Jim Bianco Profile picture
Jan 20, 2022 11 tweets 4 min read Read on X
1/10

What do markets look like when they are freaking out?

Answer, like they look this week.

Why? The realization/fear that the Fed is going to slam on the brakes ... hard. And the panic that the stock market is going to get thrown through the windshield.

A 🧵to explain
2/10

Let's start with Tuesday (Jan 18). The SPX was down 1.8% the same day the 10-year yield was up 9 basis point.

This has only happened seven times since 2000 Image
3/10

And today

The S&P was up 1.53% at today's high. It closed down more than 1%.

Only 8 times since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 has the S&P 500 been up more than 1.5% intraday and then finished down more than 1%. And 4 of the 8 were in March 2020 (bolded) Image
4/10

The RTY, it has been argued are a better metric of the state of the economy than the SPX. RTY is 10% foreign revenues where the SPX is 40% - 50%.
RTY is getting murdered, now corrected more than 17% (bear market down 20%).

The SPX is down just 6.5% Image
5/10

I'm going through the exercise to confirm what we all suspect; the stock market is indeed have unusual movements that you only see a handful of times a decade.

Something more than a standard correction is underway ...
6/10

... maybe a realization/fear that the Fed is going to "address" inflation and slam on the brakes ... hard.

Restated, if the Fed is going to slam on the brakes, you would expect markets to freak out. They are freaking out; this is freaking out!
7/10

Why is this happening? Professional managers "blew it." They continue to believe inflation is transitory and the Fed is merely "jawboning."

This is the Jan BofA fund manager survey, out Tuesday. Majority think inflation is STILL TRANSITORY! Image
8/10

The Ds are panic their polling is terrible, and they will get crushed in November. The #1 issue is inflation.

Biden said it clearly yesterday, he green lighted the Fed to "stop inflation." If that means slamming on the brakes hard, so be it.

9/10

Fund managers still think the Ds will be ok in Nov (chart), even though the betting markets expect a wipe out.

They failed, or are failing, this get that this year is about making 40% of the population with less than $1,000 in savings and rents "not mad" about inflation. Image
10/10

If the stock mkt has to be sacrificed, then it will. And if fund managers are not positioned for this reality, we would expect chaotic markets...like we now have!

This started 3 weeks ago when the bond market was crushed, explained in this thread

The table above has a mistake I just became aware of ... March 21 and March 22 are a repeat of March 20 (they are also a Sat and Sun). My sort accidentally included them.

So, it is 5 times since 2009 and twice in March 2020.

Here is the corrected table. Image

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More from @biancoresearch

Oct 16
1/4

Volatility measures are elevated, suggesting markets are "bracing" for the post-election markets.

🧵

Start with the bond market (stocks in thread #3).

The MOVE Index (the "VIX of the Bond Market") closed at its highest level since December 7, 2023. Image
2/4

Why?

The MOVE is the implied volatility of 30-day options (from 2-yr to 30-yr). Oct 6 was within 30 days of the election; it spiked right after.

The MOVE is saying "buckle up" for election week.

Hedging post-election volatility (selling calls/buying puts) is now costly.
3/4

What about the VIX? It is the implied volatility on 30-day S&P 500 options.

This measure is also elevated. Once less than 30 days until the election came, it moved higher. Image
Read 4 tweets
Oct 9
1/9

I'm also looking forward to this debate with Bloomberg's @JSeyff and Blockwork's @fejau_inc at Permissionless III in Salt Lake.

🧵updating some of my charts.

I will explain onstage.
2/9

Breakdown of Assets

Total asset growth stalled in March. iShares IBIT (blue) is taking a bigger and bigger share from Grayscale GBTC (orange). Everything else (red) is about a third.Image
3/9

Daily/Cumulative Flows

$18B in cumulative flows (black). Where did most of it come from?

Hedge fund basis trades (not directional bets) and transfers from on-chain to tradfi accts.

$COIN retail flows are down as they compete with ETFs for retail flows. Stock down too.Image
Read 9 tweets
Sep 30
1/3

China's Govt keeps firing one stimulus Bazooka after another.

Today's installment ...
SCMP: Shanghai, other top tier-1 cities ease ownership curbs in boost for China’s housing market

Results in ...
*CHINA PROPERTY STOCKS GAUGE JUMPS 11% AFTER EASING MEASURES

And causing ....
*CHINA'S CSI 300 UP 22% FROM SEPT. LOW, HEADED FOR BULL MARKET

(biggest such rally since 2008)Image
2/3

The Chinese finally stimulating domestic demand gives hope that they will start to consume more.

