On Wall Street
November 29, 2013 9:19 am
Deflation can derail the runaway markets
Even the most aggressive monetary easing has its limits
Two weeks ago, Jack Lew, the very domestic US Treasury Secretary, was in Asia making the rounds in Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing. Those who attended meetings with Mr Lew assumed he was coming to apologise for the way the debate in Washington on extending the debt ceiling was handled in the previous month and to offer reassurance that the next time the matter comes up, it will be handled more smoothly.
Instead Mr Lew instructed his audiences that Asia needed to get its act together and improve its own governance. He further alienated attendees at one session in Singapore by refusing to address the concerns of local bankers about extraterritoriality as the US unilaterally imposes rules on foreign banks with any presence in the US at all.
But today none of that matters. The consensus is that despite the cavalier treatment of investors in Treasury securities, whether foreign or domestic, and despite official behaviour that is unworthy of a nation whose currency is the universal safe haven and store of value, the US dollar will be strong next year and the US market will be the biggest game in global markets.
This past week the composite Nasdaq rose above 4,000, a level not seen in 13 years, not since the euphoria of the tech bubble. As everything financial rallies to pre-crisis levels, it is no longer 2007 again – it is better than that.
More sober observers may well wonder why that should be the case.
At this odd moment in time, the US markets are the beneficiaries of two contradictory trends: one is today’s reality and the other is tomorrow’s expectation.
Neither of them has anything to do with economic fundamentals, unfortunately. The bullish reality today is that the Fed is still supplying massive liquidity to the markets, driving asset prices ever higher. Moreover, incoming chairman Janet Yellen is even more committed to quantitative easing than the current occupant of the seat Ben Bernanke.
The anticipated move away from QE is, ironically, also supportive since that expected tapering will mean a stronger dollar and an expectation of improved fundamentals – and finally perhaps corporate spending on plant and equipment.
“Multiple expansion is driving stock market performance to a far greater degree than earnings, while earnings themselves are being driven to a remarkable extent by share buybacks,” notes CLSA analyst Christopher Woods.
Those share buybacks amounted to some $218bn in the first half of the year, and keep rising, as do dividend payouts. Capex, of course, remains as subdued as ever – but never mind because for the moment, that is what keeps the Fed with its foot on the monetary accelerator.
Analysts like Mr Wood are now beginning to query what can go wrong and bring the stock market down, beyond the sort of geopolitical shock that is always a possibility. His answer is the continuing threat of deflation.
The real incomes of most of the population have not risen at all. And if the only beneficiaries of QE are the very wealthiest, can their spending be enough to support the real economy? In a world where demand will probably be weaker tomorrow than it is today, can asset prices rise indefinitely?
Every day they rise suggests perhaps that the end point is nearer.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.
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