cable. Chart 11Cable And EM Stocks A durable bottom in GBP/USD will coincide with a rebound in EM equities (Chart 11). The correlation between these two assets most likely reflects the UK’s current account deficit of 2.8% of GDP in 2021. Large external financing needs render the currency very sensitive to global liquidity conditions and thus, to the dollar’s trend and global risk aversion, as is the case with EM assets. Peter Berezin, BCA Chief Global Strategist, expects global stocks to rebound in the near future, which will lift EM equities in the process. Interestingly, GBP/USD does not correlate with the relative performance of EM shares. Thus, a rebound in Cable does not contradict BCA’s Emerging Market Strategy service’s view that EM stocks are likely to underperform further in the coming months. Chart 12A Big Handicap For the GBP vs the EUR BCA’s Foreign Exchange strategy team sees further upside in EUR/GBP, toward the 0.9 level. 2-year yield differentials between the UK and Germany are likely to narrow in response to the downgrade of the SONIA curve. Importantly, the wide UK current account deficit necessitates higher real interest rates to prop the pound against the euro because the Eurozone current account surplus stands at 2.3% of GDP. However, neither the 2-year nor 10-year real rates are higher in the UK than they are in the Euro Area (Chart 12). Additionally, even the nominal yield premium of UK bonds vanishes once they are hedged into euros. UK hedged 2-year bonds yield 50bps less than their German counterparts, and 10-year Gilts offer 80bps less than Bunds, which limits continental inflows into the UK. Equity Market Implications UK stocks are pro-cyclical, and their absolute performance will bottom in tandem with global equities. The near-term outlook for global equities remains clouded by the confluence of global growth fears, a weaker CNY, and tighter monetary policy around the world. Meanwhile, UK stocks are very cheap, trading at a forward P/E ratio of 11. They are tactically oversold and are lagging forward earnings (Chart 13). Relative to global equities, the performance of UK stocks will continue to track that of global energy firms compared to the broad market. The heavy exposure of UK large-cap indices to oil and gas stocks has been a major asset since energy shares have become market darlings (Chart 14). Chart 13UK Stocks Are Close To A Bottom Chart 14UK Large-Caps Are About Oil At the time of writing, Sweden and Finland have yet to officialize their membership application to NATO, but BCA’s Geopolitical Strategy team assigns a high probability to this outcome. Russia will not stand idly by, especially as the EU threatens to cut their oil imports. Consequently, a deeper energy embargo is increasingly likely, which should prompt a temporary but violent rally in oil and natural gas prices. This process should sustain a few more weeks of outperformance from UK large-cap shares relative to the rest of the world. Chart 15The UK vs The Eurozone: Cheap But Overbought Structurally, UK equities are likely to remain well supported. A pullback in relative performance later this year is possible once oil prices ease off as BCA’s Commodity and Energy team expects. However, the oil market will stay tight for years to come because of the investment dearth observed since 2014-2015, when OPEC 2.0 started its market-share war. According to Bob Ryan, BCA’s Chief Commodity Strategist, it will take years of high returns in the sector to attract the capital needed to lift energy capex enough to line up supply with demand. Thus, energy remains a structurally favored sector, which will boost the cheap UK market’s appeal. UK stocks enjoy a structural tailwind relative to Euro Area shares. They remain cheap, because they still trade at a significant historical discount (Chart 15). Moreover, relative earnings are moving decisively in favor of UK stocks, something that is unlikely to change, even if the UK economy contracts. Ultimately, UK large-cap names derive the bulk of their profits from overseas and the structural tailwind of a secular commodity bull market will continue to assert itself on relative profits. Nevertheless, UK shares have also become extremely overbought, which raises the risk of a pullback in the second half of the 2022 (Chart 15, third and fourth panel). The recent outperformance of UK stocks relative to those of the Eurozone has been larger than what sectoral biases explain. An equal-sector weights version of the UK MSCI has outperformed a similarly constructed Euro Area index by 9.6% year-to-date. Chart 16Waiting For Catalysts To A Eurozone Rebound A tactical rectification of the overbought conditions in the performance of UK equities relative to those of the Euro Area will require an ebbing of stagflation fears in the Euro Area (Chart 16, top panel). This implies that investors looking to buy Eurozone equities are waiting for a stabilization in the energy market (that is, waiting for clarity about Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO decision as well as Russia’s response). It also means that the Chinese economy must stabilize, since Eurozone equities are more sensitive to the evolution of the Chinese credit impulse than UK ones (Chart 16, second panel). Nonetheless, BCA’s Global Fixed Income Strategy team’s view on UK-German spreads is consistent with an eventual tactical pull back in the relative performance of UK stocks vis-à-vis Euro Area ones (Chart 16, bottom panel). Two pair trades make attractive vehicles to bet on an underperformance of UK stocks relative to those of the Euro Area in the second half of 2022. The first one is to sell UK financials at the expense of Euro Area financials. Historically, a decline in UK Gilt yields relative to their German equivalent strongly correlates with an underperformance of UK financials (Chart 17). The second one is to sell UK healthcare names relative to those in the Eurozone. The relative performance of healthcare shares has greatly outpaced relative earnings and is now hitting a critical resistance level (Chart 18). Moreover, UK healthcare firms are exceptionally overbought relative to their Euro Area competitors. Importantly, those two trades display little correlation to the broad market trend. Chart 17Challenges To UK Financials Chart 18UK Healthcare: Running Ahead Of Itself Finally, UK small-cap stocks are becoming attractive relative to their large-cap counterparts, although the timing remains risky. Unlike the internationally