Solid signals the debt ceiling is going to be a problem, and might be a catalyst (not they catalyst) behind today's risk market selloff.
Yes, it eventually gets resolved but the fear it will be messy and chaotic this time around.
A thread to explain.
1/6
First, their is 1.3 trillion in Fed reverse repo (RRP). The Fed is offering 5 basis points in this RRP facility
Their is no reason for a T-Bill to have a yield above the 5 bps RRP rate.
2/6
Here is the bill curve out the next 9 mos and the Oct 18 date that the govt runs out of money.
The only bill yield yields above 5 bps is from Oct 19 to Oct 28.
By trading above the RRP rate after Oct 18 signals the debt ceiling is going to be a problem in this time period.
3/6
The betting markets have a contract with an Oct 15 date. It is essentially 50/50 it will be raised before this date.
This signals no early deal. So, even if a deal gets done in time to avoid a mess, it is going down to the wire.
4/6
Now for the political part to ask why this is happening.
The Ds are the majority of the House, Senate and Presidency. They do not need R votes.
But hiking the debt ceiling is deeply unpopular and they want cover from the Rs. They are not getting it.
5/6
Biden is deeply unpopular and it just gets worse everyday. See the orange line, new highs in "disapprove" regularly.
Does Biden lack the stature IN HIS OWN PARTY to cut a deal between his progressives and moderates? He would if he was at 55% appr.
6/6
Bonus
All the Wall Street strategists are in universal agreement this is a bunch of nothing and will get resolved without drama.
This last time they we this sure about something was Feb 2020 with they all concluded CV19 was temporary and not important.
You have been warned!
Can/should the Fed buy T-Bills and stop a mess with the debt ceiling?
Buying bills or any kind of "support" for the Treasury market is taking a side in an intensely political fight.
1/2
Powell is fond of saying that congress does the will of the American People. The Fed job is to respond, not take sides.
And for the Fed to get involved would be especially political given they all but signaled they are going to start tapering at the Nov 3rd FOMC meeting.
2/2
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
It is correct that the new home premium (green) above existing home prices (blue) has collapsed from 38% in 2013 to below zero today (the lowest in 54 years).
Why?
See new home prices (orange), they stalled.
3/7
Here is the average home price (orange) and the home's size (blue). The reason prices are falling is that builders are constructing smaller homes.
But as the bottom panel shows (green), the price per square foot is as high as ever.
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.
3/4
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?
2/6
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.
3/6
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.
2/5
The list of the AI-related stocks
3/5
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).