The Other “Most Crowded” Trade is (Still) to Short Long-term Treasury Bonds

In a nutshell, we are absolutely amazed at the amount of pain endured by speculators who are short long-term treasury bonds.

Why Not Just Buy The US 5-Year Treasury?

The collapse in yields around the developed world is startling. For fun, we wanted to see how many 5-year or longer dated government bonds are currently yielding less than the US 5-year on-the-run treasury bond (which is down 23 bps YTD itself).

SKEW Has Moderated Somewhat, But Remains Elevated

While the CBOE SKEW Index has fallen back somewhat from highs last fall (see our comment here), it remains quite elevated– both relative to history and on an absolute basis. Indeed, the further the index rises above 100, the higher the probability of ’outlier returns’. For a full description of the indicator’s profile, see here.

PPI and Trade Prices Weakest Ever In An Expansionary Period

With the release of (the plunging) producer price index today, we thought we would take a look at some of our latest PPI and trade price charts (i.e. February data point) that have been released in the last two days.

The Market Is Pricing In Two Rate Hikes In 2015 (And Four In 2016)

According to Fed Fund futures, the market currently expects about 2 rate hikes by December 2015 (assuming the Fed raises rates by 25 basis points each time). Fed Funds futures is pricing the Fed Funds Rate at 54 basis points by December 2015.

The Strong USD Is Negatively Impacting US Trade

Exports have been a solid contributor to US GDP growth for the last few years, while consumption and residential investment have been more restrained. Recently, with consumption firming and likely to improve further from the tail-wind of lower oil prices, and exports faltering, it appears the drivers of the US economy are trading places.

USD and Purchasing Power Parity

We mentioned yesterday that the US dollar is again breaking out and that tends to be negative for most stocks around the world. Today, we thought we would continue to look at US dollar strength. The nominal trade-weighted dollar index by major currencies is again very close to breaking out to 11+ year highs.

On the Long Bond and Why the Widow Maker is Alive and Well

Perhaps one of the most important questions investors need to answer today is whether we’ve seen the low in the long bonds yields or whether the trend lower is firmly intact.

US CPI Makes The Rare Plunge Into Negative Territory

While we recognize that the negative year-over-year change in the US CPI may soon reverse given gas prices have risen by nearly 30 cents, we wanted to highlight how rare a negative year-over-year print is in the US.

The Pop In US Mortgage Apps Was Fun While It Lasted

After starting the year off with a bang (thanks to refinancing activity), US mortgage applications are tumbling back towards the depressed 2014 levels. Mortgage apps fell for the third straight week even as the purchase index rose for the first time in seven weeks.

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The information presented here is for informational purposes only, and is not to be construed as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, securities. Some investments are not suitable for all investors, and there can be no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful. Hyperlinks may be included in this message that provide direct access to other internet resources, including web sites. While we believe these links are to reliable sources, Knowledge Leaders Capital has no control over the accuracy or content of information contained on these sites. Although we make every effort to ensure such links are accurate, up to date and relevant, we have no control over pages maintained by external providers. The views expressed by these external providers on their own web pages or on external sites they link to are not necessarily those of Knowledge Leaders Capital.

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An investor cannot invest directly in an index. Any reference to Index performance does not represent the performance of any investment product offered by Knowledge Leaders Capital, LLC. The performance of client account may vary from the Index performance. Index returns shown are not reflective of actual investor performance nor do they reflect fees and expenses applicable to investing. The Index data is the property of Knowledge Leaders Capital, LLC, which has contracted with SolactiveAG to calculate and maintain the indexes.

The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders Knowledge Leaders Developed World Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGX is 7/1/14 and the base date of the index calculation is 3/31/2000. The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders Emerging Markets Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGEX) is 9/2/14 and the base date of the index calculation is 4/1/2005. The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders International Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGINX) is 8/15/16 and the base date of the index calculation is 3/31/2000. The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders United States Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGUSX) is 8/15/16 and the base date of the index calculation is 3/31/2000. The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders Developed World ADR Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGAX) is 9/13/16 and the base date of the index calculation is 3/31/2000. The launch date of the Knowledge Leaders International ADR Index (Bloomberg ticker KNLGINAX) is 8/30/16 and the base date of the index calculation is 3/31/2000.

The returns of the Index prior to the launch date are based on applying the rules in effect as of the launch date retroactively to historical periods to and including the base date. Results are not based on an Index that was maintained in real time. The pre-inception performance results of the Index are hypothetical returns which have been compiled by Knowledge Leaders Capital. The performance results are based upon a hypothetical model. Hypothetical performance results may have inherent limitations, some of which are described below. No representation is being made that any account did or was likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are prepared with the benefit of hindsight. There are numerous other factors related to the markets in general or to the implementation of any specific trading strategy which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of hypothetical performance results and all of which can adversely affect actual trading results. These returns should not be considered as indicative of the skills of the investment adviser.To obtain additional index methodology and constituent components, please visit KnowledgeLeadersCapital.com.

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Navigation

The Other “Most Crowded” Trade is (Still) to Short Long-term Treasury Bonds

Why Not Just Buy The US 5-Year Treasury?

SKEW Has Moderated Somewhat, But Remains Elevated

PPI and Trade Prices Weakest Ever In An Expansionary Period

The Market Is Pricing In Two Rate Hikes In 2015 (And Four In 2016)

The Strong USD Is Negatively Impacting US Trade

USD and Purchasing Power Parity

On the Long Bond and Why the Widow Maker is Alive and Well

US CPI Makes The Rare Plunge Into Negative Territory

The Pop In US Mortgage Apps Was Fun While It Lasted