focused large-cap indices, small-cap shares are a direct bet on the health of the UK domestic economy. Hence, small- and mid-cap names have massively underperformed the FTSE-100 as market participants sniffed out the poor outlook for UK economic activity (Chart 19). They are now extremely oversold relative to large-cap names and their overvaluation has been corrected. The main problem with small-cap shares is the lack of a catalyst to rectify their oversold conditions. The most likely candidate for such a reversal would be a peak in energy inflation, considering it stands at the crux of the headwinds that UK consumption and growth face. However, energy CPI will not peak until later this fall and thus, the pain on UK households will build until then. As a result, wait for a clear sign that energy inflation recedes before entering a long UK small-cap / short UK large-cap contrarian trade (Chart 20). Chart 19Bombed Out Small-Caps... Chart 20…Need A Peak In Energy Inflation Bottom Line: In line with our expectations that UK growth will worsen significantly in the quarters ahead, we follow the BCA Global Fixed Income team and move to overweight UK government bonds within European fixed income portfolios. While we expect GBP/USD will bottom once global risk assets find a floor, BCA’s Foreign Exchange Strategy team also anticipates Sterling to depreciate further relative to the euro. Because of their large energy and materials exposure, UK large-cap equities will enjoy a structural outperformance relative to Euro Area large-cap indices on the back of a secular bull market in commodities. However, a temporary pullback in the UK’s relative performance is likely in the second half of 2022. Selling UK financials and UK healthcare stocks relative to their Eurozone counterparts offers a compelling approach to implement this view. Finally, UK small-caps are oversold relative to large-caps, but we recommend investors wait until energy CPI peaks when a relative rebound may emerge.   Mathieu Savary, Chief European Strategist Mathieu@bcaresearch.com Tactical Recommendations Cyclical Recommendations Structural Recommendations

Executive Summary The Fed, Bank of England (BoE) and Reserve Bank of Australia all hiked rates last week. The BoE, however, signaled a note of caution on future UK growth, given soaring energy prices and plunging consumer and business confidence.  Interest rate markets are pricing in a peak in UK policy rates over the next year near 2.5%, above realistic estimates of neutral that are more in the 1.5-2% range. UK productivity and potential growth remain too weak to support a higher neutral rate than that. With the BoE forecasting near recessionary conditions over the next couple of years if those market-implied rate hikes come to fruition, the time is right to increase exposure to UK government bonds in global fixed income portfolios. UK Rate Expectations Are Too High Bottom Line: Markets are overestimating how much additional tightening the Bank of England can deliver. We are upgrading our recommended strategic stance on UK Gilts from underweight (2 out of 5) to overweight (4 out of 5). Not All Central Bankers Can Credibly Restore Credibility Chart 1Developed Market Bond Yields Back To 2018 Highs Three more central bank meetings, three more rate hikes. Last week brought a 50bp hike from the Fed, a 25bp hike – the first of this tightening cycle – by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and a 25bp rate increase from the Bank of England (BoE). The Fed and RBA moves did little to stabilize the government bond bear markets in the US and Australia, but the BoE was able to provide a temporary reprieve for the Gilt selloff by playing up potential UK recession (stagflation?) risks. Bond yields worldwide remains laser focused on high global inflation and the associated monetary policy response that will be needed to stabilize inflation expectations (Chart 1). That includes both interest rate hikes and reducing the size of bloated central bank balance sheets. The threat of such “double tightening” is weighing on global growth expectations and risk asset valuations. The MSCI World equity index is down -6.4% (in USD terms) so far in the Q2/2022 and down -14.5% since the mid-November/2021 peak. Although in a more mitigated way, credit markets are also being impacted, with the Bloomberg Global High-Yield index down -2.6% so far in Q2 on an excess return basis versus government bonds. Rate hike expectations have started to catch up to elevated inflation expectations, at least according to inflation linked bonds. The yield on 10-year US TIPS now sits at +0.29%, a huge swing from the -1% level seen just one month ago (Chart 2). The 10-year real yield is even higher in Canada (+0.81%) where the Bank of Canada just delivered its own 50bp rate hike in April. On the other hand, 10-year real yields remain deeply below 0% in Europe and the UK, where central bankers have been providing less explicit guidance on future rate hikes and asset purchase reductions compared to the Fed or Bank of Canada. Interest rate markets remain reluctant to price in significantly positive real policy interest rates at the peak of the current tightening cycle. Our proxy for the real terminal rate expectation, the 5-year/5-year overnight index swap rate (OIS) minus the 5-year/5-year CPI swap rate, is only +0.18% in the US. It is still deeply negative in Europe (-1.53%) and the UK (-0.97%). Our estimates of the term premium component of 10-year government bond yields in those three markets is rising alongside interest rate expectations yet remains deeply negative in Europe and the UK (Chart 3). Chart 2Real Rate Divergences In The Face Of A Global Inflation Shock​​​​​​ Chart 3Markets Still Pricing In Structurally Low Rates​​​​​​ Of those three major bond markets, we see the UK term premium as being the least likely to see additional upward repricing, with the BoE less likely than the Fed or ECB to push for an aggressively smaller balance sheet given domestic economic risks. UK Rate Expectations Are Too Hawkish Chart 4Our BoE Monitor Justifies Recent Tightening Moves The Bank of England raised rates by 25bps last week, pushing Bank Rate to a 13-year high of 1.0%. The decision was a 6-3 majority, with three Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members calling for a 50bp hike – matching recent moves by other G-10 central banks like the Fed and Bank of Canada – given tight UK capacity constraints (i.e. low unemployment) and high realized