Economic Research Week in Focus . 17 October 2014 Price slide: ECB to rush to the rescue Recession worries have caused equity markets to plummet in recent days. But not even we, though being pessimistic about the cycle, expect a recession. In the medium term, the equity markets should pick up again, especially since it is now far more likely that the ECB will start buying up government bonds on a grand scale before the end of this year. The period of asset price inflation, fanned in this instance by the ECB, is not yet over. Page 2 DAX has been plummeting at times DAX index, end-day data 10100 9900 9700 9500 9300 9100 8900 8700 8500 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mrz-14 Apr-14 Mai-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Okt-14 Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research Stress test: No quick fix for credit and economic growth In contrast to ECB President Draghi, we do not expect the results of the bank stress tests – which will be published on 26 October – to lead to a pick up in credit growth or economic activity. According to our empirical analysis, the sluggishness in lending is not primarily attributable to a lack of supply, but rather to weak credit demand. The stress tests will not change this picture in the near-term. Page 3 Product Idea: Lock-in Floater in US$. The markets increasingly believe that the Fed will raise rates later than previously thought. This product is designed for investors who, like us, believe the market to be wrong. Page 6 Outlook for the week of 20 October to 24 October 2014 Economic data: There is a good chance in our view that purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing in the euro zone and Germany stabilised in October, partly thanks to the weaker euro. Page 8 Bond market: In the week ahead, 10y Bund yields could fall even further as investors realise the rising risks of our €QE base case materializing already this year. Page 12 FX market: Weak US inflation figures could support market concerns about the timing of Fed rate hikes whilst the EUR should come under growing pressure on QE speculation. Page 13 Equity market: The Q3 reporting season seems set to disappoint investors. Page 14 Chief economist Dr Jörg Krämer +49 69 136 23650 [email protected] Editor Peter Dixon +44 20 7475 4806 [email protected] Commodity market: With OPEC holding still, oil continues its price slide, and new multiyear lows could be reached again next week. The recent recovery on the gold market is prone to a correction. Page 15 research.commerzbank.com Bloomberg: CBKR Research APP available For important disclosure information please see end of this document Price slide: ECB to rush to the rescue Dr Jörg Krämer Tel. +49 69 136 23650 The equity markets are starting to price in a recession. But not even we, though being pessimists about the cycle, expect a recession. The buoyant US economy and the fact that the euro zone debt bubble already burst in 2008 suggest that a recession is unlikely. In the medium term, the equity markets should pick up again, especially since it is now far more likely that the ECB will not wait until the start of next year to act, but will start buying up government bonds on a grand scale before the end of this year. Equity markets now factoring in a recession, … The DAX has fallen almost 12% since mid-September. The PER established on the basis of corporate earnings expected over the next 12 months is now just under 11, i.e. below the longterm average. Investors are starting to price in falling earnings and thus a recession – but how likely is the latter? … but even we don't expect one The emerging markets pose the greatest threat, as we wrote here a week ago. A major concern as far as we are concerned is falling real-estate prices in China, and our 2015 growth forecast for the country, at 6.5%, is much lower than the figure envisaged by most economists. Yet we do not expect a recession in the western world, for the following reasons: • USA: Following the first quarter slump caused by the weather, the economy has made a good recovery. On the strength of the monthly data published so far, a third-quarter result of a good 3% or so seems likely. Yesterday's dip on in the New York Fed's indicator of sentiment was just a one-off. • Eurozone: Our 2015 growth forecast for the region, 0.8%, has long been considerably lower than the consensus figure of 1.2%, but we would not go so far as to predict a recession. The big bubble in the eurozone peripheral countries did after all burst back in 2008, triggering severe recessions there. Spain, Portugal and Ireland are still recovering from the slump. There have of course been excesses in France and Italy too (overly high debt levels in the private sector, above-average growth in unit labour costs), but they have been on nothing like the scale seen a few years ago in Spain, Portgugal or Ireland. Moreover, we might still see QE this year … All in all, we feel that the market has been too pessimistic over the past few days. The DAX will no doubt remain volatile over the coming days and weeks, but in the medium term prices should rally once more. This is also suggested by the ECB's policy: We were one of the first banks to predict at the end of August that the ECB would buy government bond on a generous scale, envisaging this happening at the start of next year rather than this year. Meanwhile, though, it has become far more likely that the bank will act before the end of this year: • Concerns about the economy that have triggered the drop in equity prices make it ever more likely that the ECB will have to lower its optimistic growth forecast for 2015 of 1.6%. This fact plays into the hands of those on the ECB Council in favour of relaxing the reins, as does our expectation the end of the bank stress test will not in fact sound the all-clear for weak lending (see page 3). • Long-term inflation expectations have dropped sharply. The figure envisaged in five years' time for the following five years (obtained from inflation swaps) has fallen and now stands at only 1.76%. After deduction of the risk premium, which the ECB estimates at ¼ to ½ of a percentage point, it becomes clear that long-term inflation expectations are now below 1.5%. We do not see any serious problem here, but ECB President Draghi made it clear at the early September press conference that the ECB will act if inflation expectations continue to fall. … which should stabilise the markets Bund yields have probably not reached their lowest point yet, given that ECB government bond purchases are on the cards. This makes equities with high dividend yields attractive, and the main reason for our expecting the equity markets to settle down again gradually and then start to rise once more. The asset price inflation promkpted by the ECB is not yet over. 2 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Dr Christoph Balz Tel. +49 69 136 24889 Dr Michael Schubert Tel. +49 69 136 23700 AQR and stress test: No quick fix for credit and economic growth On 26 October, the ECB will release the results of the bank stress test. According to our empirical analysis, it is unlikely even thereafter that credit will pick up