Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

May 21st 2019

The world and its dog are suddenly worried that the growing US-China trade war may be the event that sparks the next panic. Might I suggest that the looming iceberg that could yet sink the good ship Global Growth may not lie in the obvious spot where spy glasses are focused.The real menace may still lie in the European banking system.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Chen Long

May 17th 2019

Since the US slapped fresh tariffs on Chinese exports a week ago, the renminbi has fallen, but by less than when the first round of tariffs were imposed last year. In this video interview, Chen Long discusses why that is, and how far China’s currency is likely to fall if things get worse.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

May 16th 2019

By putting off for six months its decision whether or not to impose a 25% tariff on all imports of passenger cars and car parts on national security grounds, the US administration bowed to expedience on Wednesday. In theory, the threat of auto tariffs remains on the table. In practice, the six month delay has robbed the proposal of much of its credibility.

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand, Edward Hookey

May 16th 2019

Australian politics has been a psychodrama for more than a decade, but for investors it barely mattered. The country has grown rich on selling ever more rocks to China and following smart, evidenced-based policy at home. That, however, looks to be changing as this weekend voters go to the polls after an election campaign that may come to be seen as a watershed.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

May 15th 2019

Demography, it is said, is destiny. If so, then the finger of destiny may be pointing at a more inflationary future for the world economy. Louis reviews the slow shifts in demographic profile which govern trends in consumption and savings, and so propel the forces of inflation and deflation over the very long term.

Gavekal Research

Arthur Kroeber

May 13th 2019

The US-China trade war has three potential outcomes. First, we could see a step back from brinksmanship and a deal in the next few weeks. Second, the two sides could dig in for more protracted negotiations. Third, the talks could break down and the trade war become permanent. With the probability of each outcome less than 50%, the only certainty is continued uncertainty.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

May 10th 2019

Eurozone economic growth was modest in the first quarter of 2019, but it was still stronger than most economists had expected, with Germany avoiding a recession and Italy returning to growth. Meanwhile eurozone equity markets are up a respectable 13% over the year to date. Does this mean Europe is emerging from its economic soft patch?

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave, Louis Gave

May 09th 2019

Investor concern this week is centered on the US-China trade negotiations, but Charles Gave and Louis Gave wonder if investors aren’t missing another risk, namely, that the world might be shifting from a deflationary to an inflationary environment. In our monthly Conference Call yesterday, they outlined arguments for why this may be the case, and what it would mean for portfolio construction.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

May 09th 2019

For equity investors, there is a never a good time to have a trade war. Nevertheless, if there must be one, the US stock market is now better placed to ride out a US-China tariff conflict than it was a year ago. That’s just as well. Chinese negotiator Liu He is set to arrive in Washington on Thursday for the latest round of trade talks which are going down to the wire.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

May 08th 2019

As the US-China trade talks enter a critical phase, all eyes are on a new meeting of officials and whether it can can break the log jam. Louis, however, wonders if investors may be missing a trick by purely focusing on issues of market access, enforcement and tariffs. Adjustments in the value of the renminbi may yet be the real story of any deal.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

May 07th 2019

In the Strategy Monthly I presented a fairly simple rule to show whether an economy is in the top, or the bottom half of the Four Quadrants framework. To show that the rule worked, I laid out relationships between the "rule" and a range of other useful indications of a price environment shift. Here, I capture all of these relationships in a simple, revised decision rule.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian, Will Denyer

May 06th 2019

April’s US payrolls report showed job creation was stronger than expected and unemployment lower, yet wage pressures were softer. This suggests weaker unit labor costs will allow the Fed to remain dovish, at least for now. All else being equal this is positive for equity investors. The question is: How long can this benign combination persist?

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand

May 03rd 2019

Multinationals and investors are looking to India to deliver the next great surge in sales of consumer goods and services. But demand will not expand in a linear fashion as GDP increases. The acceleration phenomenon dictates that sales of different products and services will grow in leaps and bounds as cohorts of new consumers surpass key income thresholds.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

May 03rd 2019

When the market rate of interest for a long period has been held abnormally low relative to returns on invested capital, financial engineering takes off with huge debt issuance, making a chaotic denouement of the credit cycle unavoidable. To prepare for such an event, an equity portfolio hedged with gold can reduce volatility and raise returns.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

May 02nd 2019

Despite inflation remaining muted, Wednesday saw the Federal Reserve stand pat on interest rates. Having switched to an overly dovish stance early this year, Fed Chairman Jay Powell remains wary of changing tack and easing policy as he worries about inflationary pressure bubbling up from an economy that looks to be fully occupied. For his part, Charles is less nuanced and believes the US will shortly flip over into an environment where inflation...