inflation. The MPC noted that additional rate increases would likely be necessary to tame very high UK inflation, a message confirmed by the elevated level of our UK Central Bank Monitor (Chart 4). However, the new economic forecasts presented by the BoE painted a gloomy picture on UK growth, raising the risks of a recession even as UK inflation is expected to continue climbing to a 10% peak in late 2022 on the back of high energy prices.1 Strictly looking at current inflation, the case for the BoE to continue hiking rates is obvious. Yet the BoE may now be placing more weight on the downside risks to growth from the energy shock, at a time when fiscal tightening is no longer providing stimulus. In the press conference following last week’s MPC meeting, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey noted the difficult situation policymakers are facing given the huge surge in energy prices that is fueling inflation while also weighing on household and business real incomes. So what is “neutral” anyway? Related Report  Global Fixed Income StrategyThe UK Leads The Way The BoE is one of the least transparent major central banks when it comes to providing guidance on what it thinks the neutral policy rate is. Market participants are left to arrive at their own conclusions and those can vary substantially, as is currently the case. The UK OIS curve is discounting a peak in rates of 2.72% in 2023 and discounting rate cuts after that starting in 2024. Yet the respondents to the BoE’s new Market Participants Survey are calling for a much lower trajectory with rates peaking at 1.75% before falling to 1.5% in 2024 (Chart 5). Those rate levels are in the lower half of the range of longer-run neutral rate estimates from the same Market Participants Survey, between 1.5% and 2.0% (the shaded box in the chart). Chart 5UK Rate Expectations Are Too High Chart 6Recessionary BoE Forecasts, Except For GDP Combining the messages from the OIS curve and the Survey, markets are pricing in a path for the BoE Bank Rate that will become restrictive by mid-2023, with another 172bps of rate hikes. The BoE uses market pricing for future interest rates in its economic forecasts. The Bank’s models suggest that a move to raise rates to 2.5% in response to high UK inflation, as markets are discounting, would result in a severe UK downturn that would both push up unemployment from the current 3.7% to 5.4% by Q2/2025 (Chart 6). Headline inflation would plunge to 1.3% over the same period as the UK output gap widens to -2.25% of GDP from the current “excess demand” level of +0.5%. Oddly enough, the BoE is only forecasting a flat profile for real GDP growth over that entire three-year forecasting period, although there will clearly be some negative GDP prints during that period to generate such a massively disinflationary outcome. A mixed picture on UK growth Currently, the UK economy is flashing some warning signs on growth momentum. The UK manufacturing PMI was 55.8 in April, still well above the 50 level indicating growth but 9.8 pts below the cyclical peak in 2021 (Chart 7). The services PMI is in better shape at 58.9, but it did dip lower in the latest reading. The GfK consumer confidence index has fallen sharply in response to contacting real household income growth, reaching the second-lowest reading in the history of the series dating back to 1974 in April. This is a warning sign for consumer spending – retail sales fell in April for the first time in fifteen months (middle panel). Business confidence is also impacted by the high costs of both energy and labor that is squeezing profit margins. UK real investment spending is nearly contracting on a year-over-year basis, despite the robust readings on investment intentions from the BoEs’ Agents Survey of UK businesses (bottom panel).UK firms are facing higher wage costs at a time of very tight labor market and robust labor demand. The BoE estimates that UK private sector wage growth, after adjusting for compositional effects related to the pandemic, will accelerate to 5.1% by the end of Q2/2022 (Chart 8). Chart 7UK Growth Facing Inflationary Headwinds​​​​​​ Chart 8UK Labor Market Remains Healthy​​​​​​ Chart 9Will House Prices Signal The Peak In UK Inflation? A robust labor market and quickening wage growth is forcing the BoE to maintain a relatively hawkish bias at a time of high energy inflation, even with the growth outlook darkening in the central bank’s own forecasts. Booming house prices are also making the central bank’s job more challenging. The annual growth rate of the Nationwide UK house price index reached 12.4%, a 17-year high, in March. However, rising mortgage rates and declining household real incomes will likely begin to eat into housing demand and, eventually, help slow the rapid pace of house price growth (Chart 9, bottom panel). Summing it all up, the overall UK inflation picture, including wages and housing costs in addition to energy prices and durable goods prices, will force the BoE to deliver a few more rate hikes before year-end before reaching a peak level that is lower than current market pricing. The neutral UK interest rate is likely very low Chart 10Structurally Weak UK Growth = A Low Neutral Rate The UK economy has suffered from structurally low potential economic growth dating back to the Brexit referendum in 2016. UK businesses stopped investing in the face of the uncertainty over the UK’s relationship with Europe. There has basically been no growth in UK fixed investment over the past five years. In response, UK productivity has only grown an annualized 0.9% over that same period (Chart 10) and the OECD’s estimate of UK potential GDP growth has been cut from 2% to 1.1%. With such low potential growth, the neutral BoE policy interest rate is likely even lower than the 1.5-2% range of estimates from the BoE’s Market Participant Survey. Tighter fiscal policy also lowers the neutral UK interest rate, with the UK Office of Budget Responsibility forecasting a narrowing of the UK budget deficit of -13.6 percentage points between the 2021 peak and 2027 (bottom panel). A flat UK Gilt curve is also a sign that the neutral interest rate is quite low. The 2-year/10-year Gilt curve now sits at a mere -49bps with Bank Rate only at 1% (Chart 11). While this is modestly steeper from the near-inversion of the curve seen at the start of 2022, a very flat curve at a nominal policy rate of only 1% suggests that the neutral rate is not far from the current level. Sluggish UK equity market