Gavekal Dragonomics

Thomas Gatley

Jun 05th 2019

Chinese listed companies have lately suffered more than their fair share of shocks to earnings. In this piece, Thomas explains the financial and accounting problems that have squeezed profits in recent quarters. But he argues that, even with the trade war, 2019 is likely to be a normal profits downcycle rather than a disastrous one.

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Udith Sikand

Jun 03rd 2019

It is not clear if the latest trade actions launched by the US against Mexico and India form part of coherent plan. Such moves do signal that the US-centered multilateral trading system is hanging by a thread. This upending of the post-WWII order is especially bad news for trade-dependent emerging economies.

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Charles Gave

May 31st 2019

In late 2017, Charles argued that global equity markets looked to be topping out, and it was time to adopt a more conservative strategy. As things turned out, the global equity benchmark hit a peak in late January of 2018, and has not retraced that level. He now argues that global equities have likely entered a bear market cycle.

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Arthur Kroeber, Dan Wang, Matthew Forney

May 29th 2019

In yesterday's special Gavekal Research Conference call Gavekal's Arthur Kroeber and Dan Wang, along with Fathom China's Matt Forney, considered what the breakdown of the US-China trade talks means for the trajectory of the trade war, and what the blacklisting of Huawei means for the tech cold war.

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Louis Gave

May 24th 2019

Thursday was an ugly day for global equity markets, with losses that brought total returns on US equities almost back to their January 2018 level, and non-US equities to the brink of bear market territory. It is hard to shake the feeling that the investment environment has changed. What lessons should we draw from the tumultuous trading session?

Gavekal Dragonomics

Ernan Cui

May 23rd 2019

The rapid rise in China’s household debt has become a major concern for markets and policymakers. While most analysis looks at the household debt-to-GDP ratio, in this report Ernan calculates the household debt service ratio for a better angle on the problem. She finds that the debt burden on household budgets will keep increasing in 2019.

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Arthur Kroeber

May 20th 2019

Keeping track of all the pieces of the US-China confrontation has become a full-time job. But the chaos and uncertainty of the past couple of weeks has begun to resolve itself into fairly clear patterns, even if the outcomes remain in doubt. Three main conclusions emerge from last week’s activity, and none of them are particularly reassuring.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Andrew Batson

May 16th 2019

China’s economic data for April came in rather worse than the too-good-to-be-true indicators for March. As Andrew explains in this report, the April figures do not actually show a serious deterioration, and property is still holding up. But the stabilization in growth is now under threat from a more protracted trade conflict with the US.

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Chen Long

May 14th 2019

In response to the escalation of the US-China trade war, Chinese policymakers are likely to step up their easing measures. This should help support domestic demand. But as Chen Long argues in this piece, the effect of policy easing, coupled with the impact of increased tariffs on China’s exports, will add to downward pressure on the renminbi.

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Anatole Kaletsky

May 13th 2019

Anatole returns to the framework he set out in November 2017, examining the 10 key risks that could threaten global markets over the next 18 months and which investors should monitor closely—and he comes to some surprising conclusions about the central locus of global dangers.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Lance Noble

May 09th 2019

The Trump administration’s trade war has targeted China’s ambitious industrial policy, which China clearly has no intention to abandon. But will that industrial policy work? In this report, Lance explains his eight-point system for evaluating industrial policy’s odds of success, and tests it on electric vehicles, airplanes and pharmaceuticals.

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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 Dragonomics

Andrew Batson

May 07th 2019

The improved economic outlook for China in 2019 owes a lot to an effective stimulus and progress toward a trade deal. But it has also been driven by top leader Xi Jinping’s surprising political pivot from champion of state enterprises to patron of the private sector. In this piece, Andrew examines how sincere Xi’s new stance will prove to be.

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Louis Gave

May 03rd 2019

The recent publication of a letter on the future of the Hong Kong dollar peg by Gavekal’s good friend Kyle Bass has triggered a flood of questions on the topic from clients. Now, Louis admits that there may be some home bias to this conviction that the Hong Kong dollar peg is not under threat. But in this paper, he sets out his answers.

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Thomas Gatley

Apr 30th 2019

China’s equity bull market has lost steam in the last 10 days after the Politburo adopted a less supportive tone following stronger than expected economic data in March. Even before the announcement, market ebullience had moderated. This is positive for China's stock market development, since it reduces the risk of an over-muscular regulatory reaction.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Chen Long

Apr 26th 2019

At our seminar in Shanghai, Chen Long presented the outlook for China’s economy and markets. Crucially, the credit cycle appears to have bottomed out, and credit growth should accelerate towards the end of the year. He expects the overall economy to follow suit. He also covered the outlook for capital markets, equities and the renminbi.

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Anatole Kaletsky

Apr 25th 2019

Now that the S&P 500 has hit a new all-time high and other stock markets have recovered most of the steep losses they suffered last summer, it seems a lifetime since the financial panics of 2018. Investors who bought the dip have enjoyed Wall Street’s strongest quarterly performance in this bull market. After being so well rewarded, how should bullish investors who kept the faith now respond?

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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 Dragonomics

Chen Long

Apr 17th 2019

The raft of economic data released by China on Wednesday morning suggests the world’s second largest economy is proving more responsive than expected to the authorities’ supportive policy measures. The question is no longer whether the government will hit its 2019 growth target, but whether the apparent success will make Beijing halt its easing.

