July 15, 2016, 4:20pm EST

Over the past week, we’ve talked about the rational reasons to be long stocks.  Today we want to walk through a few charts as we end the week.

Stocks

Stocks have set a new record high every day for the entire week.  The last time that happened was in 1998.  And following that period, stocks went up 50% over the next two years.

Last Friday we talked about the powerful influence of higher stocks.  Central banks are well aware.  As we’ve said, they want stocks higher, they need stocks higher. It’s the most effective resource they’ve had for restoring and building confidence, and promoting stability, in a low growth, vulnerable world working out of a debt crisis.

With that, we close the week near fresh record highs in U.S.  This is 8% off of the bottom just three weeks ago.

spx jul 15

Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

As we came into the week, the post-Brexit laggards had been Japanese and German stocks, and yields in the government bond market.

First, as we’ve discussed this week, the week kicked off with good news out of Japan.  They’ve telegraphed a big fiscal stimulus package.  And with the BOJ set to meet at the end of the month, and growth and inflation in Japan recently downgraded, Japan is in the position to unleash the powerful combination of both fiscal and (more) monetary stimulus.

With that, Japanese stocks have been on a tear for the week, now 11% off of the Brexit lows.  The Nikkei has now fully recovered the sharp post-Brexit declines, and looks like a technical breakout of the correction off of last year’s highs is in the making (i.e. going higher).

jap stocks july 15

Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

And as we’ve said, we think Europe will be next to roll out much needed fiscal stimulus.

With that, German stocks aggressively rebounded this week too, led by bank stocks, which had been trading like big bank failures were in the pipeline (namely, Deutsche Bank).  But for the German, European and global economy, Deutsche Bank is too big to fail. German stocks also look like a bullish technical break is coming.

germ stocks julu 15

Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

Yields

With all of this said, early in the week we discussed the big divergence between record high stocks and record low government bond yields (particularly in the U.S.).  And yields are now bouncing…

Germany sold negative yielding 10 year government bonds this week.  And now, as we end the week, the German 10 year yield has gone from -20 basis points back into positive territory.  This is a big deal and a key area to watch – the zero line.

german yields july 15

Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

The U.S. 10 year traded just under 1.70% going into Brexit.  After the UK vote it hit a record low at 1.32%, and goes out this week at 1.59%.

us yields july 15

Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

Remember, we talked earlier in the week about the divergence between record high stocks and record low yields.  And we looked back at the performance of stocks following the sharp bounce in yields from the 2012 new record lows.  In this environment, yields bounce when sentiment improves.  Improved sentiment is good for stocks.  In 2012, yields bounced from 1.38% to, ultimately, 3%, and stocks finished up 16% in 2012, and added another 32% in 2013.

Have a great weekend!

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July 14, 2016, 4:00pm EST

Since the Brexit news in late June we’ve discussed a couple of huge implications that we’ve thought will ultimately find Brexit to be a net positive to the global economy (in fact, a big net positive).

First, central banks have had the pedal to the medal throughout the post-Lehman environment, successfully averting a total disaster and manufacturing a semblance of global economic recovery. The missing piece of the policy puzzle has been fiscal stimulus.

In a debt crisis, it’s hard to convince politicians to stick their necks out and approve spending packages when overindebtedness has taken the world to the brink of total collapse.  But they’ve discovered, without growth, the debt problem doesn’t get better, it only becomes more threatening.  And fiscal stimulus (to accompany the zero interest rate world) is one of the few viable solutions to end the low and stagnant growth rut the global economy has been mired in for the better part of seven years.

So with the widespread uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote, politicians now have the ammunition/ the excuse to green light fiscal stimulus.

What’s the second “net positive?”

The Brexit fallout may finally give Japan the courage (and also the excuse) to crush the yen.

We discussed this two weeks ago, when Japanese stocks will still sitting near the “Brexit fallout” lows, and yen was strong — yet other markets (including UK stocks, U.S. stocks, oil) had already bounced and recovered.

We said: “We think they can, and will, ultimately destroy the value of the yen — mass devaluation.

Unlike the U.S., which is constrained by “flight to safety” global capital flows and a world reserve currency, Japan has the ingredients to make QE work, to promote demand, and to promote growth. Japan has the largest government debt problem in the world. They have an undervalued currency. They have a stagnating economy with big demographic challenges. They have are in a deflationary vortex.

They have the perfect attributes for a mass scale currency printing campaign. Not only can it work for their domestic economies, but it serves as the liquidity engine and stability preserver for the global economy.

