This "Markets Weekly" episode, recorded on September 27th, analyzes recent market trends and explores three key developments: a potential shift in the Federal Reserve's thinking, a U.S. Treasury lifeline for Argentina, and the ongoing AI bubble.
The host begins by noting the relative calm in equity markets but highlights significant activity in silver, which is experiencing a parabolic surge reminiscent of past speculative booms. Gold is also performing well, while crypto is underperforming relative to both gold and the NASDAQ, raising concerns about its trajectory.
The first key development discussed centers on a possible change in the Federal Reserve's approach to monetary policy. The host points to recent speeches from Trump-appointed governors Myron and Bowman, alongside Governor Waller, who advocate for lower interest rates. The core of their argument involves a move away from strict "data dependency" and toward a more forward-looking, model-based approach. The host explains that the Fed's reliance on data in 2021 and 2022 led to the "transitory inflation" debacle. Governor Bowman directly argues that excessive data dependency leads to rearview mirror driving and being perpetually late in reacting to economic changes.
Governor Myron's perspective focuses on the neutral rate (R-star), arguing it's lower than widely believed, making current interest rates overly restrictive. He attributes this to policy changes implemented by the Trump administration. He makes several points. First, the focus is on immigration: recent high inflation is partly attributed to population growth caused by illegal immigration, putting upward pressure on housing costs. He argues that slowing immigration will alleviate shelter inflation, warranting less restrictive monetary policy. He says, second, regulation: deregulation reduces business costs, increasing productive capacity and supply, thus also easing inflationary pressure. And last, Tariffs: Tax collection helps lower deficit and government is not competing for as many resources, leading to a lower nutrient.
Governor Bowman, less focused on R-star, expresses concern about a cracking labor market, emphasizing the need to get ahead of potential economic downturns. She is also more hawkish on other aspects, advocating for selling mortgage-backed securities, shrinking the Fed's balance sheet, and reducing emergency lending facilities. The host concludes that the shift towards a more forward-looking approach is the most interesting development, particularly given the significant policy changes enacted.
The second topic addresses the U.S. Treasury's intervention to support Argentina. President Milay's austerity measures in Argentina have stabilized the economy, but his party's recent poor performance in local elections has sparked concerns about the sustainability of his reforms. This led to a currency run and spiking bond yields. However, Milay's cultivated relationship with Washington has resulted in the U.S. stepping in with a lifeline. The Treasury plans to utilize the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), previously used to weaken the dollar, to provide a currency swap or directly purchase Argentine bonds. The host sees this as reinforcing President Trump's view that the Americas are within the United States' geostrategic sphere of influence and attempts to shore up support. He notes that Argentina also has a swap line with China, a situation the United States wants to counter by solidifying its influence. The speaker makes mentions that President Trump is acting similarly when it comes to Brazil and Venezuela.
Finally, the host turns to the AI bubble. He reiterates his view that the massive investments in AI infrastructure by various companies, costing hundreds of billions of dollars, are not yielding significant profits. He cites a Wall Street Journal article suggesting a revenue gap of hundreds of billions of dollars to justify these investments. He notes that Open AI is working with Broadcom, developing chips, and promising Oracle to buy computer capacity. He states that Microsoft and Facebook have been financing the investments using their capsule, but GPUs seem to be depreciating and are not profitable. The host notes that NVIDIA's $100 billion equity investment in Open AI, coupled with Open AI then purchasing chips from NVIDIA, resembles the round-tripping behavior seen during the dot-com boom, where companies exchanged capacity without actual cash flow, creating fictional revenue. Despite this, the market loves it, and the speaker knows bubbles can happen longer than anyone expects. He concludes that while this is an interesting time, it is also risky.