performance and widening UK corporate credit spreads also argue that Bank Rate may already be turning restrictive, although a lower trade-weighted pound is helping to mitigate the overall tightening of UK financial conditions. Chart 11UK Financial Conditions Are Not Restrictive (Yet)​​​​​​ Chart 12Pressure On The BoE Will Not Peak Until Inflation Does​​​​​​ In the end, the pressure on the BoE to tighten will not ease until UK inflation peaks. The BoE is suffering a severe credibility crisis, with its own public opinion survey showing the deepest level of public dissatisfaction with the bank since the Global Financial Crisis (Chart 12). Inflation expectations are at similar levels that prevailed during that period, although the unique nature of the current inflation upturn, fueled by global supply-chain squeezes and war-related boosts to commodity prices, will likely prevent a repeat of the relatively fast reversal of inflation expectations seen after the Global Financial Crisis. Investment Implications – Get Ready For Gilt Outperformance Chart 13Upgrade UK Gilts To Overweight With the BoE already pushing Bank Rate towards a plausible neutral range, we do not expect many more rate hikes in the UK. Our base case is that the BoE hikes 2-3 more times by year-end, pushing Bank Rate to 1.5-1.75%, before pausing. This would represent a lower peak in policy rates than currently priced in the UK OIS curve. That is a relatively dovish outcome that typically leads to positive performance for a government bond market according to our “Global Golden Rule” framework, which we will revisit in next week’s Strategy Report. For now, however, we see a strong case to turn more positive on UK Gilts, with the BoE likely to deliver fewer rate hikes than discounted (Chart 13). The BoE is also far less likely to begin reducing its balance sheet by selling its Gilt holdings back to the market. BoE Governor Bailey strongly hinted last week that such aggressive quantitative tightening (QT) was not a given, even after the Bank research staff presents its proposals to the MPC in August. A delay in QT would also be a factor boosting UK Gilt performance versus other developed economy bond markets where more aggressive reductions in central bank balance sheets are more likely, like the US and potentially even the euro area. This week, we are upgrading our recommended strategic UK weighting from underweight to overweight. In next week’s report, we will consider the proper allocation for the UK within our model bond portfolio, after reviewing potential bond return forecasts stemming from our Global Golden Rule. Bottom Line: Markets are overestimating how much additional tightening the Bank of England can deliver. We are upgrading our recommended strategic stance on UK Gilts from underweight (2 out of 5) to overweight (4 out of 5). Robert Robis, CFA Chief Fixed Income Strategist rrobis@bcaresearch.com   Footnotes 1      The mechanical way that the UK government’s energy price regulator, Ofgem, sets price caps on retail gas and electricity costs - based on changes in wholesale energy costs implied by futures curves – means that UK household energy prices will rise by 40% in October, according to BoE estimates. GFIS Model Bond Portfolio Recommended Positioning     Active Duration Contribution: GFIS Recommended Portfolio Vs. Custom Performance Benchmark The GFIS Recommended Portfolio Vs. The Custom Benchmark Index Tactical Overlay Trades

Listen to a short summary of this report.       Executive Summary Global Equities Are More Attractively Valued After The Recent Sell-Off We tactically downgraded global equities in late February but see the current level of stock prices as offering enough upside to warrant an overweight. Global equities are now trading at 15.6-times forward earnings, and only 12.6-times outside the US. More importantly, the forces that pushed down stock prices are starting to abate: The war in Ukraine no longer seems likely to devolve into a broader conflict; the number of new Covid cases in China has fallen by half; and global inflation has peaked. The next 18 months of falling inflation and receding recession fears could see stocks recover much of their losses. The “Last Hurrah” for equities is coming. We continue to think that over a 5-year horizon, bond yields will rise from current levels, value stocks will outperform growth stocks, and crypto prices will fall. However, countertrend rallies are likely. To express this view, we recommend taking partial profits on our short 10-year Treasury trade recommendation (up 9.3% from an initial entry yield of 1.45% on June 30, 2021). We are also halving our long global value/growth position (up 20.1% since inception on December 10, 2020) and our short Bitcoin position (up 98% based on our exponential shorting technique). Bottom Line: Global equities are heading towards a “last Hurrah” starting in the second half of this year. Tactically upgrade stocks to overweight.   Feature Dear Client, We published a Special Alert early this afternoon tactically upgrading global equities to overweight. As promised, the enclosed report elaborates on our view change. Best regards, Peter Berezin Restore Tactical Overweight On Global Equities Chart 1Global Equities Are More Attractively Valued After The Recent Sell-Off We tactically downgraded global equities from overweight to neutral on February 28th. The war in Ukraine, the Covid outbreak in China, and most importantly, the rise in bond yields have kept us on the sidelines ever since. At this point, however, the outlook for stocks has brightened, and thus we are restoring our tactical (3-month) overweight to stocks so that it is consistent with our bullish 12-month cyclical view. First, valuations have discounted much of the bad news. After the recent sell-off, global equities are trading at 15.6-times forward earnings (Chart 1). Outside the US, they trade at only 12.6-times forward earnings. Second, the forces that pushed down stock prices are starting to abate. The war in Ukraine is approaching a stalemate, with Russian troops unable to take much of the country, let alone seriously threaten regional neighbours. A European embargo on Russian oil is likely but will be watered down significantly before it is implemented. European officials have shied away from banning Russian natural gas, an action that would have much more severe economic implications. While still very high in absolute terms, December-2022 European natural gas futures are down 36% from their peak