(New York)

Gold just took the jobs report on the chin. As our readers will know, the US jobs report from Friday was nothing short of stellar, with the job creation numbers blowing away all expectations, and in doing so, lowering the odds and potential pace of Fed rate cuts. That led to a big sell-off in gold on Friday that followed an even larger one Monday. Gold lost almost 4% over just two days last week.

FINSUM: The jobs report simultaneously sapped gold of the fear boost it gets from worries about the economy, as well as the potential benefit of lower rates.

(Washington)

Will the US and China make a substantial trade deal? That is a trillion Dollar question for markets. Some argue that China may defer doing any deal and take the risk that Trump does not win the election, effectively letting the clock run out. However, an astute view is that China might be desperate to do deal while Trump is still in office. The reason why is that if Trump were to lose to a Democrat, who in all likelihood would be a more conventional US president that takes a much friendlier approach with international allies, then China would be in a very compromised position. A Democratic president would likely approach the Chinese trade deal with a much more united front of trade allies, which would be a worst case scenario for Beijing.

FINSUM: The irony of this is that Trump has been by far the hardest president on China in memory, but at the same time, the Chinese have the best chance at a good resolution by dealing with him.

(New York)

The yield curve inversion has largely faded from headlines. Things that become the status quo often do! But in that development lays a hidden but worrying truth—the longer the yield curve is inverted, the more likely it is that there will be a recession. The inversion has been in place for over a month now and it is actually getting worse, with long-term yields continuing to drop. A yield curve inversion has proceeded every US recession in the last 50 years.

FINSUM: If the Fed proceeds with cuts, it seems like the inversion may abate. But then again, the rate cut would be an implicit admission that we are on the way to a recession.

(Chicago)

There is no arguing it, small caps have had a rough year. While the S&P 500 is up 9.4% from a year ago, the SmallCap 600 is down 8.4%. The divergence has been surprising to many, as several macro trends appear favorable for small cap appreciation, such as the trade war. However, for small caps to really get wind in their sails, things needing to be looking up in the economy, which seems unlikely in the short term. Therefore, one of the best ways to bet on size in your portfolio is to buy a specialized fund like the iShares Edge MSCI USA Size Factor ETF, which holds stocks in inverse proportion to their size. The smaller the stock, the greater its weight in the fund, helping investors skew towards small stocks, but not totally away from larger ones. The fund has outperformed the S&P 500 this year.

FINSUM: This is a very specialized angle, but does make some sense. We agree with the assessment of small caps right now—the underlying economy is not favorable for small cap bullishness.

(New York)

Here is a data signal most of the market is not paying attention to when it comes to recession forecasting: nationwide capital expenditure, or Capex. Morgan Stanley’s index of capex has shrunk to its lowest level in two years, as the high from the Trump tax cuts wears off for companies and they tighten purse strings. Capex growth is likely to weaken from 11% last year to just 3% this year. According to the deputy CIO of State Street, “Low capex growth is very worrying … You’re starting to see the trade tensions and the macro growth concerns play out in business confidence — companies won’t open a new factory if they think we’re on the cusp of a recession”.

FINSUM: This is a worrying sign but not wholly unexpected given the waning benefits of the tax cuts. However, even though this is expected, it does not mean it won’t hurt the economy.