10-Year Treasury Yield Options Bet
Ahead of US jobs data, an Options Trader bet $625,000 that the 10-Year Treasury Yield would surge to at least 4.15% by Friday's close. If the yield were to jump to 4.20%, the bet would pay the trader $10 million in profit. Source: Barchart, Bloomberg
Correlation between Equity and Bond returns
Source: BlackRock, Ayesha Tariq, CFA
Chinese stocks are trading near all-time lows relative to GDP, while US stocks are trading near all-time highs relative to GDP
Perhaps for good reason... but that's a massive spread. Source: Swordfishvegetable
Citi, JPMorgan, BofA and Morgan Stanley have collectively reduced their exposure to China by about a fourth since 2020
Source: Lisa Abramowicz, Bloomberg
US interest rate futures are beginning to shift back in the less dovish direction
Odds of 7 or 8 interest rate cuts in 2024 have halved this week. Also, odds of rate cuts beginning this month are down to just 7%. However, the base case still shows 6 rate cuts for a total of 150 basis points in 2024. This is double the 3 rate cuts forecasted at the Fed's latest meeting. Source: The Kobeissi Letter
While many economists and financial analysts look at the 1970s as a potential playbook for the current decade, the 1940s could be an interesting reference to consider as well
The 40s was a decade of war and high budget deficit and rising debt level in the US. Monetary policy was mainly about financial repression, i.e keeping rates low despite temporarily high inflation. Overall, it was positive for risk assets. Source: Win Smart, FRED
German inflation has accelerated again, at least the headline rate
CPI rose to 3.7% in December from 3.2% in November due to base effect. But Core CPI has fallen further to 3.5% in Dec from 3.8% in November. This means that core inflation is once again below headline inflation. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
China’s central bank assets have surged by nearly $600B in the last 4 months
In yuan terms, this was the largest 4-month increase in the history of the data. The issue of a bloated government deficit and significant debt is not exclusive to the US; it resonates globally. Source: Tavi Costa, Bloomberg