quickly – as ECB President Draghi expects – and give the economy a lift. This is because the sluggishness in lending is not primarily attributable to a lack of supply, i.e. balance sheet problems at banks, but to weak credit demand. And this will barely change near-term, partly because debt levels in the private sector are already high in many euro countries. For this reason the stress test will be no quick fix for credit and for economic growth. This should be another reason why the ECB will conduct broad-based purchases of government bonds next year. Supply problems are not as severe as often thought… In a speech a few days ago, ECB President Draghi expressed the conviction that credit would pick up noticeably from the start of 2015. After all, he said, the banks’ balance sheet adjustment was reaching its conclusion (see box on page 4), and this removed an important obstacle to lending and thus eventually to economic growth. There is no doubt that dynamic lending is impossible without sound bank balance sheets. The adjustment that is about to be concluded is therefore an important step. But for this factor alone to give lending a notable lift, the decline in credit seen in recent years would have to be primarily attributable to supply problems. In fact, there seem to be supply problems in several countries: We have shown that the high lending rates in Spain are mainly owed to the high default risks there. 1 And in Italy, a monthly survey conducted by the Italian statistical office Istat indicated that recently borrowing terms for businesses have deteriorated markedly again. But in the euro area as a whole, these problems should not be so severe, because conditions are much better in other countries. For example, borrowing terms for businesses in Germany have been very good for some time according to the ifo credit hurdle. Our credit model underpins this assessment for the whole euro area. The model estimates the year-on-year growth rate of loans to the private sector on the basis of the investment ratio (gross fixed capital formation in percent of GDP) and the year-on-year growth rate of GDP, i.e. practically credit demand. Credit growth recently barely differed from the estimated value (chart 1), whereas at the start of the decade, for example, it had fallen well short of the estimate CHART 1: Euro area – only slightly better credit growth CHART 2: Euro area – supply factors work with a delay Loans to private sector, year-on-year; model value, based on investment ratio and year-on-year GDP (from Q3/2014: Commerzbank forecast); estimation error Model estimation error and credit standards for lending to euro area businesses according to Bank Lending Survey, six quarters 2 previously, diffusion index 12 3 10 2 8 1 6 0 4 -1 2 -2 0 -3 -2 -4 -4 2005 2007 model error 2009 2011 loan growth Source: ECB, Commerzbank Research 2013 2015 model estimate -5 2005 -25 -5 15 35 55 2007 2009 model error (lhs) 2011 2013 2015 credit standards (inverted, rhs) Source: ECB, Commerzbank Research 1 “Euro periphery: credit risks preventing lower interest rates”, Economic Insight of 28 October 2013. Difference between the sum of responses under “tightened considerably” and “tightened somewhat” and the sum of responses under “eased somewhat” and “eased considerably” (in percent of responses), with the calculation weighting large changes with 1 and small changes with 0.5. 2 17 October 2014 research.commerzbank.com 3 due to supply restrictions in the aftermath of the Lehman failure. Our credit model thus shows that credit volumes in the euro area are currently mainly declining due to weak demand rather than supply problems. … and easing works only with a delay This picture should become more firmly established in the coming quarters. On one hand, the conclusion of the bank stress test reduces the supply restrictions, which are not dominant anyway. On the other, banks have eased their credit standards progressively in recent quarters. The latter will only influence developments in credit by and by. The deviations of our model’s estimates from actual developments in credit can be fairly well explained with the development of the banks’ credit standards 3 (chart 2, p. 2). But note that it takes around six quarters for the effect of changes in supply conditions to fully unfold, which seems partially attributable to the fact that we analyse the year-on-year growth rate of private sector credit. This implies two things: • Since credit standards have been eased progressively in recent quarters and this affects credit growth with a delay, credit growth in 2015 will likely turn out up to ½ percentage point higher than should be expected on the basis of developments in demand alone (chart 2: the model error in 2015 probably has a positive sign). • We certainly expect that credit standards will be eased even further in the coming quarters, though not abruptly. But even if this did occur, the delayed influence of supply conditions on credit growth suggests that this effect would only become visible in credit in 2016 rather than 2015. Weak economy constrains credit, not vice versa A quick and strong uplift for credit and thus for economic activity is therefore unlikely from this side. Since supply problems are of rather minor importance in the euro area as a whole, lending should instead be influenced by the demand for credit and thus eventually by economic activity. And the latter should remain very modest for some time yet owing to various factors: • Private sector debt levels have surged rapidly in recent years, and not only in the periphery but also in many core countries of the euro area. Moreover, we also saw exaggerations in the property market there, and the competitiveness of these countries has deteriorated. The correction of these undesirable developments of the past decade will constrain economic growth for some time to come. • In addition, structural factors acting as a brake on growth, such as the inflexible labour markets in several euro countries, have been in place for a long while. • Near-term, the nearly flat growth in demand from emerging markets should also work to further constrain economic growth in the euro area. In light of all this, we expect credit in the euro area to remain stagnant next year in the best case. Our model even forecasts a continued decline (chart 1, page 2), which could be prevented, however, by the moderate improvement in supply conditions. Weak credit growth makes QE in 2015 more likely The quick fix for credit which ECB President Draghi hopes to see in early 2015 should therefore fail to occur, and as a result the sign of hope for economic growth which the ECB anticipates from this side is unlikely to materialise. This development is another reason for us to expect that in the first half of 2015 a majority on the ECB Council will vote for broad-based government bond purchases. 3 Chart 2 shows the credit standards for lending to businesses in the euro area. The credit standards for mortgage lending to private households run parallel, i.e. their information content is similar from the empirical perspective. 