US Dollar: Same Old Story

These days, it’s hard to offer a fresh perspective on the Dollar. The factors driving its short-term momentum – namely low interest rates and its perception as a financial safe haven – have been in place for nearly a year. It’s long-term prognosis, meanwhile, also hasn’t changed much. Since the beginning of the decade, the Greenback has been in a state of perennial decline as a result of its twin deficits and the related notion that it will be soon be replaced as the world’s pre-eminent currency.

Since the last time I posted about the Dollar (October 6: Dollar’s Role as Reserve Currency in Jeopardy), then, there haven’t been many developments. Fears that oil will one day be priced and settled in an alternative currency – such as the Euro – continue to reverberate through the markets. Several ministers from OPEC countries have already officially dismissed such claims as baseless. A parallel debate is now taking place on the sidelines as to whether or not such a shift even matters.

Dean Baker argued in a recent article for Foreign Policy magazine, that pricing oil in Dollars represents a mere “accounting convention,” adopted by most simply by default, since the US is the cornerstone of the world economy. Argues Baker, “World oil production is a bit under 90 million barrels a day. If two-thirds of this oil is sold across national borders, then it implies a daily oil trade of 60 million barrels. If all of this oil is sold in dollars, then it means that oil consumers would have to collectively hold $4.2 billion to cover their daily oil tab.”

Unfortunately, Baker’s “simple arithmetic” is both erroneous and slightly irrelevant. Assuming a price of only $100 per barrel (pretty conservative if you believe the notion of peak oil), current consumption of 85 million barrels per day implies a daily turnover of $8.5 Billion per day, or $3+ Trillion per year. If the price doubles to $200 per barrel….well, you get the point.

Taking this line of reasoning further becomes somewhat problematic, however. First of all, while OPEC members currently hold the majority (70%+) of there reserves in Dollar-denominated assets, it’s unclear how this would change in the event that oil was no longer priced in Dollars. It’s conceivable that just as many of these Central Banks currently diversify their Dollar-denominated proceeds into other currencies, that they would “diversify” Euro-denominated proceeds back into the Dollar. Of course, it’s also conceivable that a combination of inertia and investment strategy would cause them to hold a larger portion of there reserves in Euros.

If OPEC Central banks continue to prefer Dollars, than Baker is right in arguing that the currency in which oil is priced has no implications outside of accounting. If, on the other hand, he is wrong, and a change in pricing causes/coincides with changing preferences, then the implications for the Dollar would be disastrous. [Consider that $3 Trillion/per year which is at stake currently represents more than 15% of total foreign ownership of US assets.] The problem is that we just don’t know.

Regardless, the status quo favors the Dollar, since creating a new reserve currency would take at least a decade, if not more. For that reason, the World’s Central Banks (we’re not just talking about OPEC anymore) continue to prefer Dollars. “In the five weeks through Oct. 7, foreign central banks bought more than $48.55 billion in Treasury securities, an average of $9.71 billion per week, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.” In addition, “Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said he expects the dollar will remain the key reserve currency for some time to come.” Private foreign investors, meanwhile, are dragging their heals a bit, perhaps waiting for the Dollar to fall further before jumping in. Asks one columnist rhetorically, “Why buy now if the dollar might be even weaker in six months’ time?”

What else is new? The US budget deficit came in at $1.4 Trillion for the fiscal year, the highest level since World War II. On the bright side, the deficit was $200-400 Billion less than earlier estimates. Meanwhile, members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors restated the unlikelihood of higher rates in the immediate future. “Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed and thought to be a rare hawk on the Fed’s Open Market Committee, chimed in that no one at the Fed thinks this is the time to raise interest rates.” Finally, the US trade deficit is once again narrowing, due in no small part to the declining Dollar.

At this point, it seems reasonable to assume that much of the bad news has already been priced into the Dollar. Sure, the Australian rate hikes came as a surprise and forced many to rethink their calculations. Investors have already begun to separate the healthy currencies from the sick (to borrow an analogy from a previous post), but that the Dollar would be grouped with the “sick” currencies has long been anticipated. Given that the currency has already fallen by double digits in 2009 and is nearing the record lows of 2008, some are wondering how long it can continue.

