Commodities & Energy Sector

Chinese social unrest will be suppressed first, then the government will relax policies to stabilize the economy. We are reducing our 4Q22 Brent forecast to $85/bbl as a result of the short-term negative news, but maintaining our $116/bbl forecast for next year.

Today, we are sending you the BCA annual outlook for 2023. The report is an edited transcript of our recent conversation with Mr. X and his daughter, Ms. X, who are long-time BCA clients with whom we discuss the economic and financial market outlook for the next twelve months toward the end of each year.

What is the outlook for the European housing market amid rising mortgage rates and the energy crisis? Does housing represent a systemic risk? Can households weather the storm? And what are the opportunities, if any?

Our 4Q22 and 2023 Brent forecasts remain at $100/bbl and $116/bbl. Upside price risk continues to dominate oil markets. We remain long the XOP and COMT ETFs to retain exposure to oil and gas producers’ equities, and higher commodity prices and further backwardation, particularly in copper.

Global oil supply will slightly exceed demand in the next six months, resulting in a small surplus. Brent oil prices will trade in a range with a floor at $80 per barrel, barring any geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East and/or escalation in the West-Russia conflict.

CBs proved to be savvy buyers of gold over 3Q22, scooping up record volumes of the metal as prices remained weak. The exorbitant privilege accorded the USD’s reserve-currency status will continue to erode as EM states move to insulate themselves against US financial and trade sanctions being turned on them. Based on our modeling, we believe as long as the Fed is intent on keeping the real effective USD exchange rate and real UST rates positive, demand for higher CB gold reserves will persist. Given this view, we are getting tactically long gold at tonight’s close.