Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Would a coin be more accurate?

Indian stock markets rocketed up 1.71% yesterday when the market opened after a long weekend. The Nifty closed at an all time high of 9,087 points while the Sensex closed on 29,442.62, highest since March 2015. A study in the US found that, compared to money market funds, equity values are highest since the dot-com bubble, wrote Bloomberg. Money market assets are at $2.7 trillion, equities are valued at $26 trillion. Most fund managers are bullish on equities, predicting record levels by the end of the year. Stock markets and economic indicators are up in the US, Eurozone and in Japan. In the US unemployment is down, business confidence is up and Purchasing Managers indices are rising. So what is the problem with high share prices? The Bank of International Settlements said that while households have reduced their debts corporations have borrowed more, wrote Anantha Nageswaran. Debt in G-20 countries have gone up by 29% from 2008 to 2016. The International Monetary Fund said that Greek debts are on an "explosive" path. Greek debt may reach 275% of GDP by 2060, warned the IMF. These debt levels are unsustainable. The renminbi will continue to fall, creating problems for the Chinese economy as capital flight increases, and the Eurozone is a bubble, waiting to burst, predicted Nageswaran. Even the US could go into a recession later in the year and the stock market will crash, which will bring down the dollar. Not so says Ajit Ranade who predicts a "dollar winter". As the Federal Reserve increases interest rates capital will flow out of emerging markets back to the US strengthening the dollar. As currencies become weaker there could be a crisis, like the Japanese crisis of 1985 or the East Asian crisis of 1997. The Malaysian ringgit fell in November as Trump won the election and global bond yields rose sharply. Asian currencies will remain under pressure. Not everyone is so pessimistic. Jim O'Neill finds 6 reasons why the global economy is resilient. The US unemployment is down, manufacturing index is rising, there a new orders for manufacturing, Chinese retail spending relative to manufacturing predicts restructuring, the ratio of Chinese retail sales to industrial production is inching higher, South Korean trade has begun to rise and Germany's business climate is improving. The global economy might be growing at 4%, thinks O'Neill. So what of India? All politicians, civil servants and business tycoons in India totally believe in the miraculous benefits of low interest rates. Sadly, both wholesale and retail inflation have gone up in February, which means that the Reserve Bank may not oblige. The stock market is in bubble territory and will fall, thinks Nilesh Jasani. So many experts, so many opinions. Better to toss a coin?

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