4 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Box: How do the asset quality review and the stress test work? Background: In November, the ECB will assume supervision responsibilities for the most important banks in the euro area (first of the three pillars of the banking union). To assess the health of these institutions beforehand, the central bank examined their assets for risks as at 31 December 2013 (asset quality review, AQR). As part of the AQR regulatory and accounting rules were initially standardised to allow a cross-bank comparison. In a second step selected balance sheet items, such as non-performing loans, were examined for incorrect valuations. It was analysed whether the valuation of the assets and the collateral is adequate and whether the corresponding provisions are appropriate. On this harmonised basis the EBA (European Banking Authority) conducted stress tests for 123 banks from 22 EU countries. The aim of this analysis was to ascertain whether the banks are robust, i.e. whether they have sufficient capital in different scenarios. Scenarios: The EBA has looked at two scenarios for the years 2014 until 2016. In the baseline scenario the economy in the euro area will grow by 1.2%/1.8%/1.7% in these three years, which seems too optimistic from today’s perspective. For this year and next we forecast growth rates of less than 1%, given the structural problems in major countries such as Italy and France and in light of the after-effects of earlier exaggerations on the property market and with regard to private sector debt. In the adverse scenario a sharp rise in long-dated yields, above all in the US, triggers a general asset revaluation, which adversely affects the emerging markets in particular. In the euro area, the sovereign debt crisis flares up once more, and yield premiums of peripheral bonds versus Bunds rise again. Long-dated government bonds from Italy and Spain trade at a yield of 5.9% and 5.7%, respectively. Against this backdrop the economy in the euro area contracts in 2014 and 2015 by 0.7% and 1.4%, respectively, and remains stagnant in 2016. This would mean a bigger minus than in 2012/2013 and thus a very deep recession, though the plunge would be much less severe than in 2009. When after the Lehman failure the stability of the global financial system was called into question, the euro area economy contracted by 4.5%. Schedule: ECB and EBA will announce the results of the AQR and the stress test on Sunday, 26 October at 12:00 noon (Frankfurt time). The banks will be informed three days earlier so that they can analyse their figures and prepare statements for the public. Consequences: If EBA/ECB detect a capital shortfall for a bank, the institution has to provide the regulators with a plan for how to remedy this shortfall two weeks after the release. The measures (e.g. a capital increase) will have to be carried out within either six or nine months, depending on whether this shortfall already arose in the baseline scenario /AQR or only became apparent in the adverse scenario. Likely outcome: Our bank analysts have estimated in a model to what extent the individual banks are affected by the various risk factors. The simplified approach used for this purpose surely cannot reflect the complexity of the AQR and the stress test and take account of the discretionary powers of the ECB and the EBA. Subject to this caveat, they found that most of the banks that are likely to fail the test have already raised new capital. 4 For this reason broadbased uncertainty in the financial markets is unlikely, especially since the focus tends to be on concerns about the global economy at the moment. 4 17 October 2014 See “EU banks – Who’s afraid of the stress test? These banks should be!”, 23 September 2014. research.commerzbank.com 5 Product idea: Lock-in Floater in US$ Markus Koch +49 69 136 87685 The uncertainty about the timing of Fed rate hikes next year is reviving once again. As a result, long-term Eurodollar futures recover at a faster pace than the short end (flatter Libor curve). Markets thus expect Fed policymakers to maintain ultra-easy conditions for longer. However, given strong labour markets we challenge current policy expectations and recommend investing in a leveraged Lock-in Floater in US$ with a 5y term. The structure will lock-in a 3.5% p.a. coupon, if the reference index (US$ 3M Libor) accumulates a target coupon of 3.5%. If the Fed/ECB policy decoupling proves sustainable, the structure holds out potential currency gains. Despite the US labour market well on track for 2015 target levels, the Eurodollar future strip has resumed curve flattening trends. While inflation pressures are still of no concern in the US, Fed funds may stay low through 2015 given the current weakening of the USD and risks of growth slowing down abroad (Fed’s Fischer). The Fed’s judgments (dots) and our own analysis suggest otherwise. Indices for job vacancies, for instance, which have risen to a 13-year high likewise challenge the view that the labour market is still substantially underutilised. All considered we firmly believe policymakers cannot afford not raising rates for the next two years as unemployment is returning to its natural level. Long story short, we look for US$ 3-month Libor rates to rise at a substantially faster pace than implied by the strip. Investors who share our view on US$ 3-month Libor rates are advised investing in a Lock-in Floater with a 5y term and denominated in US$. The note’s coupons are calculated from the US$ 3M Libor rate (references index) leveraged by 125%. Based on the current fixing (see box), this results in an initial coupon of currently c. 29bp in the first quarter. The structure features a lock-in element. If the cumulated sum of all coupons paid reaches at least 3.5% (target), a fixed coupon of 3.5% p.a. will be paid until maturity. Based on the current forward strip, for instance, the reference index accumulates the target sum by spring 2016 after which the fixed coupon will be automatically locked-in. Yet given our expectation of the US Fed to swiftly unwind its ultra-easy monetary policy, the index would ultimately rise at a faster pace compared with forwards. This in turn implies the structure to accumulate the targeted coupon sum (3.5%) already by autumn 2015. The performance of the structure will thus depend on the pace which the index rises. Intriguingly even in the worst case (unchanged reference index) the coupon lock-in – although materialising in 3 years’ time – would generate an average coupon close to current 5y swap levels. Finally given the note’s denomination in US dollar, a likely long-term weakening of the euro versus the US dollar could generate currency-driven gains and vice versa. In the latter case, the pick-ups incurred may still (more than) offset currency-driven losses. Lock-in Floater in US$ with a 5y term Issuer Type: Maturity: Currency Minimum lot Reference index (RI): Coupon: Fixing: Payment: Basis: 6 A- (average) Private Placement 5 years US Dollar (US$) € 1m equivalent US$ 3-month Libor 125% of reference index until the cumulated sum of coupons totals 3.5%. A coupon of 3.5% p.a. fixed is locked-in, once the coupon condition has been met. Quarterly, in advance Quarterly, in arrears Quarterly/30/360 