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HomeRevisiting the Weakest Link
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 7th, 2009 12:44 PM |
Are all regions of the world improving? Will Asia lead the globe to greener pastures and brighter days? Well, if so, the trek through the fields will not be easy and we will encounter many storms along the way.
While Australia’s raising rates yesterday is an indication of an improving economy in that country, as one moves out of Asia into eastern Europe we encounter a decidedly different dynamic. Let’s revisit the ‘weakest link,’ that being Eastern Europe in general and the Baltic nation of Latvia specifically.
I initially addressed the economic weakness in this part of the world last February in writing, “The Weakest Link.” Today, we learn that Latvian Currency Scare Rattles Markets:
The Swedish krona and a range of eastern European currencies have tumbled as Latvia appears to edge closer to devaluing its currency.
In a re-run of the last major devaluation scare, Latvia failed to attract any bids for one of its treasury bill auctions earlier Wednesday. The country’s treasury received no bids for its offer to sell eight million lats ($16.7 million) of paper maturing in April 2010.
The poor auction results are the latest sign of economic stress in the Baltic nation, where the government is struggling to meet budget cuts required by the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and other bilateral lenders in return for aid.
The Swedish krona, linked to Latvia through Sweden’s large banking exposure to the country, tumbled as news of the failed auction emerged. The euro extended earlier gains to reach a peak at SEK10.3670 against the krona.
Meanwhile, Europe’s emerging market currencies, which often suffer from nerves over risk when Latvia’s problems intensify, also fell.
The euro soared to over HUF269 against the highly risk-sensitive Hungarian forint, from under HUF267 at the start of the day. The euro also swept to over PLN4.24 against the Polish zloty, from a low of PLN4.18.
The Turkish lira and, to a lesser degree, the Czech koruna, also weakened. The failed bond auction was “not good news,” said Nigel Rendell, a European emerging markets strategist at RBC Capital Markets in London.
“It has all the makings of the final chapter in the Latvian story,” he added. In credit markets, the cost of insuring Latvian sovereign debt against default continued to climb from recent levels, in a sign that investors are increasingly uncomfortable with the outlook for the country. Regional peers Lithuania and Estonia, which also peg their currencies to the euro, saw their swaps spreads widen.
Still, the debt and currency markets shouldn’t be overly troubled by Latvian devaluation risk, as the threat has been building for some time, and the global financial markets are now much more robust than they were several months ago.
“If they did devalue, there would be a selloff [in eastern European assets], but the impact would not be as severe as it would have been six to nine months ago,” said Mr. Rendell at RBC. “If we had big currency moves, I think people would buy them back,” he added.
Devaluation is also unlikely to catch the Swedish banks off guard. To brace for the potential onslaught of defaulting customers, both Swedbank AB and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB have set up Baltic units to deal with problem loans and seized collateral.
While officials may care to discount the impact of a full blown devaluation of the Latvian currency, the interconnectedness of the global markets has proven to be more of a risk propellant rather than a risk mitigant. How so? The use of derivatives across currency and credit markets has been shown to be as much speculative in nature as pure hedging. In fact, there certainly are market participants who will benefit by a Latvian devaluation.
Can that devaluation, if it does occur, be well contained?
I’ll be watching.
LD
Related Sense on Cents Commentary
Let’s Cross the Pond and Revist the Weakest Link (May 23, 2009)
Let’s Cross the Pond and Revisit The Weakest Link
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 23rd, 2009 2:27 PM |
The Washington Post is running a lead article today about the concern that the European Union in general, and the United Kingdom specifically, may derail the global recovery. Let’s cross “the pond.”
European Slump May Stall Global Rebound
Some countries, such as Ireland, are so cash-strapped that they’ve raised taxes in the middle of a deep recession, making things worse. In addition, European leaders have only recently signaled their willingness to conduct broad, systematic stress tests on their financial institutions, similar to the ones on major U.S. banks already concluded by the Treasury Department.
This is not news. Nothing of substance has dramatically changed in Western or Eastern Europe from my writing, The Weakest Link and The Weakest Link Is Weakening in late February and early March.
The media, government officials, and market pundits have been been attempting to talk the economy up more than the actual reality would dictate. The equity markets rebounded from an oversold condition in early March. For short term traders and those focused on technical analysis, I hope you caught the move. For those focused on the long term fundamentals of the economy, the risks remain very high.
