Emerging Markets
A two-speed economy requires selective portfolio construction, favoring consumer-oriented and mainly non-cyclical industries. Put communications equipment on the high-conviction overweight list, and stay clear of refiners.
While the BoE and the Fed are increasingly committed to letting inflation expectations rise, the BoJ disappointed once again. The dollar and the pound are likely to experience broad weaknesses, while gold, the euro and commodity currencies have upside. USD/ZAR will fall further in the short term, but the cyclical bull-market is not over.
The current risk premium embedded into Brazilian financial markets is too low and will widen as investors come to realize Brazil's unsustainable public debt dynamics. The government is planning a major shift in its fiscal policy framework that will ease pressure to cut budget expenditures, but is bearish for the nation's public debt trajectory. Although the economy could stabilize going forward, financial markets are already discounting a lot of good news. Stay put.
The Chinese manufacturing sector has remained under downward pressure, but the stress level has alleviated compared to a few months ago. The Chinese labor market will likely continue to deteriorate, which will force policymakers to stay accommodative. Despite the recent rally, Chinese investable stocks remain exceptionally cheap.
The U.S. and the global economies are improving. A synchronized upswing normally trumps the Fed in determining the path for the dollar. U.S. inflation expectations are likely to rise relative to the rest of the world, weighing on the dollar. The risks for EUR/USD have risen. We are hedging our long EUR/USD position by shorting the euro on some crosses. Buy CHF/JPY.
The recent rally in risk assets is walking a very fine line. If the Fed turns more hawkish, or U.S. growth slows, it could fall over.
Clearing the refined-product overhang in the global storage markets is not as straightforward as it used to be: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), China, and India all are making concerted efforts to boost refining capacity, which is leaving them with surplus product that ends up being sold in export markets.
Chinese banks have been writing off impaired loans, and the pace has quickened sharply in recent years. This has been largely ignored by investors. Under a rather extreme scenario, Chinese commercial banks' NPL ratio could reach 14%, which could lead to a 30% hit to banks' net equity base. Chinese banks H shares have already priced in this scenario.
The ongoing stampede into EM bonds is unsustainable. Running away from G7 bonds does not necessarily entail buying EM bonds. These are two separate investment decisions. Lower commodities prices, weaker EM currencies and higher G7 bond yields will undermine EM bond returns going forward. A new relative bond trade: long Polish and Hungarian 5-year / short South African and Turkish 5-year local bonds, currency unhedged.
There has not been much of an improvement/recovery in the Chinese economy. Credit growth is weakening anew, which warrants a downbeat cyclical outlook for China's industrial sectors. Malaysia is heading into a classic credit/banking downturn. Go short Malaysian banks stocks and short the ringgit versus the U.S. dollar. In South Africa, take profits on the yield curve flattening trade. Continue shorting the rand versus the U.S. dollar.