US consumer is the last defense against strong dollar drag on the economy

We continue to receive questions about the impact of the recent dollar strengthening on the US economy. The most immediate impact of course is on trade, which has created an immediate drag on the GDP growth.

Source: St Louis Fed, Goldman Sachs

We know that the impact on US industrial production in particular has been terrible.

On the other hand this currency appreciation, combined with weaker energy prices, is supposed to improve consumption as imports become cheaper.

The chart shows US import price index

And of course all the cheap fuel (combined with a warmer winter) should be providing material support to US households.

US average gasoline price

Will that be enough to give US consumer spending a boost? Goldman outlines two potential scenarios, the second one of which leads to a contraction in US gross output.

Source: Goldman Sachs

The full impact of the US dollar rally thus depends very much on the behavior of the consumer in the months to come. From a balance sheet perspective US households certainly don't seem to be "stressed", as the Financial Obligations Ratio remains near multi-decade lows.

Source: @SoberLook, FRB

Moreover, high-frequency economic sentiment data, while showing some stock-market induced jitters, remains robust.

Source: Gallup

Whether this will translate into stable spending patterns remains a question. According to Gallup, at least through December, US consumer spending has been solid.

Source: Gallup

The equity markets however are now pricing in a much weaker discretionary spending pattern, while companies focused on staples seem to be doing much better. Note that much of the divergence has taken place this year. Is the market concerned about consumer retrenchment?

Source: Ycharts

The December GDP report (0.7% growth) showed that growth has already slowed as financial conditions tightened. A great deal of this tightening has been driven by the US currency appreciation.

  Source: @jbjakobsen  

Consumer spending stability in the next few months is therefore critical. Strong US dollar has created a significant drag on economic activity but economists are betting that the consumer tailwinds should support growth,. If however the consumer (spooked by the recemt sharp correction in the equity markets) retrenches, US growth could stall.


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SoberLook.com

Beijing may question the yuan peg as the Fed prepares for liftoff

Today's ISM non-manufacturing report showed US services sector expansion considerably stronger than economists had anticipated. The strength of services sector expansion however has diverged materially from what we see in US manufacturing.

Source: St. Louis Fed, ISM

The reason for the divergence is the strength of the US dollar, which on a trade-weighted basis is at the highest level in over a decade.

Source: St. Louis Fed

Strengthening US currency has generated a significant drag on growth in the manufacturing sector. We've all read the headlines.

But haven't we seen this divergence between the services and the manufacturing sectors elsewhere? Indeed just yesterday Markit published a similar chart for China.

Source: Markit

This of course is more than a coincidence. China's currency tie to the US dollar resulted in a similar dynamic of manufacturing sector significantly underperforming. Unlike the US however, China's manufacturing is more sensitive to exports, making the slowdown far more pronounced - resulting in an outright contraction (PMI below 50 in the chart above).

In recent months the yuan has been firmly pegged to the dollar. There are a number of reasons for this linkage, including China's wish to make the yuan part of the so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a basket of currencies constructed by the IMF and held by various central banks. Beijing reasoned that the yuan's stability would help them with that cause.

Source: barchart

However, yesterday we got this headline.

Source: Reuters

Time to give up the peg? There are of course other reasons China may want to maintain the link to the dollar - one of them is to continue "rebalancing" the economy.

Source: MRB

This policy however could prove to be too costly, as competitors whose currencies have been devalued may take market share from China. Here is how the yuan has appreciated against the Mexican peso for example (chart below). With margins tightening in a number of industries, when a manufacturer decides where to build a factory, Mexico (and a number of other countries) may now be a cheaper solution.

It's unclear if China will ultimately let the peg go or if the yuan will continue tagging along with the US dollar. Will China want to wait until the 2016 IMF decision on the SDR inclusion? With the Fed getting ready for "liftoff" in September while most central banks are easing, the dollar could continue marching higher. This could slow China's economic growth materially below the current ("reported") 7% per year. In effect the tightening of monetary conditions in the US will be transmitted to China via the peg. If the dollar indeed moves higher as US rates rise, will Beijing finally run out of patience?



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SoberLook.com

The biggest risk to US growth: further dollar rally

The biggest risk to US economic growth remains the possibility of an extended US dollar rally. The Fed rate hike expectations have been pushed out to December and many doubt that the Fed will hike right before the year end. That's because the hike will involve three rates: FF, IOER, and RRP and could be disruptive to money markets over the turn (year-end). That means if we don't get a hike in September, we may not see liftoff until 2016.

At least that's what the markets expect. But if the Fed unexpectedly hikes this summer, the impact on the markets could be severe. And the dollar is likely to rally further as a result.

We've seen what a strong dollar can do to US manufacturing employment.

Source: ISM, Investing.com

But there are other "unintended consequences". Consider for example US farming businesses and the banks that provide them credit. It's hard for US farmers to compete with Canadian, Australian, Ukrainian, and other foreign producers after those nations' currencies have been sharply devalued vs. the dollar. That's why grain prices, farms, and banks that lend to them are vulnerable to further US dollar strength.