While, WaPo and other media outlets may voice concerns now or report developments as new, the “strains in the European chain” remain very real. Along these lines, I had written on April 30th in my April 2009 Market Review: Brave New World:
I believe it is a question of when – not if – in terms of a major European country defaulting on its debt and requiring a rescue from the EU and/or IMF.
The Washington Post should be a little more rigorous in terms of checking their facts. They report:
While U.S. banks have already written down about half the estimated $1.1 trillion in troubled loans and toxic assets on their books, Europe’s financial institutions have thus far written down less than 25 percent of their $1.4 trillion in bad debts related to the crisis, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund.
In actuality, the IMF has forecasted that U.S. banks have upwards of $2.8 trillion in troubled loans and toxic assets and have written down approximately 40-45% of it. That’s bad reporting. At least the reporter is diligent enough to highlight that Western Europe’s major concerns relate to the financial exposure to Eastern Europe. Although, this is not new news, they report:
Many major Western European banks are also heavily invested in hard-hit Eastern Europe, where the risk of a fresh wave of corporate and consumer defaults is considerable.
With all due respect, tell us something we don’t know.
LD
Fed Releases Names of AIG’s Creditors
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 6th, 2009 9:03 PM |
Under pressure from Congress this week to release the names of AIG’s creditors, the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chairman Donald Kohn clearly got the message. The Fed has acquiesced in releasing that Top U.S., European Banks Got $50 Billion in AIG AID.
My immediate reaction to this news is how interesting that the bulk of these institutions are European. What does that tell me? These European banks were getting plowed by Wall Street with a lot of sub-prime backed CDOs and when the dam was breaking they wanted to hedge their position. Market speculation is that European institutions own twice the amount of toxic assets as U.S. based institutions. That exposure on top of their delinquent loans in eastern Europe is crushing a number of western European banks. Who are they? Start by looking at the list, included in the above-referenced article, of AIG creditors.
In providing the hedge – which is the insurance – AIG received a fat premium but has been paying for it ever since. Actually, AIG only truly paid for it up until last September . . . the American taxpayer has been and will continue to be paying for it for a long time. Where were the regulators when we really needed them?
LD
Why is George Soros Short the Euro? MUST READ!
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 3rd, 2009 6:10 AM |
In very short order, I have gained a deep respect and regard for our Economic All-Star, John Mauldin. I have come to appreciate that Mauldin and I view the market through the same lens focused on the global economy. While many media outlets focus on the day to day, if not hour to hour trading activity, I believe they are truly missing the forest for the trees.
While I have written twice over the last week about eastern Europe being the weakest link in the world of global finance, Mauldin and his colleague Niels Jensen of Absolute Return Partners provided insights and analysis that is numbing.
Why is George Soros short the euro? Let me provide a synopsis of Mauldin’s and Jensen’s “Europe On the Ropes.” Assuming those visiting Sense on Cents have an interest in the markets and economy, this piece is somewhat lengthy, but a MUST READ!! A link is provided at the end of my review. (more…)
February 2009 Market Review
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 28th, 2009 10:13 AM |
Prior to going to the comments section of my son’s report card, human nature dictates that I first look at the grades. In that same vein, let’s see how the markets performed for the month of February:
Let’s review my specific projections from the January 2009 Recap: (more…)
The Weakest Link
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 27th, 2009 10:45 AM |
It is widely believed that the weakest link in the global economy centers on Eastern Europe. In light of that, the leaders of 12 eastern European countries are holding an emergency economic summit this weekend. From that summit, it is expected that these countries will request an international bailout.
As of now it appears the countries in greatest degree of stress are Hungary, Ukraine, and Serbia. The expectation is that the group of countries will request the European Union to arrange a $230 billion bailout package. Who would provide the funding? A conglomerate of European Central Banks, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, European Investment Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
A major issue for eastern Europe is that their creditors, largely western European banks along with western European countries, are not exactly in great shape themselves. These countries may look to accelerate their entry into the EU and the full adoption of the Euro along with it.
As the pressure and stress builds, the chance of political dislocation also grows.
For further details on how Hungary Seeks $230 Billion Bailout for Eastern Europe. I will be monitoring this situation as it develops. As our global economy is very much interconnected, the increase in sovereign credit risks is a very serious concern.
LD