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Arthur Kroeber

Apr 12th 2019

The annual EU-China summit concluded this week with usual diplomatic platitudes about deepening partnerships and strengthening cooperation. But the meeting took place against a backdrop of heightened tensions, after the EU declared China a “systemic rival” and with many European politicians highly critical of China’s economic nationalism.

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.

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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.

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Will Denyer, Udith Sikand

Apr 05th 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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Nick Andrews

Apr 05th 2019

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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Cedric Gemehl, Charles Gave, Tom Miller, Anatole Kaletsky

Apr 03rd 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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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.

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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.

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Tom Holland

Mar 21st 2019

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.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Tom Miller

Mar 18th 2019

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.

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

Andrew Batson, Chen Long

Mar 08th 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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Udith Sikand

Mar 06th 2019

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.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Thomas Gatley

Mar 04th 2019

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.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Dan Wang

Feb 28th 2019

The US and China appear to be moving toward a trade deal that will at least halt further hikes in tariffs. But as Dan shows in this piece, the US still wants to constrain China’s technological rise, and has many tools it can use. US-China technology exchanges are becoming politically and legally fraught, causing collateral damage on both sides.

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Yanmei Xie

Feb 26th 2019

The the eight months since Trump and Kim's historic handshake in Singapore has seen no progress on North Korea’s denuclearization, with the two sides still leagues apart. Although their second meeting this week will do nothing to bridge the gap, Trump’s determination to be seen as a peacemaker will further reduce tensions in North East Asia.

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Tan Kai Xian

Feb 25th 2019

Since late 2016, the US trade deficit has been widening. Usually, when the US trade deficit expands, the effect is stimulative for the rest of the world. However, this time around there have been no signs that non-US economies are enjoying a resulting pick-up. In this report, KX examines possible explanations for the failure of this longstanding relationship.

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Louis Gave

Feb 21st 2019

In recent weeks, the US dollar has rallied, emerging markets have been strong and gold seems to be breaking out to the upside. That is an unusual combination, and in this video Louis outlines three possible explanations for the moves. Most provocatively, as the US-China trade talks get critical, he wonders if China is gearing up to accept a one-off revaluation of the renminbi.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Feb 20th 2019

China’s local governments are cutting back their slum redevelopment plans, which points to lower government subsidies for housing in 2019. As a result, Rosealea argues, housing sales are likely to have a deeper decline this year, although Beijing will manage the phase-out of subsidies with a careful eye on how it affects the market.

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Chen Long

Feb 18th 2019

China’s easing of monetary policy is finally showing some results, with total credit growth delivering a surprising rebound in January. This pick-up suggests that the credit cycle has now bottomed out. But, Chen Long argues, the rebound in credit growth is likely to prove moderate, and economic activity will take more time to stabilize.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Ernan Cui

Feb 14th 2019

Is the long boom in China’s car market finally over? In this piece, Ernan takes stock of the prospects for auto sales after 2018’s historic decline. Since that drop was caused by expiring stimulus policies, sales can stabilize and recover. Future growth, however, is likely to be much slower than the industry has become accustomed to.

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Louis Gave

Feb 11th 2019

As the clash between China and the US intensifies, Louis notes the primacy that Mao Zedong’s guerrilla tactics would have had in forming the current Chinese leadership’s political consciousness and setting a template for the way they handle conflict. As such, he sees the struggle between the two superpowers playing out on three distinct fronts.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Thomas Gatley

Feb 07th 2019

The profits of China’s industrial sector are turning down—but as Thomas argues in this piece, a repeat of the traumatic downturn of 2014-15 is not in the cards for 2019. Heavy industry will hold up better this time around, but consumer-facing sectors will do worse. This downcycle will be more broad-based, but less severe, than the last one.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Jan 30th 2019

While many forecasters had expected China’s steel demand to enter long-term decline as housing construction peaks, in fact it has stayed surprisingly strong. In this piece, Rosealea revisits her housing model, and finds it is consistent with recent trends. Construction should peak in 2020-22, so steel demand can stay elevated for a few more years.

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Dan Wang

Jan 29th 2019

The charges that US prosecutors have now filed against telecom equipment supplier Huawei are similar to those thrown at two other Chinese tech firms last year. The eventual outcome is likely to be similar: the imposition of export controls that will threaten Huawei’s survival and force it to accede to a restrictive deal with the US government.

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Louis Gave

Jan 25th 2019

It is Gavekal’s longstanding mission to develop simple principles that investors can use to navigate complicated financial markets. In this vein, one of our core tenets is that four prices matter more than all others, and together these determine the level of global economic activity and of investor risk appetite. Let us see where they stand as we head deeper into 2019.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Chen Long

Jan 21st 2019

China’s growth in the fourth quarter slowed to 6.4%. There were some bright spots, notably the resilience of the property market. However, the export sector was weak, and the removal of policy constraints on industry gave a mixed picture. All in all, Beijing’s policy measures so far have at best only cushioned the impact of the slowdown.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Chen Long

Jan 16th 2019

China once had the world’s largest current-account surplus, but that surplus headed rapidly toward zero in 2018. In this piece, Chen Long unpacks the structural and cyclical factors behind this shift. He doubts China is headed for a persistent current-account deficit just yet, but thinks the smaller surplus will make the currency more volatile.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Arthur Kroeber

Jan 11th 2019

Washington and Beijing will likely find some kind of accommodation on trade and China’s economy will suffer a tough first quarter that sees the authorities adopt a range of counter-cyclical measures. In this video interview, Arthur outlines our key China views for 2019 and offers investment recommendations for the renminbi, bonds and the Chinese equity market.