In normal times, the rest of the world wouldn’t stand for a country outright devaluing their way to prosperity. But in a world where every country is in economic malaise, everyone can benefit – everyone needs it to work. It can be the solution for returning the global economy to sustainable growth. We wouldn’t be surprised to see USDJPY return to the levels of the mid-80s (versus the dollar)in the not too distant future. That would be 250+.  Currently, 103 yen buys a dollar.”

On cue, this week, due to fallout from Brexit, Japan announced they will be rolling out a large spending package, after Abe’s party secured a super majority in the upper house over the weekend.  The package is said to be about $200 billion dollars in fiscal stimulus this year alone, or about 4% of Japan’s GDP!  This is huge news.  Japanese stocks are already jumping sharply on the news and the yen has been weakening sharply.

And the Japanese government has also just dramatically downgraded both its growth and inflation projections for this year and next.  That’s more ammunition for more action.

In Japan, bad news is good news for global markets, because it forces the BOJ and the Abe administration to do more.  As we’ve said, we think the grand solution will be a massive devaluation of the yen.

The BOJ meets at the end of the month, and the table has been set for the most powerful response yet – a combination of fiscal and more, bolder monetary stimulus.  Japan has no choice but to keep the pedal to the metal.  And they have the right formula to use their currency as a tool to solve a lot of problems – both for their domestic economy and the global economy.

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July 13, 2016, 5:00pm EST

Earlier this week we talked about the disconnect between yields and stocks.

The move lower in German yields, given the contagion risk in Europe that people have feared from Brexit, as we’ve discussed, has also dragged down U.S. yields.  With that, the U.S. 10 year yield, post-Brexit, has traded to new record lows.

So we have record highs in U.S. stocks, and record lows in U.S. yields.

For people looking for the next reason to be worried, this is where they are hanging their hats.  But is the uneasiness associated with this divergence warranted?

Let’s take a look at the chart…


Sources: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

Now, you can see from the chart, we recently breached the record lows of 2012 in U.S. yields (the green line).

For a little back-story:  Back in 2012, Europe was on the verge of a sovereign debt defaults that would have blown up the euro and the European Union.  The ECB stepped in and promised to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro, which included the threat of buying unlimited Italian and Spanish government bonds (the real threatening spot in the crisis).  That sent bond market speculators, which had been running up the yields in Spanish and Italian debt to unsustainable levels, swiftly hitting the exit doors.  At the height of that threat, global capital was pouring into U.S. government debt, which sent the 10 year yield to record lows.  Still, U.S. stocks at the time were in solid shape, UP nearly 8% on the year in the face of record low bond yields.

What happened when the ECB stepped in and curtailed the threat? U.S. yields bounced aggressively.  And U.S. stocks went even more sharply higher, finishing the year up 16%.  In fact, the U.S. 10 year yield more than doubled (to as high as 3%) over the next seventeen months, and the S&P 500 added to 2012 gains, going another 32% higher in 2013.

So we have a very similar scenario now — and the drag on U.S. yields is, again, Europe and the threat to the euro and European Union.

And again, U.S. yields have hit new record lows, and stocks are putting up a solid year, as of July (the same month the tide turned in 2012).

We would argue, for the many reasons we’ve discussed in our daily notes, that stocks are in the sweet spot.  As long as a global economic shock doesn’t occur, which is what central banks have proven very capable of managing over the past seven years, U.S. stocks should continue to benefit from the incentives of record low interest rates.  And when market rates/yields rise, it’s only because the clouds of uncertainty clear. That’s very good for stocks too.

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July 12, 2016, 2:00pm EST

As we said last week (and back in May), we think the second half of the year will be big for stocks.

Contrary to popular opinion, the world is not falling apart. In fact, the ratcheting down of expectations has set the table for positive economic surprises, which is powerful fuel for stocks.

Consider this:  If you awoke today from a decade-long slumber, and we told you that unemployment was under 5%, inflation was low, gas was $2.15, mortgage rates were 3.5%, you could finance a new car for 2% and the stock market was at record highs, you would probably tell us the outlook for the economy looks really, really good.

Those are the conditions we have, yet most think the sky is falling.

As we’ve discussed, the central banks are in control, and they have been since the depths of the financial crisis.  Say what you will, but they have (led by the Fed) orchestrated a global economy recovery (albeit much slower than typical post-recession recoveries) and have produced and preserved economic stability along the way.  Playing a key role, in the face of intense scrutiny from the “run-away inflation” theorists, they have pinned down interest rates which have warded off a deflationary spiral and created the framework of incentives to hire, spend and invest.

