Alton Drew

Reading the shift …

Category: GOP

Interbank market news scan: Biden ready to pull reconciliation trigger; central banks, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange

Posted by on in COVID-19, cryptocurrency, GOP, Joe Biden, RepublicansLeave a comment

The strategy takeaway …

The White House yesterday released the following statement on President Joe Biden’s meeting with GOP senators:

“The President and the Vice President had a substantive and productive discussion with Republican senators this evening at the White House. The group shared a desire to get help to the American people, who are suffering through the worst health and economic crisis in a generation. 

While there were areas of agreement, the President also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas which the Republican senators’ proposal does not address. He reiterated that while he is hopeful that the Rescue Plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end. The President also made clear that the American Rescue Plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation short of its pressing needs. 

The President expressed his hope that the group could continue to discuss ways to strengthen the American Rescue Plan as it moves forward, and find areas of common ground — including work on small business support and nutrition programs. He reiterated, however, that he will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”

The key word here is reconciliation. In this statement, Mr Biden is signaling that the GOP’s offer does not come close enough to his vision on spending. Reports have the Republicans promoting a pandemic relief package of approximately $618 billion while Mr Biden wants a package of $1.9 trillion. Given Democratic Party control of both chambers of Congress, Mr Biden may believe that fast tracking his measure through Congress is his best option. He can argue that he kept his promise to pursue a bi-partisan approach with the Republicans while keeping his campaign pledge to push a $1.9 trillion plan.

Reconciliation allows Democratic House leadership to issue instructions to its committees to make changes in existing law to support the proposed program costs. The House Budget Committee bundles together the committees’ recommended changes in spending and revenues and submits the bundled recommendations to the House floor for vote. When the reconciliation bill is sent to the Senate, the bill goes through an expedited process. Filibuster is not allowed and a simple majority would be all that is needed to pass in the Senate.

Traders should position themselves for a stronger dollar accompanied by higher yields and an uptick in inflation due to additional spending by consumers. The duration of dollar strengthening, in my opinion, will be determined by the type of spending generated by the bill. As I concluded yesterday, Mr Biden’s America Rescue Plan does not appear to provide funding for infrastructure projects and seems more of a band-aid for households. With the bulk of monies expected to go to households, I expect spending on consumer items, rent, and mortgages.

Currency pairsExchange Rate as of 4:45 pm EST 1 February 2021The eventPost Event-Exchange Rate as of 1:49 am EST 2 February 2021
AUD/USD0.7641Joe Biden meets with GOP senators0.7626
USD/CAD1.2776Joe Biden meets with GOP senators1.2824
USD/CNY6.4267Joe Biden meets with GOP senators6.4605
EUR/USD1.2135Joe Biden meets with GOP senators1.2066
USD/INR72.8760Joe Biden meets with GOP senators72.9740
GBP/USD1.3699Joe Biden meets with GOP senators1.3676
USD/JPY104.6400Joe Biden meets with GOP senators105.0200
USD/MXN20.5641Joe Biden meets with GOP senators20.2827
USD/DKK6.1262Joe Biden meets with GOP senators6.1539
USD/NOK8.5474Joe Biden meets with GOP senators8.5639
Sources: Federal Reserve, Reuters

In the news …

Australia’s central bank held rates at near-zero in a widely expected decision on Tuesday and said it would expand its bond buying programme by A$100 billion ($76.4 billion)from mid-April to help support jobs and boost inflation. Australia central bank expands QE by $76 bln, commits to prolonged easy rates (msn.com)

China’s central bank on Tuesday conducted 80 billion yuan ($12.36 billion) of reverse repos to maintain reasonably ample liquidity in the banking system. China’s central bank conducts 80b yuan of reverse repos – Chinadaily.com.cn

The news of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) potentially restarting production of graphics processing units (GPUs) production is very good news for all those hoping for bitcoin mining GPUs. Cryptocurrency Miners Are Eagerly Awaiting News From Nvidia – MarketWatch

As of 1:30 am AST, on the eve of a vote on impeachment, bond yields stay relatively flat…

Posted by on in bonds, GOP, government, yieldLeave a comment
RatesFederal Reserve as of 11 January 2021Bloomberg as of 13 January 2021 1:00 am AST
Federal Funds Rate0.080.08
Prime Rate3.253.25
3-month Treasury0.080.08
2-year Treasury0.140.14
10-year Treasury1.151.12
30-year Treasury1.881.87
Source: Federal Reserve, Bloomberg

House votes resolution asking Pence to use 25th amendment to remove Trump

Last night the U.S. House of Representatives passed the following House resolution in its attempts to remove President Donald Trump prior to the end of his term. House Res 21 reads as following:

“This resolution calls upon Vice President Michael R. Pence (1) to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments to declare that the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office, and (2) to transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House notice that he will be immediately assuming the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.“

Vice-President Pence has reportedly said that he does not intend to invoke the 25th Amendment. This means that the House will likely move to the next stage of its strategy which is to vote articles of impeachment against Mr Trump. Given the Democrats majority in the House, passage is expected.

The articles of impeachment would then move to the Senate for a trial. Indications are that, unlike last year’s attempt to remove the President from office via impeachment where a Republican-controlled Senate voted not to remove the President, there may be enough support on the part of Senate Republicans to find Mr Trump liable for “high crimes and misdemeanors”, the standard under the U.S. Constitution for removal. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has signaled that Mr Trump’s behavior, where allegedly encouraged supporters to march last week on the Capitol, amounted to an impeachable offense.

The establishment wing of the Republican Party, now in damage control as a result of the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters and the resulting deaths of five people, would like nothing more than to move on from the Trump era and start laying the groundwork for the 2022 mid-term elections.

I don’t expect impeachment actions to have any bearing on pending policy actions designed to impact the economy. With only seven days left until the change in government, attempts to remove Mr Trump are designed to score political points with an electorate, a significant amount of whom believe the actions of individuals storming the Capitol amounted to an insurrection attacking the country’s representative institutions of democracy.