Demystifing What Gold is Telling Us

Well, gold bugs around the world have been having a good chuckle of late, as the market is re-affirming the often eccentric and religious-esque views of gold bugs: gold is up over 11% for the year in US dollars, and up over 4% over just the past five trading days. Which begs the question: why? There are a few possible answers to this question:

1. Deflation. This crisis is global, and everyone is flying to safe stores of wealth. Over the big picture of human history, gold has served as the best store of wealth -- and thus gold is rising. In many ways this is the classic "gold is money" argument, one typically championed by Austrian economists. Robert Blumen has offered an excellent explanation of this argument.
2. Inflation. Gold is typically a hedge against inflation concerns, and as the US federal government continues to aggressively "stimulate" the economy, the rally in gold may be a reflection of increased concerns regarding inflation.

So which one is it?

In my opinion, both. With that said, I view inflation as the larger concern, as I have said many times before. If the environment were truly deflationary, Treasury bonds would be the true recipients of flight to quality, as well as dollar holdings in FDIC insured banks. Instead, 20+ year Treasury bonds have fallen by more than 13% thus far (as measured by TLT). Negative correlation between TLT and precious metals suggests inflation, not deflation. The chart below illustrates.

Deflationists will point to the fact that the US dollar may be strengthening relative to other fiat currencies -- although this is not necessarily a reflection of deflation, as it could simply be interpreted as weakness of all global currencies, all of which are falling against gold. More relevant may be the rise in PPI and energy prices in January of 2009. While one month alone does not provide sufficient evidence for a substantive reversal in macroeconomic trends, it is not consistent with deflation, and may suggest that the Fed's inflationary actions in the second half of 2008 may be kicking in.

Conclusions for Trading

The recent activity in the market has led me to make the following revisions:

1. The forex market is increasingly a trader's environment, perhaps even a daytrader's environment.
2. Gold and silver may retrace, perhaps even by several hundred dollars, though I would view it as an opportunity to buy on dips. The global economy is getting worse and conditions are being aggravated by the actions of central bankers. As a result, the fundamental case for gold and silver will get stronger.
3. Counterparty risk is rising -- this strengthens the argument for increasing the physical delivery portion of one's precious metals portfolio.
4. Because of inflation concerns, my bias is against short positions in all asset classes. If I were a trader of stocks or commodities, I might look into shorting positions relative to a broader index (i.e. short a particular stock while going long the sector ETF, under the rationale that the stock will do worse than the entire sector).
5. Oil's behavior has been quite peculiar; I've yet to find a convincing explanation for why it's moving the way it is. As it escapes my fundamental analysis, and as I find it less appealing than currencies from a technical analysis perspective, I'll stay away from oil.
6. As gold becomes too expensive for many, silver will grow in appeal. And as silver fell more than gold during the second half of 2008, it may be set for a larger rally.

Disclosure: Long gold and silver.

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An Introduction to China-US Decoupling and the Potential Trade of the Century

Some argue that this financial crisis will lead to China "decoupling" from the US economy; meaning it will need to find other buyers of its exports, and will not be able to continue buying US Treasury bonds, which have the affect of propping up the US dollar's value. Instead, the decouplers argue, China will need to invest in increasing its own consumption capabilities. This will have the effect of decreased buying in the Treasury bond market while the supply of Treasuries expands as US government deficit increases -- thus making short selling long-term Treasuries one a very lucrative opportunity, if this is in fact the case.

Can this happen? If so, when?

Skeptics of decoupling argue that the decline of US demand will weaken the Chinese economy along with the US economy, and that the current structure of US consumption driving the global economy will maintain. Decouplers note that the Chinese economy will weaken, but this will force the Chinese government to invest in more infrastructure programs instead of buying Treasury bonds -- at a time when the US is planning to take on more debt and thus increase the supply of Treasury bonds. The result of this will be currency decoupling in that China will become an increasingly powerful buyer relative to the US. And from a geopolitical perspective, China is more economically aligned with Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and Hamas rather than the US/Israel/Britain economy. Thus far, we have seen China direct its buying towards domestic stimulus packages.

With that said, though, Treasury buying could go on for a while; Naked Capitalism notes that China is still buying Treasury bonds. For those who think decoupling is bound to happen, the opportunity to short Treasuries may be the best trade out there when the bubble starts deflating, whenever that may be. TBT is the double inverse ETF for the long-term Treasury bond market.

Three Little Pins and Their Quest for a Treasury Bond Bubble

As we've discussed previously, there is a bubble in the US Treasury bond market. And as we discussed in Ka-Poom Theory, bubbles always find black swan events -- "pins" to pop them and cause a market panic. As John Mills, a historian of market panics, said, "Panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has been destroyed by its betrayal into hopelessly unproductive works."

What will be the pin that pops the Treasury bubble, causing a panic that reveals its true value? While it would be futile to try to predict an outlier event, understanding areas where it may be more likely can help us identify potential triggers for what will cause a market panic, so that we can more easily recognize it when it occurs.

There are three pins I think are most likely:

1. Mass monetization announcement. We are seeing appetite for Treasury bonds decline. If the Fed either significantly begins to monetize the debt (i.e. print money to pay it off) or announces it will do so, this could trigger an exit from Treasuries.

2. Military threat. 9/11 was a black swan event that punctured the dot com bubble significantly. As there is still a significant amount of conflict and political tension in the world, a military event triggering a mass exodus out of Treasuries seems possible -- particularly when one considers that some of the largest holders of Treasury bonds are foreign central banks with economic interests that run contrary to those of the United States.

3. "Legislation". The Federal Reserve can modify its charter, Congress can assign more authority to it, and central banks can come into new agreements amongst themselves. For instance, a regional currency which national currencies would be re-valued against is becoming a more commonly voiced idea in many parts of the world. If there is a monetary agreement of sorts, it will likely have the impact of devaluing the US dollar, as a way of compensating foreign US Treasury bond holders.

As a dollar trader, I'll be keeping an eye on potential pins for the Treasury bubble, as well as price charts that can show when momentum has turned. Though when the bubble will pop, as well as how bit it will get before doing so, remain unclear.

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