Displaying items by tag: yield curve

Wednesday, 27 June 2018 09:07

Banks are On Their Longest Losing Streak Ever

(New York)

Bank shares have been getting brutalized. S&P 500 financial shares are down 12% since their peak in January, and have lost ground 12 says in a row, the longest run ever. JP Morgan’s share price is now below its 200 day moving average, a key technical level. The flattening yield curve has been weighing on the shares even as investors get ready for a flurry of dividends and buybacks from the sector. So far banks have avoided seeing declines in their net interest margins, but that can only last for a time.


FINSUM: Banks trade with the direction of the economy, and a flatter yield curve is both a predictor of recession and directly bad for bank earnings.

Published in Eq: Large Cap
Tuesday, 26 June 2018 08:31

US Recession Odds Surging

(New York)

On paper, the odds of a recession have never looked very high. It is only human instinct that makes many believe that is where we may be headed. However, that is starting to change. Since the Financial Crisis, the odds of a recession in the next 12 months held very low, around 5%. However, they have just jumped to 16% according to a popular recession calculator from BBVA. The last time the figure was higher was during the last recession. The two big factors boosting the odds are the US’ flattening yield curve as well as the threat of a trade war, which is hard for anyone to gauge. According to an economist at BAML, “Our calculations suggest that a major trade war would lead to a significant reduction in growth … A decline in confidence and supply chain disruptions could amplify the trade shock, leading to an outright recession”.


FINSUM: The models seem to be starting to catch up to what many innately know—that the economy and markets have been running hot and storm clouds are on the horizon.

Published in Eq: Total Market
Wednesday, 20 June 2018 08:44

Recession Alert—The Yield Curve Just Inverted

(New York)

Investors beware, the strongest predictor of recession has just rung its bell. An inverted yield curve has predicted all six of the US recessions going back 60 years. And while all of investors’ focus has been on whether the Treasury yield curve will invert, the global yield curve already has. The yield on the ICE Bank of America index of government bonds due in 7 to 10 years has already inverted, with such yields being lower than for 1 to 3 year bonds. While the US economy is currently looking strong, there is growing weakness in Europe, China, and emerging markets, which seems to have inverted the curve. The IMF says the clouds over the world’s economy are “getting darker by the day”.


FINSUM: It is seeming more and more like we will have a global recession. Though, the US seems like it will be the last to succumb to it. One thing to remember—in the US it takes an average of 18.5 months from when the curve inverts to when we reach the peak of the growth cycle.

Published in Macro

(New York)

That headline might have played with your mind a bit, and rightly so. Since financials generally trade alongside the direction of the economy, buying them ahead of a recession seems like folly. However, the truth is that financials tend to perform strongly for the 18 months that follow a yield curve inversion (or near one). Inversions do tend to strongly signal a forthcoming recession, but it generally takes 18.5 months from when it happens for the cycle to actually reach its peak, a period when stocks had median gains of 21%.


FINSUM: So this is a purely historical performance-based article, which is always dicey. However, it is a good point that the length of time between a yield curve inversion and a growth peak can be considerable.

Published in Eq: Large Cap
Monday, 09 April 2018 10:29

The Yield Curve Just Inverted

(New York)

As we have told readers, we have been keeping our antennae up for signs that an economic downturn may be on its way. Well, the biggest one of all just showed its head, and investors need to take notice. An important part of the rates market just showed an inverted yield curve. The one-month U.S. overnight indexed swap rate is now inverted, and this implies some expectation of a lower Fed policy rate after the first quarter of 2020, says JP Morgan. The Bank summarizes the situation this way, saying “An inversion at the front end of the U.S. curve is a significant market development, not least because it occurs rather rarely … It is also generally perceived as a bad omen for risky markets”.


FINSUM: If the market thinks rates are going to be lower in 2020, that means parts of the bond market are expecting a recession between now and then. Take notice.

Published in Bonds: Total Market
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