Author: Lior Alkalay

S&P 500: Prepare For Choppiness

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor


After the S&P 500’s rather flat performance over the first three weeks of January, the Index has finally broken higher, pierced through the 2,280 resistance, and seems well on its way to surge above 2,300. So, the question of potential profit taking for the Index at this time may raise some eyebrows. But if we are to take the signals coming from the Federal Reserve over the past few weeks, this is exactly when we should be worried about profit taking and a jump in volatility for the Index.

While the S&P 500 (CME:SP500) was muddling through over the past few weeks, some attributed it to the protectionist stance of the new US president, e.g. the looming threat of a trade war with China, the risk of import levies and, of course, the latest events of this week. President Trump, in a characteristically dramatic fashion, announced the revocation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and proclaimed his intention to renegotiate NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. And how did investors respond? By pushing the S&P 500 up and out of its stagnation and into a new high. Because, while investors are concerned about the risk of a protectionist trade policy, their concerns are somewhat soothed by Trump’s plan to slash the US corporate tax to 15% and boost infrastructure spending.

But what about the S&P 500 are the bulls ignoring? Continue reading "S&P 500: Prepare For Choppiness" →

Will Brazil Turn A Corner In 2017?

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor


In Brazil, the year 2016 will no doubt go down in the history books as one of the worst the country has experienced. The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached for the role they played in a bribery scandal and for illegally disguising the country’s real debt. Moreover, the Brazilian economy had its worst recession in more than half a century.

And yet, there are some encouraging signs that, at least as far as the economy and the Brazilian Real are concerned, the country might have turned a corner.

Brazilian Bonds Revival

In the months of January and February, when the political climate turned more and more chaotic and Brazilian growth tumbled, yields on Brazilian 10-year bonds were as high as 16.78% and CDS prices, which measure the likelihood of a sovereign debt default, jumped to 7%. One would then expect that, from this point onwards, and especially in recent months with the prospect of a Fed’s tightening weighing on bond markets across the globe, the already fragile Brazilian government bonds would experience an utter meltdown, even to the extent of risking an actual default. But what happened instead was interesting. While bonds across the world were tanking and yields surging (bond yields move in reverse, relative to prices) amid the Fed’s tightening, Brazilian bonds staged an impressive rally, and yields on 10-year bonds fell from their highs back in January to as low as 11.4% today. Unsurprisingly, this was followed by an impressive rebound for the Brazilian Real. Continue reading "Will Brazil Turn A Corner In 2017?" →

Eurozone: 2017 Spells More Trouble

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor


The year 2017 is just around the corner and it seems that more troubles are brewing for the Eurozone. The region faces a deadly combination of a premature ECB taper, Fed tightening and more political uncertainty. Together, those factors could disrupt the already fragile Eurozone recovery.

ECB Tapers While Fed Tightens

Mario Draghi, the ECB President, so far has proved (and more than once) his ability to stabilize the Eurozone economy and delicately navigate monetary policy. But, in the latest ECB rate decision, which was also the last for 2016, Mario Draghi may have slipped up and acted a bit too hastily. Draghi declared that the ECB would reduce its monthly bond purchases from the current pace of €80 billion a month to €60 billion, beginning in April 2017. Despite constant denials from the ECB, there is simply no other way to interpret Draghi’s declaration but as a tapering of the ECB’s Quantitative Easing program. And, in the world of monetary policy, especially ultra-loose monetary policy, less stimulus equals tightening.

The ECB is effectively rolling back part of the brakes it has used to curb volatility in the Eurozone debt market. When the Greek crisis loomed, the ECB used QE to curb volatility. Likewise, when the Spanish banking crisis erupted and, as of late, with Brexit and the Italian banking crises, the ECB quickly responded. The ECB’s massive QE program helped restrain the shocks to the system. Continue reading "Eurozone: 2017 Spells More Trouble" →

China 2017: More Boom Before the Bust

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


Despite the Yuan’s value recently plummeting to an eight-year low, the Chinese economy has been rather stable in the second half of 2016, manufacturing PMI held above 50 (above 50 signals expansion); exports reached $196.8 Bln in November(from $176.2 Bln in January); and in industrial production growth averaged 6.14% Year over Year.

Together, these changes all represent a strong indicator of growth - and of bounce-back - and all thanks to the Yuan. Or more accurately, to the Yuan meltdown. Even as the Chinese Yuan shed more than 7.1% this year, it allowed China’s exports to rebound and stabilize industrial and manufacturing production. But all that stability comes at a stiff price, down the line.

While a weaker Yuan helps exporting sectors, it causes problems in China’s domestic economy. In it, an exceptionally weak currency has the same impact as monetary easing, creating an inverse relationship where, when the Yuan’s value is eroded, China’s housing bubble swells.

The more China’s housing bubble swells, the more its debt problem becomes acute. And, ultimately, the more painful its bust will be. Continue reading "China 2017: More Boom Before the Bust" →

Fed Paves The Way For Broad Dollar Rally

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


The last FOMC meeting for 2016 has concluded, and the outcome is a slightly more hawkish tone than investors initially expected. The Fed has hiked the federal fund’s target rate by 25bps to 0.75% for the second time in two years. However, this hike was largely in line with the consensus expectations.

What caught investors by surprise was the revision of the Fed’s projection for rates in 2017. A revision that demonstrates that the median of estimates by the Federal Reserve members point to not two rate hikes, as in the September meeting, but three. Experience suggests that investors should take the Fed’s revision with a pinch of salt. After all, it was only this year that we witnessed the Federal Reserve revise its rate projections down, a move that followed an increase earlier in the year. And yet, judging by the reaction of Treasuries and the dollar, this revision is taken with some gravity. In fact, it paves the way for another dollar higher. The question is why? Continue reading "Fed Paves The Way For Broad Dollar Rally" →