Making Sense

As identified in the last blog post, USD Index made a low of 100.51 on Tuesday and retraced to close the week at 101.732 . I will be closely looking at how the price action evolves around the 102.50 levels to re-initiate shorts. In my post earlier, we identified the first braking zone to the downward momentum on USTs as the 3.64% - 3.81% zone where US2s found resistance. During the week,  Yields on US2s dipped to 3.848% before closing the week at 3.92% inside of the 3.90% - 4.10% range seen for better part of the month. The steepening trend persisted this week as the US2s10s closed the week at -0.014%. On US10s, yields moved higher to close the week at 3.907%.  I'm looking at 2 spots to re-initiate trades on US2s ~ 4.10% and 4.20% handle.  The break in US2s10s outside of the triangle targets 15.50 bps.  US economic data shows a softening trend but it does not outright suggests a sharp deceleration to warrant further pricing of rate cuts. The thought is predicated o...

I have two basic rules about winning in trading as well as in life:  1. If you don't bet, you can't win. 2. If you lose all your chips, you can't bet.   ~ Larry Hite Over the last 3 weeks, after the Aug 5 lows, yields on US2s have consolidated in the 3.90% - 4.10% price range and US10s have progressively made lower lows to close the week at 3.92% and 3.80% respectively. US2s10s bull steepened to close the week at -11.90 bps. USD index closed the week at 100.68, 5% off highs of 106.13 June highs and within close proximity to the established range of 100.50 - 106.50 since last year.  There is a 76% probability of a 25 bps rate cut in the Sep Policy. The market is broadly equally divided between a 25 bps and a 50 bps in the November Policy and holds a 87% probability of FFR in the 4.25% - 4.50% range by end of 2024. By next year September Policy, the market assigns a 90% probability of FFR at 3.25% - 3.50%, i.e. 200 bps of cuts in next 1 year.  The Atlanta Fed GDP Now ...

India's Trade deficit widened to $23.50 bn on a sequential 1.50% fall in Exports and a 7.50% rise in Imports. Electronic Goods exports surged by 37.31% to USD 2.81 billion.  Engineering Goods exports grew by 3.66% to USD 9.04 billion.  Drugs & Pharmaceuticals exports increased by 8.36% to USD 2.31 billion.  Meat, dairy & poultry products exports saw a significant rise of 56.18% to USD 0.46 billion.  RMG (Ready-Made Garments) of all Textiles exports increased by 11.84% to USD 1.28 billion. On a Yoy comparison, Merchandize Trade Deficit worsened to $ 85.50 bn from $ 75 bn in the corresponding period last year. The overall Trade Deficit is averaging $ 8bn per month as against $ 6.50 bn in the corresponding period last year.  USDINR Continues to bear the brunt of the rising deficit, Short CNHINR position washouts, persistent reserve accumulation. We broke above the wedge formation in play since 2022. Favor being flat at the current levels on USDINR and ...

 In this Second Part, we look at the economic data prints: A Benign CPI reading - mom inflation at 0.15% mom and Core print at 0.17% mom. Core goods disinflation continued with mom at -0.32% with 3m annualized rate at -1.93%. Core Services Inflation rose at 0.31% mom which is at pace higher than the average 0.18% mom in the prior 2 months. Super Core Services also rose at a mild 0.14% mom. The respite in Shelter inflation seen in June appears short lived with prices rising at 0.38% mom in July. There has also been a talk around re-acceleration in inflation as mild prints in the second half of 2023 weigh on the readings going forward. Fed members have also highlighted that the  Inflation progress last year benefited from supply-side improvements like eased supply chains, increased labor force participation, and lower energy prices.  However, these factors may not continue to reduce inflation, as supply chains have normalized, labor force participation has stabilized, and i...

Hi, Feels like a long hiatus since I wrote the last post. A family commitment followed by fever impeded my writing. Let me begin this post with a quote from Dreyfus and Kelly - "The task of a craftsman is not to generate meaning, but rather to cultivate in himself the skill of discerning the meanings that are already there". A trader like a craftsman, must develop the ability to acutely discern data, market narrative, the leanings and positioning all at once and constantly reassess developments in his mind. The better a trader can do this, the greater is the skill level. A lot has transpired in markets and the Economic data keeps the pendulum moving between soft landing and recessionary concerns. Let's look at the interest rate pricing and what are the points where I'm looking to fade the moves. This will be part 1 of blog post and in the second blog post we cover Economic  data prints in detail.  The Interest Rate Pricing by Sell Side Economists  is tabulated below -...