Wheat futures (source: barchart)

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Sentiment shift on US inflation expectations

We seem to be undergoing a market sentiment change as fresh signs appear that US inflation has bottomed.

Commodity markets are firmer, particularly industrial metals. We've seen nickel prices moving up sharply a couple of days back (see chart). Here is aluminum and copper.

Commodity indices are still near multi-year lows but seem to have found a bottom - for now. Here is the CRB BLS Spot Index.

Source: barchart

Moreover, the components of the US Employment Cost Index seem to indicate improved wage growth as well stronger increases in starting salaries.

Source: Deutsche Bank

As a result we continue to see breakeven inflation expectations moving higher. The Eurozone has also seen an improvement in breakeven rates.

Perhaps the most telling sign that inflation sentiment has shifted is the record jump in inflation funds inflows (ETFs and mutual funds).

Source: Deutsche Bank

The dollar of course continues to pose risks to this change in investor views. Should we for example see a 300K new payrolls print from the labor department this Friday, all bets are off. The Fed will be back in play, the dollar rally will resume, and inflation expectations will dive again. Such an outcome with the jobs report seems unlikely but a resumption of the dollar rally remains a risk.

Source: barchart

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SoberLook.com

By insisting on a rate hike the Fed has "imported" some of the global slowdown

Economic data out of the United States remains lackluster. We now see more evidence that a strong dollar can be quite damaging to US growth, as manufacturing employment in the US unexpectedly shifts into contraction mode.

Source: ISM, Investing.com

With this miss in the Friday's ISM PMI report (which was generally weaker than consensus), the Bloomberg Economic Surprise index hit the lowest level since early 2009.

Source: @MktOutperform

Some argue that this economic soft patch is driven mostly by seasonal effects, as Americans increasingly tend to "hibernate" over the winter.

Source: Scotiabank

If so, will we see an improvement in Q2? There is quite a bit of debate around this topic, but so far a number of high-frequency indicators point to a softer than expected start to Q2. The ISM manufacturing report discussed above is one of them. Moreover, regional manufacturing inventory levels seem to support that data.

Source: @Not_Jim_Cramer

We also have the Atlanta Fed US GDP tracker - which correctly predicted poor GDP performance in Q1- pointing to growth that is substantially below the "blue chip" consensus.

Source: Atlanta Fed

Note that this model has been shown to be quite reliable in predicting the initial GDP releases in recent quarters.

Source: @Not_Jim_Cramer

The Fed officials seem to have gotten the message that it's not the slightly higher interest rates in and of themselves that would impede growth. While the US economy on its own can easily withstand higher short-term rates, it is the dollar's strength, driven by higher rate expectations, that could be damaging. The chart below shows the increased focus on the dollar.

Source: @M_McDonough

While the rest of the world is easing policy, the US central bank can't begin tightening without negative consequences. And the global monetary policy is in a rapid easing mode. Except for Brazil, Ukraine, and a couple of other nations that have been desperately trying to defend their currencies, we've had over 30 individual rate cuts by central banks globally this year alone.

There is another way to think about this effect. The chart below shows the global nominal GDP growth (measured in US dollars) - which is projected to decline in 2015 for the first time since 2009 (see write-up). By swimming against the world's monetary policy tide, the US risks "importing" some of that global slowdown. And that is indeed what the the Fed has done by telegraphing a hike this summer.

Guggenheim

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SoberLook.com

The 2015 theme unfolds on the first trading day

2015 started with a fresh US dollar rally, as the DXY dollar index jumped nearly a percent on Friday. The dollar strength and its consequences will be a key theme for the economy and markets this year.

Source: barchart

One of the consequences of course is continuing pressure on commodities markets, as Brent crude futures tumbled below $57/bbl.

Source: barchart

In fact the whole commodity complex took another led gown, as aluminum and copper came under pressure. Here are a couple of broad commodity indices worth following: the CRB BLS Spot Index and the Continuous Commodity Index - both at multi-year lows.

Source: barchart

With commodity prices under pressure again and import prices expected to fall due to stronger dollar, the U.S. 5x5 forward inflation expectation rate (5-year inflation expectation starting 5 years out) hit a 3-year low.

It's difficult to imagine how the Fed could consider raising rates (expected in Q3) in this environment - even if labor markets continue to improve. Consider the fact that monetary conditions have tightened sharply over the past couple of months even without the Fed doing anything, as real rates rose.

While setting the overnight rate at 50bp will by itself  have a minimal effect on the economy, the expectations of higher rate differentials with other developed economies will send the dollar even higher, further weakening inflation expectations and materially tightening monetary conditions.

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The Fed's policy trajectory is tied to global recovery

The latest US payrolls report presents a challenge for the Fed. As discussed back in April (see post), US labor markets are continuing to heal, suggesting that the rate "normalization" should be a serious consideration for the central bank. However the recent deterioration in commodities, especially energy, is "importing" global disinflation to the US (see post). In particular, the Saudi commitment to retake lost market share has sent shock waves through the oil markets (see post).

GCC is a diversified commodity index (source: barchart)

As a result, longer-term market-implied inflation expectations have fallen substantially.

