Market Direction

The spectacular rise in gold, now hovering in record territory, has been fostered by three very different conceptions: gold as a trader’s choice, gold as a theoretical proof and gold as a historical metaphor.

For the believers in metaphor the ascent of the metal is an augury for the decline of the west; for the theoreticians it is the only secure defense against inflation; for the traders it is a momentum purchase not to be missed. All three groups are buying gold and as yet, none have been proven wrong.

If we translate these speculations into currency terms the traders promise a long position with better returns than any other investment. The theoreticians predict a global currency system ravaged by government inflation and a revolving cast of devalued national scripts. And the third intimates the ultimate end of the dollar as the world reserve currency presumably replaced by the yuan. All three foresee a continued fall in the value of the dollar.



The economic logic of the three groups of gold supporters is currently aligned and all are profiting from the rise in prices. But it would be remarkable if three such disparate scenarios remained in tune for long.

The east may indeed replace the west as the dominant global economic center but it will not do so in time for the ‘metaphorical Spenglerians’ (so named for Oswald Spengler who published The Decline of the West in 1918) to take profit on their investment. Even if true the western decline will be slow and erratic and these position takers will miss their profit levels waiting for the final collapse.

For the theoreticians or monetarists, the second group of ‘gold bugs’, inflation will suddenly spring out of the ground like the product of so many governmental dragons’ teeth. It is inevitable, increase the money supply and inflation follows.

However, with prices in decline in many industrial economies and unemployment at a new and much higher normal, it is hard to see firms extracting higher prices from consumers when cheaper international goods are so readily available. Whatever the theoretical prospect for inflation the current empirical evidence points the other way, toward deflation.

For the third group, the traders, theory and metaphor are irrelevent. The global financial system is under a soothing blanket of liquidity. The central bankers who have warmed the world with cash and who are now (we assume) very aware of the danger of prolonged cheap credit will (we assume), sooner or later, begin to draw back the protecting cover of liquidity. But the reabsorption of liquidity by the banks is wholly conditional on economic recovery. The most forthright of the world’s central bankers, Ben Bernanke of the American Federal Reserve has stated this over and over; there is no reason to doubt his word.

The gold buyers in this group believe the Chairman. Until the central bank begins to tighten credit, excess cash and the pursuit of trading profit determines the price of gold. It does not matter that the bankers say they will tighten credit when the proper time comes, what matters is action. Until the banks actually begin to raise rates and subtract liquidity, for them, gold is a solid buy.

Of the three scenarios the first, the ‘Spenglerian’ is the most impervious to evidence. It exists apart from factual verification or to put it another way, it is always possible to find evidence that the west is declining. It is just a matter of choosing the right statistics. In practical and emotional terms this group will always be long gold, though it is in unsettled times like ours that they do the most buying.

For the monetarists results depend largely on logic and economic equations. If so much liquidity is loosed on financial markets it must over time (duration unspecified) produce inflation. It is a simple monetary equation, a rising pile of cash chasing a much more slowly rising pile of goods and assets. Over time inflation is the end product. But inflation is not solely the product of a balanced equation between cash and goods. Firms must be able to raise prices and consumers must be able to pay those higher prices and those last factors are now very much absent.

Yet economic stagnation and inflation are not mutually exclusive. If returning American economic growth is not sufficient to reduce unemployment what are the chances that the Fed will commence raising rates regardless of the price index? And if on the other side of the world East Asian economic growth takes off and forces commodity and goods prices higher those prices will shortly be felt in the United States. Irrespective of what the US economy is doing the world’s markets can export inflation to the US.

What would prevent the price of oil from climbing as it did last summer if the Chinese, Indian and Brazilian economies accelerate and that third of the world creates its own economic cycle? Will the US be dragged by East Asia into robust recovery? Unknown. But the effect on the overextended American consumer and economy of $100 oil is not unfathomable. There is no certainty that one third of the world economy will be dynamic enough to force prices higher in the US. But if inflation comes in the US it will probably arrive from overseas and US domestic liquidity will have done little to create it.

For the Fed to raise rates and by default defend the dollar US economic growth will have to be robust enough to begin to take down the unemployment rate. This is an entirely unsure prospect.

US consumers are tapped there has been no sign in retails sales or consumer credit that the drivers of US growth have resumed their seats behind the wheel. The effect of a weak dollar on US exports may be pronounced. Shipments may increase enough to substantially reduce the trade deficit. But the US is not an export driven economy nor is its work force widely engaged in manufacturing. Exports may grow appreciably without it having any noticeable effect on American unemployment. Exports might look excellent to economists and free traders without US workers feeling any better or increasing their spending.

Of the three gold buying groups, the monetarists and the traders are most susceptible to Fed policy changes. But the traders are likely to act first. For them the earliest indication of a genuine change in Fed policy will be enough to abandon their long gold positions for profit. Monetarists are likely to wait until they are sure the Fed will act and then wait again until there is proof that the Fed has acted in time to prevent inflation.