on March 7 (Chart 2). The 7-day average of new Covid cases in China has fallen by more than half since late April (Chart 3). Considering that a significant fraction of China’s elderly population is unvaccinated, the authorities will continue to play whack-a-mole with the virus for the next few months (Chart 4). Fortunately, Chinese domestic production of Pfizer’s Paxlovid anti-Covid drug is starting to ramp up, which should allow for some easing in lockdown measures later this year. Chart 2European Natural Gas Futures Have Come Off The Boil Chart 3Covid Cases Are Falling In China… The 20th Chinese National Party Congress is slated for this fall. In the lead-up to the Congress, it is likely that the government will move to diffuse social tensions over its handling of the pandemic by showering the economy with stimulus funds. Of note, the credit impulse has already turned higher, which bodes well for both Chinese growth and growth abroad (Chart 5). Chart 4… But Low Vaccination Rates Among The Elderly Remain A Risk Chart 5A Rebound In China's Credit Impulse Bodes Well For China And The Rest Of The World   Inflation Is Peaking On the inflation front, the data flow has gone from unambiguously bad to neutral (and perhaps even slightly positive). In the US, core goods inflation fell by 0.4% month-over-month in April, the first outright decline in core goods prices since February 2021. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index has crested and is now 6.4% below its January peak (Chart 6). Global shipping rates have moved up a bit recently on the back of Chinese port shutdowns but remain well below their highs earlier this year (Chart 7). Chart 6Used Car Prices Appear To Have Peaked Chart 7Global Shipping Rates Are Well Off Their Highs It Is The Composition Of Spending That Is Distorted Despite the often-heard claim that US consumer spending is well above trend, the reality is that spending is more or less in line with its pre-pandemic trend (Chart 8). It is the composition of spending that is out of line: Goods spending is well above trend while services spending is well below. One might think that only the overall level of spending should matter for inflation, and that the composition of spending is irrelevant. However, this ignores the reality that services prices are generally stickier than goods prices. Companies that sold fitness equipment during the pandemic had no qualms about raising prices. In contrast, gyms barely cut prices, figuring that lower membership fees would do little to drive new business through the door (Chart 9). Chart 8Total US Consumer Spending Is Almost Exactly At Its Pre-Pandemic Trend, But The Composition Of Spending Remains Skewed Chart 9Asymmetries Matter: Firms Manufacturing Sports Equipment Jacked Up Prices, But Gyms Barely Cut Prices This asymmetry matters, and it suggests that goods inflation should continue to fall over the coming months as the composition of spending shifts back to services. A Lull In Wage Growth Wages are the most important determinant of services inflation. While it is too early to be certain, the latest data suggest that wage growth has peaked. The 3-month annualized growth rate in average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers slowed from 7.2% in the second half of 2021 to 3.8% in April (Chart 10). Assuming productivity growth of around 1.5%, this is consistent with inflation of only slightly more than 2%. Nominal wage growth is a function of both labor market slack and expected inflation. Slack should increase modestly during the rest of the year as labor participation recovers. Chart 11 shows that the labor force participation rate is still about 0.9 percentage points below where one would expect it to be, even adjusting for an aging population and increased early retirements. Chart 10Wage Growth Seems To Be Topping Out Chart 11Labor Participation Has Further Scope To Recover Employment has been particularly depressed among lower-wage workers (Chart 12). This should change as more low-wage workers exhaust their savings and are forced to seek employment. According to the Fed, the lowest-paid 20% of workers are the only group to have seen their bank deposits dwindle since mid-2021 (Chart 13). Chart 12More Low-Wage Employees Will Return To Work Chart 13The Savings Of Low-Wage Workers Are Dwindling Inflation expectations should come down as goods inflation recedes and oil prices come off their highs (Chart 14). Bob Ryan, BCA’s Chief Commodity Strategist, sees the price of Brent averaging $86/bbl in the second half of this year, down 16% from current levels.  Central Banks Will Dial Back The Hawkishness With inflation set to fall over the remainder of the year, and financial markets showing increasing signs of stress, the Fed and other central banks will adopt a softer tone. It is worth noting that the median terminal dot for the Fed funds rate actually declined from 2.5% to 2.4% in the March Summary of Economic Projections (Chart 15). Given that markets expect US interest rates to rise to 3.25% in 2023, the Fed may not want investors to further rachet up rate expectations. Chart 14US Inflation Expectations Should Recede If Oil Prices Drop Chart 15Rate Expectations Have Moved Well Above The Fed's Estimate of Neutral   The Bank of England has already veered in a more dovish direction. Its latest forecast, released on May 5, showed real GDP contracting slightly in 2023. Based on market interest rate expectations, the BoE sees headline inflation falling to 1.5% by end-2024, below its target of 2%. Even assuming that interest rates remain at 1%, the BoE believes that inflation will only be slightly above 2% at the end of 2024, implying little need for incremental policy tightening. Not surprisingly, the pound has sold off. We have been tactically short GBP/USD but are using this opportunity to turn tactically neutral. Given favorable valuations, we like the pound over the long run. Chart 16Spending In The Euro Area Is Well Below Its Pre-Pandemic Trend The euro area provides a good example of the dangers of focusing too much on short-term inflation dynamics. Supply-side disruptions stemming from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have weighed on European growth this year. Yet, those very same factors have also pushed up inflation. Harmonized inflation across the euro area reached 7.5% in April, the highest since the launch of the common currency. The ECB is eager to put some distance between policy rates and the zero bound. However, there