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Major publications from 10 – 16 October 2014 EM Briefing: Singapore – MAS maintains appreciation bias on wage fears Singapore’s economy grew 2.4% y/y in Q3, unchanged from Q2. This is in line with full year growth likely to come in around a modest 3%. Unlike previous cycles, the domestic sector or services remain the key growth driver as opposed to exports due to the sluggish global rebound. For USD-SGD, we maintain an upside bias to 1.30 by year-end on the firmer USD tone. more EM Briefing: Malaysia – Budget 2015 sticks to curtailment plus development theme Prime Minister Najib Razak unveiled a cautious budget last Friday that adhered to the theme of fiscal consolidation. At the same time, there were offsetting measures to shore up growth. The government projects a robust 5.5-6% growth this year and 5-6% for 2015. If the current market volatility continues, BNM may stay on hold in November but remain cognizant of the inflationary risks. more FX Hotspot: The Currency War comes to Europe The recent outturn of CPI data in the euro zone and other regional European economies combined with declining business sentiment means that central banks in the region will increasingly have a bias towards maintaining weak currencies. Given that the USD is trading more robustly this means that the so called ‘Currency War’ is now more of a European rather than a USD centric phenomenon. more FX Hotspot: The market is losing courage By no means did the market ever really believe the FOMC projections as regards the normalisation of interest rates. For some time now market expectations regarding the US key rate have been below the median of FOMC members’ expectations. But in the meantime the discrepancy has reached absurd levels, as the gap is constantly widening. The market is now only expecting one single, solitary rate step next year. more FX Hotspot: Like a stone The euro zone 5Y×5Y inflation expectations – the ECB’s preferred measure for long term inflation expectations – are dropping like a stone (see chart 1). Yesterday they eased below the 1.8% mark for the first time. This increases the likelihood that the ECB will feel obliged to weaken the euro rapidly and significantly. more Commodity Spotlight Agriculturals: Further build-up in stocks – prices at rock-bottom At the latest since the last old-crop contracts expired, markets have only been seeing the comfortable supply situation in 2014/15 for grains, oilseeds and cotton. This is pushing prices lower and lower. That said, the fact that prices have now hit multi-year lows will not be without effect on supply and demand. At least in the case of corn, where prices performed very badly, production is likely to be cut back in 2015 in favour of soybeans. Besides corn, wheat prices should also profit from this, while soybean prices should struggle to recover. more 17 October 2014 research.commerzbank.com 7 Preview – The week of 20 to 24 October 2014 Time Region Indicator Period Forecast Survey Last Monday, 20 October 2014 No relevant data is due for release. Tuesday, 21 October 2014 • 3:00 CHN Industrial production Sep yoy 7.4 7.5 6.9 15:00 USA GDP Existing home sales Q3 Sep yoy SAAR, mn 7.2 5.16 7.2 5.09 7.5 5.05 Sep Sep mom, sa mom, sa % 0.0 0.1 1.00 0.0 0.2 – -0.2 0.0 1.00 Oct Oct Oct Oct sa sa sa sa 95.0 48.5 48.0 50.0 – – – 49.8 96.0 48.8 48.4 49.9 55.0 50.3 55.1 50.1 55.7 50.3 Wednesday, 22 October 2014 13:30 USA CAD CPI CPI excl. food and energy BoC interest rate decision Thursday, 23 October 2014 7:45 8:00 FRA • 8:30 GER Business climate (Insee) PMI, manufacturing PMI, services PMI, manufacturing • 9:00 EUR PMI, services PMI, manufacturing Oct Oct sa sa 9:30 PMI, services Norgesbank interest rate decision Retail sales Oct NOR GBR sa % mom, sa yoy k, sb sa 52.0 1.50 0.1 3.1 280 -12.0 52.0 – -0.2 2.8 – – 52.4 1.50 0.2 4.5 264 -11.4 sa qoq yoy sa SAAR, k 8.0 0.7 3.0 -8.0 450 8.1 0.7 3.0 – 473 8.3 0.9 3.2 -7.2 504 13:30 USA Initial claims 15:00 EUR Consumer confidence EUR: EU leader summit in Brussels (23/24 October) Sep 18 Oct Oct Friday, 24 October 2014 7:00 9:30 GER GBR GfK Consumer confidence GDP Nov Q3 14:00 15:00 BEL USA Business confidence New home sales Oct Oct Source: Bloomberg. Commerzbank Economic Research; *Time BST (subtract 5 hours for EDST. add 1 hour for CEST). # = Possible release; mom/qoq/yoy: change to previous period in percent. AR = annual rate. sa = seasonal adjusted. wda = working days adjusted; • = data of highest importance for markets. 8 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Economic data preview: Dr Ralph Solveen Tel. +49 69 136 22322 Euro area: First small signals of hope from the PMIs? There is a good chance in our view that purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing in the euro zone and Germany have stabilised in October, as the weaker euro should gradually be having a positive impact. In China, economic growth is set to have weakened to 7.2% in the third quarter, though industrial production should have expanded at a slightly stronger rate again in September compared to August. In the past few weeks, the bad news dominated for the euro zone and the Germany economy especially. Next week, there is at least some hope of a positive signal again, with much to suggest that the purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing (PMI) have stabilised after falling sharply for some months. We have often said in the past that our Early Bird has a certain lead over the Ifo business climate. The same holds for the PMI (chart 3). At the previous two lower turning points (January 2009 and July 2012), the Early Bird’s lead was seven and eleven months respectively. This time, the Early Bird hit a low in January of this year and has been rising since amid the weaker euro. Consequently, we are now in a period in which the improved cyclical environment shown by our indicator should gradually have a positive impact for businesses. In addition, we have a statistical effect. Many responses in the PMI survey appear to depend on whether production, orders etc. of the surveyed companies increased or decreased compared to the same month of the previous year. Businesses presumably look at the figures of the previous month as more recent figures are not available. Therefore, their responses this time were probably mainly based on the September figures, where the year-on-year comparison was presumably much better again compared to the August figures as September 2014 had one more working day than September 2013 (which was not the case in August) and production in September was much less affected than August by the summer holidays falling comparatively late. These two factors combined have prompted us to anticipate a practically stable purchasing managers’ index in our forecast both for Germany (forecast: 50.0 after 49.9; consensus: 49.8) and the euro zone (forecast: unchanged 50.3; consensus: 50.1). China: Slower growth in Q3 GDP for Q3 is due on Tuesday and we forecast growth of 7.2% year-on-year, in line with consensus (7.2%) and down from 7.5% in Q2. Our forecast is consistent with quarter-on-quarter growth (non-annualised) of 1.7%. We expect industrial production for