Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24
US House Prices Trend Forecast 2024 to 2026 - 11th Oct 24
US Housing Market Analysis - Immigration Drives House Prices Higher - 30th Sep 24
Stock Market October Correction - 30th Sep 24
The Folly of Tariffs and Trade Wars - 30th Sep 24
Gold: 5 principles to help you stay ahead of price turns - 30th Sep 24
The Everything Rally will Spark multi year Bull Market - 30th Sep 24
US FIXED MORTGAGES LIMITING SUPPLY - 23rd Sep 24
US Housing Market Free Equity - 23rd Sep 24
US Rate Cut FOMO In Stock Market Correction Window - 22nd Sep 24
US State Demographics - 22nd Sep 24
Gold and Silver Shine as the Fed Cuts Rates: What’s Next? - 22nd Sep 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks:Nothing Can Topple This Market - 22nd Sep 24
US Population Growth Rate - 17th Sep 24
Are Stocks Overheating? - 17th Sep 24
Sentiment Speaks: Silver Is At A Major Turning Point - 17th Sep 24
If The Stock Market Turn Quickly, How Bad Can Things Get? - 17th Sep 24
IMMIGRATION DRIVES HOUSE PRICES HIGHER - 12th Sep 24
Global Debt Bubble - 12th Sep 24
Gold’s Outlook CPI Data - 12th Sep 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Aussie Dollar Signaling Financial Markets Risk Appetite Is Vulnerable to Reversal

Stock-Markets / Risk Analysis Aug 09, 2009 - 07:22 PM GMT

By: Money_and_Markets

Stock-Markets

Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleBryan Rich writes: According to the financial markets, the world has become a very calm and comfortable place again. But has it?

Just a year ago markets were crashing all around us …


The U.S. housing market had started the snowball rolling far earlier. Then the U.S. stock market finally turned over. Later, other markets, like commodities and currencies, woke up to the realization that a crisis in the U.S. economy had tentacles reaching around the world! And the music stopped …

Investors went running for the exits, markets collapsed and U.S. Treasuries and the U.S. dollar soared as capital around the world fled to safety. The theory of global diversification crumbled. And the risk gauge for financial markets skyrocketed.

A good pulse of the market’s assessment of risk shows up in “implied volatility.” Here’s a brief explanation of what I’m talking about:

Actual volatility is the dispersion of prices around the mean — simply a market’s price volatility. On the other hand, implied volatility is determined by market participants. It’s the perception of how volatile the markets will be and how certain (or uncertain) the outcomes will be.

This makes implied volatility a good risk barometer. And that’s why it’s a key component in pricing options, where market participants typically go for protection when the perception of risk in the financial markets rises.

So what was the market saying about risk this time last year? Here’s a look at a chart on implied volatility in the Australian dollar and the S&P 500 …

The Fear Gauge

Source: Bloomberg

As you can see, the massive surge beginning last September was nearly a five-fold jump in the fear gauge — a clear panic in financial markets.

And the trigger was …

First, a huge third-quarter loss from Lehman Brothers and a downgraded estimate for Merrill Lynch.

Then, a weekend takeover of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.

And finally, the announcement of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy.

But here’s the thing …

Wall Street Has Proven to Be Lousy At Estimating Risk …

Just prior to the September 2008 spike in volatility, Wall Street’s mood was pretty rosy, despite the trail of disaster that had already been delivered:

  • Morgan Stanley lowered expectations for global growth from 5 percent to between “3.5 percent and 4 percent.” Global growth went negative.
  • Lehman Brothers said they expected stocks to “climb at least 17 percent by December 31.” Eight days later Lehman Brothers was bankrupt.
  • Citibank said they expected 2008 to mark the biggest year-end rally in stocks in a decade.
  • And JP Morgan was looking for an 11 percent rally into the year end.

Stocks never made a tick higher and finished the year down another 29 percent.

This is a good example of how complacency and unwarranted optimism can end abruptly. And I think that’s what we’re going to see … again.

Since the middle of last year, financial markets have traded distinctly in one of two camps: Either risky or safe. When volatility was soaring, global investors fled all things risky for a safe place to park their capital. The dollar benefited and so did U.S. Treasury prices.

But since March of this year, triggered by the Fed Chairman’s finding of “green shoots” in the economy, this risk aversion trade has reversed. Capital has steadily and aggressively moved out of safety and into riskier, higher-return investments.

If investors get burned again, it’ll be difficult to regain their confidence.
If investors get burned again, it’ll be difficult to regain their confidence.

Will we see another spike in fear when a negative surprise hits the markets? I think we will. And I think the setback for the global economy will be considerable …

Investor and consumer confidence, when burned again, will be very difficult to regain. And that creates a scenario for prolonged weakness in economies and prolonged weakness in financial markets.

Market Position Signals Risk Appetite Is Vulnerable …

The Australian dollar has been the high-beta trade among major currencies in this run-up in risky assets. In other words, the Australian dollar has gained nearly 2 percent for every 1 percent in the euro or the British pound.

And as you can see in the chart below, it has gained more in percentage terms than it lost at the height of fear in the global economy. Even the optimists have to agree, things aren’t that good today!

Australian Dollar

Source: Bloomberg

Technically speaking, the currency is also running up against an important retracement level.

And more investors have gone “long” the Australian dollar than at any time since July of last year — which by no coincidence was the same time the currency reached its highs and turned sharply lower.

So be very cautious of this run-up in risk appetite. Based on the action in the Australian dollar, and considering the market’s vulnerability to another dose of fear, the dollar and the risk aversion trade look more likely to return.

Regards,

Bryan

P.S. I’m now on Twitter. Please follow me at http://www.twitter.com/realbryanrich for frequent updates, personal insights and observations from my travels around the world.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, sign up today at http://www.twitter.com/signup and then click on the ‘Follow’ button from http://www.twitter.com/realbryanrich to receive updates on either your cell phone or Twitter page.

This investment news is brought to you by Money and Markets . Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Dr. Weiss is a leader in the fields of investing, interest rates, financial safety and economic forecasting. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com .

Money and Markets Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in