See and Show

This note was originally published at 8am on January 28, 2013 for Hedgeye subscribers.

“To see, and to show, is the mission now undertaken.”

-Henry Luce

Born in China to missionary parents, Henry Luce went on to graduate from Yale in 1920 and become one of the most influential multi-media content generators in world history.

In June of 1944 in Life magazine, Luce declared the following about America: “With the establishment of a firm lodgment on the continent, we are now the most powerful nation on earth.” (The Last Lion, page 847)

That’s one way to get Americans to like you. Another is calling it like it is. Now that central planners of the world have saved us from themselves (again), I wonder how Luce would characterize the new world order today.

Back to the Global Macro Grind…

If there was another Luce born in China in the 21^st century, she probably wouldn’t be able to publish what she really thinks about China’s role as a burgeoning super-power anyway. Power and influence have some ugly disclosures.

This morning China’s power-center is ticked-off (expressing it in their state controlled media) because the Japanese are adding 287 people to their military. That’s not a typo, 287. Since Japan’s armed forces number north of 225,000, what’s the point?

The point is that we are in a Currency War, and the Japanese continue to tick just about everyone from South Korea to China off. This isn’t going to end any time soon. Neither will the longstanding cultural differences between Japan and China. If we are right on how it ends for the currency debaucherers in Japan, the Chinese won’t be there to bail them out like they did Europe.

Last week, in what was nothing short of another fantastic one for US Equities (SP500 and Russell2000 up another +1.1% and +1.5% to fresh YTD highs, respectively), there were 3 major divergences in Global Equities:

1. South Korea = KOSPI -2.1% (breaking TRADE and TREND support)
2. Brazil = Bovespa -1.3% (holding TRADE and TREND support)
3. China = Shanghai Composite -1.1% (holding TRADE and TREND support)

Now, when a market price snaps TRADE and TREND support in our model, we don’t buy-the-the-damn-dip. We wait and watch. When a market price holds TRADE/TREND support, we like buying those instead.

If you bought China on Friday (we’re long Taiwan via EWT), nice job. This morning, Chinese stocks ripped a fresh new YTD high, closing up another +2.4% at 2364 in Shanghai. That’s what bull markets do – they correct and climb.

South Korea’s stock market didn’t do that however. The KOSPI saw follow through selling overnight, down another -0.36% to immediate-term TRADE oversold within its freshly established bearish intermediate-term TREND (1961 = resistance).

Since the KOSPI is an important leading indicator in our multi-factor Global Macro model, what is this signal telling us?

In any risk management model with Chaos Theory at its core, the 1^st answer to an early signal is ‘I don’t know.’ That might not sound as smart as someone who allegedly knows something about everything, but over the years the limits of my thick hockey skull remain readily apparent – so I’ll stick with Embracing Uncertainty.

The other big question you should be asking yourself is could we see a 6% handle on the US unemployment rate in 2013?

Remember, expectations of the Fed getting out of the way matter more than them actually doing so. Looking at this week’s Macro Catalyst Calendar, there will be plenty of data to consider on that front:

1. Monday – Pending Home Sales and Durable Goods are both released for the USA
2. Tuesday – Case Shiller Home Prices and US Consumer Confidence
3. Wednesday – PMI (JAN), Q412 GDP, and the Fed’s decision/commentary on rates
4. Thursday – US weekly Jobless Claims (and month end)
5. Friday – US Employment Report (JAN) and the ISM report for January

And, as usual, the market has already front-run some of these considerations via its own expectations:

1. US Treasury Bonds (10yr Yield) continued lower again last week, with the 10yr rising to 1.95% from 1.84%
2. Gold continued lower last week, closing down another -1.7% in a broadly bullish Global Equity tape
3. CRB Commodities Index continued to make a series of lower-highs, closing down -0.6% last week

Now I know some people are calling for both epic levels of inflation and the end of the world – but the good news is that we have neither of those two things, yet. Nor do we expect them before you have to report results to your investors at month-end.

What we have so far (and for the last 2 months really) is a Growth Scare, and it’s to the upside. How else can you explain another all-time high in the Russell2000 of 905 (all-time is a long time) and confirmed 5-yr lows in US Equity Volatility (VIX)?

To see and show our Top 3 Global Macro Themes (#GrowthStabilizing, #HousingsHammer, and #QuadrillYen) as they are happening helps illustrate that Global Macro A) works both ways and B) is interconnected. This is our mission, undertaken.

Our immediate-term Risk Ranges for Gold, Oil (Brent), US Dollar, EUR/USD, USD/YEN, UST 10yr Yield, and the SP500 are now $1654-1678, $111.75-114.28, $79.62-80.14, $1.32-1.34, 89.55-91.11, 1.88-1.98%, and 1485-1508, respectively.

Best of luck out there this week,

KM

Keith R. McCullough
Chief Executive Officer