A thread about transitory vs persistent inflation and why persistent might be actually be winning.
This comes from @economics And it breaks down CPI by reopening and non-reopening components.
Of the 5.25% inflation rate in the last year, only 1.62% was reopening components.
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Breaking it down for August we find that reopening CPI components (or transitory inflation) FELL by 0.22% while CPI non-reopening components (or persistent inflation) ROSE by 0.35%
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Detailing this we find that CPI non-reopening (persistent) components are surging to its highest monthly level since at least 2016.
Restated, this series of persistent inflation is trending higher, and is 78% of overall CPI.
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The CPI reopening components (transitory) fell by the most since the lockdown.
Restated, this series of transitory inflation is falling and is just 14% of overall CPI.
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So, why are the CPI reopening components falling? Is the Delta variant hurting the economy and sapping demand?
Consider these two charts.
Airline ticket prices collapsed by 9% annualized in August. Why? Because demand is also collapsing as measured by the TSA?
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In sum transitory components are falling and their demand is off as Delta is hurting economic activity.
Meanwhile persistent inflation components are surging higher and higher.
Is this why stocks turnaround today? Weakening demand and higher inflation squeezing margins?
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I assume Marks is referring to the 1-year forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500, the standard Wall Street valuation metric (which is closer to 25 now, but was 23 a few weeks ago).
Here is a long-term proxy for that ... the Shiller Cyclically Adjusted Price/Earnings (CAPE) ratio back to 1881. It is a 10-year average of P/E/ ratios.
At 40, it is one of the highest readings ever, even higher than 1929.
It shows the NEXT (future) 1-year REAL (after inflation) return of the stock market on the y-axis.
The CAPE on the x-axis.
The red box is the returns when the CAPE is above 34. It's a mixed bag of positive and negative returns.
Restated, valuation is NOT a good timing tool.
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But if the y-axis is extended to the NEXT (future) 5-year REAL (after inflation) return, then THERE IS NO EXAMPLE, OVER THE LAST 150 YEARS, OF THE STOCK MARKET BEATING INFLATION OVER THE NEXT 5-YEARS WHEN THE CAPE IS ABOVE 34.
Restated, valuation is an expectation tool. Unless one makes the case that corporate earnings are going to have their most significant surge in history, the stock market is destined to disappoint over the next several years.
The preliminary November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey was released this morning (blue). The "current conditions" measure of this survey set a new ALL-TIME LOW.
Before 2020 (COVID), the stock market (red) was the primary driver of the public's economic outlook. These two series moved up and down together. Since COVID, this relationship has completely disconnected.
This leads to some uncomfortable explanations.
Half of the country owns no assets and lives paycheck to paycheck. Have they now moved to being angry at a booming stock market that worsens inequality? Is this why socialists are getting elected? Do they want their agenda to knock the market down? Is a bear market now the goal, not the concern?
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Why the anger?
Since the COVID recession ended in April 2020, cumulative price increases (orange) have outpaced cumulative wage increases (blue).
This devastates the bottom 50% of wage earners (and especially the bottom 30%) who own no assets and live paycheck-to-paycheck. They are having to do with less.
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For comparison, the opposite happened in the 2010s. The cumulative gain in wages (blue) beat the cumulative rise in prices (orange).
In this scenario, the bottom 50% of wage earners were able to make ends meet and maybe get a little ahead, as their paychecks bought a bit more each year.
JP Morgan has identified 41 AI-related stocks, 8% of the S&P 500. These stocks now account for 47% of the Index's market capitalization, a new record.
The other 459 stocks, 92% of the S&P 500, are 53% of the Index's market capitalization.
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The list of the AI-related stocks
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ChatGPT was released on November 29, 2022.
Since this date, these 41 stocks have accounted for 74% of the S&P 500's total increase (blue). The other 25% came from the remaining 459 stocks (orange).
This morning Friday’s SOFR was reported at 4.18%, down 12 bps. (SOFR is reported every morning for the previous day.)
So, is the liquidity problem now over? Not exactly.
Here is a version of the last above, but it only shows the last 6 months, and the SOFR/IOR spread in the bottom panel is daily (not a moving average).
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See the average in the first (repost) chart above, the SOFR/IOR averaged -8 bps back to 2022. See the chart immediately above, the SOFR/IOR averaged -5 bps.
A “normal” liquidity environment is one where the SOFR/IOR spread is around -8 to -5 bps. See the last five or six weeks, lots of “green bars” (positive SOFR/IOR spread). With some “red bars” interspersed in between. In Wall Street parlance, this spread “random walks” so look to the larger trend, not day to day movements.
What the larger trend shows is this measure of liquidity is still “worrisome.” Not a crisis, but worrisome. And note that over the last few months trend is moving toward larger green bars.