is little need for significant tightening. Unlike in the US, spending in the euro area is well below its pre-pandemic trend (Chart 16). If anything, more inflation would be welcome since that would give the ECB scope to bring real rates further into negative territory if economic conditions warrant it. To its credit, the Bank of Japan has stuck with its yield curve control system, even as bond yields have risen elsewhere in the world. Japan’s currency has weakened but given that inflation expectations are too low, and virtually all of its debt is denominated in yen, that is hardly a bad thing. Too Late? Has the surge in bond yields already done enough damage to the global economy to make a recession inevitable? We do not think so. As noted above, much of the recent harm has been caused by various dislocations, namely the war in Ukraine and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. As these dislocations dissipate, inflation will fall and global growth will recover. Despite the hoopla over how the US economy contracted in the first quarter, real private final sales to domestic purchasers (a measure of GDP growth that strips out the effects of changes in government spending, inventories, and net exports) rose by 3.7% at an annualized rate. As Table 1 shows, this measure of economic activity has the highest predictive power for GDP growth one-quarter ahead. Table 1A Good Sign: Real Final Sales To Private Domestic Purchasers Rose By 3.7% In Q1 Meanwhile, and completely overlooked at this point, S&P 500 earnings have come in 7.3% above expectations so far in Q1, with nearly 80% of S&P 500 companies surprising on the upside. Earnings are up 10.4% year-over-year in Q1. Sales are up 13.6%. Looking out to Q4 of 2022, S&P companies are expected to earn $60.93 in EPS, up 4.3% from what analysts expected at the start of the year. It is also worth noting that homebuilder stocks have basically been flat over the past 30 days, even as the S&P 500 has dropped by nearly 10% over this period. Housing is the most interest rate-sensitive sector of the economy. With the homeowner vacancy rate at record low levels, even today’s mortgage rates may not be enough to push the economy into recession (Chart 17). Economic vulnerabilities are greater outside the US. Nevertheless, there is enough pent-up demand on both the consumer and capital spending side to sustain growth. The Last Hurrah How long will the “Goldilocks” period of falling inflation and supply-side driven growth last? Our guess is about 18 months, starting this summer and lasting until the end of 2023. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the benign environment that will emerge in the second half of this year will sow the seeds of its own demise. Real wages are currently falling across the major economies (Chart 18). That has dampened consumer confidence and spending. However, as inflation comes down, real wage growth will turn positive. This will stoke demand, leading to a reacceleration in inflation, most likely in late 2023 or early 2024. Chart 17Tight Supply Makes Housing More Resilient Chart 18Real Wages Are Falling In Most Countries   In the end, central banks will discover that the neutral rate of interest is higher than they thought. That is good news for stocks in the short-to-medium run because it means that forthcoming rate hikes will not induce a recession. Down the road, however, a higher neutral rate means that investors will eventually need to value stocks using a higher discount rate. It also means that the disinflation we envision over the next 18 months will not last. All this puts us in the rather lonely “transitory transitory” camp: We think much of today’s high inflation will prove to be transitory, but the transitory nature of that inflation will itself be transitory. Be that as it may, the next 18 months of falling inflation and receding recession fears could see stocks recover much of their losses. For most investors, that is too long a period to sit on the sidelines. The “Last Hurrah” for equities is coming. Taking Partial Profits On Our Short Treasury, Long Value/Growth, And Short Bitcoin Trades We continue to think that over a 5-year horizon, bond yields will rise from current levels, value stocks will outperform growth stocks, and crypto prices will fall. However, with the “Last Hurrah” approaching, countertrend rallies are likely. To express this view, we recommend taking half profits on our short 10-year Treasury trade recommendation (up 9.3% from an initial entry yield of 1.45% on June 30, 2021). We are also halving our long global value/growth position (up 20.1% since inception on December 10, 2020), and our short Bitcoin position (up 98% based on our exponential shorting technique). Peter Berezin Chief Global Strategist peterb@bcaresearch.com Global Investment Strategy View Matrix Special Trade Recommendations Current MacroQuant Model Scores

Executive Summary The Fed offered more explicit near-term forward rate guidance at its meeting last week. This guidance will reduce yield volatility at the front-end of the curve during the next few months. We expect the Fed to deliver two more 50 basis point rate hikes (in June and July) before settling into a pattern of hiking by 25 bps at each meeting. Our anticipated Fed hike path is shallower than what is priced in the market, but it also lasts longer. Investors should position for this outcome by buying the December 2022 SOFR futures contract versus the December 2024 contract. Economic and financial market indicators suggest that the 10-year Treasury yield will fall back during the next six months, alongside falling inflation. Rate Expectations Bottom Line: Investors should keep portfolio duration close to benchmark for now, though we expect to get an opportunity to reduce portfolio duration later this year once inflation and bond yields are lower. Feature Last week was a chaotic one for the US bond market. Treasury yields rose and the Fed delivered its first 50 basis point rate increase since 2000. Yet, there is a broad consensus that the Fed’s message was dovish relative to expectations. In this week’s report we try to make sense of these confusing market signals. We do this by focusing on two important occurrences: (1) The Fed’s “dovish” 50 basis point rate hike and (2) The 10-year Treasury yield breaking above 3% for the first time since 2018. The Fed Takes Back Control Chart 1An Uncertain Rates Market Fed Chair Jay Powell had a clear agenda for last week’s FOMC press