Outlook
April 6, 2022
The past few weeks of NDX outperformance looked like lazy, low conviction buying as a 70’s-style stagflation narrative emerged while crude oil prices advanced into the $120s. Slowing economic growth generally helps the NDX outperform as real yields decline. But a stagflation scenario must be a low probability (<10%) outcome given: 1) a comparatively benign move in crude oil prices to date; 2) oil, gasoline and distillates represent a much lower percentage of total consumption now and; 3) there’s no current unionization/wage-indexation trend to cause a wage-price spiral. The inability for crude oil prices to lift amid expectations for increased sanctions has helped reduce inflation expectations and allowed real yields to lift off suppressed levels
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