With the above said, we think we could be on the precipice (if not the early stages) of an economic boom.

As for stocks, within that context, today we want to revisit some of our previous analysis on where stocks can go from here…

1) History
The long-run annualized return for the S&P 500 is 8%. If we applied that number to the pre-crisis highs from 2007 of 1,576 on the S&P 500, we get 3,150 by the end of this year. That’s 47% higher than current levels. That’s what it would take to make up for the nine years that stocks have been knocked off path — just to simply get the S&P back in line with historical norms.

2) Valuation
In addition to the above, consider this: The P/E on next year’s S&P 500 earnings estimate is just 16.9, near the long-term average (16). But we are in a very low interest rate environment. In fact, we are in the mother of all low-interest-rate environments (still near ZERO). With that, when the 10-year yield runs on the low side (it’s very low), historically, the P/E on the S&P 500 runs closer to 20, if not north of it.

If we multiply next year’s consensus earnings estimate for the S&P 500 of $126.76 by 20 (where stocks to be valued in low rate environments), we get 2,535 for the S&P 500 by next year — 18% higher.

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Over the past few weeks we said the decision by the UK to leave the European Union could actually end up being a net positive for the global economic recovery.

Why?  Because it could finally invoke some much needed global fiscal stimulus – a piece of the policy puzzle that has been missing.  As central banks have been manufacturing a recovery from one of the worst global economic crises in history, they’ve had no help from the politicians on the fiscal side.  Governments have been unwilling to combat the fallout from a debt crisis with more debt.  It’s has been politically unpalatable.  In fact, most have been belt tightening. For Europe, the strategy sent them back into recession and into another fight with deflationary pressures.

But on cue (following Brexit), Japan has now announced they will be rolling out a “big, bold” spending package, after Abe’s party secured a super majority in the upper house over the weekend.  The package is said to be about $200 billion dollars in fiscal stimulus this year. That’s about 4% of GDP.

As we’ve said, if we look back through history, the meaningful turning points in markets have been triggered by intervention.  We’ve seen plenty examples in the bottoms made along the path of the recovery in stocks from the 2009 lows (including the coordinated central bank intervention that put in the ultimate bottom in the post-Lehman stock market crash).

Today, Japanese stocks have jumped 4% on the news.  The yen has done an about face against the dollar, weakening by more than 2%.  And U.S. stocks have broken out to new record highs.

So what’s lagging or not following the message being sent by U.S. stocks?  Japanese and German stocks had been the laggards going into the end of last week.  Both are perhaps beginning the road of catch-up today.

But yields remain the big disconnected market.

German yields touched near record lows this morning, before finishing higher (record low was -20 basis points on the 10-year German bund).  And U.S. 10-year yields, which traded as low as 1.32% last week, are moving higher, following the broader positive sentiment of the day.

With that, as we’ve said, we think Europe has an excuse to greenlight fiscal stimulus for constituent EU countries as well.  With contagion remaining the big risk associated with Brexit, government spending packages in Europe can be the relief valve for all of the pressure of rising nationalist movements in Europe and overall discontent that underpins the ‘leave’ spillover risk.
The Japanese news might be a good kick starter for cementing the bottom on this Brexit influence on global markets, but it may take Europe to follow their lead, with fiscal stimulus, before the storm is fully passed.

What Stocks Should You Buy?  Follow The Lead Of Great Investors Like Warren Buffett In Our Billionaire’s Portfolio

In our Billionaire’s Portfolio, we’re positioned in deep value stocks that have the potential to do multiples of the broader market — all stocks that are owned and influenced by the world’s smartest and most powerful billionaire investors.

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July 8, 2016, 4:00pm EST

Earlier this week we said the Brexit drama would likely be dethroned, by Friday, as the dominant market narrative.  Why?  Because it’s jobs week.

As we’ve said in the past, this (non farm payrolls/job creation) is the data point that market participants and the media have been trained for decades to over analyze/over-emphasize. As you might recall, last month the number was a big negative surprise.  For a payroll number that’s been averaging about 200k jobs a month, the number in June came in at 38k – a huge miss on expectations (which was revised even lower today).  Still, the S&P 500 opened that day at 2104 and closed at 2099, not far off of record highs.

