1/5 A thread to go over my interpretation of interest rates.
First this is what the market currently has priced in. 36% for the 5th hike in Feb 2023 is the highest ever.
First hike in March is now 86%. At this point any talk of no hike in March would move the market.
2/5
Earlier this morning Mike Wilson of Morgan Stanley was on Bloomberg TV. He is looking for 1.60% on 2-year yields at mid-year (from 0.945%).
3/5
This fits our view that the 10-year minus 2-year curve can invert by mid-year.
4/5
Why are 10yr ylds trending sideways as 2yr ylds relentlessly rise?
10yr ylds are a risk-off instrument, not an inflation pay. The fact that 10yr ylds are not rising in the face of inflation is a market signal that the Fed is going to hike too much and break something.
5/5
We will know when the Fed has “broken something” when/if the yield curve inverts.
It might not be obvious what broke the day the yield curve inverts, but the market will be signaling that something is indeed broken and it will be apparent in short order.
Bonus
Why will the Fed hike so much they will break something?
Inflation got away from them and is now intensely political. The economists can leave the FOMC board room. Hiking to address inflation is now the domain of politics and PR people worried about Fed optics.
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The immediate pushback is familiar: this “supply shock” will hurt real growth, so the Fed should cut rates.
This well-known economist has been making exactly that argument.
3/4
That is only half the equation. A supply shock hurts growth, but it also raises inflation, so the real question is which side dominates.
In 2022, inflation rose more than real growth fell: the blue CPI line and arrow moved sharply higher while the green real-GDP bars and arrow moved modestly lower. The bottom panel shows the Fed’s answer: hikes, not cuts, as the federal funds rate moved from near zero in early 2022 to above 4% by year-end 2022.
Why? When inflation rises faster than growth falls, nominal growth (real GDP plus inflation) rises. If today’s oil shock does the same thing as 2022, the correct takeaway is not automatic cuts. It is possible that the Fed may have to stand pat or even consider hiking.
Ten seafarers have now been killed in 13 attacks on merchant vessels since the Iran conflict erupted on February 28 — more than the 7 U.S. servicemen killed in the war.
The focal point is shifting: can the Strait of Hormuz be reopened? Is the Administration pivoting to that mission?
Every day without a visible path to reopening, the market will price in more risk.
A 10% increase in energy prices that persists for a year would push global inflation up by 40 basis points and slow economic growth by 0.1-0.2%, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
So, what price measures "persists for a year?"
🧵
2/5
As the table below shows, crude oil futures prices for delivery into 2027 are trading in extreme backwardation.
3/5
Below is the calendar spread between the first contract (now April) and the 6th contract (now September).
As the bottom panel shows, this spread is -25%, a record since the mid-1990s when the contract specifications were last changed.