RBI's policy decision was largely on expected lines and couple of points that stood out to me from the policy document and the press conference are stated below: 1. Inflation is moderating but the pace of disinflation is uneven and slow and there is still a distance to cover to align headline inflation to target.  2. RBI is watchful of all incoming data from domestic as well as external  sources and ready to deal with all emerging situations. However, the Governor noted caution in reading too much from a single month's employment number since Atlanta Fed GDPNow data is still trending at 2.9% and US has demonstrated growth resilience.  3. On the LCR , the draft circular is still under consideration. According to research reports, estimates are that draft guidelines on LCR if implemented could absorb liquidity in the ball park 5 Lac crore range.  4. On the decision to exclude newly issued 14Y and 30Y  bonds from FAR securities, DG Patra explained in detail th...

As Howard Marks says The most important thing is "Awareness of the pendulum'. The mood swings of the market resemble the movement of a pendulum. Although the mid point of the arc best describes the location of the pendulum "on average", it actually spends very little of its time there. In fact, it is the movement towards an extreme itself that supplies the energy for the swing back.  Investment markets follow a pendulum like swing - b/w euphoria and depression, between celebrating positive developments and obsessing over negative ones and thus between over priced and underpriced.  While we may not know what the futures holds but me must have a fair sense of where we are headed. I hope this blog has helped you navigate the course of the markets by identifying these pendulum type swings and through the analysis, has helped you get a sense of how the data is evolving. The Economic calendar was heavy with Top Tier Data.  BoJ raised the overnight call rate by 15 bps to 2...

One of my favorite poem is by Kahlil Gibran and thought I'd share a couple of lines with you all...  Do not live half a life  and do not die a half death If you accept, then express it bluntly,  Do not mask it If you refuse then be clear about it for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance Do not accept half a solution,  Do not believe half truths,  Do not dream half a dream,  Do not fantasize about half hopes To reach and not arrive, Work and not work The half is a mere moment of inability, but you are able for you are not half a being You are a whole that exists to live a life not half a life” On that note, quick weekly roundup for the US markets below: The Fed Fund Futures are pricing in 88% probability of a rate cut by September Policy.  The Atlanta FED GDPNow Estimates for Q3 growth readings are running at 2.8%. The Cleveland Fed estimates for Core CPI and Core PCE are running at 0.27% and 0.22% respectively mom.  In the last blog piece...

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up" ~ Thomas Edison Bonds made fresh highs this week as yields on US2s dipped to 4.411% and later bounced off lows to close the week at 4.517%. Likewise for US10s, yields closed at 4.241% after printing lows of 4.144% at the start of the week. US2s10s bull steepened to -22.2 bps before pulling back to close the week at -27.60 bps.  S&P saw sharp price correction as markets reversed off  5 642 levels. We identified last week that 5642 levels correspond to the 1.618% of the corrective move from 4820 to 3492 and is a level worth watching to see if prices stall here for a corrective move lower. On DXY we briefly dipped under the 104 handle to touch lows of 103.65 before closing higher on the week at 104.37.  The move in USD index could stall at the 104.50 levels or could stretch towards 105 levels. On the US2s we closed right at the H&S Neckline at 4.52%. The narrativ...

"I fear not the man that has practiced 10,000 Kicks once, but I fear the man that has practiced one kick 10,000 times." ~ Bruce Lee Morning Everyone ,  This   Week gave us a sense of how the prices or inflation has evolved and we had benign readings across CPI and PPI and the updated PCE estimates are now for a reading of 0.01% mom on the headline PCE and -0.01% on Core PCE Prices which translates to an annual reading of 2.4% yoy and 2.4% on Core PCE Prices.  The Implied pricing off Fed Fund Futures is now pricing in o ne full 25 bps of rate cut into the September Policy and 61 bps of cumulative rate cuts for 2024. If you go further out the curve, 100 bps is priced in until March 2025 and 138 odd bps until June 2025.  In the 23rd June Wrap, I had written  On the DXY, 106.25 is a crucial resistance  zone for DXY bears and an important point of reversal. So keep a watch on the levels with SL above 106.75.  DXY declined  over the last 2 weeks fro...

"You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great" -  Les Brown The Employment data and the soft ISM print lead to strong bond buying interest with yields on US2s down 14.80 bps and on US10s down 11.80 bps bps over the week. US2s10s steepened 3 bps to close the week at -32.60 bps from -35.60 bps at end of last week. The Atlanta FED GDPNow estimates were revised lower to 1.50%.  We  did not get any post news drift after the initial  sell off in bonds post the Presidential debate barring a move on Monday to 4.795% which was largely faded. Yields on US2s held the 4.76% resistance through the week before dropping sharply. The next support comes in at 4.50% - break below which opens the room for a move likely towards 3.50%. The markets are now pricing in 51 bps of rate cuts into 2024 with 72% probability of the first 25bps rate cut by September 2024.  Fed Chair Powell in his speech mentioned that Inflation is now showing signs of re...