September, also due on Tuesday, to rebound to 7.4% (consensus: 7.5%), following the slump to 6.9% the prior month (chart 4). Our forecasts are consistent with 2014 GDP growth of 7.3%. CHART 3: Germany – PMI about to stabilise? CHART 4: China – weak August just a slip? Early Bird; Purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing (PMI) Industrial production, year-on-year change in % 1.0 0.5 65 15 60 14 55 13 50 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 2008 2012 Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research 17 October 2014 2013 2014 PMI (rhs) 11 45 10 40 9 35 8 30 2009 2010 2011 Early Bird (lhs) 12 7 6 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source: Global Insight, Commerzbank Research research.commerzbank.com 9 Central Bank Watch (1) Fed Hefty turmoil on the global financial markets and some worse-than-expected US data have shifted market expectations of a first rate hike to the fourth quarter of 2015. That said, members of the Federal Open Market Committee appear to be quite unimpressed by the latest developments. According to media reports, Janet Yellen was confident in a closed event at the weekend that the US economy would continue to post stable growth. John Wiliams, president of the San Francisco Fed, tried to dispel concerns that global economic weakness would stop the Fed from normalising monetary policy. This would only be a possibility for him if the inflation rate did not rise above 1.5% and there was no evidence of an upward trend in wages. This would then be a sign that the outlook had changed markedly. Under such circumstances, he would even be prepared to consider renewed bond buying. However, Williams and presumably most of his colleagues still see the economy on track. Consequently, the latest turmoil has probably not changed the outlook for monetary policy so far. Bernd Weidensteiner +49 69 136 24527 CHART 5: Expected interest rate for 3-month funds (USD) 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 current Dez 14 Futures 16.10.14 Mrz 15 Jun 15 09.10.14 Sep 15 Dez 15 Commerzbank TABLE 1: Consensus forecasts Fed funds rate Q4 14 Q2 15 Q4 15 Consensus 0.25 0.25 1.00 High 0.25 1.00 2.00 Low 0.25 0.25 0.25 Commerzbank 0.25 0.50 1.50 Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research ECB In recent days, statements of ECB Council members by and large confirmed that the central bank is ready to do more (including QE), but that at the same time at least some Council members are critical regarding QE. Most importantly, ECB president Draghi said that the ECB “is ready to actually do everything that falls within its mandate”. He saw no major risks of a bubble in euro zone government bond markets, suggesting he does not expect instability to impede possible sovereign bond purchases by the ECB. ECB’s Coeure emphasised that “we are moving now to a new stage where we want to significantly increase the size of the balance sheet of the ECB, starting with ABS and coveredbonds purchases. ECB’s Weidmann argued that government bond purchases ECB would not have much of an effect on the economy, as yields are already near record lows. ECB’s Knot said that the ECB had “more or less” reached its limit on ways to support the economy. Similarly, ECB’s Nowotny argued that “in the situation now, I think that these [EU] investment programs make much more sense to discuss than to discuss QE perspectives.” Nowotny and Hansson urged patience to let ECB stimulus measures already announced work their way through the economy. Dr Michael Schubert +49 69 136 23700 10 CHART 6: Expected interest rate for 3-month funds (EUR) 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 current Dez 14 Futures 16.10.14 Mrz 15 Jun 15 09.10.14 Sep 15 Dez 15 Commerzbank TABLE 2: Consensus forecasts ECB minimum bid rate Q4 14 Q2 15 Q4 15 Consensus 0.05 0.05 0.05 High 0.05 0.05 0.05 Low 0.05 0.05 0.05 Commerzbank 0.05 0.05 0.05 Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Central Bank Watch (2) BoE As market turmoil once again rears its head and international headwinds mount, the prospect of a UK rate increase continues to recede into the future. As global conditions become more volatile, market pricing of a UK rate hike has changed such that the probability of a 25 bps rate hike in Q2 2015 is now seen as little more than a 50-50 shot. However, in a speech earlier this week MPC member Weale gave no indication that next week’s MPC minutes will indicate a change in his view that rates should rise. He argued that the recent decline in unemployment points to a declining margin of spare labour market capacity “that ought to lead to an increase in inflationary pressure over the two to three year horizon which concerns the [MPC].” But whilst many indicators suggest that the labour market is back at its preLehman state, the proportion of those working part-time who would rather work full-time is only slightly down from the highs of 2012 and way above any level since the data were first recorded in the early-1990s. In our view this is an indication that there is more capacity than the headline unemployment rate implies and supports our view that we cannot simply rely on the headline rate as a pointer to future inflation. Peter Dixon +44 20 7475 4806 CHART 7: Expected interest rate for 3-month funds (GBP) 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 current Dez 14 Mrz 15 Jun 15 Sep 15 Dez 15 Futures 16.10.14 09.10.14 Commerzbank Norges Bank (Norway) Norges Bank has kept the key interest rate at 1.5% since March 2012 and the signals from the September meeting suggest it will leave it there for longer; it withdrew its previous suggestion of an interest rate cut in the coming months. At the same time, it has deferred prospective first interest rate hikes from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016. This is because Norway's economy faces substantial change with the expected sharp fall of investment in the oil sector, which will probably also apply the brakes on other sectors. The likelihood of a further interest rate cut has actually increased recently as the oil price had fallen sharply and the inflation rate was below Norges Bank's expectations. Furthermore, the growth outlook for Norway's key buying countries has clouded further and the ECB is signalling its readiness for broad-based sovereign bond buying. However, the hurdle for a rate cut in Norway is high, not least because of the high level of private debt. Moreover, the government is planning an expansionary budget with tax cuts and high expenditure on infrastructure to support growth. Additional impetus should come from further NOK depreciation. We therefore expect an unchanged key interest rate next week. A new outlook on interest rates is not due until December. CHART 8: Expected interest rate for 3-month funds (NOK) 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 current Dez 14 Mrz 15 Futures 16.10.14 Jun 15 Sep 15 Dez 15 Commerzbank Elisabeth Andreae +49 69 136 24052 17 October 2014 research.commerzbank.com 11 Bond market preview: Michael Leister Tel. +49 69 136 21264 Bund markets already pricing our €QE base case History is in the making on euro area bond markets as 10y Bund yields