I’ve used the “light”/”tunnel” analogy. Goldman calls it the “home stretch.”
However you choose to conceptualize the situation, the idea (the hope) is that each new day brings us closer to the end of a nightmare which, in one form or another, has haunted markets since 2015.
Over the past six years, it’s been one shock after another. From Brexit to France’s brush with government by Le Pen to Italy’s too-close-for-comfort flirtation with one-man rule under Salvini to Donald Trump to the trade war to the pandemic to the wholly surreal spectacle of an armed rebellion in Washington D.C., we’ve just witnessed a half-decade of tumult.
For the most part, assets were undeterred, thanks in no small part to central banks’ efforts to preserve the hunt for yield and suppress volatility with the effect of underwriting what, ultimately, just amounts to a giant, global carry trade. The figure, below, is a bit dated, but it captures the height of the pre-pandemic disconnect between “reality” and market volatility.
Post-pandemic, that disconnect became even more glaring, although to visualize it properly, you’d want to use something other than the VIX, because it’s remained elevated — or at least relative to where it “should” be based on other measures of market angst.
In a note dated Tuesday, Goldman’s Jan Hatzius strikes a somewhat downbeat tone, reflective of where we are in the “here and now” even as he reiterates the bank’s upbeat outlook for the future. As alluded to above, the note is called: “The Home Stretch.”
He frets about the new virus variants, and their potential impact on economic activity this quarter. “Experts suspect that they are already spreading underneath the surface in a number of economies, including not only the Euro area but also the US where genomic surveillance is less developed and public health officials are therefore ‘flying blind’ to some degree,” Hatzius wrote, adding that, “the nature of exponential growth suggests that the greater transmissibility of the new variants could have serious consequences for new case numbers, hospitalizations, and ultimately fatalities across a larger range of countries.”
As to the political situation stateside, Hatzius called last week’s events “unprecedented.” The melee in the capital was a “riot,” in his words. “The next ten days are likely to remain turbulent as the US House of Representatives gears up for another impeachment of President Trump,” he went on to write, before reiterating that once this is behind us, “the focus will turn to further fiscal support.”
I’ve mentioned repeatedly that Goldman’s economic forecasts are upbeat versus consensus, as is their outlook for US equities. The additional expected fiscal impulse under a Democratic government in D.C. “keeps Q1 [growth] at +5% (annualized) despite the negative virus impact and provides a net boost to subsequent quarters,” Hatzius reiterated Tuesday, noting that “for 2021 as a whole, we have therefore lifted our US growth forecast to 6.4%, a full 2½pp above the Bloomberg consensus.”
Despite the “hot” growth outlook, Goldman’s expectations for inflation are more muted, and that, in turn, means only “slight” revisions to the bank’s Fed forecast.
“Under our assumption that the committee defines ‘substantial further progress’ as a sustained 1.8-1.9% for core PCE inflation and 4½-5% for the unemployment rate, our new forecasts imply QE tapering in 2022,” Hatzius remarked. “And we now see the first hike in the funds rate in H2 2024, modestly earlier than in our previous forecast.”
While he acknowledged the risk that rising bond yields may entail some “short-term indigestion” for risk assets, he noted that “from a more strategic perspective, however, the backdrop for risk asset markets remains quite constructive,” given that the world is “at an early stage of the expansion, with labor market slack ample, inflation low, and central banks focused on boosting growth.”
It’s an upbeat take at a dour time. And sometimes, that’s nice to hear. Even if you think it might be too optimistic.
I believe Goldman’s forecast is too optimistic. But not the raw numbers necessarily, but the turning point. We may see a 12 month growth spurt equal to 6.4% of GDP, I don’t believe that is in the cards for calendar year 2021. The damage appears too deep- and there is likely to be a lot of scarring to the economy. We could see a nice bounceback starting in the second half of this year however. I have about 2% confidence in my outlook.
I mean it depends a lot on stimulus. We could probably get better than 2% growth by just getting homeless and hungry people housed and fed.
“… getting homeless and hungry people housed and fed.” And all of us who can should be contributing to that effort. Twelve months ago I lost my wife of 54 years but I also lost a major expense, that of paying for institutional care. Most of that savings has gone to charities in the arts and education, who have been savaged by their normal donors this year, and to three local food banks to whom I contributed funds to provide 75,000 meals. If you’re reading H, I suspect you can afford to offer some help along these lines. The government isn’t going to give enough for anywhere close to 2%. They essentially shut down four months ago. And the states to whom the feds have passed the buck are a mess. They can’t even agree on how to get the population vaccinated. Shameful. There are 330,000,000 of us here. Two shots a piece are required and that means 650 million doses, more than two million a day just to finish during this year. What we got so far is 20 mil delivered and half that administered. Are there any responsible leaders anywhere?
Sorry, I meant to say if you are reading this blog you probably can help. None of my business what H does with his hard earned cash, or anyone else I guess. Just an exhortation for help in general.
For what it’s worth (which is obviously nothing until I actually roll it out), I am working to figure out the implementation details for how to allow users to allocate a percentage of their Heisenberg Report subscription proceeds to a charity of their choice. I hope to roll that functionality out at some point between now and the summer. It is not as simple as it sounds. In fact, it’s not simple at all. In addition to the accounting issues, it has to be readily apparent (and verifiable) to readers. That is: I don’t want to roll out a simple “promise.” Rather, I want to roll out something like a drop-down menu where everyone can choose the charity and then somehow verify the transaction (i.e., “see” that XYZ percentage of their subscription payment went to their charity). There are plug-and-go solutions for parts of this, but not all of it. And even where there are turnkey solutions, they trip over each other if you try to piece them together. I think, ultimately, it’s going to have to be a custom development project. But I’m going to get it done eventually.
I’d noticed that, after much breathless coverage of Savlini’s slow grind to power, you’ve gone silent on the subject. Your mention of him prompted me to google the latest on him–he’s been distinctly out of my news flow in 2020.
We are getting a little boost from all the travel associated with the DC riots. And even all the state capital action will create economic activity. some of those national guards and being called up were not working so this gives them a job. If this sounds cold and callous just call Mitch McConnell and get a more calloused view