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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Nov 05th 2018
Hot, But Not Too Hot
It remains unclear if the US is moderating its approach to trade war, but there are other factors to keep equity investors on edge. Friday’s US payroll report showed average hourly earnings rising to a cycle-high of 3.1%, confirming the picture of a tight labor market. Hence, with 10-year treasury yields just below their recent peak of 3.23%, the question is whether the US economy can weather a higher cost of capital. For now, I think the answer...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Nov 05th 2018
Pledged Shares Put Private Firms In Peril
China’s bear market has created a crisis for hundreds of listed companies whose shareholders had pledged shares as collateral for bank loans, and now face the threat of margin calls. In this piece, Thomas explains the share-pledging crisis and how it is reshuffling corporate ownership, as state entities and others move to rescue distressed firms.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Nov 02nd 2018
It's Finally Safe To Buy Sterling
The pound rose 2% yesterday after a statement from the British government that a Brexit deal could be expected by late this month. That has since been rowed back. Nevertheless, the UK is moving into an endgame where the most plausible outcomes are either a "soft Brexit", or a new referendum which results in the UK remaining in the EU. Both would be good news for sterling.
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Gavekal Research
Long Chen, Tom Holland
Nov 02nd 2018
No Renminbi Line In The Sand
The renminbi has jumped over the last two days after the central bank signaled it would squeeze offshore liquidity. However, argue Long and Tom, it would be wrong to interpret this as a sign the PBOC will defend a line in the sand at 7. Embracing flexibility makes more sense as an exchange rate policy. The PBOC is just aiming to smooth volatility.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Miller, Udith Sikand
Nov 01st 2018
India's Soft Approach To Hard Money
A key reason to hold Indian risk assets in recent years has been the presence of a strong government willing to incur short-term political pain in return for longer-term economic gain. Yet, with the Reserve Bank of India fighting the finance ministry over bank regulation policies that may crimp growth ahead of a national election, this premise looks shaky. The partially independent central bank has faced political attack before, but this is...
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky, Will Denyer
Nov 01st 2018
Strategy Monthly: Yes, We're Still In A Bull Market
Anatole and Will believe that continued exposure to US equities makes sense, since underlying corporate profitability remains strong. So long as one avoids the most rate-sensitive sectors, US portfolios should be 70-75% in stocks, with the rest mainly in cash. Moreover, they argue that the period of EM underperformance is now done, and emerging markets are poised for a significant rally.
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Gavekal Research
Dan Wang
Oct 31st 2018
First Blood In The Long Tech War
Washington has opened a new front in the US-China economic cold war by slapping controls on exports of all “commodities, software and technology” to Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit. The breath of the national security justification cited for this action escalates the US-China confrontation over technology to a new level.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 31st 2018
Has Oil Set Its High For This Cycle?
With the price of WTI crude oil now back below its 200-day moving average, Louis puts himself in the shoes of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and imagines what sort of leverage he could exert over Donald Trump, what this means for the enforcement of sanctions against Iran, and what that implies for the oil price going forward.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Oct 30th 2018
Another Weight On The Euro
The bear flattening of the US yield curve while European short rates remain anchored in negative territory means that it no longer makes sense for euro-based investors to hedge the currency risk of US bond purchases. Their hedging costs have risen to a level that wipes out the yield they would get on a 10-year US treasury. For US dollar investors, the opposite is true.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave, Udith Sikand, Long Chen
Oct 30th 2018
Beijing Seminar — October 2018
At Gavekal’s seminar in Beijing last week, Louis-Vincent Gave, Udith Sikand and Chen Long presented their latest views on the turn in global markets, the prospects for emerging markets in the quarters ahead, and on China's policy priorities as it faces down the US in a prolonged rivalry.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Rosealea Yao
Oct 30th 2018
The Policy Constraint From Property
The hot property market is one of the major constraints on Chinese policymakers’ freedom to stimulate: surging prices and construction do not need more juice. In this piece, Rosealea explains why more decisive stimulus is very unlikely before the property market weakens significantly, and even then will not be as large as in previous cycles.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Oct 29th 2018
US Macro And The Market
Coming after another bruising week in the market, which saw the S&P 500 flirting with correction territory, down -9% from its late-September high, Friday’s third quarter US GDP report is heartening. Although 3Q’s quarter-on-quarter annualized growth rate of 3.5% was slower than the 4.2% rate recorded in 2Q, it was still strong relative to the expected 3.3% and compared with the US economy’s structural growth rate. While US growth will...
