sábado, 15 de abril de 2017

BASICs on RECESSION starting with deflation

BASICs on RECESSION  starting with deflation



In Investopedia  reflation is a fiscal or monetary policy, designed to expand a country's output and curb the effects of deflation

Reflation policies can include reducing taxes, changing the money supply and lowering interest rates. The term "reflation" is also used to describe the first phase of economic recovery after a period of contraction …  
Contraction is defined as decline in national output as measured by gross domestic product. That includes drop in real personal income, industrial production and retail sales. “Towards the middle of a contraction, they start laying off workers, sending unemployment rates higher. It's one of the four phases of the business cycle, also known as the boom and bust cycle

[[ contraction is also used as synonymous of crash or beginning of recession. Kimberly suggest: “A contraction is caused by a loss in confidence that slows demand. It's usually triggered by an event, like a stock market correction or crash”. The true cause of contraction is preceded by “an increase in interest rates that decreases the capital.” ]]  (Open: What Is an Economic Contraction with Examples  By  Kimberly Amadeo: https://www.thebalance.com/economic-contraction-4067683)  

See also “11 Causes of Economic Recession “ Here only extracts

This is the dynamic contraction-crash and the causes of recession.  

“Economic recessions are caused by a loss of business and/or loss of consumer confidence. As confidence recedes, so does demand. This is the tipping point in the business cycle where the peak, often accompanied by irrational exuberance, moves into contraction.

“This loss of confidence makes businesses and/or consumers stop buying and move into defensive mode. Once a critical mass moves toward the exit sign, panic sets in and creates a destructive downward.
“In short order, you get mass layoffs and rising unemployment, which create a slowdown in retail sales. Manufacturers cut back in reaction to falling orders, further increasing layoffs. To restore confidence, the Federal government, and the central bank must usually step in. 

“Please note: a decline in GDP growth is a sign that a recession may be underway, but it is rarely a cause. That's because GDP is only reported on after the quarter is over. By the time GDP has turned negative, the recession may already be underway.

What you want to do is identify the causes, and signs, before the recession occurs. Here are the seven most important causes of recession:  

1.       High-interest rates. When rates rise, they limit liquidity, or the amount of money available to invest.

2.       A stock market crash. The sudden loss of confidence in investing can create a subsequent bear market, draining capital out of businesses. Here's how  a stock market crash can cause a recession

3.       Falling housing prices and sales. As homeowners lose equity, it forces a cutback in spending as they can no longer take out second mortgages. Over time, it will cause foreclosures.

4.       A slowdown in manufacturing orders. Orders for durable goods started falling in October 2006, before the 2008 recession actually hit.

5.       Massive swindles. The 1990 recession was caused by the Savings and Loans Crisis. More than 1,000 banks (total assets of $500 billion) failed as a result of land flips, questionable loans, and illegal activities.

6.       Deregulation. The seeds of the S&L crisis were planted in 1982 when the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act was passed. This removed restrictions on loan-to-value ratios for these banks.

7.       Wage-price controls. Fortunately, this only happened once, when President Nixon kept prices too high, cutting demand. Employers laid off workers because they weren't allowed to lower wages.

8.       Slow down after a war. This caused both the 1953 recession, following the Korean War, and the 1945 recession, following World War II.

9.       Credit crunch. This occurred when Bear Stearns announced losses thanks to the collapse of two hedge funds it owned. The funds were heavily invested in collateralized debt obligations.  When Moody's downgraded its debt it, banks who were in a similar over-invested condition panicked. They stopped lending to each other, creating a massive credit crunch.

10.   Asset bubbles: This is when the prices of internet companies, stocks or houses become inflated beyond their sustainable value. The bubble itself sets the stage for a recession to occur when it bursts.

11.   Deflation, which encourages people to wait until prices are lower. This aggravated the Great Depression.

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Read also:    What Causes the Boom and Bust Cycle?  At: Causes of the Business Cycle   3 Ways Monetary and Fiscal Policy Change It https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-the-business-cycle-3305804
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A Bull Market
This is when the market is showing confidence. Indicators of confidence are prices going up, market indices like the NASDAQ go up too. Number of shares traded is also high and even the number of companies entering the stock market show that the market is confident.

Technically though a bull market is a rise in value of the market of at least 20%. The huge rise of the Dow and NASDAQ during the tech boom is a good example of a bull market.