Today the S&P 500 came in very near from where we left off the day of the last jobs report.  This time, the number was a huge positive surprise (+287k new jobs).  And stocks have come within ticks of the record highs set in May of last year.

spx july 8
Source: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters

You can see in the chart above, the events of the past year, and sharp recoveries stocks have made in every case.

As we’ve said, central banks are in control.  They are in the business of maintaining stability, and with stability comes the restoration of confidence.  And with confidence comes investment, hiring, spending.  Stocks play a big role in that.  Central banks need stocks higher — they want stocks higher.

If we look back at the path of the S&P 500 since late 2012 (when the Bank of Japan telegraphed its massive QE and reform plans), and the many potential crises that have come and gone along the way, in all cases, stocks have come back to new highs.  And in most cases, the recovery has been very quick.

We had eight declines of close to 5% or more in the S&P 500 from late 2012 to late 2014. In each case, the decline was fully recovered in less than two months. In most cases, the decline was recovered inside of one month. This is an amazing fact, yet many people have continued to focus on trying to pick a top or purging at the bottom, rather than preparing to buy the dip.

The most recent drawdown for stocks, which can be measured from the May 2015 high, has been a solid 15% correction and is on the verge of fully recovering now, after a nearly 14 month duration.

But the sharp declines, within this longer drawdown period, have also been quickly recovered along the way (the Brexit, within just weeks).  This has been crucial. Why?  The quick recovery time for stock market declines in the world’s key market barometer (the S&P 500) has contributed greatly to the stability of global confidence, which has kept the global economic recovery on the rails.
What Stocks Should You Buy?  Follow The Lead Of Great Investors Like Warren Buffett In Our Billionaire’s Portfolio

In our Billionaire’s Portfolio, we’re positioned in deep value stocks that have the potential to do multiples of the broader market — all stocks that are owned and influenced by the world’s smartest and most powerful billionaire investors.

Join us today and get yourself in line with our portfolio. Join us today, RISK-FREE, at BillionairesPortfolio.com.

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July 5, 2016, 4:30am EST

Remember when China devalued the yuan back in August of last year?  The world went into a frenzied panic.  Was China going to do a massive one-off devaluation?  That was the fear that quickly triggered selling across global stock markets and bids in safe-havens (like bonds and gold).

Like the Brexit, not many could tell you why they were afraid of a yuan devaluation.  In fact, most didn’t even know that it was a relatively minor adjustment (that day), and that the devaluation of the yuan had already been underway since early 2014.

For some context, it’s important to understand that China had been, since 2005, slowly allowing their currency (the yuan) to appreciate — mainly versus the dollar.

It was China’s weak currency policy (i.e. manipulation) that was a large contributor to the credit bubble and burst, and the mass global capital and trade imbalances that remain as a major structural flaw in the global economy that feeds cycles of credit booms and busts.

The currency was their tool to corner the world’s export market — to be the exporter to the world.  They did it very successfully, and with little pushback for more than a decade.  And they ascended to one of the largest economies in the world in the process, stockpiling the world’s largest currency reserves.

With that, back in 2005, the leading economies in the world, led by the U.S., finally began threatening China with draconian tariffs IF they didn’t abandon their unfair currency policies.

It was at that point that China finally made a concession, to ward off the political and economic backlash.  They agreed to slowly allow the yuan to appreciate by abandoning their peg to the dollar, and creating a trading band around (primarily) the dollar.

In the chart below, you can see the peg (the straight line on the left side of the chart).  And you can see the policy change – the declining line represents the dollar falling in value vs. the Chinese yuan.

cny
Source: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters
Who determines where the yuan trades in that band?  China.  So for 10 years, China allowed its currency to climb by only a meager 3% a year against the dollar.  That was enough to keep all of the protectionist threats at bay.  Meanwhile, their economy was growing at a double digit pace on average – which was a net big win, and that kept their global market share grab growing.  Even in the early stages of the global economic crisis, people thought China could take the torch and carry on with breakneck economic growth (Wall Street was telling us to pour our money into China and other emerging markets).  But soon China was exposed as heavily reliant on a healthy developed market world.  A healthy global consumer and a weak currency happened to be the magic formula after all.  And they’ve since been growing at about half the rate they were in the mid 2000s, which feels like recession, if not depression, in the Chinese economy.

Here’s a look at Chinese GDP growth …

china gdp 2
Source: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters
So now, with the Chinese economy in a rut, the Chinese have tried a variety of monetary and fiscal stimulus measures but none have reversed the decline in growth.  Chinese growth at these levels is a real threat to
social stability – something the government is always very mindful of.

