Tuesday Macros
Treasuries Back Off Yesterday Brought Levels Back Above Breakout
Overnight treasuries stayed in a range of 2 basis points, rallying to 1.48 before the placing of the large European issue... But the 1.49 level is holding in... We think that with the Fed meeting starting today with the announcement and presser tomorrow, the ranges should be muted... Famous last words...PPI at an expected year over year of 6.2% still seems very high to us or treasuries very low... High inflation should bring higher rates, it is all not transitory.. The WSJ editorial today blasts the Fed to get on with tapering and the removal of emergency measures, suggesting the ending of mortgage buying...
Before yesterday 10 years had rallied 13 of the last 17 days... Momentum players switched sides and flushed out shorts and reflation trades... But they did not just go to neutral, they went relatively long... They themselves got caught off-sides with some of the major bond strategists going negative over the weekend... If the bull flattening rally was real versus technical, 10 years should have staid below 1.47 and 5 years below .775... They are both above that now, albeit marginally... We think the new trend starts with tomorrows Fed announcement which will still be dovish, but hopefully, not as dovish as some expect... As Janet Yellen has said, higher rates are good for the economy... We expect rates to back up some, but that is tomorrow's trade... And we still respect how close we are to critical yield numbers.
What will the Fed say tomorrow that could get markets off track... 1) their dot plots, a ridiculous exercise that the Fed should stop, should show higher rates 2) the Fed IOER, could be raised, which would do a lot to the problems of money funds and reverse repo 3) the start of tapering talks, or at least the suggestion that they are considering starting the talks... But we don't think we get more than that... The transitory word will be there at least 10 times...
The world goes on... New issue corporates came with over 9 billion yesterday... Junk came with over 3 billion... The trends continue... Demand is still strong from banks, from insurance companies for annuities, and from pension funds locking in equity gains... But the absurdity of yields continue... IG is averaging 2.07 ... High Yield, clearly an oxymoron, is down to 3.84... And CCC, the real risk trade is well below 6%, coming in at 5.76
Retail sales will be weaker today, but everywhere we look economic activity is accelerating, whether there are enough people to work or not...American Express said on CNBC yesterday that booking levels have reached 2019 levels... Seems incorrect to keep the pedal on the metal for the Fed... And we think Powell is making a major miscalculation.......