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Oct 26th 2018
Listen To What Italians Say
Among the factors rattling global markets this week has been the brewing dispute between Brussels and Italy’s populist government over its blowout budget proposal.The fear is that Italy gets into a vicious circle of tightening credit markets and faltering growth that could end with a resumption of the euro crisis and ultimately its exit from the single currency.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen, Dan Wang
Oct 25th 2018
On The Front Lines Of The Trade War
There now seems to be little chance that the trade frictions between the US and China will be resolved anytime soon. So how are Chinese exporters dealing with the prospect of a steep rise in tariffs come January? Our analysts report from the Canton Fair on how exporters are coping now, and their strategies for the future.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Oct 25th 2018
Buy The Dip
“Things are fine now, but they are going to get worse.” This is what I hear from commentators on US growth, from corporate managers talking about profit margins, and from Chinese exporters discussing the impact of the trade war. The same could be said of US financial conditions—they are fine now, but as interest rates rise they will deteriorate.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Oct 24th 2018
World Trade And A Troubling Signal
As Donald Trump has ramped up tariffs on US imports from China, investors have understandably grown anxious about the impact on world trade. Few significant effects have shown up in the data so far. Nevertheless the outlook is alarming—although not necessarily in the way many might think.
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Gavekal Research
Armando Castelar
Oct 24th 2018
Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Barring an extraordinary twist, Brazilians will on Sunday elect as president a right-wing tough guy who hints at being a closet economic liberal. He will inherit an economy that is enjoying a cyclical upturn and a reform initiative to social security that is far enough advanced that it can’t reasonably be reversed. For this reason, expect a near term upside for asset values.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 23rd 2018
The Odd Behavior Of Gold
Barbarous relic it may be, but I have long looked on gold as a proxy for emerging markets. The logic is that when the emerging market consumer—whether in India, China, Indonesia, Africa or the Middle East—finds himself at the end of the month with extra money in his pocket, he often tends to put that money into gold coins or jewelry. This makes sense if you live in a country with capital controls, or an untrustworthy financial system, under-...
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Gavekal Research
Tom Miller, Udith Sikand
Oct 23rd 2018
JAM Today For Indian Fintech
There is a Dickensian quality to Indian finance just now as banks struggle under bad debt piles and finance companies face a wholesale funding crunch after a recent high profile default. Yet if these are the worst of times for credit intermediaries in India, there is a clear silver lining as fintech firms capitalize on a national biometric database.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Oct 22nd 2018
How The Brexit Stalemate Breaks
As the Brexit negotiations enter their endgame, a stalemate has become the most likely outcome. Theresa May’s Conservative Party is now in open rebellion against her leadership, with Britain’s weekend press reporting that her government is just 72 hours from collapse. And a “No Deal” Brexit “car crash” is now described as a 50-50 probability by many politicians and commentators in both Britain and Europe. Yet the pound has maintained its value...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Oct 22nd 2018
Still Waiting For Stimulus
At the moment it seems there is only one question about China that people care about: when will the government move more aggressively to stimulate growth? With most economic indicators slowing in September, the time when the government will need to change course is getting closer. But, as Andrew explains in this piece, it is not here yet.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Oct 19th 2018
Reviewing The Yen As A Safe Haven
Three months ago in July, I argued that international investors should consider holding Japanese equities without hedging their currency exposure. A month ago in September, I revisited that call, concluding that it still held. My essential argument was that investors had largely priced in the headwinds facing Japanese equities, which offered compelling valuations should trade tensions blow over and global risk appetite return. On the other hand...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 19th 2018
Video: Why China Is Unlikely To Fold
To many outside observers, China’s economy looks like a house of cards that is vulnerable to collapse should the US push a little harder in its trade actions. Louis is not convinced that this market-focused analysis of China’s situation properly reflects its vulnerability. He thinks the leadership is dug in for a long struggle against Washington.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 18th 2018
The Consequences Of Khashoggi
In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt famously dismissed reservations about Nicaragua’s brutal dictator Anastazio Somoza with the comment “he may be a sonofabitch, but he’s our sonofabitch.” In the world of foreign policy realpolitik, to a large degree FDR’s doctrine still holds true. Witness, for example, the verbal contortions that US president Donald Trump and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been forced to pull off in recent days in order to...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Oct 18th 2018
More Loans For The Private Sector
China’s central bank is trying a new strategy to help private companies get access to credit. Rather than just push small-business lending, it is encouraging lending to all private firms, including larger ones. In this piece, Thomas explains why the old strategy wasn’t working, and why the new one is more likely to help the private sector.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Oct 17th 2018
Equities In The Late Cycle (Revisited)
The stock market volatility of the last week, triggered by fears over rising bond yields, emphasizes how participants now accept that the US economy is in the late phase of its cycle. KX argues this is not a reason to flee US equities, but it does demand a more discerning approach.