Pound, Dollar are ‘Sick’ Currencies

A theme in forex markets (as well as on the Forex Blog) is that as the Dollar has declined, virtually every other asset/currency has risen. The rationale for this phenomenon is that the global economic recovery is boosting risk appetite, such that investors are now comfortable looking outside the US for yield. However, this market snapshot may have to be tweaked slightly, in accordance with a recent WSJ article (Sterling Looks Ready to Join the Sick List).

According to the report, “Similar to how investors sorted good banks from bad banks earlier this year, foreign-exchange buyers are starting to sort strong currencies from weaker currencies. The pound appears to be joining the dollar in the weak camp. Both countries have near-zero interest-rate targets, an aggressive policy aimed at boosting the economy, and yawning deficits.” In contrast, the article continues, the Yen and the Euro have risen, as have so-called commodity currencies.

While there’s no question that British economic and forex fundamentals are abysmal, it’s a bit hard to understand why the markets are picking on the Pound now. After all, the Euro, Swiss Franc, and Yen, for example, are plagued by some of the same fundamental problems: growing national debt, sluggish growth, low interest rates, etc. Investors can borrow in Yen nearly as cheaply as they can borrow in Dollars or Pounds, and the Bank of Japan is likely to keep rates low at least as long as the Bank of England (BOE), if not longer. Meanwhile, price inflation remains practically non-existent, which means that any capital that investors stash in the UK should be safe.

Perhaps, then, investors are zeroing in on the BOE’s Quantitative Easing program, which is the point of greatest overlap with the US Dollar. Relative to GDP, both currencies’ Central Banks have spent by far the most of any industrialized countries, in pumping newly printed money into credit markets. The BOE, in particular, is actually thinking about expanding its program. At a recent meeting, Mervyn King, Chairman of the Bank, led the opposition in voting for a 15% expansion, but was voted down by a majority of the bank’s other members. “The ‘next decision point‘ will be the Nov. 5 meeting,” said a former Deputy Governor of the Bank, at which point “Bank of England policy makers will consider expanding their bond purchase plan….on concern the economy’s recovery may be a ‘false dawn.’ ”

The government meanwhile has demonstrated a certain ambivalence when it comes to the program. The head of the UK Debt Management Office indirectly encouraged the BOE to continues its purchases of bonds, for fear that stopping doing so could cause yields to skyrocket and make it difficult for the government to fund its activities. “A rapid sell-off could create a downward spiral of gilt prices which would make life harder for both it and the DMO.” On the other hand, one of the leaders of Britain’s conservative party – which is projected to take office after next year’s elections – has criticized the program on the grounds that it will lead to inflation.

From the BOE’s standpoint, it’s a no-win situation. Continue the policy, and you risk inflation and further invoking the ire of politicians. Wind it down, and you could tip the economy back into recession. For better or worse, it seems the BOE will err on the side of the former: “If we stopped supporting the economy now it would crash. Every country in the world and just about every informed commentator is saying the same thing. The job is not finished.” Given that inflation is projected to hover around 0% for the next two years, the BOE still has some breathing room.

As for the charge that the surfeit of cash flowing into markets is weakening the Pound, ‘So be it,’ seems to be the attitude of Mervn King who suggested that, “The weaker pound was ‘helpful’ to efforts to rebalance the British economy toward exports.” While he backtracked afterward, it still stands that the BOE hasn’t made any efforts to stem the decline of the Pound, and is at best indifferent towards it.

Regardless of where the BOE stands, the Pound is not being helped by the weak financial and housing sectors, which during the bubble years, comprised the biggest contribution to UK growth. Exports are weak, and domestic manufacturing activity has yet to stabilize. As a result, “The British economy will contract 4.4 percent this year before expanding 0.9 percent in 2010, the International Monetary Fund predicts.”