conference. Simply, he wanted to provide more concrete forward rate guidance to a market that had become increasingly volatile (Chart 1). The problem is that while the Fed had been explicit about its intention to lift rates, it hadn’t provided any firm guidance about its anticipated pace of tightening. This led to wild speculation in rates markets. Will the Fed lift rates at every meeting or every other meeting? Will it move in traditional 25 basis point increments or perhaps 50 basis point increments? Maybe even 75 basis point increments? This sort of speculation is unacceptable to Chair Powell who said in his opening remarks that the Fed “will strive to avoid adding uncertainty to what is already an extraordinarily challenging and uncertain time.”1 New Explicit Forward Guidance From Chair Powell’s post-meeting press conference, we can discern the following about the Fed’s near-term rate hike intentions. The Fed will not lift rates by 75 basis points at any single meeting. Two more 50 basis point rate hikes are likely at the June and July FOMC meetings. After July, the Fed will likely continue to lift rates at each FOMC meeting. Inflation’s trend will dictate whether these rate increases are delivered in 50 bps or 25 bps increments. The Fed will continue to lift rates at every meeting until it is confident that it has “done enough to get us on a path to restore price stability.” It’s also worth noting that, in addition to delivering a 50 basis point rate hike and providing firmer forward rate guidance, the Fed announced that it will begin shrinking its balance sheet on June 1. The Fed will follow the plan that was presented in the minutes from the March FOMC meeting and that we discussed in a recent report.2 Turning to markets, we see that the overnight index swap curve (OIS) is priced for an additional 201 bps of rate increases between now and the end of 2022 (Chart 2). This is consistent with three more 50 basis point rate hikes and two more 25 basis point rate hikes at this year’s five remaining FOMC meetings. If delivered, those hikes would bring the fed funds rate up to a range of 2.75% to 3.00%. Chart 2Rate Expectations Looking out until the end of 2023, we see the OIS curve priced for 262 bps of rate increases. That is, the market is priced for roughly 200 bps of tightening between now and the end of 2022, but only another 62 bps of rate increases in 2023. In fact, Chart 2 shows that the OIS curve has the funds rate peaking at 3.49% near the middle of 2023 and then edging slowly back down. Related Report  US Investment StrategyWage-Price Spiral? Not So Fast Based on our view that inflation will decline between now and the end of the year, we see the Fed delivering only 175 bps of additional tightening this year (50 bps rate hikes in June and July, followed by three more 25 bps hikes). This is slightly lower than what is priced in the curve. However, given the strong state of private sector balance sheets, we can also easily envision 25 basis point rate increases continuing at every meeting in 2023. That scenario would push the fed funds rate above 4% by the end of 2023, significantly higher than what is priced in the market. We recommend that investors position for this “slower, but longer” tightening cycle by buying the December 2022 SOFR futures contract versus the December 2024 contract (see “Yield Curve Trades” table on page 12). Charts 3A-3D focus more specifically on what’s priced in for the next few FOMC meetings. The charts show where the fed funds rate is expected to land after each meeting, as implied by the fed funds futures curve. Additionally, we use an ‘x’ to denote where we expect the fed funds rate to be at the end of each meeting. You can see that we expect the fed funds rate to be about 25 bps lower than the market by the end of September. Our expectation of a slower near-term hike pace stems from our view that inflation has already peaked.3 With that in mind, it’s notable that monthly core PCE inflation printed below levels consistent with the Fed’s 2022 forecasts in both February and March (Chart 4). In addition, last week’s employment report showed a significant deceleration in average hourly earnings (Chart 5). Average hourly earnings are an imperfect wage measure because they don’t adjust for the changing industry composition of the workforce. However, an adjusted measure that gives each industry group equal weighting is also starting to slow (Chart 5, bottom panel). Chart 3AMay 2022 FOMC Meeting Chart 3BJune 2022 FOMC Meeting Chart 3CJuly 2022 FOMC Meeting Chart 3DSeptember 2022 FOMC Meeting Chart 4Tracking Below The Fed's Forecast Chart 5Peak Wage Growth Bottom Line: The Fed’s more explicit rate guidance will reduce yield volatility at the front-end of the curve. Two more 50 basis point rate hikes are likely in June and July, but we expect falling inflation will prompt the Fed to switch to 25 basis point hikes after that. We also expect the tightening cycle to last longer than what is currently priced in the curve. Investors should keep portfolio duration close to benchmark and should position for our expected “slower, but longer” tightening cycle by owning the December 2022 SOFR futures contract versus the December 2024 contract. A Quick Note On The Neutral Rate And Financial Conditions Chart 6Financial Conditions Chart 2 shows that the market expects the Fed to lift the funds rate until it is slightly above the range of the Fed’s long-run neutral rate estimates (2% - 3%). At that point, restrictive monetary policy will presumably weigh on economic growth enough for the Fed to back away from tightening. While forecasters need some estimate of the neutral rate to predict where bond yields will land at the end of the cycle, it’s important to understand that Fed policymakers are not guided by these same concerns. In fact, Chair Powell said the following last week when asked whether the Fed intended to lift rates above estimates of neutral: … there’s not a bright line drawn on the road that tells us when we get [to neutral]. So we’re going to be looking at financial conditions, right. Our policy affects financial conditions and financial conditions affect the economy. So we’re going to be looking at the effect of our policy moves on financial conditions. Are they tightening appropriately? And then we’re going to be looking at the effects on the economy. And we’re going to be making a judgment about whether we’ve done enough to get us on a path to restore price stability. In other words, actual Fed policy will not be guided by neutral rate estimates. Instead, the Fed will continue lifting rates at a regular pace until it sees enough evidence of tightening financial conditions and slowing inflation. For this reason, it will be critical to monitor broad indexes of financial conditions as the Fed tightens policy. At present, the Goldman Sachs Financial Conditions Index remains deep in “accommodative” territory, but it is rising quickly (Chart 6). Based on history, we might expect the pace of tightening to slow once the index breaks into “restrictive” territory. Conversely, if financial conditions don’t tighten very much, then it will encourage the Fed to hike more aggressively.  