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Gavekal Research
Thomas Gatley
Oct 16th 2018
A Better Class Of Bear Market
Although China’s A-shares are the world’s worst performing major market this year, this bear market is turning out to be a very different animal from that of 2015. Authorities are taking a very different strategy: rather than trying to prop up prices, regulators have focused on making technical changes to improve the way the market functions.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 16th 2018
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Louis investigates six of the most incongruous sets of relationships that have held sway this year and offers alternative explanations. In particular, he focuses on the strange case of China’s response to US trade hostility and argues that understanding Beijing’s game plan may hold the key to whether the long US bull market in equities can stay the course.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Oct 15th 2018
Softly, Softly, Mr. Draghi
Last week was an ugly one for equity markets on both sides of the Atlantic. But there was a crucial difference. US stocks are down from an all-time high set as recently as last month, with the S&P500 closing on Friday above (just) its 200-day moving average. In contrast, eurozone equities have been trending continuously lower ever since the end of January.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews, Cedric Gemehl
Oct 15th 2018
The Politics (And Economics) Of A Multi-Polar Europe
This weekend’s election in Bavaria saw voters deal parties in Germany’s ruling coalition a bruising rebuff that further erodes Merkel’s authority and effectively kills off Macron’s plan for the EU to integrate at a faster pace. In light of such a changed environment, Nick and Cedric introduce a new framework to explain how political bargaining will work in an increasingly multi-polar Europe.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Oct 12th 2018
Time To Rebalance Into Equities
The S&P 500 is down almost -7% in six days, the biggest drawdown since the -10% decline in the first quarter. It is now below its 200-day moving average, for the first time since April 2nd. Will it bounce back, or is a US equity bear market now upon us? I would bet on the former, but not too aggressively.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Holland
Oct 12th 2018
Hidden Leverage In Hong Kong
Last month, for the first time in 12 years, Hong Kong banks raised their prime lending rates. This increase, coming at a time when the Hong Kong government has pledged to boost housing supply, has prompted fears that rising mortgage rates and falling home prices could expose a dangerous accumulation of hidden leverage in the local property market.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 11th 2018
Bonds' Failure To Rally
Given all the bad news for markets this year, one would be forgiven for thinking that US treasuries and German bunds would have been a good investment. But even as emerging markets have sold off and the US dollar has risen against almost every emerging market currency out there, US treasuries (and to a lesser extent bunds) have been an absolute dog of an investment.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave, Anatole Kaletsky
Oct 11th 2018
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call October 2018
In this month’s Research Conference Call Louis-Vincent Gave examined the present bad tidings from markets and asked whether the global bull market faces a denouement. Anatole Kaletsky argued that this sell-off will likely prove to be a temporary setback for emerging markets and that the global bull market may have further to run. However, he warned that the outcome will depend heavily on where the oil price goes from here.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Oct 10th 2018
The EM Value Question
After a grim seven-month sell-off, it is natural to ask whether emerging markets now offer attractive value. Since its January peak, the MSCI emerging markets index has fallen -22%. The corollary has been a deep derating, which has left EM equities trading below their long term mean P/E ratios. However, a healthy dose of caution is warranted.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Tom Miller
Oct 10th 2018
Building The Northern Powerhouse
After a decade of splurging on infrastructure projects, China’s local governments are now having to cut back. But Beijing has continued to pour money into centrally supported initiatives, particularly Xi Jinping’s pet project for developing the region surrounding Beijing. In this piece, Tom reports on how this northern megaproject is progressing.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Oct 09th 2018
Why I Love The Euro
By now surely almost everyone, except perhaps Jacques Delors and Jean-Claude Trichet, must accept that the euro is the greatest monetary mistake governments have imposed on their unsuspecting populations since then Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill took Britain back onto the gold standard in 1925.
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Gavekal Research
Long Chen
Oct 08th 2018
Beijing Is Aiming At Stabilization, Not Stimulus
Chinese authorities are stepping up the pace of monetary easing, and are prepared to tolerate greater exchange rate volatility as a consequence. But, as Chen Long explains in this piece, Beijing’s easing measures are aimed at stabilizing the domestic economy, not stimulating activity in response to a trade-war-induced slump.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Oct 05th 2018
Bottoming Out In France
It has been a tough summer for the French economy, and a difficult rentrée—as the French call September’s return to classes at the start of the school year—for the government of president Emmanuel Macron. France’s growth rates have fallen of a cliff this year, with GDP growth falling to just 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first and second quarters, from an average of 0.7% in 2017. And after household spending actually contracted in 2Q, consumer...
