Jim Bianco Profile picture
Sep 28, 2021 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
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

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More from @biancoresearch

Nov 16
It turns out that the biggest soap opera in Trump's nominations is the Treasury Secretary. As the graphic below shows, it is as close to 50/50 as it gets.
---

My Take

The Treasury Secretary gets to sit in the room and opine on policy. And their voice will be taken seriously.

But they do not set the policy; the President does. When the president says what they will do, they expect the Treasury Secretary to sell that policy as if it were theirs.

The second part, selling something they don't believe in but are told to do, is something Jamie Dimon will never do, so he will never be the Treasury Secretary. (Dimon wants to tell everyone else what they should sell).

Lutnick will sell whatever you tell him and do it with gusto! Bessert will do so too, but he does not command the room like Lutnick.

In other words, the Treasury Secretary is the administration's chief spokesman. This is a sales job, and it needs a salesperson.

The problem with Yellen was that she needed to be a better salesperson. Yes, she is an outstanding economist, but she was never a good spokesperson for the Biden Agenda.

She would have been a better National Economic Council head, the "smart person in the shadows advising the President."

If I had to guess ....

Lutnick = Treasury Secretary
Bessert = National Economic Council headImage
Read 4 tweets
Nov 7
1/6

Six questions I would ask Powell (which, of course, he will not answer).

1. Why did this happen? Image
2/6

2. Question 1 caused this. How is this helping? Image
3/6

3. I know you think inflation has either been defeated or is about to be defeated. So, why did the market react this way after you cut in September? Image
Read 6 tweets
Nov 4
1/6

An update 🧵

We manage a fixed-income total return index. It is based on our discretion.

It is called The Bianco Research Total Return Fixed-Income Index.

On Bloomberg, it is BTRINDX <index>, or at its website biancoadvisors.com
2/6

As of Friday, November 1st, our Index outperformed the Bloomberg US Aggregate Index by 107 basis points. Image
3/6

The WisdomTree Bianco Fund (symbol: $WTBN) tracks our Index.

This is set up similarly to $SPY. The S&P Index Committee manages the S&P 500, and the ETF $SPY tracks it.

We operate our Index, and $WTBN tracks it.
Read 6 tweets
Nov 2
1/3

The Sahm Rule was Triggered in July, red bars. This means a recession has ALREADY STARTED. (The definition is on the chart).

It was "un-triggered" with the October unemployment rate.

@Claudia_Sahm Image
2/3

The Sahm Rule works because once it is triggered, the unemployment rate soars.

The last time it was triggered and then un-triggered a few months later was in 1959 when the recession was still 2 1/2 years away. Image
3/3

This unusual action underscores the idea that the Labor market is very different post-pandemic. Even Claudia has argued this.

What has changed?

See the black line below; the country's population is exploding—blue and red detail where it is coming from.Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 2
1/6

Like you, I see the regular posts about the Spot BTC inflow records. Running out of superlatives.

They are correct. We have never seen anything like it.

@JSeyff @EricBalchunas @Matt_Hougan @dotkrueger @btcjvs @fejau_inc @qthomp @Tyler_Neville_ @MikeIppolito_ @NateGeraci
2/6

Why isn't the price going up? (orange)

Since the BTC ATH on March 13 ($74.3k):
* Spot BTC ETFs flows >$12B (blue)
* The halving (April 19)
* Trump endorsement (July)
* Tech/SPX mania
* Fed Cut (Sept)

The price should have hit $100k months ago.

Instead, it's down 4%. Image
3/6

At the same time, money has been pouring into gold ETFs, >$6B since March 13.

And Gold's price is screaming higher, up 25%.

Why is gold soaring when BTC cannot go up despite an almost never-ending stream of bullish news? Image
Read 6 tweets
Oct 31
1/5

My Favorite Anecdote About The Economy

A good way to measure the perceived health of the US economy is to measure the public's ability to spend on things they want but do not need, aka discretionary spending.

🧵
2/5

The Conference Board's survey of 3,000 Households asking whether they are planning a foreign vacation in the next six months.

This month, the survey hit another all-time high: 22% of US households say they will vacation overseas in the next six months. Image
3/5

A foreign vacation is something that absolutely nobody needs but absolutely everybody wants.

You only agree to potentially spend several thousand dollars if you are confident about your job,
investments, and the overall state of the economy.

Couple this with: Image
Read 5 tweets

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