With that, enter the reversal of the yuan appreciation program of the past decade.   As of today, the yuan is 10% cheaper against the dollar than it was in early 2014.  Now, this path has been widely viewed as a signal of potential danger, raising such questions like: 1) Are things worse than we think in China?  Or 2) Will this provoke more protectionist actions from Chinese trading partners and geopolitical tensions?

But it could actually be quite positive for the global economy, at least near term.  If China devalues in a slow and orderly way, and it gets their economy going, it could be a much needed spark plug for global growth. If so, maybe it’s time to finally buy Chinese stocks.  You can see in the chart below, a weaker yuan tends to mean higher stocks in China.

STOCKS V YUAN
Source: Billionaire’s Portfolio, Reuters
What Stocks Should You Buy?  Follow The Lead Of Great Investors Like Warren Buffett In Our Billionaire’s Portfolio

In our Billionaire’s Portfolio, we’re positioned in deep value stocks that have the potential to do multiples of the broader market — all stocks that are owned and influenced by the world’s smartest and most powerful billionaire investors – which includes a high growth Chinese technology stock that is heavily owned by two top billionaire tech investors.  Join us today and get yourself in line with our portfolio. Join us today, RISK-FREE, at BillionairesPortfolio.com.

 

July 5, 2016, 4:30am EST

The Brexit unknowns continue to dominate the market focus today.  But by Friday, believe it or not, it may move down the list on the daily market narratives.  We get the jobs numbers this Friday.

Last month’s payroll number was a big negative surprise, coming in at just 38k new jobs created.  But the longer term average has been closer to 200k new jobs a month (fairly healthy).  That’s closer to where the number is expected to come in this week.

For the Fed, the negative surprise last month took a June rate hike off of the table.  And then came the Brexit.  Now rate hike expectations have been moved out as far as 2018 in the minds of market participants – and the market has even begun pricing in slim chances of a cut.

With that, global rates have continued to slide to new record lows, including the U.S. 10-year yield.  The 10-year traded as low as 1.35% today.  That’s lower than the darkest days of the global financial crisis (much lower), and the darkest days of the European Debt Crisis.

So, the last time we were down here, what turned it?  It was intervention – or at least the threat of intervention. It was the ECB stepping in and saying they would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

Despite all of the criticisms surrounding policymakers meddling in markets, intervention (in one shape or form) has determined many historic turning points in markets – something to keep in mind.

Still, the betting market on the timing of Fed hikes has been a wild swing of extremes for years now.  And the current bet of just a 13% chance of a hike this year looks like a heck of an opportunity to be on the other side.
Keep in mind, there was a lot of damage to investor psychology in the early days of this decade-long economic downturn.  That has created a contingent of investors that have feared another shoe to drop, hence the extremes.

That fear has also led to under participation in stocks, and it also leads to weak hands in the stock market. The “weak hands” are those that may own stocks, but have little conviction (and likely a lot of fear). This dynamic has created these episodes of market swings.

But U.S. stocks still remain not far from record highs. And as we said last week, there also remains an incredible number of stocks that trade at cheap valuations (amazingly).  But when stocks go on sale, most choose to run for the exits rather than take advantage of the opportunity.   And it’s common, in those scenarios, to find the best investors in the world taking the other side of the trade from the masses.

Warren Buffett has famously said a simple rule dictates his buying: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”  He’s amassed one of the biggest fortunes in the world, largely on that philosophy – being the right place at the right time and acting.

With the above in mind, it’s no surprise that over the past few trading days, the 13D filings have been coming in fast and furious.  A 13D filing is a public disclosure made to the SEC by investors managing $100 million or more.  If these investors buy or build a stake in a public company that exceeds 5%, they are required to disclose it to the SEC within 10 days.  These stakes generally give the investor a controlling interest in the company, and the shares are acquired with the intent of waging some influence on the company’s management. With that said, some of the best have been snapping up shares in new companies in recent weeks and/or adding to existing stakes on a dip.

What Stocks Should You Buy?  Follow The Lead Of Great Investors Like Warren Buffett In Our Billionaire’s Portfolio

In our Billionaire’s Portfolio, we’re positioned in deep value stocks that have the potential to do multiples of the broader market — all stocks that are owned and influenced by the world’s smartest and most powerful billionaire investors. Join us today and get yourself in line with our portfolio. Join us today, RISK-FREE, at BillionairesPortfolio.com.

