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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Apr 08th 2019
And The Brexit Winner Is...
With the Brexit deadline in the rear view mirror, Britain's leave voters have are left with the impression that they have been taken for a ride by the UK’s political class, and in particular by their representatives in parliament. So who is the real sovereign power in the UK? The people or parliament? Charles sees three possible outcomes.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Apr 05th 2019
Europe's Export Problem
Europe is the world’s most export-dependent big economic region. In such a precious position, the effect of external weakness can be debilitating, as shown by the eurozone manufacturing PMI having just fallen to its lowest in nearly six years at 47.5. The question is whether any respite can be found in overseas markets.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Rosealea Yao
Apr 05th 2019
Video: Chinese Property Is Slowing, Not Collapsing
Home sales in China fell by 3.6% in the first two months of 2019. This, however, was better than expected considering that this upcycle is now four years old. Lower mortgage rates and supportive policies by local governments should prop up demand, and Rosealea expects overall housing sales to decline a modest 2% for the year.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Udith Sikand
Apr 05th 2019
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call April 2019
In yesterday’s Gavekal Research Conference Call, Will Denyer and Udith Sikand addressed the changing US dollar liquidity environment, and its impact on markets.
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Gavekal Research
Long Chen
Apr 04th 2019
Last Lap For China's Bond Rally
Starting from April, Chinese government and policy bank bonds are included in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate bond index. But index inclusion, while an important landmark, may not be the best guide to market timing. After a bull run that has lasted since the beginning of 2018, China’s bond market rally looks to be nearing an end.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Apr 04th 2019
Auf Wiedersehen, German Competitiveness
Behind the factors that have caused Germany’s factory slowdown, deeper structural trends are eroding the competitiveness of German industry. The gains Germany made by deploying labor more effectively since the late 1990s have now run out, and that there are few signs Germany is well positioned to deploy capital more efficiently in the future.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Apr 03rd 2019
Play A Longer US Cycle With Small Caps
After a wobble late last year, the US economy looks to be stabilizing. The Atlanta Fed has revised up its estimate for 1Q19 GDP growth to 2.1%, while more timely indicators such as mortgage applications, PMI readings and durable goods orders indicate a steadying of the ship.The question is how to play this development.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl, Charles Gave, Tom Miller, Anatole Kaletsky
Apr 03rd 2019
London Seminar — March 2019
Cedric Gemehl examined the possibility of a European rebound; Charles Gave argued the world is splitting into three distinct monetary zones; Tom Miller presented on the state of the US-China trade talks and the health of the Chinese economy; Anatole Kaletsky examined the risks to the bull market, and arrived at a bullish conclusion.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Holland
Apr 02nd 2019
Good News For Goldilocks
Last Thursday, with the price of oil approaching a four-and-a-half month high, Donald Trump took to Twitter. “Price of Oil getting too high.” Trump’s tweet had little effect, with Brent crude hitting US$69/bbl on Monday. Prices are likely to continue to push higher over the coming months towards 2018's highs—a troubling prospect.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Apr 02nd 2019
A User's Guide To The Chinese Stock Market
China’s onshore equity markets are now large and accessible enough that they can no longer be ignored by foreign investors—but idiosyncratic enough that they are hard to understand. This in-depth DeepChina report explains the fundamentals: What is there to invest in? Who owns the market? How can foreigners invest? How is the market regulated?
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Apr 01st 2019
A Tactical Opportunity In Turkey
Turkey has long been a market to steer well clear of, with investment opportunities poisoned by toxic politics and an ever-depreciating local currency. However, with the US Federal Reserve adopting a more dovish stance and following the weekend’s municipal elections, Turkish lira assets may now offer an attractive tactical opportunity.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Udith Sikand
Apr 01st 2019
Strategy Monthly: A New Liquidity Environment
The prospect of easier liquidity conditions helped make 1Q19 one of the best ever quarters for US equities. Confirmation of the Federal Reserve’s newly dovish policy stance means that US equities should continue to do well through 2019. Other big winners in this environment may be equities in northeast Asian emerging markets that do not rely on Chinese commodity demand.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Mar 29th 2019
A Week Is A Long Time
Harold Wilson, the former British prime minister’s, quip that “a week is a long time in politics” has become an over-used cliche. Still, in the last week, there has been good reason to dust it off.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave, Charles Gave
Mar 29th 2019
Beyond The Yield Curve Inversion
The current yield curve inversion and softness in growth data are curious developments, given that the four prices that matter most for the global economy—long bond yields, corporate credit spreads, the oil price, and the value of the US dollar—are all relatively favorable. Louis and Charles weigh five different explanations for what may be going on—from bullish to highly bearish—and examine the investment implications.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Mar 28th 2019
Among EMs, Favor North Asia
With their high beta to global growth, emerging markets seldom outperform when investors begin to get nervous about the health of the global economy. So it is no surprise that the risk-off move of the last week has seen the Brazilian real and Argentinian peso each sold off by more than -5% against the US dollar, while the Turkish lira has been propped up only by a regulatory squeeze on liquidity. But the jitters have not affected all emerging...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Mar 28th 2019
Macro Update: Is The Worst Over?
