The Contrarian Investor Podcast – Page 69 – The Contrarian Investor Podcast gives voice to those who challenge a prevailing narrative in global financial markets

Contrarian Calls, Revisited: Barry Knapp on Yield Curve Inversion

Published February 5, 2020

What Was Said

In this podcast’s pilot episode last April, economist Barry Knapp of Ironsides Macroeconomics discussed the economic news of the day: the 3-month/10-year yield curve inversion.

The conventional wisdom at the time was that the yield curve inversion would lead to recession in the U.S.

But there had been numerous “false positives” from the yield-curve indicator in the past, Knapp said: 1966, 1998, and 2005. “There was no evidence that the inversion of the yield curve was really having any demand side effects on the actual availability of credit,” he said at the time. “It’s not debilitating for growth.”

The U.S. consumer remained healthy as households continued to delever from the excesses of the 2008 financial crisis. “The savings rate is high, income growth is picking up,” Knapp said. While global exports were slowing, this was “not enough of a shock to drive the U.S. into a recession.”

Additionally, there were reasons to believe the inversion wouldn’t last long. The Federal Reserve was indicating that its next Treasury-buying initiatives were more likely to lead to a steepening of the curve.

Knapp was bullish on bank stocks, having upgraded his view in 2017. He also liked U.S. small caps, expecting a rally on domestic demand.

What Happened

Ten months later, there are no signs of recession for the U.S. economy. Financial stocks have done well, judging by the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE), which is up more than 14% in the intervening months:

Small caps have also done well, with the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) gaining more than 11%:

The 3 month/10 year yield curve stayed inverted for a few months before steepening. It has since inverted again, though this time few economists are calling for a recession.

Season 2, Episode 3: News Headlines Are a ‘Subtle Fallacy’ Confounding Investors

Published January 29, 2020

Nicholas Reece of Merk Research says news has no real impact on the global economy or markets

January 2020 has been an eventful month. Geopolitical events and other exogenous factors have roiled global financial markets. In the end, they may not matter all that much where the trajectory of the global economy is concerned. In fact, they may not matter at all.

Nicholas Reece of Merk Research shares his thesis that there is a “subtle fallacy” that events in the news are important to the global economy and financial markets. This is due to evolutionary biography, behavioral biases, and the nature of the news business in the digital age.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Reece tells listeners how to cut through the noise to identify data that has real economic repercussions. One conclusion is that in 2020 (at least so far) to be a contrarian means being optimistic.

Content:

The “subtle fallacy” of news (1:32)
Humankind’s innate negativity bias (2:43)
So what news is relevant to the economy and to markets? (4:09)
Discerning the signal from the noise for investors (5:50)
Economic damage from the coronavirus (7:53)
“Unknown unknowns” (9:32)
Nick Reece’s “origin story” as an investor (12:41)
The changing public perception of the Federal Reserve (20:30)
Being positive is contrarian (26:21)
A short discourse on political commentary (27:25)
Favorite economic indicators that can supply contrarian signals (30:19)

For more information about Nick Reece and Merk Research, visit their website.

Season 2, Episode 2: Energy Markets at a Turning Point, With Economist Peter Sainsbury

Published January 22, 2020

The history of tobacco companies and lead markets may hold lessons for investors

Economist and energy specialist Peter Sainsbury joins the podcast to discuss his thesis, that the fossil fuel industry faces a dilemma similar to what confounded big tobacco a generation ago.

Oil companies in particular are starting to be seen as “sin stocks” with institutions divesting themselves on ethical grounds. Much like tobacco companies reinvented themselves in the 1990s, energy companies can undergo a similar renaissance. Indeed the process of oil companies divesting harmful assets is already underway. This causes opportunities for investors. But first, expect headwinds.