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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Aug 19th 2014
A Spectacular Eur-Asian Divergence
Financial markets are nothing if not a real time survey of real people playing with real money. Hence, no one can seriously doubt that markets contain a huge amount of highly pertinent information. The problem for the investor is how can this be profitably extracted?
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley, Long Chen
Aug 18th 2014
The Mystery Of Provincial GDP
Among all the criticisms on the accuracy of Chinese statistics, the most famous and obvious one is that the sum of China’s provincial GDP is always substantially higher than the national figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics. This reflects the fact that GDP is the most important criterion used to evaluate local government officials, so they have a strong incentive to gussy up their numbers.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Tom Miller
Aug 14th 2014
Beijing Eyes The Bay Of Bengal
Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing is pursuing a foreign policy with one grand aim: to restore China’s historical status as the dominant power in Asia. In the South China Sea, this shift towards a muscular, “proactive” diplomacy has intimidated and angered its neighbors (see Perilous Seas). Yet Beijing knows that it cannot simply bully its way to Asian domination: it must offer carrots as well as sticks. So along its southern and western...
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Gavekal Research
Long Chen
Aug 14th 2014
5C China: Uneasy Easing Undermines Market Reforms
How do you ease without easing? That is the conundrum China premier Li Keqiang has set for himself. After a disappointing round of July data made clear that economic recovery was still fragile, Li’s cabinet, the State Council, issued a document asking the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and other ministries to “lower borrowing costs.” But it stopped short of signaling an interest-rate cut.
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Gavekal Research
Arthur Kroeber
Aug 13th 2014
Beijing's Misguided Antitrust Game
Is Xi Jinping’s China friendly to private enterprise? The answer seems to be yes, if you are a Chinese private company, and no if you’re a foreign one.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Aug 11th 2014
The Enduring Hatred Of Big Cities
China’s government has been promising a “new-style” urbanization policy that will remedy some of the past decade’s many ills. But the ideas behind it are old: planners still seem convinced that the growth of big cities growth must be controlled, and are continuing wasteful efforts to shift resources to smaller and less productive cities.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Aug 07th 2014
Momentum Shifts From Europe To Asia
European equity markets have taken a beating in the last 50 days. The average eurozone stock is down 6%, while Portugal and Austria are both down more than 10%, putting them in correction territory. Germany and France are not far behind, down almost 9%. However, this broad underperformance masks a lot of intense individual pain: 20% of eurozone companies have fallen more than 20%. As always with a large sell-off, there are two approaches one...
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Gavekal Research
Research Team
Aug 06th 2014
Five Corners (6 August): Central Bank Balance Sheets
In our latest bi-weekly review of global economics and investment, we examine the bloated balance sheets of the world’s major central banks. We ask what exit strategies the central bankers have prepared to slim them down again, or whether expanded balance sheets are here to stay. If so, how will central bank bloat will affect investors in the coming years? Overview: Anatole Kaletsky argues persuasively that the US Federal Reserve and other...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Aug 05th 2014
The RMB's Depreciation Is Over
After falling by 4% from mid-February to April, the renminbi has now appreciated for three months in a row, gaining 1% against the US dollar. Since February, we have argued repeatedly that the renminbi’s depreciation was stage-managed by the People’s Bank of China in order to curb speculative capital inflows and that it would prove relatively short-lived. Following the recent gains, we are now convinced the renminbi’s depreciation episode is...
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Gavekal Research
Pierre Gave
Aug 05th 2014
Growth & Markets Monthly (August 2014)
This month saw a further improvement, albeit a small one, in our growth indicators. Risk appetite, on the other hand, now looks much more mixed compared with last month’s strong positive tendency. Also noteworthy is the recent spike in our diffusion index of US CPI components, which highlights the abatement of US deflationary pressures. On the asset side, government bonds continue to look expensive, especially in France. Meanwhile, equities are...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Aug 04th 2014
Wider Spreads And Weaker Equities
Over the past five weeks, the spread between US high yield debt and US Treasuries has widened by almost a full percentage point. Admittedly, this move could be dismissed as an overdue correction after spreads for high yield debt narrowed to unsustainably tight levels. Unfortunately, it seems that equities markets are no longer in such a forgiving mood. In the past week, the widening of high yield spreads has weighed heavily enough on equity...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Aug 04th 2014
How Resilient Are Consumers?
