Economy

In response to lower energy prices and China’s reopening, European assets prices are outperforming. Will the ECB spoil the party?

In this week’s report, we look at whether global growth conditions remain conducive for a continued decline in the dollar. Our findings are mixed, while there are some economic green shoots, the overall growth picture remains weak. This argues for some consolidation of dollar losses in the near term.

While the housing downturn will be fairly mild in the US, it will be more severe abroad. Continue to favor bonds of countries whose housing fundamentals will limit rate hikes.

We measure the effects of inflation and growth cycles on the returns of various assets using the four-quadrant approach, where we classify periods into the following buckets: Slowing inflation/slowing growth (slowdown), rising growth/slowing inflation (goldilocks), rising growth/rising inflation (overheating), and slowing growth/rising inflation (stagflation). Our analysis provides insight into the coming macro environment. As growth and inflation begin to decline, the best choices for asset allocators will be fixed income, precious metals, CTAs and timberland.

The crucial question for 2023 is: will the US and UK Beveridge Curves shift back inwards to their pre-pandemic versions, ushering in a soft landing? Or, will we slide down the new post-pandemic Beveridge Curves into recession? Plus: we reveal the most important chart for Europe and the most important chart for China in early 2023.