A Bear Market
A bear market is the opposite to a bull. If the markets fall by more than 20% then we have entered a bear market. A bear market is a market showing a lack of confidence. Prices hover at the same price then go down, indices fall too and volumes are stagnant. In a bear market people are waiting for the bulls to start driving the prices up again. However, a bear is a very tentative bull or a bull that is asleep.

Market Timing

Some people believe that by recognizing the different kinds of markets you can make money on stock trading and investing. The basic idea behind buying stocks is to buy low and sell high. This will give you a profit. So to make money you buy stocks in a bear market when stock prices are low and sell stocks in a bull market when stock prices are high. However, knowing when is the best time to buy and sell is not that simple.

Unfortunately, most investors are often too emotional and they sell in a bear market because they are scared to lose money and they buy in a bull market because they don’t want to miss the big gains. You can make some money that way but it also explains why many investors lose money by trying to time the market. The safest way to help prevent yourself from making these mistakes is to buy stocks and invest in the market by regularly making fixed size investments, and holding your investments for a long period of time.
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More bibliog on this topic:
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Market trend - Wikipedia  A secular market trend is a long-term trend that lasts 5 to 25 years and consists of a series of primary trends. A secular bear market consists of smaller bull markets and larger bear markets; a secular bull market consists of larger bull markets and smaller bear markets.
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What is “Bearish” and “Bullish”? | NinjaTrader  After entering a bearish position in the market, you're what is called "short". ... After entering a bullish position in the market, naturally, you are what is called "long".
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WARS AND MARKETS

www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trump-market-20170115-story.html
Jan 15, 2017 - The longevity of the current bull, and stocks' high prices relative to company ... and spending policies trigger unexpected or dangerous consequences, stocks could react violently. A new bear market — meaning a drop of 20% or more in the Dow ... The result could be “a trade war that would plunge the U.S. ...
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March 24, 2016  by: John Authers

Have equity markets escaped the bears yet again?

Global stocks started 2016 with a swift fall of more than 10 per cent — the worst start to a calendar year in history — but have regained all of it.... The effect of the stronger dollar on overseas earnings would be a very big deal, ... On each of the eight occasions since the second world war when joblessness has ...


In the shorter term, debate hinges on the economy. As long as there is no clear evidence of an imminent recession in the US, it is harder for stock markets to turn decisively down. James Breech, head of Cougar Global Investments, says: “Bull markets don’t die of old age. It’s always recessions that kill bull markets. And we have zero per cent chance of a recession in the next 12 months.” 

James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, says the market behaviour of the last year can be “characterised not by a bull nor by a bear, but rather by a bunny”. He suggests that such a market “hops about a bit but really doesn’t go anywhere”, characteristics that often dominate the stock market during the latter stages of recoveries. Bunny markets require nimble and opportunistic behaviour by investors.

In the short term, traders refer to a cyclical bear market when a fall of 20 per cent from peak to trough is registered. On that basis, large US stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 index, have avoided the bear. They have never been down more than 15 per cent from their record set in May last year.

See chart Outside the US the bears rule, at: https://www.ft.com/content/92829326-f0d6-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386 


But industrial and transport stocks, and smaller US companies, all seen as leading indicators of where the rest of the market is heading, were down more than 20 per cent from their highs during the worst of the action in February. 

Even if the S&P 500 did not fall by as much as 20 per cent, it may therefore make sense to call this a cyclical bear market. Scott Minerd, head of investment, says: “You can make a good case that there was a bear market in the first quarter — but it needs to be better defined.”

The critical variable is the US economy. John Higgins, chief market strategist at Capital Economics in London, suggests that US stocks can continue to muddle along if the country can avoid a recession. He notes the dollar has started to weaken, flattering the overseas profits of large US companies.

See chart “A good gouge of valuations?”  At https://www.ft.com/content/92829326-f0d6-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386

“To see a bear market, we have to be wrong about the US economy, and to see a stronger dollar. The effect of the stronger dollar on overseas earnings would be a very big deal, and the structural forces that pushed up the market — globalisation — could be seen to go into reverse.” Mr Higgins says the key is unemployment. On each of the eight occasions since the second world war when joblessness has dropped below the “Nairu” — the rate higher employment begins to drive accelerating inflation — the labour share of the economy began to rise at the expense of capital, squeezing profits.

