rss

Paul Tudor Jones: 13 Insights

13 Insights From Paul Tudor Jones

1. Markets have consistently experienced “100-year events” every five years. While I spend a significant amount of my time on analytics and collecting fundamental information, at the end of the day, I am a slave to the tape (and proud of it).

2. Younger generation are hampered by the need to understand (and rationalize) why something should go up or down. By the time that it becomes self-evident, the move is over.

3. When I got into the business, there was so little information on fundamentals, and what little information one could get was largely imperfect. We learned just to go with the chart. (Why work when Mr. Market can do it for you?)

4. There are many more deep intellectuals in the business today. That, plus the explosion of information on the Internet, creates an illusion that there is an explanation for everything. Hence, the thinking goes, your primary task is to find that explanation.

As a result of this poor approach, technical analysis is at the bottom of the study list for many of the younger generation, particularly since the skill often requires them to close their eyes and trust price action. The pain of gain is just too overwhelming to bear. (more…)

Full statement of the BOE August monetary policy meeting decision

The full statement by the BOE on its August policy decision

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets monetary policy to meet the 2% inflation target, and in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment. In that context, its challenge at present is to respond to the economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. At its meeting ending on 4 August 2020, the MPC voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.1%. The Committee voted unanimously for the Bank of England to continue with its existing programmes of UK government bond and sterling non-financial investment-grade corporate bond purchases, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, maintaining the target for the total stock of these purchases at £745 billion.

The Committee’s projections for activity and inflation are set out in the accompanying August Monetary Policy Report. Although recent developments suggest a less weak starting point for the Committee’s latest projections, it is unclear how informative they are about how the economy will perform further out. The outlook for the UK and global economies remains unusually uncertain. It will depend critically on the evolution of the pandemic, measures taken to protect public health, and how governments, households and businesses respond to these factors. The MPC’s projections assume that the direct impact of Covid-19 on the economy dissipates gradually over the forecast period. Given the inherent uncertainties regarding the evolution of the pandemic, the MPC’s medium-term projections are a less informative guide than usual.

Global activity has strengthened over recent months, although it generally remains below its level in 2019 Q4. Covid-19 has continued to spread rapidly within a number of emerging market economies, however, and there has been a renewed rise in cases in many advanced economies. (more…)

EU summit – one of the ‘frugals’ appear ready to accept a deal

Denmark reportedly ready to accept 400bn EUR in grants. Headline via Bloomberg.

Denmark is one of the frugal that were earlier holding out for 350bn EUR in grants. The full package is 750bn EUR, so that would leave 400bn in loans. Denmark is reportedly ready to accept 400bn in grants and 350bn in loans.
The frugals are:
  • Netherlands,
  • Austria,
  • Denmark
  • and Sweden
This is a positive input for EUR … deal edging closer. No word from the other 3 as yet though. And the deal would need agreement of all 27 EU leaders.

Moderna, S&P: Vaccine hopes

A look at vaccine developments and its impact on the stock market

Moderna

FBSSource: Bloomberg

Yes, we’ve heard it already – both statements. Of course, from a humane point of view, it’s good to hear there is progress with the vaccine development. But it increasingly looks like by the time it is ready, most people indeed will already have immunity to the virus. In the meantime, Moderna is enjoying spikes of investor attention.

FBS 2
The latest update is that it got one step closer to the vaccine pushed its stock from the rage of $60 to $75. Needless to say, if the reports informed us tomorrow that another testing stage is cleared, we would see this stock already somewhere at its recently made all-time high above $85. Trajectory zone 2 would be the channel of movement in this case.

In fact, Moderna’s stock may well get to those highs anyways: fundamentally, the interest for anti-virus business will keep its momentum months or even years ahead, even if tomorrow is no virus at all. So Moderna will see its rise, just it will be a slow case scenario – the one that corresponds to trajectory zone 1.

S&P 500

For the stock market, the vaccine hope seems to be the only “joy” that keeps the optimism on the stage. With the S&P, currently, we are almost exactly at the previous high of 3 320, and in an obvious consolidation. Meaning, the market is not really sure what to look at more: still spreading infections in the US of the vaccine hopes. Today, it seems the latter is taking the upper hand. What the next step is going to be?

An optimistic scenario suggests we will see Trajectory 1 giving the green light to bulls and repeating the pattern of the previous upward wave the S&P followed in May. How probable is that? Quite probable, given that the reports about vaccine developments keep coming more often.

A pessimistic scenario as per Trajectory 3 suggests that we are actually at the tip of another “inside wave” which will bounce down from the resistance of 3 230. How probable is that one? Also very probable: clearing testing processes is good, but we don’t have the vaccine yet. It may take months before we finally see it.

A moderate scenario presumes that the market will overlook the absence of the vaccine and take on a more positive mood. That will be Trajectory 2.

The thing is that, indeed, it may be not until the very end of 2020 when the vaccine eventually gets done. Everyone knows that. If the S&P was only waiting for the vaccine to finally get developed, then it would be going sideways between 2 980 and 3 230 for months from now. Is that likely? No. Regardless of the vaccine process, the more we move into the future, the more the market becomes insensitive to the reality of infections and, therefore, independent from the vaccine hopes. Why? Because with the vaccine or without it, life goes on. And even the virus is now on the rise in the US – again – it will slow down pretty soon. So the question is not “if” but “when”. And the market is bored waiting.

FBS 3

This post is written and submitted by FBS Markets for informational purposes only. In no way shall it be interpreted or construed to create any warranties of any kind, including an offer to buy or sell any currencies or other instruments. 

The views and ideas shared in this article are deemed reliable and based on the most up-to-date and trustworthy sources. However, the company does not take any responsibility for accuracy and completeness of the information, and the views expressed in the article may be subject to change without prior notice.

6 Ways to Separate Lies From Statistics

1. Focus on how robust a finding is, meaning that different ways of looking at the evidence point to the same conclusion. Do the same patterns repeat in many data sets, in different countries, industries or eras?

2. Results that are Statistically Significant means it’s unlikely findings simply reflect chance. Don’t confuse this with something actually mattering.

3. Be wary of scholars using high-powered statistical techniques as a bludgeon to silence critics who are not specialists.

4. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking about an empirical finding as “right” or “wrong.”

5. Don’t mistake correlation for causation.

6. Always ask “so what?” The “so what” question is about moving beyond the internal validity of a finding to asking about its external usefulness.

Fascinating Insights From Nobel Prize-Winner Robert Shiller

On why so many experts missed the 2008 financial crisis: “Experts have always missed big events like this. If you look at the record of statistical forecasting models, they tend to get to the recession when it’s starting to come. A casual observer might start to worry about it. Forecasting it years out, they don’t get; in particular, if you look at the Great Depression of the 1930s, nobody forecasted that. Zero. Nobody. Now there were, of course, some guys who were saying the stock market is overpriced and it would come down, but if you look at what they said, did that mean a depression is coming? A decade-long depression? That was never said.”

On short-term thinking: “I think that there’s too much faith in analysis of short-term data. You see some pattern, and you can do a statistical test and prove that will prove that it is significant or passes the smell test to a statistician. But the problem is, the world is always changing. It’s not a stable thing. The underlying human parameters may be stable, but you can see that there is institutional and cultural evolution, and it’s not something that you can quantify.”

Go to top