We’re officially in a bear market, but markets are still massively overvalued. The laws of Mean Reversion are immutable – some stocks are going lower. Inflation, Bond Markets and Confidence are all flashing danger signals.
The number of threats facing markets; from inflation, central bank hikes, war, geopolitics, recession risks, corporate earnings and bond liquidity are legion. The big risk is they combine into a chaotic tipping point, at which moment we will just have to pick up the pieces…. Again.
The outlook for markets remains dire.. no worries! But what chance governments, central banks, the economy and growth enablers suddenly turn up the good news and put it all right again…? Are we over-estimating stagflation and recession?
Central Banks and Politics will be the dominant theme this week/month/year. Politicians are anxious to show inflation and recession are not their fault. Blame Central Banks! The Politics of Blame has profound consequences for markets.
Macron’s victory has been hailed as a market plus, a win for Europe and common purpose, but it’s likely just a crisis averted, perhaps, for a few more years. Around the globe populism will likely be fanned by inflation, food and energy insecurity and become an increasingly destabilising force on markets.
The Ukraine War has catalysed a tsunami of negative economic events around the global economy – and markets are remaining pretty much blind to the long-term consequences.
Populism is a massive threat to markets. Inflation, tax-hikes, petrol costs, poverty, political mismanagement and a host of other failings could further destabilise the West, while markets seem determined to stay euphoric whatever the evidence to the contrary.
Trying to strip out noise from facts has never been so complex! It’s time to resort to the rarest of all commodities; Common Sense - to work out how this will likely play out. There will be clear winners – and one massive loser – and significant economic pain before we get there.
The world is a complex place, and the massive macro threat posed by Ukraine is a clear danger to markets. Less clear, but just as significant, is economic failure at the micro level as firms start to fail as banks pull back, and the sheer injustice of what happened to UK Postmasters. The elites will protect their own - not a single manager will go to jail despite their appalling treatment of post office staff.
Markets are great at reacting to a single stimulus but are like a frog in a pan of warming water when it comes to consequential events. Forget “Black Swans” or “no-see-ums”, but figure out how the increasingly complex picture of unfolding events and consequences are driving markets!
