Thursday, November 09, 2017

If you cry wolf often enough.

The combined market value of Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel stocks is around $2.1 trillion -- a little short of India's gross domestic product (GDP)," wrote A Nageswaran. Market capitalization has jumped 36% from $1.55 trillion a year ago, while their earnings were higher by only $3 billion in the three months till end of September 2017, compared to the same quarter in 2016. "Irrational exuberance is back with a vengeance." Central banks are responsible, especially in China, for growth financed by excess borrowing. Total Social Financing, "the most comprehensive official measure of credit in the economy", grew by 15% in 2015 and 2016, in China. Investors have low risk perception because central banks are running liquidity at $1.5 -2.0 trillion per annum, with little chance of reversing, and China's investments in real estate and infrastructure are acting as "risk buffers". With a 30% rise in the past one year, the Nikkei in Japan needs to be watched, wrote W Pesek. The Bank of Japan is set to continue its loose monetary policy. Interest rate in Japan is negative. Corporate Japan has a huge pile of cash, at least $2.7 trillion, but reforms have not been carried out as promised. "Brazil is back on track" wrote Michel Temer, President of Brazil. Inflation has dropped from 10% in May 2016 to 2.54% in September this year, interest rate has dropped from 14.25% in May last year to 7.5% now, and trade recorded a surplus of $58.477 billion. Industrial output, vehicle exports and business confidence have all increased and 163,000 jobs have been created this year. The increase in capital investment, or capex, is an indication that the global economy is probably picking up at last. Capex is running at 8% according to JP Morgan Chase. Total debt in China reached 260% of GDP in 2016 and is expected to reach 320% by 2021. The retiring Governor of the Peoples' Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan warned of a "Minsky Moment" for China. However, President Xi Jinping is unlikely to let that happen during his term, so stimulus financed by debt is likely to continue. A 'Minsky Moment' need not come only from China, but could come from Japan or the US, and take down all three, wrote Pesek. Growth in global markets will continue for a while longer, wrote Y Sharma. For the first time since 2010, analysts are predicting a 15% growth in earnings this year. In India, on the other hand, market capitalization has risen by 42.67%, the highest among the top ten markets, despite earnings downgrades for five years in a row. Experts failed to predict the East Asian Crisis, the dot com bubble collapse and the subprime crisis, so they maybe predicting a Minsky Moment, thinking that if they do it often enough they can claim to be right if and when it happens. After all, the wolf did come, finally. 

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