And there we have the pernicious effect on the dollar. Until the Federal Reserve reestablishes the link between economic growth and interest rates the logic of the gold buyers is inescapable. Gold is not predicting a decline in the dollar or the inevitable advent of inflation but it is promising that without a vigilant Fed the first will continue and the second creep ever closer.


Joseph Trevisani

Market Direction

Nothing charges the volatility of the currency markets like an unexpected result for a well watched economic statistic.

A decade ago, the United States International Trade Balance caused violent gyrations in the Forex market, so much so that traders referred to those Friday morning sessions as “New York Fridays” naming and fearing the dangerous market after the trade balance release. Only a few other American statistics, unemployment, GNP (as GDP was then called) and CPI could, on occasion, provide a similar charge. For most traders the US statistical regime was limited to these major national statistics collected by the US government.

Then, as now, these statistics were released and dominated trading once a month. For the rest of the time, markets were moved by trading flows and speculative interest. Second and third tier economic statistics did not draw market attention. Ten years ago no one was betting their P/L on the Chicago Purchasers Index or Housing Starts; the Institute of Supply Management (ISM)) Non-Manufacturing Index was wholly unnoticed.

Over the past several years, market participants and the financial media have substantially widened their statistical focus. Many second and third tier measures now garner the type of interest and comment that used to be reserved for GDP or Non Farm Payrolls. The US economy has over 50 (or 60, or 1000, I am not sure anyone has counted) publicly reported economic statistics. There are easily enough PPI, Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment, Durable Goods, Retail Sales, ISM, NAPM, TICS, NAHB and Redbook numbers reported each month to keep an army of analysts busy. How can traders judge which statistics deserve attention and which are of cursory or cumulative interest?

Aside from the few well known economy wide measures already mentioned, most statistics record activity in a specific industry or economic sector or for a limited time period. The usefulness and predictive ability of the majority of these indicators is strongest when they are combined with other measures or when part of a trend.

As a general guide to trading value, I have divided indicators into three groups: trend, situational and headline, distinguished by the quality of their information and the type of influence they exert over the current market.

Trend statistics, not surprisingly, are most valuable when they are trending. Because these indicators depict conditions in a relatively restricted area of the economy or for a short amount of time individual releases can be misleading or simply outliers. It is risky to base an economic assessment or trade on the return of a single trend statistic.

Different indicators from the same sector can give an accurate glimpse of that particular economic sector but not necessarily of the economy as a whole. Even when different monthly statistics point in a similar direction, only several months of releases can establish a trend.

A drop in the monthly capacity utilization figure or a rise in the Conference Board Consumer Sentiment measure by itself provides limited information for the trader. But if in the space of a week Consumer Sentiment, Factory Orders and ISM all gain you have the makings of a tradable move. When properly utilized, these trend or secondary statistics can supply invaluable clues to economic strength and to the timing and direction of currency moves but their greatest value lies in combination with other similar indicators.

Situational statistics are indicators elevated in importance by particular circumstances. One could also call these central bank or crisis indicators. These numbers are important because they are used by central banks in their own economic analysis or because they depict conditions in a crucial economic sector. These statistics can change over time. As bankers change and crises come and go, newly favored or newly crucial measures will replace the ones currently popular.

Chairman Bernanke has been particularly frank about using the PCE Deflator for measuring inflation. The ECB’s favored inflation statistics are the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), and the M3 Money Supply. Earlier leaders of these institutions preferred different measures or refused to say what measures they considered important.

The collapse of the American housing market has given all statistics associated with housing and home construction substantial import. But the housing crisis will not last forever and as it ebbs so will the importance and influence of its indicators.

Headline statistics are economy wide numbers that give the broadest picture of economic conditions. Non Farm Payrolls and GDP are the best current American examples.

These statistics have a history of volatility and of defying market predictions but they also carry pertinent information about the overall economy. The NFP number in particular relates directly to the dominate percentage of the American economy derived from consumer spending and thus to overall economic health.

There is however, another reason for the volatility that often accompanies the release of these figures. These statistics are the basis for large amounts of speculative positioning, both prior to release and immediately after.

The larger the difference between the expected number and the actual statistic, the greater the volatility as traders adjust their position to the new parameter. Even when a headline number is as predicted it can produce violent reactions as those positions based on the expected number take profit.

Headline numbers go in and out of fashion. Ten years ago the trade balance produced volatility even greater than NFP does today. But twenty years of ever worsening numbers have drained the suspense and traders have noted that the dire predictions for the American economy from permanent trade deficits have amounted to very little.

Today’s global economy is an entirely different creature than it was twenty years ago. Instantaneous global financial flows, international manufacture and trade and a 24 hour media have spread the potential and danger of trading markets to every corner of the world economy.
The speed with which the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers undermined financial markets around the world was simply unprecedented but should not have been unexpected.

Are there indicators that better reflect the new global economy and that could become the new trading instigators? Prediction is hazardous but my nominee for the US is the Treasury International Capital System Report (TICS) of the Treasury Department. This statistic tracks foreign investment in the American economy, the purchases of American stocks bonds and Treasuries. With the Federal deficit largely funded by foreign capital what could be more important?


Joseph Trevisani