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Oct 04th 2018
Still Not Interested In US Bonds
Wednesday saw the second biggest sell-off in US bonds since November 10, 2016, immediately after the US presidential election. The 10-year treasury yield jumped 11bp to 3.16%, its highest since 2011. However, investors should be wary of treating this as a buying opportunity, for a number of reasons.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 04th 2018
Strategy Monthly: Are We Still In A Bull Market?
At the start of the year, markets seemed poised for a rotation out of US equities into non-US assets. In fact, US equities and cash are the only assets to have delivered positive returns this year. Louis examines the reasons why and concludes that portfolio managers should stay defensive, while looking for buying opportunities in oversold emerging markets, and in European assets in non-euro countries such as the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Oct 03rd 2018
Italy’s Inevitable Endgame
Just over a year ago, with the optimism towards eurozone stock markets, and Italy in particular, riding high, I wrote a paper expressing the view that none of the eurozone’s underlying problems, nor Italy’s, had been solved. One year later, the situation is now looking very dangerous indeed.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Ernan Cui
Oct 03rd 2018
How Demographics Are Shaping China's Future
Where is China heading as it undergoes demographic change of unprecedented speed and scale? In this chartbook, Ernan offers a comprehensive guide to the unfolding transformation of the nation’s population, focusing on changes in family-planning policy, the implications of an aging society, and the shifting patterns of migration.
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Gavekal Research
Arthur Kroeber
Oct 02nd 2018
New Nafta Clears The Way For A China Fight
The good news is that after months of posturing, President Donald Trump’s administration has cut a deal for a new Nafta, following July's hasty agreement with the EU to defer car tariffs. Trade war on all fronts may now be off the agenda, but conflict with China over trade, investment, technology and geopolitical dominance will only escalate.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Oct 01st 2018
More Trouble Ahead For Italian Yields
The market gave an unequivocal two thumbs down to Italy’s budget deficit forecast announced on Friday. In proposing a deficit target for each of the next three years of 2.4% of GDP, finance minister Giovanni Tria was perceived to have bowed to pressure from Italy’s populist coalition for spending increases and tax cuts, and to have relegated debt reduction to a back seat. In response, Italy’s 10-year government bond yield jumped 26bp to 3.14%,...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Oct 01st 2018
The Big Lesson From Argentina
One of the reasons this summer’s sell-off in Argentinian debt was so vicious was that few international banks these days are willing to make markets in such “exotic” bonds, and even fewer are prepared to hold a substantial inventory. As a result, when foreign investors rushed for the exit, there was no market. But as Louis explains in this paper, the problem is hardly unique to Argentina. Markets a lot closer to home could face similar trouble.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Dan Wang
Oct 01st 2018
Catching Up In Chips
Technology is at the heart of China’s trade conflict with the US, and no technology is more critical than semiconductors. So as the US moves to block its access to technology, China is doubling down on its drive to build up a domestic semiconductor industry. In this piece, Dan lays out the reasons why China’s drive will eventually succeed.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Miller, Udith Sikand
Sep 28th 2018
The Severity Of India’s Rout
It has been a torrid month for Indian markets. Equities have tanked by -7%, the rupee has dropped to all-time lows, and a new crisis is emerging in the financial sector. Liquidity is tightening in the money markets, threatening the survival of several non-bank financial companies and raising the prospect of contagion risk that could spill over to the rest of the financial system and lead to a broader economic slowdown. The rout in emerging...
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Sep 28th 2018
The Art Of (Trade) War
Donald Trump’s trade war against China demonstrates that the Washington consensus is dead and buried. This suggests that the world will split into three monetary zones, each with its own anchor currency and risk-free asset class. As a result, the close relationship between the renminbi and the US dollar is a thing of the past and China’s vast current account surplus will become unsustainable. Charles examines what all this means for investment...
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Sep 27th 2018
Rate Rises And The US Stock Market
For the first time in the long post-2008 cycle, the US has a positive real interest rate. After Wednesday’s 25bp hike in US rates, at just short of 2.25%, the effective Fed funds rate will now exceed the Federal Reserve’s favored core PCE measure of inflation, which at the end of July stood at 2%. In theory, that could change later Thursday with the release of August PCE data. But with the dot plot suggesting another rate hike this year and...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Sep 27th 2018
Macro Update: Staying Calm In The Trade War
Where does China stand as the trade conflict with the US mounts? While stock markets have tanked, the economy has not. In this concise chartbook, Chen Long presents the major macro and market indicators to explain why growth is holding up and why the government is not yet unleashing a major stimulus.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 26th 2018
Does Beijing Really Manage The RMB Against A Basket?