China has gotten off to a good start in 2019, with a stock market rally and some encouraging datapoints. In this chartbook, Chen Long surveys the economic and market outlook to determine if the worst is really over. Credit growth and infrastructure are picking up, but property, consumption and industrial profits have not bottomed just yet.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Mar 27th 2019
Video: Europe's Response To China
Europe has an ambivalent relationship with China that is increasingly under scrutiny. The European Commission recently labelled China a “systemic rival” and France and Germany want to create corporate champions to compete against Chinese state owned enterprises. Europe, however, is not singing from the same hymn sheet.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Mar 27th 2019
The Case For A Cyclical Pick-up In Europe
As of last week, short positions in European equities were deemed to be the world’s most crowded trade and recent news has not lightened the market mood. The question is whether such information is in the price, for any marked improvement in cyclical conditions may spark a strong rally.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Mar 26th 2019
The Hard Logic Of A Long Brexit Extension
By removing the hard deadline for Brexit negotiations the EU has avoided the disaster of a 2008-style sudden stop in business with its second largest trading partner. This decision reinforces the bullish momentum for sterling, which remains undervalued especially against the US dollar. Ending the risk of a “No Deal” Brexit should also improve the dismal economic outlook and help stabilize political conditions in Europe as a whole.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Dan Wang, Yanmei Xie
Mar 26th 2019
The New Internet Regime
For the freewheeling Chinese internet sector, regulatory risk arrived with a vengeance in 2018. Government actions hurt companies including Tencent in gaming, Didi Chuxing in ride-hailing, ByteDance in online media, and others. In this piece, Dan and Yanmei explain what drove these moves and how the new online regulatory environment will work.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Mar 25th 2019
Recession Warning, Or False Alarm?
On Friday, the three-month to 10-year portion of the US treasury curve inverted for the first time this cycle, heightening investors’ fears of impending recession. But although every US recession of recent decades has been preceded by an inversion of the yield curve, not every inversion has been followed by a recession; there have been cases of false positives.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Mar 22nd 2019
Vox Clamantis In Deserto
Some say, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Others regard repeating the same mistake over and over again, and expecting the results to change, to be the very definition of insanity. I fear that the majority of “respectable economists” (meaning they always side with the consensus) inhabit the first of the two camps.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Mar 21st 2019
Gather Round The Punch Bowl
US monetary policy tightening is over, at least for now. While the Federal Reserve is not adding any more hooch to the punch bowl, chairman Jay Powell has promised to stop cutting his serving sizes. Although not much of a surprise, the Fed’s guidance is broadly positive for just about everything but US dollar cash—especially equities and real assets.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Holland
Mar 21st 2019
Video: Intervention To Support The HKD Signals Strength, Not Weakness
In the last two weeks, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has been forced to sell US dollars in the foreign exchange market to maintain the Hong Kong Dollar's peg to the US dollar. Yet far from signaling a crisis, the interventions are a symptom of confidence in Hong Kong’s financial system, which is swimming with liquidity.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Mar 20th 2019
Believe In The US Consumer, Still
Just as the Federal Reserve eases up on monetary tightening and negotiators struggle to avert a trans-Pacific trade war, the US consumer is emerging as the next source of worry. Americans are deferring big-ticket purchases, consumer confidence readings have softened and retail sales growth has slowed. Suddenly, the picture looks similar to the 2015-16 soft patch, or worse still it resembles the phase leading up to the 2008 crisis, when an...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Lance Noble
Mar 20th 2019
The Industrial Policy That Dare Not Speak Its Name
The Made In China 2025 initiative was omnipresent after its launch in 2015, but it has now become officially invisible, a casualty of the vocal concerns expressed by the US and others. In this piece, Lance explains how China will pursue industrial policy in the aftermath: with less transparency, but also, perhaps, with less discrimination.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Mar 19th 2019
A New Era For European Banks
