The announcement was not totally unexpected, according to the BBC, but it did come as a shock. China's Communist Party announced the Central Committee proposed that the term of the President and Vice President may serve beyond their 10-year terms: The Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President...
Sometimes misunderstandings can lead to enormous adverse consequences. In 1941, Japan believed that war was inevitable with the United States. The Americans had slapped a trade embargo on Japan, and made it clear that Japanese occupation of China was unacceptable. The Japanese High Command saw that America was a big industrialized country with resources that...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
Mid-week market update: The week began on a bullish note this week as the melt-up theme dominated early in the week (see Jeremy Grantham`s call for a possible melt-up, and my own views published last November: Embrace the blow-off, but with a stop loss discipline). On Monday, the market rose for a fifth consecutive day,...
A decent interval has passed since China's 19th Party Congress (see Beware the expiry of the 19th Party Congress put option), and it's time to check in again on China to see how things are progressing. For the China bears, the overhang in debt looms large. The worries are especially acute in light...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
As China approaches its 19th Party Congress, there has been no shortage of analysis about what to watch for. Here are a couple of examples worth reading: The meeting that could seal Xi's grip on China (Bloomberg) Beijing's Game of Thrones: Signaling loyalty before the Party Congress (China Focus) Of particular importance is the Reuters...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
Japan saved the world in the aftermath of the Crash of 1987. When the panic selling of stocks cascaded around the world, the Nikkei Index bent, but did not break (via the FT): The Nikkei tumbled 15 per cent on its “Black Tuesday” in the wake of Wall Street’s violent collapse and lost a further...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
Mid-week market update: Having reviewed sector rotation last week (see More evidence of an emerging reflationary rebound), it is time to apply the same analysis to countries and regions. First, let's start with a primer of our analytic tool. Relative Rotation Graphs, or RRG charts, are a way of depicting the changes in leadership in...
It is said that while bottoms are events, but tops are processes. Translated, markets bottom out when panic sets in, and therefore they can be more easily identifiable. By contrast, market tops form when a series of conditions come together, but not necessarily all at the same time. I have stated that while I don't...
Good afternoon, class. Welcome to another session of "Thinking Straight 101". Your assignment today is to choose one of the topics below and write an essay for next week's class: North Korea: George Friedman at Geopolitical Futures recently warned, "All the signs are there: The U.S. is telling North Korea, in no uncertain terms, that...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
The worries about China ebbs and flows. The latest BAML Fund Manager Survey shows that China fears are at flood levels again. Indeed, developments such as the inverted Chinese yield curve is creating a sense of peak anxiety. I recently highlighted analysis indicating that China fears are overblown (see Are the...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
As Donald Trump prepares to meet Xi Jingping this week, I am reminded of the long-term challenges that face China, namely its growing debt. There have been many analysts warning of the credit buildup, here is this chart from BCA Research is one of many examples. While I am not calling for an...
I was reviewing RRG charts on the weekend (click here for a primer on RRG charting) using different dimensions to slice and dice the market. When I analyzed the regional and country leadership, I was surprised to see that the dominant leadership were all China related (note that these ETFs are all denominated in USD,...
The WSJ reported that the Trump administration is considering a new tactic in managing its trade relationship with China. Here is the Bloomberg recap for those without a WSJ subscription: Under the plan, the commerce secretary would designate the practice of currency manipulation as an unfair subsidy when employed by any country, instead of singling...
Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade. The...