Possibly the only easy thing about studying China is that Chinese policymakers tend to “say what they do and do what they say”. Take the Chinese exchange rate as an example. From 1998 to 2005, the renminbi’s exchange rate was fixed at CNY8.28 to the US dollar. Then, in 2005, investors were told that the renminbi would be allowed to appreciate gradually and with a controlled daily volatility. When the financial crisis hit, the Chinese exchange...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Rosealea Yao
Sep 25th 2018
The Backlash Against The War On Air Pollution
Steel prices are high thanks to a tough government plan to reduce smog by shutting down metals production—but the rise in prices has recently started to reverse as uncertainty over these policies increases. Rosealea reports on the steel industry’s new pushback against strict output curbs, and why these controls are likely to become more flexible.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Holland
Sep 25th 2018
Back To A Three-Figure Oil Price
Oil broke higher on Monday, with the price of Brent decisively breaching US$80/bbl, a level it had repeatedly tested since early May, when the US administration announced it would reimpose sanctions on Iranian exports. The immediate trigger for the break-out was the decision at the weekend by the Opec cartel plus Russia not to increase their formal output target in the near term. At first glance, the market response might appear an over-reaction...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 24th 2018
The Dissolution Of Chimerica
The economies of the US and China are by far the world’s largest. Such has been their importance and dependence that the composite phrase “Chimerica” emerged to describe both the integration of supply chains and corporate profitability as well as cultural connections. Today, the single most important question may be: is the foundation on which this Chimerica pillar rested now crumbling?
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Sep 24th 2018
No Deal Could Mean No Brexit
After European Union leaders rejected Theresa May’s Chequers deal, the UK government is left with only two alternatives, argues Anatole. If Parliament in November is confronted with No Deal or No Brexit, the most likely outcome would be a new referendum and a vote to remain. The result will be a massive appreciation of sterling and a rally in many UK domestic assets.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 21st 2018
The Quandary Of Rising Yields
Imagine that you had been told at the start of this year that equity markets in the likes of Argentina, Turkey and South Africa would fall by as much as half, that the renminbi would slide by -10% against the US dollar and that Chinese and Hong Kong stocks would be back in a bear market. You would probably have assumed that long-dated treasuries would make a great investment. Yet, here we are, with 30-year treasury yields up about 50bp this year...
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Sep 20th 2018
Heads I Win, Tails I Don’t Lose In Japan
A glance at the headlines suggests the story in Japan is still “stasis as usual”. As expected, on Wednesday the Bank of Japan reaffirmed its intention to keep interest rates low indefinitely. And later on Thursday, Shinzo Abe is all but sure to fend off a leadership challenge from within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, setting him on course to become the country’s longest-serving prime minister. In tune with this “no change” refrain,...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Sep 20th 2018
The China Inc. Annual Report 2018
In this chartbook, Thomas outlines the key trends in the fundamentals of China’s corporate sector. Growth in sales and profits has stayed stronger for longer, but is driven mainly by high materials prices. A rebound in capex is starting to fade. Deleveraging continues but more slowly, and may not last much longer as profits cool and debt rises.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Sep 20th 2018
The Message From US Housing Construction
Wednesday saw a soft US housing data release for August, pointing to a coming weakening in residential construction. With the Fed raising rates and 10-year treasury yields well above 3%, equity investors may sniff late-cycle decay. KX shares such concerns, but advises investors to hold their noses for a while longer.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Sep 19th 2018
When To Buy UK Stocks
“Deal or no deal” is the question blurring all UK investment decisions. Britain’s exit from the European Union should be settled before the end of the year, but the run-in will be nerve-wracking. Since Prime Minister Theresa May released her halfway-house “Chequers” plan in early July, investors have fretted that the UK may crash out of the EU next March with no new trading relationship in place. My colleague Anatole has consistently downplayed...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Yanmei Xie
Sep 19th 2018
Pragmatism Will Prevail On Iranian Oil
The US is preparing to re-impose sanctions on Iran, threatening to punish any country that continues to buy its oil. China has struck a defiant tone, and many analysts expect Chinese oil companies to ignore the US sanctions. But in this piece, Yanmei argues that Chinese importers have little choice but to sharply reduce their purchases from Iran.