European banking stocks have been battered for much of the last four years by negative interest rates and a Brussels plan to impose market discipline through shareholder bail-ins rather than public bail-outs. This approach is now in question as Germany embraces a new industrial strategy that will rely on strong state-backed banks taking political direction.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Mar 18th 2019
A Marxist Take On The Gilets Jaunes
The "yellow jackets” still protesting in France have so far received only tepid support from the country's usually vocal trade unions. Similarly, left-wing parties have also been very slow to take to the street. This begs the question of what the oracle of the French intelligentsia, Karl Marx, would have made of this protest movement.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Tom Miller
Mar 18th 2019
The End Of China's ODI Party
Beijing’s decision to use foreign acquisitions as a tool of state industrial policy has badly backfired. With advanced economies stiffening their resistance to Chinese investment, China’s decade-long outward direct investment spree looks spent. In this piece, Tom explains how the boom ended and where funds will flow in the future.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Mar 15th 2019
The Trouble With Champions
When last Sunday, Angela Merkel’s heir-apparent published an opinion piece on the EU’s future, she left the door open to an EU industrial strategy and competition policy focused on creating European champions intended to compete in global markets. Such a policy may be attractive to politicians, but it is less appealing to investors.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Mar 15th 2019
Video: The Fed's Potential Paradigm Shift
The Federal Reserve is debating a fundamental shift in its inflation targeting. Right now it's targeting 2% inflation no matter what it has been in the past, a so-called "bygones" policy. In this video interview Will discusses the consequences of switching to price-level targeting, where the aim is to keep average inflation over time at 2%.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Mar 14th 2019
The Central Banker Who Cried Wolf
In January, the BoJ governor promised more monetary easing if that was what it took for inflation to reach 2%. Investors increasingly doubt the fortitude of Japan’s financial sector as it endures the pain inflicted by the world’s easiest central bank. If that suspicion grows, the variable of adjustment may be a rising yen, which would be a big headache for the BoJ.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Mar 14th 2019
That Wasn't So Bad, Actually
China watchers have been bracing themselves for some ugly economic indicators in January and February. Yet the first official data for 2019 were not actually that bad. As Andrew explains, the economy is clearly slowing, but it’s not going into an uncontrolled dive. The government’s moderate policy response is thus still on track to steady growth.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Mar 13th 2019
The Brexit Impasse
Political commentators and European leaders are bewailing Britain’s descent into ungovernability after the UK parliament again rejected the new and supposedly improved Brexit deal. But markets reacted calmly. In fact, for investors, the seemingly chaotic Brexit saga is unfolding roughly along the bullish lines suggested here since early January.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Mar 12th 2019
The Locus Of Capital Destruction
Germany is going through one of its periodic bouts of angst as its industrial economy faces up to cyclical headwinds, unwanted structural change and the threat of protectionism. I too have concerns about the fate of corporate Germany, but would approach the problem from the perspective of an equity investor.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Rosealea Yao
Mar 11th 2019
Springtime For Steel
It’s looking like a good spring for China’s steel industry. In this piece, Rosealea reports on her findings from a recent visit to the steelmaking capital of Tangshan. Steel and iron ore prices are being supported by a combination of stable demand from property, recovering demand from infrastructure and supply constraints from scrap shortages.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Mar 11th 2019
Productivity To The Rescue, For Now
On first reading, Friday’s US payroll report for February made grim reading for most investors. The screeching slowdown in non-farm hiring seemed to point to a US economy that is flirting with recession. To compound matters, wage growth seemes to point to a very tight labor market. On closer inspection, however, a less concerning picture is revealed.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Mar 08th 2019
When You're In A Hole, Stop Digging
The first law of holes states: when you are in one, stop digging. It’s sound advice, which central bankers would do well to heed. Unfortunately for Mario Draghi and his colleagues at the European Central Bank, things are not so simple. It is one of the quirks of negative interest rates that the longer rates remain in negative territory, the less accommodative policy becomes.
