It wasn’t that long ago that U.S. markets felt simple. The rules were so straightforward they’d become cliches: Don’t fight the Fed. Don’t try to catch a falling knife. Buy -- when there’s blood in the streets -- and hold.
But in the era of Donald Trump, the aphorism isn’t as catchy and it discourages always caring about what’s true and what isn’t: Don’t bet against the tweet or off-the-cuff remark from the president of the world’s largest economy.
Stocks are rising and havens like the yen are selling off Monday after Trump said China badly wants a trade deal and prospects for an end to the fight are greatly improved. Investors are suddenly ebullient again even though a Chinese journalist widely viewed as a mouthpiece for the government sowed doubt about the president’s version of things.
Traders are probably nursing a terrible case of whiplash. On Friday, stocks suffered one of their worst losses of the year, driving investors into the safe embrace of Treasuries and gold. Trump’s Twitter account was the main culprit, as the president labeled China’s Xi Jinping a potential enemy and announced he’d retaliate against the Asian nation’s latest tariffs. And then there was confusion on Sunday regarding media reports that Trump regretted his aggressive stance.
Financial markets should expect prices to keep veering up and down at tweet-speed. Asked Monday about his back-and-forth negotiating style when dealing with China, Trump replied: “Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate.”
For investment professionals, there’s little choice but to follow along.
“It’s very hard to ignore the tweets that are coming out, unfortunately, and, yes, they can overwhelm the fundamentals,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, a senior U.S. rates strategist at TD Securities. “We’re trying to step back and look at the big picture and realize the volatility is still far from over.”
Over at SVB Asset Management, a $41 billion investment firm, there’s normally a weekly strategy meeting to review the landscape and sort out where to put clients’ money. “But now we’re talking about the markets daily,” said Eric Souza, a senior portfolio manager at the company. “Hourly, there’s just so much volatility and news coming out.”
But something has been steadfast: the bond market, which continues to worry about the trade war’s impact. Amid the wild fluctuations elsewhere in markets, Treasuries have for months said a U.S. recession looks likely. Three-month bills have yielded more than 10-year notes for most of the past five months, aka the dreaded yield-curve inversion. The yield difference widened on Monday to as much as minus 53.8 basis points, the most negative since March 2007.
Odds of a U.S. recession in the next 12 months are about 80%, according to Ann-Katrin Petersen, investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is worried, too.