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Gavekal Research
Arthur Kroeber
Sep 18th 2018
Digging In For A War Of Attrition
Donald Trump’s administration has upped the ante in its trade war with China, imposing tariffs on an additional US$200bn of Chinese imports. The tariffs will take effect on September 24 at a rate of 10%, rising to 25% at the beginning of 2019 unless some kind of a deal can be worked out with Beijing. The chances of a deal are vanishingly small.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Sep 17th 2018
Towards US Goods Price Deflation
Emerging economies have spent the last three or four months squirming under the weight of a strong dollar. The effect of such currency strength is now showing up in the US itself, with the price of both consumer goods and imports softening. This deflationary pressure may end up impacting real interest rates, and hence the relative attractiveness of US bonds and equities.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Andrew Batson
Sep 15th 2018
The Economy On The Eve Of Trade War
The number eight is traditionally a lucky number for Chinese. Exporters could be forgiven for not believing in that tradition: 2018 looks like it will join 1998 and 2008 as a year in which exports suffer a major shock. In this piece, Andrew evaluates the state of the economy as the US prepares more tariffs, and how China can manage the impact.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Sep 14th 2018
Why You Should Buy Indonesia
There are reasons to think that a 2% rise in the broad emerging market index over the last two days may be more than just a relief rally. For those investors who are minded to seek out EM equities, one of the more interesting options is Indonesia, which has unfairly been treated by investors as a sort of Asian Turkey.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Sep 14th 2018
Audio & Transcript — Gavekal Research Call September 2018
In this month’s research call, Will Denyer explains why he is still recommending a 75% equity exposure in a dedicated US portfolio. His call is based on an asset allocation method with three key components, namely, Wicksellian spreads, relative valuation tools, and a duration tool which shows how to divide a fixed income portfolio between bonds and cash.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 13th 2018
The Near Term Direction Of The US Dollar
The US dollar is trading bang on its 50-day moving average, and roughly where it was a year ago. Hence, it is tempting to conclude that it has not done much over the past 12 months. That would, of course, be wrong for the post-April rebound in the dollar explains the summer meltdown in emerging markets. And every investor today stands ready to increase or decrease risk in their portfolios depending on the next tick in the US dollar.
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Sep 13th 2018
Asia And The Emergence Of A New Monetary Zone
Having broadly developed as an integrated whole over the last 30 years, Charles thinks the world economy is now splitting into three big groups—North America, Europe and Asia. In this piece he considers Asia whose economies are increasingly coalescing around the renminbi and suggests a new-fangled balanced portfolio approach for maximizing risk-adjusted returns.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Sep 13th 2018
A New Tool For Infrastructure Funding
China’s government is worried about slowing growth, but also does not want to give up on financial de-risking. To balance these priorities, it has devised a new tool: “special-purpose” bonds issued by local governments. In this piece, Chen Long explains how this new way of funding infrastructure will work, and how much stimulus it can deliver.
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Gavekal Research
Arthur Kroeber
Sep 12th 2018
An Irresistible Trade Policy Meets Immovable Interests
The US-China trade war is coming, and it will not be a short one. The reason, Arthur writes, is that the Trump Administration is waging war not just on China, but on American multinational companies. The goal is to “decouple” the world’s two largest economies by encouraging US firms to invest less in China and more back home.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Sep 12th 2018
Why The US Cannot Win A Trade War
The US has made a fundamental policy mistake in pursuing a trade war against China. A Keynesian macroeconomic analysis shows that the US will likely be worst affected by the conflict, while China should escape unscathed and several other emerging markets could be clear gainers. This sell-off may be an ideal opportunity to "buy the dip" in EMs
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Sep 11th 2018
Europe’s Populist Wave Peaks
Since the migration crisis of 2015, nationalist-populist movements have been on a tear across Western Europe. Sunday saw the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats boost their ranking, and even claim to be the election’s real winner. Yet look closer and what stands out over the last two years has been such parties’ failure to fully break through.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 10th 2018
The Exit From A Liquidity Squeeze
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. By the same token, if central bank reserves are shrinking, the US dollar is rising, and emerging market currencies are cratering, we probably face a liquidity squeeze. None of this should be surprising, as the drains on US dollar liquidity have come from all directions this year.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Ernan Cui
Sep 10th 2018
The Drive For Affordable Drugs
China’s healthcare reforms have created new opportunities for global pharmaceutical firms and made healthcare a favored sector for many investors. But as Ernan explains, the government’s top priority these days is controlling healthcare costs, especially drug prices. That trend makes it trickier to profit from China’s healthcare growth story.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Sep 07th 2018
The Case Against Eurozone Stocks
The eurozone may not face the kind of liquidity crunch roiling US dollar-based emerging economies, but its equity markets remain on a grinding downward trajectory. The MSCI EMU index is within 1.0% of this year’s low and a range of technical indicators make for ugly reading. I would advise global investors to generally avoid the single currency area, but for those who must be there I will slightly surprise myself by arguing that the eurozone’s...