By Will Meade and Bryan Rich 

July 1, 2016, 11:30am EST

Yesterday we wrapped up the first half of 2016.  Today we want to step back and take a look at how markets fared in the face of a lot of threats, if not chaos.

Even after Brexit, an early year correction surrounding the oil price bust, and an indecisive Fed, U.S stocks are UP for the year!

The old adage that stocks climb a wall of worry during a bull market continues to hold true.

The S&P 500 ended the first half of 2016 up 2.7%, while the blue chip Dow Jones Industrials Average rose 2.9%. The tech-growth heavy Nasdaq was the worst performer ending the first half of 2016 down 3.3%.

This tells us a couple of things: first the world is not falling apart (contrary to what most people think).  In fact, U.S stocks are putting up nearly a 6% annualized return for the year (just shy of the S&P 500’s historical average — better than the long term average on an inflation adjusted basis).

Most interesting, value stocks are significantly outperforming growth stocks – for the first time in a long time.  The Russell 1000 value index is up 6.1% for the first half of 2016 vs a 1.3% loss for the Russell 1000 growth index. So value stocks are outperforming growth stocks by more than 7 percentage points this year or around 14% on an annualized basis.  Never have we seen more blue chip stocks trading at incredible, beaten down values – 7% of the S&P 500 is trading below book value.

Remember, in the past few months, we’ve talked about the similarities in stocks to 2010. Through the first half of this year, we’ve had the macro clouds of China and an oil price bust that shook market and economic confidence. Back in 2010, it was Greece and a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. When the macro clouds lifted in 2010, the Russell 2000 went on a tear from down 7% to finish up 27% for the year. This time around, the Russell has already bounced back from down 17% to up 2%.

With economic expectations in the gutter, global rates at record lows, and central banks continuing to ease and buffer potential shocks to the system, the opportunities for positive economic surprises have never been greater.  We think positive economic surprises in the next half can be the catalyst for a surprisingly big second half for stocks.

What Stocks Should You Buy?  Follow The Lead Of Great Investors Like Warren Buffett In Our Billionaire’s Portfolio

In our Billionaire’s Portfolio, we’re positioned in deep value stocks that have the potential to do multiples of the broader market — all stocks that are owned and influenced by the world’s smartest and most powerful billionaire investors. Join us today and get yourself in line with our portfolio. Join us today, RISK-FREE, at BillionairesPortfolio.com.

 

June 30, 2016, 3:00pm EST

Yesterday we looked at some key markets, some that have recovered nicely following the Brexit news, and others that are still down on either safe-haven demand or speculation of economic drags due to the Brexit.  One particular spot that hasn’t fared well in the past week is Japan.

Japan is three years into a bold plan to beat two decades of deflation and restore its economy to prominence.  The data shows that their efforts haven’t translated so well just yet.  Inflation is still dead, and economic growth — about the same.

Two key tools in the Bank of Japan’s QE program, which is designed to drive inflation and economic activity, is a weaker yen and a higher stock market.  Since they telegraphed their intentions of big, bold QE in late 2012, Japanese stocks have risen by as much as 140%.  And the yen has declined by as much as 38% against the dollar.  But over the past 12 months, about half of those “policy gains” have been given back.  And post-Brexit the attrition has only worsened.

Still, after three years and big moves in the yen and stocks, the inflation objective remains a distant target.  What does it mean?  The Bank of Japan has to do more.  A lot more.

We think they can, and will, ultimately destroy the value of the yen — mass devaluation.

Unlike the U.S., which is constrained by “flight to safety” global capital flows and a world reserve currency, Japan has the ingredients to make QE work, to promote demand, and to promote growth. Japan has the largest government debt problem in the world. They have an undervalued currency. They have a stagnating economy with big demographic challenges. They have are in a deflationary vortex.

They have the perfect attributes for a mass scale currency printing campaign. Not only can it work for their domestic economies, but it serves as the liquidity engine and stability preserver for the global economy.

In normal times, the rest of the world wouldn’t stand for a country outright devaluing their way to prosperity. But in a world where every country is in economic malaise, everyone can benefit – everyone needs it to work. It can be the solution for returning the global economy to sustainable growth. We wouldn’t be surprised to see USDJPY return to the levels of the mid-80s (versus the dollar)in the not too distant future. That would be 250+.  Currently, 103 yen buys a dollar.

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