The US jobless rate is at 4.9 per cent, and a strong rise in hourly earnings for December helped drive the early-year sell-off. It has since fallen back.

A sharp rise in inflation would force the Federal Reserve to abandon the low interest rates that have helped to finance the boom in stock markets, and could also push up bond yields. Historically low rates have been critical in supporting the equity bull market.

See chart: “Different characteristics on Display”  at https://www.ft.com/content/92829326-f0d6-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386

David Bowers, head of research at Absolute Strategy Research, agrees: “The core risks are around where unemployment is going. If the unemployment rate is going down, it’s still an environment where stocks can do well, certainly relative to expensive Treasuries.” 

Outside the US, which accounts for 43 per cent of global stock market value according to Datastream, the story is clearer. Stocks rose to a post-crisis peak in 2011, and have been mired in a bear market ever since.

Here, markets are following a familiar pattern seen after previous crashes that followed speculative bubbles, such as the Wall Street crash of 1929, the Japanese bubble that peaked in 1989 or the dotcom bubble that peaked in 2000. In all cases, markets shed about 60 per cent, and then moved sideways for many years before bottoming out.

See chart “US profits’ share  of output looks very high” at  https://www.ft.com/content/92829326-f0d6-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386

In the US, where stocks are far above their pre-crisis highs in 2007, the question is how they managed to avoid this pattern. Some financial historians question whether market cycles are linked to the economy. Rather, they tend to see markets following longer secular — not cyclical — bull and bear trends, influenced by social mood, economic and profit cycles and, most importantly, swings in valuation.

Russell Napier, a stock market historian and author of Anatomy of the Bear, says both bull and bear markets are long, drawn-out affairs. The bottom of bear markets, which see a steady collapse in equity valuations, is only hit when all hope in equities has been lost, and there were only four such low points throughout the 20th century. “Very high and low valuations can’t just be attributed to the business cycle because they are too rare,” he says.

See chart “Secular bear market cycles”  at  https://www.ft.com/content/92829326-f0d6-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386

Long view

“There is some parallel between what’s happening now and 1937,” he says. “We haven’t seen America attacking business yet, like both Roosevelts did. You have to reach a change in policy — anything that reverses the changes of the Thatcher-Reagan era, and causes returns on corporate capital to decline.”
On this reading, the populist mood in the US presidential primaries, and in various European countries, could spark the kind of sentiment that leads to the bottom of a bear market. Once governments start taking a more dominant role in the economy again, he says, then “the ideologues in the market will overreact and not notice it’s cheap enough on the way down”.


Ed Easterling, founder of Crestmont Research, agrees that the bear market that started in 2000 is still going on, and says the market grew so overextended during the dotcom bubble that it will take many years to correct.

“The bubble bear since 1999 is different, and it’s not driven by time but by magnitude. The multiple has come down as much as it usually falls during a secular bear, but we started higher — that’s why we still have a lot further to fall,” he says.

Japan, where stocks are barely half their level at the end of 1989, might be a good indicator of what to expect. 

How then to explain the rally since 2009? “That’s because the Fed has been successful, and worked to raise the wealth effect. It’s amazing what $5tn can do. But I don’t think it’s plausible that we’re starting a secular bull.” 

To do that, Mr Easterling says, earnings multiples need to fall so low that they can double or triple over time — a shift that might come with inflation.

“The stock market is about fair value now. In reality we’re not very overvalued because rates and inflation are so low. What we could talk about is a bear in hibernation. We would keep valuations high, but in a decade from now we are about where we are now and our returns have been a lot below average.”
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Other lexicom  on current economics:
stagflation : a portmanteau of stagnation and inflation, is a situation in which the inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high.
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Lets go back to REFLATION 

Investopedia define Reflation as fiscal or monetary policy, designed to expand a country's output and curb the effects of deflation.  Deflation is a decrease in the general price? (or value)  level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% (a negative inflation rate). This should not be confused with disinflation, a slow-down in the inflation rate (i.e., when inflation declines to lower levels).

Vs.  Wikipedia on inflation  n deflation

Inflation reduces the real value of money over time; conversely, deflation increases the real value of money – the currency of a national or regional economy. This allows one to buy more goods and services than before with the same amount of money.
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