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Sep 06th 2018
The Signaling From US Autos
Even as the US economy fires up on tax cuts and government spending, interest rate-sensitive sectors show signs of rolling over. First it was housing, and now auto sales have slid to the lower end of their range after steadily softening this year. Over the next year, the question is less whether autos can boost growth, as how much they will detract from it. The fact that the Trump administration is still considering significant tariffs on...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Rosealea Yao
Sep 06th 2018
The Property Slowdown That Wasn't
While China’s government is talking tough about containing its frothy property market, the market does not appear to be listening. Housing sales are still growing, price rises are accelerating and construction activity is robust. In this piece, Rosealea explains why property has outperformed, and updates her outlook for the rest of 2018.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 06th 2018
On Getting It Wrong
Louis went into 2018 with a set of assumptions about how growth and markets around the world would play out. It hasn’t exactly worked out as expected and in this mea culpa he seeks to understand how he got it wrong and what comes next. He concludes that a key driver of the changed investment environment was not so much the strength of the US dollar but China’s decision to allow a renminbi devaluation.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Sep 05th 2018
The Korean Advantage
Yesterday was another bad day for weak-link emerging markets battling a rising US dollar. Still, my contention during this year’s EM sell-off has been that investors should sort the wheat from the chaff. With a current account surplus of 5% of GDP and forex reserves of US$400bn, exhibit-A is South Korea.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Long Chen
Sep 05th 2018
Choosing The Trajectory For Household Debt
Regulators and investors are getting more concerned about China’s household debt after its sharp rise in recent years. In this piece, Chen Long breaks down the rise in leverage and explores the policy options. It would be plausible and prudent for China to now slow the buildup of household debt—but this may not mesh with the easing of policy.
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Gavekal Research
Cedric Gemehl
Sep 04th 2018
Italy’s Chaotic Tendency To Stabilize
Italian debt holders have been spooked by a leading figure in the country’s populist government threatening a fiscal blowout. Such rhetoric threatens the relatively benign scenario that I advocated in July and has investors fretting about another eurozone crisis. While Italian politics will remain febrile, such concerns are probably overdone.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Sep 04th 2018
Strategy Monthly: A Simple Guide To US Asset Allocation
We synthesize four years of work on asset allocation and present a model portfolio built around analysis of the cost of and return on capital; the real rate of return on equities, bonds and cash; and the ideal duration of fixed-income holdings. Today we recommend that US portfolios hold 75% in equities, 25% in cash, and shun bonds.
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews
Sep 03rd 2018
Europe’s Whimpering Economic Cycle
As with most of the developed world, the eurozone has seen a breakdown of the Phillips Curve link between inflation and unemployment. The 2008 crisis and ensuing double-dip recession created a sclerotic environment where labor market dynamics had little impact on general prices. This is another way of saying that Europe’s economy has remained stuck a in low-growth funk. Last year that seemed to have finally changed, with cyclical forces driving...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Ernan Cui
Sep 03rd 2018
An Overdue Tax Cut For Households
Facing trade conflict with the US and a slowdown in credit growth, China is under pressure to use fiscal policy more aggressively to support the economy. On Friday, the National People’s Congress delivered on at least part of the solution, passing a large cut in personal income taxes. In this piece, Ernan explains the impact of this tax cut.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Sep 03rd 2018
Video: An Unexpected Investment Environment
With the exception of US equities, about the only other way most investors could have achieved a positive return this year was to have held US dollar cash. That has made for a very strange investment environment that few people saw coming. In this video interview, Louis reviews the experience of the last eight months and outlines potential scenarios for the remainder of 2018.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand
Aug 31st 2018
Disentangling The EM Mess
It has been tough reconciling weak emerging market performance this year with their generally decent macro fundamentals. Charles pins the blame on a US dollar squeeze and will publish an update later today. By contrast, Anatole reckons that markets have made a mistake in assuming that EMs are especially vulnerable to a strong US dollar. I see merit in both positions, but do not buy the fact that there is a catch-all explanation for what is going...
