Commentary 2

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Volume 25, Issue 41 October 11, 2021.

  Source: Globe & Mail


Inflating Inflation 
Sal Guatieri
BMO Senior Economist

This wasn’t a good week for the transitory-inflation crew. The big three energy prices—crude oil, natural gas, and regular gasoline—all crept higher and are trending near 7-year peaks. We already know from the previous week that key U.S. house price metrics were ripping at a record pace of around 20% y/y. In Canada, house prices appear to be reaccelerating (if that’s even possible), based on the latest Toronto data. And those who can’t afford to own won’t find many bargains in the rental market, as rents are quickly retracing last year’s dip. Neither will they get a break on their grocery bills. Though backing off a bit since June, the CRB foodstuffs index is still close to record highs. And, any hope that U.S. used vehicle prices would stage a hasty retreat after a massive increase was dashed in one fell swoop when the Manheim index popped 5.3% in September to new peaks. Increased demand arising from Hurricane Ida’s floods clashed head on with microchip shortages that are shrinking new vehicle inventories. The price hike might not show up in the CPI for a month or two, but used vehicles have already added about one percentage point to the annual CPI rate, and it doesn’t look like the pressure will ebb anytime soon.

Households are facing the fastest price increases in decades, with little relief in sight. Demand is hot, while supply is cold, a classic recipe for higher inflation. The growing imbalance is reflected in the latest ISM services report. The sub-indexes for business activity and new orders turned up and remain high, suggesting the economy is gaining momentum as the Delta wave crests. Meantime, respondents’ remarks about supply shortages and bottlenecks suggest that trying to meet this demand is getting more difficult. Delivery times are slowing, inventories are shrinking, and the backlog of orders continues to expand. The pressure to pass higher input costs to buyers is mounting. The prices paid index perked up to within 5 points of July’s 15-year peak, with all 18 industries paying more for supplies. If history is a guide, this flags a possible 2-ppts jump in CPI services (ex-rent) growth by early next year, a component that accounts for 29% of headline inflation. And don’t forget that residential rent accounts for another 31% of the CPI—and rents are almost certain to jump given the explosion in house prices. Nothing transitory here.

There's nothing transitory in labour markets, either, where worker shortages are fanning wages. Average hourly earnings popped 0.6% in September and 4.6% from a year ago. The six-month annualized rate of 6.0% is more than double the past-decade norm, and likely a better indicator of the direction for wage growth. Many new jobs were in lower paying sectors such as leisure and hospitality (at least before Delta hit), actually weighing on the average. We’ll need to wait for the Q3 productivity numbers to see if the rise in compensation is pressuring unit labour costs and profits. If so, the heat will be on companies to pass the increase to customers, many of whom are flush with savings to ease the pain. And the pressure will only build if the participation rate doesn’t pick up. It actually slipped in September and has hardly budged for more than a year, still 1.7 ppts below February 2020 levels. The BLS reports that 71,000 people who were unemployed in September (though not all may have collected UI or were in the now-expired emergency UI programs) left the labour force, contributing to the lower part rate.

Yet, investors haven’t thrown in the transitory towel. TIPS five-year forward inflation rates have been locked around the 2.3% range since the spring, only a couple of ticks above the past-decade mean. Their patience will be tested in the months ahead, though. There’s no doubt that businesses, notably many small ones, are under immense pressure to either absorb cost increases (that are persisting longer than expected) or to raise prices simply to survive. If they resort more to the latter, and if workers, in turn, try to compensate by seeking even larger wage increases, the transitory narrative will become a fairy tale.



Frank & Mark.



Source: Globe & Mail, BMO Capital Markets, Bank of Canada


Canada:
Equity markets rebounded last week, as debt ceiling concerns were relieved for now, and economic data were generally solid.  The TSX rose 1.3%, led by a 3.5% jump in energy stocks as WTI pushed through $80 at one point.

YTD, the TSX is up 17.1% and the benchmark 10-year yield ended the week to yield 1.62%.
 
 
U.S.:
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% on the week, with energy and banks leading the advance. Defensives lagged, along with technology. Beyond the sectors, value is now coming off the floor relative to growth, after the latter staged a strong comeback through the summer.

It’s proving hard to keep a good market down. Despite a laundry list of factors that would seemingly weigh firmly against equities, the S&P 500 sits little more than 3% below its early-September high, comfortably above its 200-day moving average and has barely taken on a correction. This is in the face of looming Fed tapering; concern over China’s real estate market and financial-sector repercussions; inflation and more inflation; oil prices pushing $80 this week; stretched valuations, especially if interest rates back up; and a long overdue unwinding of some bullish complacency. Interestingly, stocks peaked at almost precisely the same time last year (early-September), falling 9.3% peak-to-trough before setting off on a late-year rally at the end of October. It’s starting to rhyme.

Back in the economy, U.S. payrolls disappointed on the headline with a 194k job gain in September, versus consensus expectations of 500k. But, there were plenty of redeeming qualities including prior-month revisions, some seasonal quirks, bulk job losses in the public sectors (private payrolls were up 317k), solid hours, a strong household survey that pulled down the jobless rate to 4.8%, and continued strength in wages. Markets pretty much came into this week under the assumption that anything resembling a decent employment report would give the go-ahead for a Fed tapering announcement next month—and this one fully qualified as decent. The next policy phase looms right ahead for equities.

YTD, the S&P 500 is up 16.9%, the Dow Jones Industrials are up 13.5%, and the Nasdaq is up 13.1%. The yield on the 10 year Treasury closed at 1.48%.




Source: BMO Capital Markets 

 

The Good:  Employment +157,100 (Sep.); Average Hourly Wages +1.7% y/y (Sep.); Jobless Rate -0.2 ppts to 6.9% (Sep.); Merchandise Trade Surplus widened to $1.9 bln (Aug.); Ivey PMI +4.4 pts to 70.4 (Sep.).



The Bad:  Building Permits -2.1% (Aug.); Auto Sales -19.6% y/y (Sep.).





The Good:  Jobless Rate -0.4 ppts to 4.8% (Sep.); Average Hourly Earnings +0.6% (Sep.); Factory Orders +1.2% (Aug.); Consumer Credit +$14.4 bln (Aug.)—but slowing ISM Services PMI +0.2 pts to 61.9 (Sep.); Initial Claims -38k to 326k (Oct. 2 week).



The Bad:  Nonfarm Payrolls +194,000 (Sep.) —below expected Goods & Services Trade Deficit widened to a record $73.3 bln (Aug.); Auto Sales fell to 12.2 mln a.r. (Sep.).





Source: Canoe.com
 

Man wanted Mustang and 'five kilos of cocaine' with Powerball win

Is honesty really the best policy?

Well, it certainly makes for some interesting live TV.

Take, for instance, the wannabe Louisiana lottery winner who told a TV interviewer on a live remote that if he won Monday’s $860-million ($685 million US) Powerball he’d be doing two things: “Well, I’m definitely going to get a new supercharged Mustang with dual exhaust and about five kilos of cocaine. And I’ll be good to go.”

Yes, one of those things is definitely illegal.

But without missing a beat, KSLA reporter Kori Johnson told the man she was interviewing in a convenience store: “Okay, so you like cars?”

Johnson, who only joined the station in July, according to the New York Daily News, should be praised for being quick on her feet and keeping it together.