Gavekal Dragonomics

Tom Miller

May 01st 2019

China’s much-criticized Belt and Road Initiative will become “open, green and clean,” Xi Jinping pledged last week. Do these new promises mean an end to the debt traps, kickbacks and white elephants that the infrastructure spree has been accused of fostering? In this piece, Tom argues Beijing will struggle to fundamentally reform the initiative.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian

Apr 29th 2019

The US first quarter GDP data released on Friday proved consistent with the picture of slower—but still positive—growth through 2019, and a continuation of the Goldilocks tailwind for asset markets. But after a strong run-up in equities this year, it might be time to ask what the greatest risk is to the current environment, and how to position for it.

Gavekal Research

Chen Long

Apr 26th 2019

In a year marked by unexpected US dollar strength, the renminbi is one of the few major currencies to be up against the dollar. The reason is simple enough: the resumption of trade talks between the US and China. Yet although a trade pact is now substantially priced in, there are reasons to believe the renminbi has further upside potential.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 26th 2019

China’s response to the Fed’s QEII program in 2010 was to tighten monetary policy, as it feared a spill-over effect into inflation. Since that point China has seen credit growth progressively slow, making it an inhibitor to any global rebound in inflation. This orientation by China is changing as the focus of policy shifts away from crimping the shadow finance sector.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Apr 25th 2019

China’s property market data has been surprising on the upside. Thanks to easier credit and looser administrative restrictions, sales volumes picked up in March and prices rose. In this paper, Rosealea examines whether the upturn can last, and assesses what it means for land sales, construction activity, materials prices and the broader economy.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 24th 2019

On paper, this should have been a good year for health care stocks: global growth has disappointed, long term interest rates have fallen, the US yield curve for a brief while was inverted and a looming US-China trade deal should see China buy lots of health care gear and drugs from the US. Yet, even though the stars aligned, health care has been the worst performing major US equity sector this year. Notwithstanding a bounce yesterday, the sector...

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 23rd 2019

When the Fed launched QE2 in 2010, there was widespread fear that a great inflation beckoned. It has not exactly worked out that way. Louis considers the role energy played in a decade of becalmed US consumer prices. Yet, with oil prices again rising, he asks whether the market has grown complacent in its analysis of the relationship between oil and inflation.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 18th 2019

As the Federal Reserve launched the second round of its quantitative easing, the fear was that the unorthodox monetary policy would ignite a new round of inflation—even hyper-inflation—throughout the world, with dramatic effects on asset prices. But inflation failed to materialize, and now nobody seems to be worried about it anymore.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Apr 17th 2019

Charles dusts off his equity and bond valuation models for the US and is disturbed to see that for only the fourth time since the mid-1980s both asset classes are simultaneously overvalued. In this piece, he asks: what gives?

Gavekal Dragonomics

Ernan Cui

Apr 16th 2019

The world’s deadliest pig disease is now established in the world’s largest pork market. The spread of African swine fever in China has been more severe than the government has admitted, and as a result pork prices are spiking and imports are surging. But as Ernan argues in this report, the impact of this epidemic is still only in its early stages.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer

Apr 15th 2019

Happy days seem to be here again as risk assets soar on a dovish Federal Reserve and better growth outlook. Yet, investors should take note. The Fed has three official mandates; namely, to keep inflation low and stable, keep unemployment down, and keep interest rates low and stable. Yet among those “equals”, the first is thought to be bearing down on inflation.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 12th 2019

The eurozone is rapidly becoming the Errol Flynn of global economies: it just never fails to disappoint. From weak German PMIs, through falling French industrial production, to Italy slipping back into recession, it is hard to think of a single European data point over the past 12 months that gave any reason for cheer. Will things get better over the coming months?

Gavekal Dragonomics

Lance Noble

Apr 11th 2019

Over the last two years, China has announced a series of steps intended to open market access for foreign businesses and ease its inward investment restrictions. In this paper, Lance examines these reforms and assess just how far they go towards leveling the playing field for foreign companies operating and investing in China.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian, Will Denyer

Apr 10th 2019

When the US slides into recession, it generally does so because of a contraction in investment, either in the corporate sector or in the housing market. Today, returns on capital invested in housing exceed the cost of capital, signalling a positive outlook for US residential investment, construction, house prices, and the shares of homebuilders.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews, Arthur Kroeber

Apr 09th 2019

Chinese premier Li Keqiang is in Brussels on Tuesday for the 21st EU-China summit, and the talks are likely to be testy. After much dithering and in response to much pressure from Washington, the EU has begun to take a more hardline posture towards China. The core EU countries share many of the concerns that motivate the US trade war with China.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Apr 08th 2019

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.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Apr 05th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Apr 04th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Apr 03rd 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Tom Holland

Apr 02nd 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand

Apr 01st 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave, Charles Gave

Mar 29th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand

Mar 28th 2019

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...

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Mar 27th 2019

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.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Dan Wang, Yanmei Xie

Mar 26th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Kai Xian Tan

Mar 25th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer, Kai Xian Tan

Mar 21st 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Mar 20th 2019

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...

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Mar 19th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Mar 18th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer

Mar 15th 2019

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%.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Andrew Batson

Mar 14th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Mar 12th 2019

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.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Mar 11th 2019

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.