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Gavekal Research
Andrew Batson, Long Chen
Mar 08th 2019
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call March 2019
In this research conference call, Andrew Batson and Chen Long discussed the improving outlook for the Chinese economy in 2019 and the implications for financial markets. Confirmation that the government is both willing and able to support growth has ignited an equity rally, while expectations of further easing measures still support bonds.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Mar 08th 2019
Not Modern, Not About Money, And Not Really Much Of A Theory
Charles has had enough of all the talk going round about Modern Monetary Theory. In this forceful polemic he lets fly with both barrels at the proponents of MMT, arguing that they have no knowledge of financial history, little understanding of the nature of money, and are clueless about what constitutes a theory.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Mar 07th 2019
Keynes Is Dead; This Is The Long Run
“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is,” Yogi Berra said. Take cutting interest rates as an example. According to Keynesian theory, reducing interest rates is a way to borrow from future demand in order to prevent a recession today.The theory is sound, but then comes the practice. And in Europe today, we are in practice up to our necks.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Mar 07th 2019
An Investor's Rough Guide To Modern Monetary Theory
Modern Monetary Theory—the idea that governments can spend as much as they want, free from funding constraints—is attracting more and more attention. Will examines the precepts of the theory, explores whether it really brings anything new to the table, and outlines some of the implications for investors should it ever be applied as practical policy.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Mar 06th 2019
Towards A New Triple Merit Scenario
Emerging market equities have benefited handsomely from the global risk-on move so far this year. With the prospect of a US-China tariff truce and the likelihood that China’s growth rate will stabilize in the coming months, EM may be on the cusp of a new “triple merit scenario” that could extend the equity rally through the rest of 2019.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Mar 06th 2019
Video: Shifting Sands At The Fed
The US Federal Reserve has said it is likely to end its process of balance sheet “normalization” sooner than previously planned. This sounds like an obscure monetary technicality, but it has important implications for investors. In this video interview Will explains why.
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Gavekal Research
Andrew Batson, Long Chen
Mar 05th 2019
Stability, Beijing-Style
After a decade of rapid growth in debt, China’s government claims to be pursuing a different course. At this year’s legislative session, leaders dialed back growth targets, and pledged to control leverage and instead use fiscal policy to steady growth. Neither pledge can be taken at face value: growth will stabilize this year, but leverage will expand.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl, Nick Andrews
Mar 04th 2019
A Potential Lifeline For Europe's Banks
As the members of the European Central Bank’s governing council prepare to meet in Frankfurt this Thursday, they face the unsettling possibility that their policy settings may risk compounding, rather than alleviating, the eurozone’s economic weaknesses.Unfortunately for members of the council who may be inclined to dither, doing nothing is not a viable option.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Mar 04th 2019
Believe In The Chinese Bull Market
After turning in the world’s worst performance in 2018, Chinese A-shares have bounced back with a vengeance in 2019. The three factors driving sentiment—liquidity conditions, the US-China trade war and Beijing’s policy stance—have all improved markedly. Thomas thinks the bull market has room to run, but exuberance creates its own set of risks.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Mar 01st 2019
Get Ready To Buy The Dip
With the S&P 500 up a nifty 18% from its Christmas eve low, propelled by the Federal Reserve’s dovish turn and hopes of a US-China trade truce, it is natural to wonder if US stocks are due for a correction. The question for investors is whether they should fade the rally now before it is too late, or stay invested and look to buy the dip should a correction occur.
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Gavekal Research
Research Team
Mar 01st 2019
Strategy Monthly: China After The Trade War
The prospect of a US-China deal on tariffs has already boosted China’s stock market and currency. But it won’t reverse China’s growth slowdown, which is largely the result of Beijing’s efforts to de-leverage the financial system. The good news is that credit growth is rebounding, which will stabilize growth in 2H18. Chinese bonds will rally a bit more, the renminbi will move up further against the US dollar, and Chinese and EM equities should...
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Gavekal Research
Tom Miller
Feb 28th 2019
Crisis And Opportunity In Kashmir
India and Pakistan engaged in air-to-air combat yesterday, raising the prospect of war between the two nuclear powers. Markets fell only marginally but are vulnerable if the conflict escalates, which for the moment looks unlikely. If Modi keeps his nerve, the crisis could put the BJP on a sure path to victory in May’s general election, heralding a rally in Indian asset prices.