Iran

Oil prices will likely rise in the near term, irrespective of developments in the Strait of Hormuz. Given that global share prices have become correlated with crude prices, global stocks will continue selling off. Go short the EM equity index and take profits on our open trades that have benefited from the global risk-on environment.

With all eyes on the Strait of Hormuz, BCA Research has created a dashboard of data for your convenience.

Close oil trades tactically, but beware lingering economic costs of the Iran war this year.

If the 2022 roadmap is any guide, equity markets and cyclical currencies will trough only after confirming that the peak in energy prices is in the rearview mirror. In the very near term, investors should focus on P&L preservation. Reduce exposure to equities, and seek refuge in gold, and inflation-linked bonds (ILBs). Amid a very different demand side than in 2022, today’s supply shock is unlikely to generate lasting inflation, and investors should fade rate-hike odds.

Investors have decided that the news flow out of the Middle East over the weekend was beyond negative, it is borderline apocalyptic. There are several reasons to agree with this assessment.

Instead of a normal missive, I am sending all my clients today a very lightly edited internal email that I just shared with the whole firm. I hope that it illustrates to you some of the … “fear”… that we all share with each other behind closed doors here at BCA Research as colleagues and teammates. Hopefully you see some of it in our research as well. That “cold sweat” is a necessary part of anyone in research and strategy roles. Once we lose it, we become disconnected from our clients who are in the trenches and the frontlines. 

Avoid EM and DM risk assets. In the near term (one-to-three months), the odds favor US equity outperformance and a US dollar rebound. Nevertheless, the cyclical outlook (nine-to-12 months) warrants underweighting US equities and staying short the greenback.

Iran doesn’t need to sink a single US warship; it could inflict much more damage by sinking the US stock and bond markets by disrupting shipping, trade, and oil tankers with decentralised low-tech drone warfare. We discuss why it is not the direct pain of higher oil prices, but the knock-on repercussions for stock and bond markets that could inflict the greater damage. Plus, a new tactical trade is to underweight Materials.