Economy

Xi Jinping has not overthrown China's consensual leadership model; The Communist Party is highly vulnerable to the emerging middle class; Factional struggles will re-emerge before the 2017 Party Congress; Economic structural reform is constrained by a host of factors; Geopolitical tail risks will remain elevated.

The populist backlash, if left unchecked, could spiral out of control, leading to severe losses for investors. Concerns about lax financial regulation, rising inequality, unfettered globalization, and fiscal austerity are understandable. Addressing these grievances will hurt corporate profits short-term, but could lead to a more resilient economy longer-term. Investors should position for modestly higher inflation and steepening yield curves. Near-term, equities are technically overbought, but will benefit from the shift to more stimulative fiscal and monetary policies.

Brazilian risk assets have rallied on the back of investor optimism about the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. But the political games have just begun. With all politicians looking to the October municipal elections and 2018 general elections, the Michel Temer administration is unlikely to impose fiscal and structural reforms. Debt dynamics are set to worsen, and we continue to short Brazilian equities.

True inflation rates in the euro area and in the U.S. are actually not that different, making the polarized divergence in expected monetary policy very difficult to justify.

In lieu of our regular report, we are publishing a <i>Special Report</i> titled "Five Myths About Chinese Politics" authored by our <i>Geopolitical Strategy</i> team, offering insight on the Chinese leadership and the political situation.

The global search for yield, not an improvement in EM fundamentals, has been driving the EM rally. EM/China growth conditions have stabilized but not recovered. Barring a full-fledged cyclical profit upsurge in EM EPS, EM stocks are not cheap at all. EM/China final demand for commodities will disappoint and will likely produce a major reversal in EM risk assets.

Most scenarios point towards higher Japanese bond yields with valuations overstretched. Maintain a maximum underweight stance on Japan in global hedged bond portfolios.

The question of how far central banks should go in their efforts to boost growth is becoming increasingly controversial. In this <i>Special Report</i>, BCA Chief Economist Martin Barnes outlines his personal view that monetary policy has done enough. He will debate this issue with Peter Berezin, BCA Chief Global Strategist at next month's BCA Conference in NY.

Shift to a small vs. large cap bias as a stealth way to play the overall equity market overshoot. The oversold bounce in banks is not worth chasing, and buy dips in medical equipment stocks.

U.S. inflationary forces remain tame, forcing the Fed to maintain an easy bias. Yet, the global economy is improving. This confluence could weigh on the dollar and boost commodity currencies. The NZD has more upside, but it will lag petro currencies. The BoJ will act, but timing is uncertain. Keep a negative bias toward the yen. CAD/NOK has more downside.