have fallen to new all-time lows. Plummeting inflation expectations have again been the key driver, with developments in the US and UK suggesting that disinflation concerns are increasingly turning into a global phenomenon. Peripheral bond markets have sold-off aggressively though with patterns reminiscent of the debt crises. We expect these dynamics to continue near term. 10y Bund yields could fall even further as investors realise the rising risks of our €QE base case materializing already this year. TABLE 3: Weekly outlook for yields and curves Bunds US Treasuries Yields (10 years) Moderately lower Moderately lower Curve (2 - 10 years) Moderately flatter Moderately flatter Source: Commerzbank Research Outlook for the Bund future, 18 – 24 October Economy → Inflation ↑ Monetary policy → Trend ↑ Supply → Risk aversion ↑ The Bund rally has accelerated this week with 10y Bund yields printing new all-time lows at c. 0.7%. Furthermore, German sovereign bonds with maturities up to January 2019 are trading with a negative yield (see chart 9). Plummeting inflation expectations have once again been the key driver of this rally. The 5y5y forward inflation swap has deteriorated further, while the real yield of German inflation-linked bonds has even increased despite the record lows in nominal yields. In the US and the UK market-based inflation expectations have also fallen sharply, suggesting that disinflation is increasingly morphing into a global phenomenon for investors following the series of disappointing inflation data across the globe. The last two trading sessions have added another dimension to the Bund rally though. Peripheral bonds have weakened aggressively, with the patterns on peripheral bond and equity markets reminiscent of the debt crises. Italian spreads vs German Bunds for example have risen to the highest level in eight months (see chart 10). Greece has been under pressure in particular following the ongoing political headlines and the yield on the 10y GGB has risen more than 230bp this week. We expect these developments to continue next week. The positive data releases in the euro area and stress test results will likely be insufficient to materially turn around the current crisis sentiment, particularly as thin liquidity conditions and the spike in volatility push investors to the sideline. We therefore reiterate our cautious stance on peripheral markets. In addition, inflation markets look set to remain under pressure and a verbal intervention from ECB president Draghi seems required to stabilise these. Taken together, we therefore still expect new lows in 10y Bund yields to materialise. With a moderate correction likely in the wings after the stress test results are out, we recommend adding to duration given rising risks of our €QE base case possibly materialising already this year. CHART 9: Bund yields reach new all-time lows across the CHART 10: Peripheral bonds under heavy pressure 10y BTP-Bund-spread, in bp curve, again… Yields of German sovereign bonds, in % 1.8 230 1.6 1.4 210 1.2 190 1.0 0.8 170 0.6 0.4 150 0.2 0.0 130 Jan-14 -0.2 0y 5y 10y 15y 20y Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research 12 25y 30y Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 35y Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 FX market preview: Thu Lan Nguyen Tel. +49 69 136 82878 Concerns about global growth are weighing on the USD Concerns about slowing global growth are weighing on the USD because the market is increasingly calling into question whether the Federal Reserve will soon start to normalise its monetary policy. Weak inflation figures could support this trend near-term. Meanwhile, the EUR should come under growing pressure on QE speculation. TABLE 4: Expected weekly trading range Spanne Tendenz Spanne Tendenz EUR-USD 1.2550-1.2950 Ô EUR-GBP 0.7850-0.8075 Î EUR-JPY 133.50-138.00 Î GBP-USD 1.5850-1.6300 Ô USD-JPY 104.50-108.00 Ò EUR-CHF 1.2000-1.2120 Î Source: Commerzbank Research What was still interpreted as a mild consolidation at the start of the month has now developed into perceptible USD weakness. EUR-USD rose from just over 1.25 to 1.28, and the AUD, the NZD and even the JPY temporarily gained ground versus the USD. The main reason for this reversal is the fear of considerably weaker global growth, which from the perspective of many investors could combine with a strong dollar to constrain also the US economy. Since US data releases (retail sales and Empire State Index) have recently fallen short of market expectations, the market is increasingly calling into question whether the Fed will really normalise its monetary policy next year. Expectations for the US key rate, which were very modest anyway, have continued falling and thereby also contribute to the USD weakness (see chart 11). But this suggests that the market is overly pessimistic for the US economy and therefore underestimates the extent to which the Fed will raise interest rates next year. For this reason we regard the current USD weakness as a correction rather than a trend change. However, we think a string of good US data will be required to convince the market of this view. In the coming week the USD could even continue suffering if inflation data disappoint once more. Likewise, there is deep concern about the economy in the euro zone. The virtual collapse of long-term inflation expectations is particularly dramatic (chart 12). Should the purchasing managers’ indices for the euro area turn out disappointing, speculation about a broad-based bond purchase programme of the ECB will likely mount and weaken the EUR. This could at least cushion an increase in EUR-USD in the coming week. CHART 11: Market doubts Fed rate hike in 2015 CHART 12: Inflation expectations have plummeted Fed funds rate: Fed expectations as points and curves of market expectations from Fed funds futures (end-September, two days ago and yesterday); percent 5Yx5Y inflation expectations based on inflation swaps, euro area CPI (ex tobacco) 2.4% 2.00 1.75 2.3% 1.50 Outlier 2.75-3% 1.25 2.2% 1.00 2.1% 0.75 2.0% 0.50 1.9% 0.25 0.00 Oct-14 Dec-14 Feb-15 Apr-15 Jun-15 Aug-15 Oct-15 Dec-15 9/30/2014 Source: Bloomberg, FOMC 17 October 2014 10/14/2014 10/16/2014 1.8% 1.7% Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Source: Commerzbank Research research.commerzbank.com 13 Equities market preview: Markus Wallner Tel. +49 69 136 21747 Q3 reporting season will not support the market Negatively impacted by weak economic figures, the DAX has fallen further and is now fluctuating at around 8,500 points. Nor can virtually any support be expected from the current Q3 reporting season. Most of the results published so far have also been disappointing. Although the downward movement in share prices has to some extent normalised the high valuations of many German companies, when selecting stocks investors should continue to pay attention to relatively low price/book value ratios compared to the long-term average and to a stronger earnings trend than the market overall. TABLE 5: DAX remains weak Gewinne 2014e Performance (%) seit Indexpunkte Index 30.09 30.06 31.12 aktuell DAX 30 8,572 -9.5 -12.8 -10.3 707.8 MDAX 14,754 -7.8 -12.3 -11.0 934.3 