The latest declines in expectations came after the recent FOMC minutes already showed increasing concerns at the central bank:

FOMC: - “Many participants observed the committee should remain attentive to evidence of a possible downward shift in longer-term inflation expectations.”

At the same time payrolls in the US are growing at a rate approaching the pre-recession peak (though still materially below what we saw in the 90s).

In fact the divergence between payrolls growth and inflation expectations is currently unusually high. Payrolls are driven by stronger US domestic economy, while inflation expectations are impacted by external factors, which creates this disconnect.

Red dot represents the current situation

This mismatch is causing a dissonance for policymakers and market participants, adding to the disagreement on the timing of liftoff. Current market expectations for the first hike now point to Q3 of 2015.

Source: CME

However if inflation expectations persist at these levels or worsen, it will be nearly impossible for the Fed to move on rates - irrespective of how much labor markets improve. The bet represented in the chart above is that energy prices will stabilize and/or growth in wages improves substantially by next summer - pushing breakeven expectations higher. But such an outcome, driven to some extent by factors external to the US, is far from certain.

What makes the timing of liftoff particularly difficult to estimate is the value of the US dollar.

Source: barchart

With a number of major central banks either easing or expected to begin easing monetary policy (diverging from the Fed), the rise in the relative value of the dollar will continue. That will bring inflation expectations even lower by weakening US import prices and pressuring commodities. If the strong dollar can make goods and to some extent services from abroad cheaper, there is less incentive for US-based firms to raise wages. Tapping cheaper markets abroad becomes more profitable.

And as the expectations of liftoff draw closer, the dollar will strengthen further, making it more difficult for the Fed to pull the trigger (what some refer to as a "self-correcting" mechanism). It's hard to envision the Fed acting unilaterally in the sea of looser monetary policy worldwide. The policy trajectory of the US central bank is therefore tied to a large extent to the global recovery, which remains elusive for now.

The Fed officials are keenly aware of premature policy tightening by a number of central banks, who were forced to reverse their decisions later.

Source: @themoneygame (Business Insider), Deutsche Bank

What some of these central banks didn't count on was the global nature of disinflation, over which they had little or no control (see chart). In the Fed's case, such a reversal would severely undermine the FOMC's credibility, sending policymakers back to the drawing board.
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The Fed concerned about "importing" disinflation

The latest Reuters poll is showing 24 out of 43 economists projecting the first rate hike in the US by June of next year. The futures market is pricing liftoff by September. Citi's latest analysis puts it in December. And all of these forecasts are running way behind the so-called Taylor Rule, which is suggests that the Fed Funds rate should already be at 1.5%.

Source: @Schuldensuehner, Citi

In fact the US economy can easily handle non-zero short-term rates at this point. The banking system is quite healthy and can easily manage funding costs of 1.5%. Corporate borrowers can deal with slightly higher rates as well. And as far as mortgages are concerned (to the extend higher short-term rates extend to longer maturities), borrowers for whom payments become prohibitive at 5% vs. 4% should not be taking out a mortgage to begin with. Furthermore the issue with the housing market these days has more to do with tighter mortgage credit rather than rates.

But it's no longer as much about the US economy as it is about external factors. The international situation has made the Fed's policy planning much more complex. The monetary policy divergence among the major central banks is the issue at hand. With the BoJ suddenly accelerating its QE program, the PBoC cutting rates, and Mario Draghi hinting at a potential QE program in the Eurozone, the Fed is becoming increasingly isolated in its plans to begin rate normalization. Even India's RBI, who has kept rates elevated for some time, may begin to ease soon as the nation's inflation and money supply growth slows.

As a result of this divergence, the US dollar has been on the rise this year.

Of course the recent increase in and of itself is not tremendous relative to historical levels. However, given the disinflationary pressures around the world, the rising US dollar effectively "imports" disinflation into the US. Moreover, the massive drop in energy prices, caused by a combination of a significant rise in North American production and weaker demand globally (as well as the Saudi "dumping"), is adding to slower inflation. In fact, in recent months a paradigm shift has taken place. Weakness in inflation is no longer viewed as a temporary phenomenon as the longer-dated market-based inflation expectation measures turn sharply lower.

Furthermore, professional forecasters are also downgrading their long-term inflation projections.

Source: Deutsche Bank

Even consumer expectations of long-term inflation have shifted.

Reuters: A Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey released last week showed that consumers see inflation averaging 2.6 percent a year five to 10 years from now, down from 2.8 percent predicted last month and the lowest reading since March 2009.

It's not going to be about jobs going forward, in spite of the comments we continue to hear from the FOMC. The Fed's focus has shifted to inflation and inflation expectations. And no matter how low the unemployment rate falls, it will be difficult for the Fed to pull the trigger on rates, risking further strengthening of the dollar and more downward pressure on prices. It is possible the Fed will wait for growth in other major economies to stabilize before liftoff in the US. Which is why some economists (like those at Citi) are pushing rate hike expectations further out in time. Unfortunately the longer it takes to get there, the more disruptive the effect of normalization will be on global financial markets - as the Fed's zero rate policy moves into its 6th year and possibly beyond.


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SoberLook.com

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