by Brian Levitt, Global Market Strategist, North America, Invesco Canada
Are the markets headed for “Taper Tantrum: Part Two”? Not necessarily. Brian Levitt details some important differences between 2021 and 2013 that may help.
I haven’t heard this much talk about tantrums since I had toddlers running around my house. Fortunately, I’ve graduated from having children who cry, wail, and throw themselves on the ground for little discernable reason — but now I find myself in a business cycle that is still young and potentially prone to outbursts. I find myself asking the same questions now as I did back in my earlier parenting days: “Are tantrums inevitable? Or can they be avoided?”
Remembering the 2013 ‘Taper Tantrum’
To keep the analogy going, in the last business cycle (2009-2019), the infamous “Taper Tantrum” occurred as the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) began to fuss less over the economy despite the market’s concerns that the economy wasn’t yet ready for the Fed to take away the pacifier. The market staged its own version of a public meltdown: U.S. interest rates spiked, credit spreads widened, equities sold off, and all things emerging markets plummeted.1
Today, as the Fed foreshadows the possibility of dialing back its support for an expanding economy, those who remember the last tantrum are wondering if we’re headed for another.
The calm before the storm?
The worst part about tantrums, as all parents can attest, is that you never know when they are coming. There’s a lot of speculation that another tantrum may be on the horizon. The markets had appeared to be relatively sanguine over the possibility of the Fed beginning to scale down its asset purchases. Even this week’s CNBC headline, “There’s Growing Support Within the Fed to Announce the Tapering of Bond Purchases in September,” didn’t send the markets into hysterics. U.S. equities, as represented by the S&P 500 Index, closed Monday at an all-time high.2
By Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index had fallen by 1.7% from its high.3 Had this been just the proverbial calm before the storm? That moment when you’re enjoying your sweet, lovable toddler right before they start hitting, kicking, and ignoring rules? Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s just easier with the second child — er, business cycle. For one, we learn a thing or two along the way about preventing tantrums. As a first-time parent, my methods for trying to resolve a situation (“stop it,” “you’re fine,” “get over it”) would only exacerbate things. By the second time around, I had learned that simply affirming what the child is feeling (“you’re mad,” “I know that hurts,” “I’m sad for you”) is a far-better, almost magical, approach.
The Fed adjusts its communication style
Similarly, the U.S. Federal Reserve also appears to have altered its approach. In May 2013, then-Chairman Ben Bernanke surprised the market by saying that the Fed could “step down” the pace of asset purchases “in the next few meetings.” While there was no suggestion of a change in interest rate policy, the market nonetheless repriced its expectation for the future path of short-term interest rates 1% to 4% by mid-2015.4 It was like a parent telling a child that it’s time to leave the playground with no advance warning — that tends not to go over very well. This time, the Fed appears to have learned its lesson. We joke that the Fed, instead of announcing the tapering of asset purchases, has been “talking about, talking about tapering asset purchases.” The Fed appears to be moving gingerly so as not to scare the markets and tighten financial conditions, and thereby choke off the recovery. Thus far the market is pricing in only a very gradual rise in the federal funds rate over the next two years.5 Language matters in dealing with children and markets.
Today’s cycle isn’t like the last one
Second, sometimes you just get lucky with the fundamental construct of the child or business cycle. My second daughter was less prone to tantrum. It’s just the way she was built. In my view, the same can likely be said about this cycle:
- This time, inflation expectations are modestly elevated. In 2013, the world was still awash in the disinflationary impulses that had emerged in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The Fed was struggling to maintain inflation expectations (represented by the 2-year U.S. Treasury breakeven) at the 2% target.6 The Fed’s proposed adjustment to its balance sheets in 2013 appeared to be in response to the Fed’s anticipation of future inflation, rather than in response to realized inflation or the market’s expectations for inflation.Conversely, the Consumer Price Index is currently well above the pre-COVID peak7 and inflation expectations are above the Fed’s 2% target.8 As a result, it is less likely now than it was in 2013 that an indication of tighter policy would be viewed as the policy mistake that would send the U.S. dollar higher and risk assets lower.
- Many of the “fragile” emerging market countries aren’t as fragile as they once were. In 2013, the emerging market countries suffered significant capital flight as the Fed indicated its intent to taper asset purchases. At the time, many emerging market countries were running high current account deficits as their imports were far exceeding their exports.9 These countries had strong dependence on foreign inflows to finance consumption. As a result, they had acute vulnerability to currency fluctuations, resulting from their large volumes of foreign-currency debt.The current account picture is much different as these countries, like the U.S., have been consuming less and saving more. Moreover, the flow of capital into emerging markets over the past years is nowhere near as large as it was in the years prior to 2013.
With external financing needs much lower and likely to remain suppressed as the pandemic continues to weigh on EM-domestic demand, I believe it is unlikely that EM assets will experience anything like the taper tantrum of 2013.
Conclusion
Just like all kids are different, so too are all cycles. Do we have to deal with another tantrum? I suppose it’s possible. Market volatility tends to occur with changes in policy. Again, you just never know with children or business cycles in the early stages of development. More importantly, I would view any type of outburst as developmentally appropriate and just a rite of passage along the way to this cycle maturing into a more stable one.
1 Source: Bloomberg, L.P. Interest rates represented by the 10-year US Treasury Rate. Credit spreads represented by the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate High Yield Option Adjusted Spread. Equities represented by the S&P 500 Index. All things emerging markets is represented by the MSCI EM Index and the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index.
2 Source: Bloomberg, L.P. as of Aug. 16, 2021
3 Source: Bloomberg, L.P., as of Aug. 18, 2021
4 Source: Bloomberg, L.P. Based on 30-day Fed funds futures
5 Source: Bloomberg, L.P. Based on 30-day Fed funds futures
6 Source: Bloomberg, L.P., as of July 31, 2021.
7 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of July 31, 2021
8 Source: Bloomberg, L.P., as of July 31, 2021
9 Source: International Monetary Fund, as of June 30, 2021
This post was first published at the official blog of Invesco Canada.