Euro Stoxx 50 2,893 -10.3 -10.4 -7.0 222.5 S&P 500 1,862 -5.6 -5.0 0.8 117.1 Wachstum (%) 31.12 KGV 2014e aktuell 31.12 aktuell 31.12 731.1 1.8 11.6 12.1 13.1 994.2 27.4 41.6 15.8 16.7 242.3 4.9 12.1 13.0 12.8 119.3 7.9 9.9 15.9 15.5 Source: Commerzbank Corporates & Markets, I/B/E/S The Q3 reporting season which is now under way is likely to provide virtually no support for the German equity market. One indication of this is the weakness of key indicators. The Ifo business expectations has thus fallen steadily in the third quarter and is now below 100. The purchasing managers' index for German industry is also clearly pointing downwards. It is hardly surprising therefore that the first company results published for the third quarter and business outlooks have been mainly negative so far, exerting pressure on the prices of the respective stocks. The recently much weaker euro will also have had very little impact on the third-quarter results. For the average EUR/USD exchange rate in the third quarter of 2014 was roughly in line with that of the third quarter of 2013. The annual average so far for 2014 is even higher than in 2013 (chart 13). Many German companies have also hedged against an appreciation of the euro and are not therefore playing any role either in the currency's devaluation. The intermittently fairly high valuations of many German stocks have normalised again slightly as a result of the recent price declines. Nevertheless, when selecting stocks, investors should continue to pay attention to low price/book value ratios compared to the long-term average. The stock selected should also demonstrate stronger earnings momentum than the market as a whole. Examples of this would be Fresenius Medical Care or MTU Aero Engines. CHART 13: Euro devaluation plays virtually no role in Q3 reporting season Annual average of EUR/USD exchange rate, January to mid-October 2014 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source: Datastream, Commerzbank Research 14 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Barbara Lambrecht Tel. +49 69 136 22295 Commodities market preview: Price rally on the gold market is on shaky ground With OPEC holding still, oil continues its price slide, and new multi-year lows could be reached again next week. In contrast, sentiment in the base metal markets is unlikely to plummet when producers and consumers meet to exchange views in London during the LME week. Whilst the Chinese economy expanded more slowly in Q3, China’s industrial production in September presumably increased more strongly than in August. The recent recovery on the gold market is prone to a correction because it was primarily owed to falling equity prices and a weaker dollar. TABLE 6: Tendencies in important commodities Per cent change 16 Oct. 1 week 1 month Tendency Commodity specific events 1 year short-term Brent (USD a barrel) 83.1 -7.8 -16.1 -25.1 Þ Copper (USD a ton) 6550 -2.3 -5.9 -9.8 Ö Gold (USD a troy ounce) 1243 1.5 0.6 -3.1 Ö Source: Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research There is no end to the price slide on the oil market: Brent oil cheapened this week by another USD 7 and is trading at nearly USD 83 per barrel, the lowest level since late 2010. Not only the more sceptical demand outlook of the International Energy Agency has put downside pressure on the price. A particularly price-depressing factor is OPEC’s behaviour: Its members are signalling no willingness whatsoever to lower their output so as to reduce the current excess supply on the market. There is speculation on the market that the swing producer Saudi Arabia accepts lower prices in an attempt to squeeze alternative providers out of the market. At this point only few producers seem to have reached the “pain threshold”. As long as OPEC holds still, the oil price should therefore continue falling. Especially speculative investors are apparently trying to test new lows. Their net long positions in Brent presumably fell last week to the lowest level since the inception of the data series in early 2011 (chart 14). The gold price, in contrast, has recovered noticeably from this year’s low printed in early October. The price fall in equity markets seems to make gold as a safe haven more attractive again. And the weaker US dollar also helped in the last few days. But we are sceptical that a turnaround to the upside has thus been achieved. It is to be assumed that it was above all the fickle speculative investors who added to their net long positions (chart 15), which in early October barely exceeded the record low from last December. Physical demand, in contrast, still remains weak. The holdings of gold ETFs continued falling in the first weeks of October. And the recent recovery in Indian demand threatens to be a (seasonal) flash in the pan because the higher trade deficit will probably dissuade the government from relaxing its restrictions on gold imports. CHART 14: Scepticism abounds on the oil market… CHART 15: …and on the gold market Speculative net long positions in thousands of contracts Oil price: Price per barrel of Brent in USD Speculative net long positions in thousands of contracts Gold price: Price per troy ounce in USD Source: ICE, Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research Source: CFTC, Bloomberg, Commerzbank Research 17 October 2014 research.commerzbank.com 15 Commerzbank forecasts TABLE 7: Growth and inflation Real GDP (%) Inflation rate (%) 2013 2014 2015 2013 2014 2.2 2.2 2.9 1.5 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.5 0.9 2.1 2.0 Japan 1.5 1.0 1.3 0.4 2.8 1.5 Euro area -0.4 0.7 0.8 1.4 0.6 1.0 - Germany 0.1 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.1 2.1 - France 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.9 0.6 0.7 - Italy -1.7 -0.2 0.3 1.2 0.4 0.6 USA Canada 2015 - Spain -1.2 1.4 2.3 1.4 0.0 0.5 - Portugal -1.4 1.0 1.5 0.3 -0.2 0.8 - Ireland 0.2 5.2 3.1 0.5 0.6 1.4 - Greece -4.2 1.0 2.0 -0.9 -1.3 0.5 United Kingdom 1.7 3.0 2.6 2.6 1.6 1.9 Switzerland 2.0 1.7 1.8 -0.2 0.0 0.5 China 7.7 7.3 6.5 2.6 2.3 2.5 India 4.7 5.8 6.2 6.3 6.5 6.2 Brazil 2.5 0.3 0.9 6.2 6.3 6.5 Russia 1.3 0.3 0.9 6.8 7.3 6.5 World 2.9 3.1 3.4 • The ultra-expansionary policy of the Fed is boosting the US economy. At the same time, fiscal policy is at least no longer a headwind. We therefore expect US growth to markedly accelerate. • Growth in China decelerates further, also due to decreasing house prices. • The recovery in the euro zone will only continue at a slow pace. GDP growth will remain lower than that of the USA. • EMU has survived the sovereign debt crisis, but is gradually evolving into an “Italian-style monetary union”. • Despite its current weakness, the German economy looks set to continue outperforming the rest of the euro area – partly because ECB target rates are much too low for Germany. • High unemployment in most countries is keeping inflation low for the time being. In the long term, however, inflation is likely to rise, as central banks have given up some of their independence. TABLE 8: Interest rates (end-of-quarter) 16.10.2014 Q4 14 Q1 15 Q2 15 Q3 15 Q4 15 Federal funds rate 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.50 1.00 1.50 