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave
Aug 31st 2018
An Update On The Dollar Liquidity Crisis
Yesterday saw a worsening of the US dollar squeeze faced by weak links such as Argentina and Turkey. For much of this year, Charles has been on the lookout for market dislocations due to vulnerable economies having too few readily available dollars. One of his key tools has been the “world monetary base” and that is now sending worrying signals.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Aug 30th 2018
Tail Risks That Worry Me
Yesterday I made the case that emerging markets should be superior performers in a global bull market, which I characterized as the most hated in history. What that analysis left out was the relative prospects of the other big blocks in the global equity universe; namely, Europe and Japan. My core point yesterday was that trade wars do more harm to economies that close their markets than those countries which supply them, and on this score...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Thomas Gatley
Aug 30th 2018
The True Value Of SOE Interest Rate Subsidies
There is a widespread belief that implicit government guarantees allow Chinese state-owned enterprises to command preferential access to credit at below-market interest rates. In this paper, Thomas digs deeply into the corporate data to determine the true magnitude of this interest rate subsidy, and its importance to SOE profitability.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Aug 29th 2018
Misunderstanding Today’s EMs
Suppose that, like me, you think the global equity bull market has a few more years to run and hence the sell-off which culminated with Turkish debt being downgraded two weeks ago was a merely a correction. Where are the best opportunities to “buy the dip”? The answer depends on whether you also share my view about the underlying causes of this year’s market setbacks.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand, Tom Miller
Aug 29th 2018
India Macro Update: A Mixed Masala
As public spending is cranked up ahead of an election that is expected to be held next spring, India should be able to sustain its current level of economic growth for a while yet. However, the rate of expansion has likely passed the high water mark for this cycle, argue Udith and Tom in this quarterly update.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Aug 28th 2018
The State Of The US Consumer
Despite cyclical headwinds and the threat of a welfare-sapping trade war, the US consumer has stayed fairly upbeat. The worry has been that rising tariffs change that situation and hit growth. Hence, news of a trade deal between the US and Mexico is to be welcomed (Justin Trudeau may feel differently). Still, at the end of the day the effect will still be to push up costs that someone must cover. For this reason, as the economic cycle matures...
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Ernan Cui, Thomas Gatley
Aug 28th 2018
The Retail Sales Data Enigma, Explained
This technical note explains why the retail sales growth numbers reported by the National Bureau of Statistics are so much higher than the growth rates one can calculate by comparing this year's sales values with last year's. This is not an effort to cover up bad economic performance by fudging statistics, but the opposite.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Ernan Cui
Aug 28th 2018
The Consumer Soldiers On
Consumer spending has been the ballast of China's economy over the past six years. But this year its resilience has been questioned, thanks to a sharp fall-off in automobile sales and reported growth rates in retail sales that appeared to bear no relationship to the underlying data. Ernan finds that household spending is actually holding up well.
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Gavekal Research
Tom Holland, Nick Andrews
Aug 27th 2018
Last Place In The FX Beauty Contest
In mid-August, the US dollar hit a 12-month high against developed country currencies, and a multi-year high against emerging market currencies. Two weeks on, the burning question for investors is whether those highs represent a turning point, whether the dollar strength that prevailed from mid-April to mid-August has now played out, and whether the US currency is about to resume the softening trend that predominated through 2017. As always,...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Aug 24th 2018
Misery Loves Company
These days you are about as likely to encounter a happy active manager as a flying unicorn. Between the massive outperformance of a few, highly priced, stocks (Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft etc.), the continued compression of fees, the increased burden of regulations, front-running by algos and dark-pools, the fact that fewer and fewer marketmakers actually make markets... pick any topic, and the chances are it will be a sore point.
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Gavekal Dragonomics
Yanmei Xie
Aug 24th 2018
The Winter Air Pollution War (Part 2)
North China is gearing up for big cuts in heavy industry output this winter, in a repeat effort to clean up the skies over Beijing. This campaign will, by constraining supply and raising costs, exert steady upward pressure on metals prices. In the long run, it will encourage producers to move to other regions, redrawing China’s industrial map.
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave
Aug 23rd 2018
Teflon Don Or Teflon Dow?
US equities have undeniably been the place to be in the post-2008 decade. As that divergence has gone into hyper-drive in the last three months, one might have expected events roiling the Trump presidency this week to spark a correction. Yet yesterday saw US equities end broadly flat for the day. So is this a case of Teflon Don or Teflon Dow?
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky
Aug 23rd 2018
The Most Hated Bull Market In History
Anatole reviews the state of the US bull market and concludes that it still has legs. He does, however, warn that portfolio strategies which worked well during the disinflationary era since the mid-1980s are unlikely to play well in this bull market’s later stage.