This idea is significantly contributing to this unfolding rally in industrial metals.

Example
*IRON ORE SURGES ALMOST 8% AS CHINESE CITIES EASE HOME CURBSImage
3/3

Why should we care?

If the Chinese keep firing these stimulus bazookas, the commodity rally should broaden to energy. The Chinese consume more energy than the U.S. or the EU.

If so, consider this chart.Image
Read 4 tweets
Sep 20
1/9

All Models Are Wrong, Some Are Useful

Let the Index of Leading Economic Indicators' failure to predict the post-COVID economy be a reminder that this is no longer the pre-COVID economy.

Assuming it is as too many do, including Powell, is how mistakes are made.
🧵
2/9

The August Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) was released yesterday. It is a model of ten indicators that predict the economy.

conference-board.org/topics/us-lead…
Image
3/9

The ten indicators are combined into an index.

As this chart shows, it is at its lowest level since 2016. Image
Read 9 tweets
Sep 14
1/3

Below, I described how the Fed meeting now has maximum uncertainty just a few days before they met. This is unprecedented.

🧵 on how the process works. (Very inside baseball).
2/3

Remember, Powell wants a 12-0 vote for every policy decision. He is now working the phones by calling every FOMC member to "horse trade" into a 12-0 vote.

He believes that a 12-0 vote gives policy credibility. Dissents, in Powell's opinion, create doubt and uncertainty.

Powell explained this to Davis Rubenstein in July.
---
From the raw transcript, I edited it for readability

7:58 Powell: The way it works is I talk to the other 18 participants regularly. I speak to them at least once ten days before the meeting and think about this three or four weeks before.

What should we want to achieve? What data do we need to see? How do we want to change our Communications? All those things.

So, I talk to people, listen to them, and try to put together an answer that has broad support on the committee. So when we go into the committee on Tuesday morning [its start], I'm usually confident that I know where this will go.

8:55 Powell: These call calls are generally scheduled and go all day. The Friday before the meeting, I think I have 11 half-hour calls. We talk about the economy, we talk about very specific aspects of the economy, about our mandate, and then we talk about policy, so there's a lot to talk about. I take careful notes.

You can hear him explain it here.
3/3

Since Powell wants a 12-0 vote, he effectively gives everyone a veto.

See the chart above and the annotation about Waller. Waller is arguably the most hawkish member of the Fed. So, if the Fed wants to cut, it can only go as far as the most hawkish member agrees.

The probability of a 50 basis point cut was 60% right before Waller spoke, and it was 20% after he was done. In other words, Waller left the strong impression that he was good with a 25-point basis cut, but no more.

The Fed has only seen two dissents in the last four years. Both in 2022 (highlighted). This is the smallest number in over 70 years.

Again, this is how Powell designed it.

So, as he explained above, when Powell went through his 11 half-hour calls yesterday, and the market was 50/50, he had a lot of "horse trading" to do before a decision could be made (a 12-0 voting agreement).

Then, certain reporters are viewed as "Fed whisperers" who can be called and told "blue horseshoe likes a cut" and let them write a story that "signals" to everyone what will happen at the meeting.
I expect this story on Monday morning.

If not, then this process I described might be changing and could stay changed going forward, leading to more uncertainty and higher volatility.Image
Read 4 tweets
Sep 13
1/5

Actually, this is different.

Before the June 15, 2002, and March 22, 2023 FOMC meetings, the odds of a Fed move were very uncertain, ~50/50.

@NickTimiraos's stories right before these meetings removed uncertainty.

Yesterday's story created uncertainty (chart).

🧵Image
2/5

Going into the June 15, 2022, FOMC meeting, things were uncertain with a 35% - 45% odd 75bps hike.

@NickTimiraos cleared it up with this:
June 13, 2022 (48 hours before the meeting)
Fed Likely to Consider 0.75-Percentage-Point Rate Rise This Week
wsj.com/articles/bad-i…Image
3/5

Mar 7, 2023 SVB fell. The odds were 100% for a 25 bps hike before March 7. They fell to 55% a week before the Mar 22 FOMC meeting.

Timiroas cleared it up on Mar 20, sending the odds back to 86%

Federal Reserve Faces Tough Decision on Rate Increase
wsj.com/articles/feder…Image
Read 5 tweets

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