The Return Of 3% Treasury Yields Chart 7Back Above 3% The 10-year Treasury yield broke above 3% after the FOMC meeting on Wednesday and it has so far held firm above that key psychological level. The last time the 10-year yield reached these heights was near the end of the last tightening cycle in 2018 (Chart 7). One big difference between today and 2018 being that today’s 3% 10-year yield consists of a much higher inflation component and a much lower real yield (Chart 7, bottom panel). At 2.88%, the cost of inflation compensation embedded in the 10-year yield is too high, and it will fall as inflation rolls over and the Fed tightens. There is a question, however, about whether this drop in 10-year inflation expectations will translate into a lower nominal bond yield or simply be offset by a rising 10-year real yield. The answer will depend on how quickly inflation comes down off its highs. Chart 85y5y Is Above Neutral If inflation falls quickly during the next few months, then the market will start to price-in a less aggressive Fed. This will hold down the 10-year real yield. However, if inflation remains sticky near its current level, then the market will judge that the Fed still has a lot of work to do. This will pressure 10-year real yields higher even if long-dated inflation expectations recede. It’s often simpler to ignore the breakdown between real yields and inflation expectations and focus purely on the nominal bond yield itself. This exercise strongly suggests that long-maturity nominal bond yields will fall back somewhat during the next six months. First, we observe that the 5-year/5-year forward Treasury yield has risen to 3.19%, above the upper-end of survey estimates of the long-run neutral fed funds rate (Chart 8). Long-maturity forward yields have rarely moved much above the range of neutral rate estimates during the past decade. Second, high-frequency indicators that historically correlate with bond yields have not justified the recent move higher in the 10-year yield. The ratio between the CRB Raw Industrials commodity price index and gold and the relative performance of cyclical versus defensive equity sectors have both stalled out, even as yields have shot up (Chart 9). Finally, the change in bond yields correlates strongly with the level of economic data surprises. Positive data surprises tend to coincide with a rising Treasury yield, and vice-versa. Economic data surprises have been positive during the past few months, justifying the move higher in yields (Chart 10). However, that trend is poised to reverse in the coming months. Economic momentum is bound to slow now that the Fed is tightening and the labor market is close to full employment. Further, the Economic Surprise Index exhibits a strong mean-reverting pattern. Extremely high values tend to be followed by lower values, and vice-versa. A simple auto-regressive model of the Surprise Index suggests that it is on track to turn negative within the next month. Chart 9Bonds Go Their Own Way Chart 10Economic Data Surprises Bottom Line: Our indicators suggest that the 10-year Treasury yield will fall back somewhat during the next six months. That said, on a longer-run horizon we continue to expect that interest rates will rise further than the market anticipates. Investors should maintain neutral portfolio duration for now, but stand ready to re-initiate below-benchmark positions later this year once inflation and bond yields are lower. A Quick Note On The Yield Curve And Credit Spreads Yield Curve Positioning Not only have bond yields increased since the Fed meeting last Wednesday, but the Treasury curve has also steepened significantly. The turnaround in the yield curve has been startling. The 2-year/10-year Treasury slope was inverted one month ago, but it is now back up to 40 bps (Chart 11). But despite the big moves in the 2/10 slope, the yield curve remains quite flat beyond the 5-year maturity point. In fact, the 2/5/10 butterfly spread – the 5-year yield minus the yield on a duration-matched 2/10 barbell – remains far too high compared to the 2/10 slope (Chart 11, bottom 2 panels). Therefore, our recommended yield curve positioning remains unchanged. Investors should buy the 5-year Treasury note versus a duration-matched barbell consisting of the 2-year and 10-year notes. Credit Spreads A steeper yield curve has positive implications for corporate bond spreads. All else equal, a steeper yield curve suggests that we are further away from the end of the economic recovery, meaning that corporate bonds have a longer window for outperformance. That said, at 40 bps, the 2-year/10-year Treasury slope is still relatively flat, and while corporate bond spreads have widened during the past few months, the high-yield index option-adjusted spread is still close to its 2019 level and the 12-month breakeven spread for the investment grade index is still below its median since 1995 (Chart 12). Chart 11Favor The 5-Year Chart 12Corporate Bond Valuation We remain cautious on corporate credit for the time being. Specifically, we recommend an underweight allocation (2 out of 5) to investment grade corporates and a neutral allocation (3 out of 5) to high-yield. However, if the 2-year/10-year Treasury slope were to steepen to above 50 bps and/or if corporate bond spreads were to widen further, then we may see an opportunity this year to tactically increase exposure. Stay tuned. Ryan Swift US Bond Strategist rswift@bcaresearch.com Footnotes 1    https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20220504.p… 2    Please see US Bond Strategy Weekly Report, “Peak Inflation,” dated April 19, 2022. 3    Please see US Bond Strategy Weekly Report, “Peak Inflation,” dated April 19, 2022.   Recommended Portfolio Specification Other Recommendations Treasury Index Returns Spread Product Returns