It’s increasingly clear these days that China has not one economy but two: the investment-driven complex of housing, infrastructure, materials, and the consumption-driven complex of services and consumer goods. Investment was the leader for many years, but since 2009 growth in capital spending has slowed very sharply. Heavy government stimulus and easy credit has smoothed rather than stopped this slump, which does not yet look to be over. The...
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Gavekal Research
Long Chen
Aug 01st 2014
5C China: Sticking To A Conventional Monetary Policy
Is China’s monetary policy even looser than it seems? In July, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said that in preparation for interest rate liberalization, he will introduce a new tool called pledged supplementary lending (PSL) to guide medium-term interest rates. Soon after that, local papers reported that the People’s Bank of China had used PSL to hand RMB1trn to China Development Bank to support loans for slum redevelopment programs....
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Jul 30th 2014
The Last Tiger
The big game hunter has now bagged his finest trophy. On Tuesday, the Communist Party officially announced a corruption investigation into Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the ruling Poliburo Standing Committee. Over recent months investigators have already detained many of Zhou’s relatives and associates. But no official of Zhou’s rank has been formally disciplined for corruption in the reform era, and it has been uncertain when or if he would...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Jul 29th 2014
China: Still Waiting For The Re-Rating
China’s equity markets are finally beginning to play catch-up. Over the first half of 2014, the Shanghai composite index and Hong Kong’s ‘H-share’ China enterprises index were the worst performing markets in the region, both recording losses while the rest of emerging Asia enjoyed a great run. Lately, however, both the Shanghai market and H-shares have showed signs of renewed vigor. Over the last five trading days both have risen by around 5% to...
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Gavekal Research
Rosealea Yao, Research Team
Jul 28th 2014
Housing’s Quiet Period Is Over
A turning point in China’s housing policy has arrived, half a year into a downturn in property sales and construction. Since late June, major cities such as Hohhot, Jinan, Haikou, Tianjin and Chengdu have moved to support their housing markets. This is a change from earlier months, when local governments were more hesitant and often failed to publicize their policies, limiting their effect. The central government’s implicit approval of the new...
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Gavekal Research
Joyce Poon
Jul 25th 2014
Playing Emerging Asia's New High
Some 18 months after US stocks regained the ground lost in the 2008-09 crisis, emerging Asia has finally made a new high. Yesterday the MSCI emerging Asia US dollar total return index closed above its 2007 peak for the first time, having risen 10% year-to-date. That makes emerging Asia the best performing major regional market in the world so far in 2014. If you invest equally in the countries in the index’s universe, your gains are even better...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Jul 24th 2014
Beijing Battles With Bureaucrats
It’s official: Li Keqiang is fed up. China’s mild-mannered premier has recently been described in official press releases as “speaking in an extremely severe tone” and “shaking his fist.” The target of this display of temper: government officials who are not moving fast enough to implement economic reforms. And Li’s temper tantrums are not just for show. Nine months after the publication of an ambitious modernization agenda, many of Beijing’s...
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Jul 21st 2014
The Price Of A Diminished US Dollar
Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. In much the same way, geopolitics cannot tolerate a power vacuum. So it is small surprise that as a chastened and diminished United States has retreated from direct involvement in the Middle East and adopted a less interventionist diplomatic and military stance elsewhere in the world, ambitious opportunists have stepped forward to fill the gap. In East Asia, China has assumed a far more assertive attitude...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Jul 21st 2014
The Future History Of China’s Deleveraging
If there’s one thing almost everyone can agree about on China, it’s that its rise in debt has been very rapid, and is not sustainable. But where does China go from here? In this chartbook, we use historical examples to think about how a future deleveraging process might occur.
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