US Dollar: Will a Recovery in Liquidity Usher in a Breakout?

Liquidity has been the bane of currency traders’ existence this past week; but a gradual return to normalcy may finally allow the dollar and general risk appetite to find its bearings once again. Even a perfunctory glance at a EURUSD chart conveys exaggerated congestion.

US Dollar: Will a Recovery in Liquidity Usher in a Breakout?

Fundamental Outlook for US Dollar: Bullish

- Nonfarm payrolls contracted at a slower pace in August, but the jobless rate jumped to a new 26-year high

- Fundamental dollar traders will have to look to market sentiment rather than fundamentals for direction

- Majors tax dollar support as the threat of a breakout looms next week

Liquidity has been the bane of currency traders’ existence this past week; but a gradual return to normalcy may finally allow the dollar and general risk appetite to find its bearings once again. Even a perfunctory glance at a EURUSD chart conveys exaggerated congestion. This pair – and indeed all of the majors – has been relegated to a controlled range or gradual channel for the better part of three months. Now, passing through the extended Labor Day weekend holiday in the US, we are encountering the worst of the unusual market conditions. It wasn’t by chance that the dollar tumbled to test its lows through this past Friday’s close. At critical levels, the speculative ranks could either attempt a break against the dollar while most of the American market is offline or wait for the liquidity pool to deepen and instead work to reconcile the divergent outlook between fundamentals and risk appetite.

The immediate concern heading into the new week is Monday’s holiday. While US markets will be offline, Asian and European traders can act upon any potential breakouts as there is time (though not necessarily momentum) to forge significant follow through. This leads us to consider what the primary driver for the dollar is. Did this past week’s data tip the fundamental scales and now we are just waiting for enough market depth to sustain a rally? Are interest rate expectations shifting against the FOMC pursuing interest rate hikes in the opening months of 2010? Have risk trends once again pegged the dollar as a key liquidity currency? In such a complex market, you can be sure that all of these themes are factoring in; but it is likely the whims of speculators and their appetite for risk that is truly at the helm.

Where will the fuel for a surge in optimism or the spark to a spate of panic come from? Generally, it can come from anywhere as long as the market is susceptible enough – and sentiment certainly seems primed for a dramatic shift. The comments coming from Finance Minister and other policy officials ahead of the G-20 meeting in London tomorrow has been largely supportive of keeping stimulus in place; but being prepared with an exit strategy when the right conditions were met. This is very likely to be the consensus tomorrow – and it would send the market a somewhat bearish outlook as it would reinforce the notion that the global recovery will be gradual. What’s more, with the full summit scheduled for the 24th 25th in Philadelphia, this pre-game meeting will be more for setting out framework.

Since investor sentiment in its simplest form is the balance of risk and reward, interest rate decisions from key policy bodies next week could in turn affect the dollar as a safe haven. The BoE is scheduled to announce rates on Thursday; but it is the commentary and outlook for growth as well as the size of the asset purchasing program that is truly remarkable. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the RBNZ’s deliberation. As a representative of what high yields global investors can reasonably expect, this benchmark will be used to set expectations for growth. The disparity between dim growth potential and the capital market’s steady rally over the past six months has only grown with time. It is already clear that the recovery will be slow; so it is not likely that market optimism can hold up long enough for data to catch up. But, as John Maynard Keynes said, “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” – JK

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GBP/USD Short Looking Good!

Just wanted to post a quick update on this trade that triggered yesterday. We actually closed out a portion at 1.6175, for a 175 pip gain. This pair is the biggest loser of the day so far (-1.04%), so it appears that other traders may have recognized the H&S pattern as well. The reason we closed a portion was because of the doji that occurred on the 5-minute chart, and the stochastic cross that occurred as well. See chart (click to enlarge)

While this trade started out as a pattern on the daily chart, we chose to drop down to the 5-minute chart to manage the trade as our first profit target was hit. Our trailing stop for the rest of the position is now at 1.6275, which is just above the most recent area of resistance, and also represents a 75 pip gain. So basically this is now a risk free trade!