3-months Libor 0.23 0.25 0.30 0.80 1.35 1.90 2 years* 0.33 0.70 0.90 1.20 1.60 2.00 5 years* 1.33 2.10 2.40 2.70 2.95 3.20 10 years* 2.10 2.70 2.90 3.10 3.30 3.50 Spread 10-2 years 177 200 200 190 170 150 Swap-Spread 10 years 17 10 10 10 15 15 USA Euro area Minimum bid rate 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 3-months Euribor 0.08 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 2 years* -0.06 -0.10 -0.10 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 5 years* 0.14 0.25 0.20 0.25 0.35 0.40 10 years* 0.79 1.10 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.35 Spread 10-2 years 85 120 90 110 125 135 Swap-Spread 10 years 27 15 25 30 35 35 United Kingdom Bank Rate 0.50 0.50 0.75 0.75 1.00 1.25 3-months Libor 0.56 0.80 0.90 1.05 1.25 1.40 2 years* 0.63 1.00 1.25 1.30 1.35 1.55 10 years* 2.05 2.60 2.85 3.05 3.20 3.35 • The Fed is set to gradually reduce its QE3 programme and end it in October 2014. Interest rate hikes are on the cards from 2015Q2, due to a continuously decreasing US unemployment rate and gradually rising inflation. • Due to the deteriorating growth outlook and increasing downside risks for inflation we expect the ECB to announce QE within the next 12 months. • 10y Bund yields are likely to stabilise around 1% later this year when the Fed communication changes but mark new record lows when the ECB announces QE in 2015. Thereafter, yields should rise gradually. The structurally low interest rate environment remains intact. • The focus on the Fed’s lift-off will put upward pressure on US$ rates. A return to 3% for 10y USTs is only on the cards for 2015, though. The curve is in for a textbook-style flattening via the short-end in the coming quarters. • Risk premiums of peripheral government bonds are set to decline further. TABLE 9: Exchange rates (end-of-quarter) 16.10.2014 Q4 14 Q1 15 Q2 15 Q3 15 Q4 15 EUR/USD 1.27 1.25 1.22 1.19 1.17 1.15 USD/JPY 106 110 113 116 118 120 EUR/CHF 1.21 1.21 1.21 1.21 1.21 1.21 EUR/GBP 0.80 0.77 0.76 0.75 0.74 0.73 EUR/SEK 9.17 9.10 9.00 8.95 8.90 8.90 EUR/NOK 8.43 8.05 7.80 7.70 7.70 7.65 EUR/PLN 4.24 4.15 4.10 4.08 4.06 4.05 EUR/HUF 308 312 310 309 308 306 EUR/CZK 28.00 27.50 27.30 27.00 27.00 26.90 AUD/USD 0.87 0.87 0.85 0.83 0.81 0.80 NZD/USD 0.79 0.77 0.75 0.73 0.71 0.70 USD/CAD USD/CNY 1.13 1.13 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 6.12 6.10 6.05 6.00 5.95 5.95 • USD should further profit from the expectations of Fed interest rate normalization. Current USD rates have not priced in the speed of rate hikes that we expect. • The high yielding G10 currencies should particularly suffer from US rate hikes. • EUR will remain under pressure due to increasing likelihood of an ECB QE program. ECB wants a weaker EUR and is active in achieving this goal. • CEE currencies are generally benefiting from the dovish ECB backdrop, meaning central banks have room to cut rates further. HUF, PLN and RON should trade range-bound, while EUR/CZK will float above the 27.0 floor set by the CNB. Source: Bloomberg. Commerzbank Economic Research; bold change on last week; * Treasuries, Bunds, Gilts, JGBs 16 research.commerzbank.com 17 October 2014 Research contacts (E-Mail: [email protected]) Chief Economist Dr Jörg Krämer +49 69 136 23650 Economic Research Interest Rate & Credit Research FX Strategy Dr Jörg Krämer (Head) +49 69 136 23650 Christoph Rieger (Head) +49 69 136 87664 Ulrich Leuchtmann (Head) +49 69 136 23393 Eugen Weinberg (Head) +49 69 136 43417 Dr Ralph Solveen (Deputy Head; Germany) +49 69 136 22322 Alexander Aldinger +49 69 136 89004 Lutz Karpowitz +49 69 136 42152 Daniel Briesemann +49 69 136 29158 Elisabeth Andreae (Scandinavia, Australia) +49 69 136 24052 Rainer Guntermann +49 69 136 87506 Peter Kinsella +44 20 7475 3959 Carsten Fritsch +49 69 136 21006 Dr Christoph Balz (USA, Fed) +49 69 136 24889 Peggy Jäger +49 69 136 87508 Thu-Lan Nguyen +49 69 136 82878 Dr Michaela Kuhl +49 69 136 29363 Peter Dixon (UK, BoE), London +44 20 7475 4806 Markus Koch +49 69 136 87685 Esther Reichelt +49 69 136 41505 Barbara Lambrecht +49 69 136 22295 Dr Michael Schubert (ECB) +49 69 136 23700 Michael Leister +49 69 136 21264 Dr Michael Schubert (Quant) +49 69 136 23700 Equity Markets Strategy Eckart Tuchtfeld (German economic policy) +49 69 136 23888 David Schnautz +1 212 895 1993 Cross Asset Strategy Dr Marco Wagner (Germany, France, Italy) +49 69 136 84335 Benjamin Schröder +49 69 136 87622 Bernd Weidensteiner (USA, Fed) +49 69 136 24527 Dr Patrick Kohlmann (Head Non-Financials) +49 69 136 22411 Andreas Hürkamp +49 69 136 45925 Ted Packmohr (Head Covered Bonds and Financials) +49 69 136 87571 Technical Analysis Christoph Weil (Euro area) +49 69 136 24041 Emerging Markets Simon Quijano-Evans (Head) +44 20 7475 9200 Dr Bernd Meyer (Head) +49 69 136 87788 Commodity Research Christoph Dolleschal (Deputy Head Research) +49 69 136 21255 Gunnar Hamann +49 69 136 29440 Markus Wallner +49 69 136 21747 Achim Matzke (Head) +49 69 136 29138 Other publications (examples) Economic Research: Economic Briefing (up-to-date comment on main indicators and events) Economic Insight (detailed analysis of selected topics) Economic and Market Monitor (chart book presenting our monthly global view) Commodity Research: Commodity Daily (up-to-date comment on commodities markets) Commodity Spotlight (weekly analysis of commodities markets and forecasts) Interest Rate & Credit Research: Ahead of the Curve (flagship publication with analysis and trading strategy for global bond markets European Sunrise (daily comment and trading strategy for euro area bond markets) Rates Radar (ad-hoc topics and trading ideas for bond markets) Covered Bonds Weekly (weekly analysis of the covered bonds markets) Credit Morning Breeze (daily overview on European credit market) Credit Note (trading recommendations for institutional investors) FX Strategy: Daily Currency Briefing (daily comment and forecasts for FX markets) Hot Spots (in-depth analysis of FX market topics) FX Alpha (monthly analyses, models, and trading strategies for FX markets) Weekly Equity Monitor (weekly outlook on equity markets and quarterly company reports) Equity Markets Strategy: Monthly Equity Monitor (monthly outlook on earnings, valuation, and sentiment on equity markets) Digging in Deutschland (thematic research focusing on the German equity market) Emerging Markets: EM Week Ahead (weekly preview on events of upcoming week) EM Briefing (up-to-date comment of important indicators and events) EM Outlook (quarterly flagship publication with EM economic analysis and strategy recommendation) Cross Asset: Cross Asset Monitor (weekly market overview, incl. sentiment and risk indicators) Cross Asset Outlook (monthly analysis of global financial markets and tactical asset allocation) Cross Asset Feature (special reports on cross-asset themes) To receive these publications, please ask your Commerzbank contact. 17 October 2014 research.commerzbank.com 17 This document has been created and published by the Corporates & Markets division of Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt/Main or Commerzbank’s branch offices mentioned in the document. 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