Founder

Olivier Desbarres

Exacting. Excellent. Exceeding. Exemplary.

4X Global Research

4X Global Research was founded in 2017 to provide institutional and corporate clients with the substantive research, high-quality analysis and thoughtful insight on Emerging and G20 economies and financial markets they need to make informed and timely decisions and gain an edge in their investments.

FX & Rates

In the past couple of months governments in Asia-Pacific have materially accelerated the administration of Covid-19 vaccines.But because of low starting points, vaccination rates remain low compared to the EU, US and UK and even a number EM economies (including Turkey). The exceptions are Korea, Malaysia and Japan which have now administered a similar number of doses per capita as the US, while Singapore has pulled further ahead. In countries where governments started to vaccinate early such as the US and in particular the UK, vaccine roll-outs have slowed materially in the past nine weeks. These countries are taking additional measures to encourage those not yet vaccinated to do so and there is talk of jabs for under-18s and of booster jabs at least for the most vulnerable.The picture for the increase in Covid-19 deaths since early July is even more granular. In countries where governments started vaccinating early and now have high rates of vaccination, including the UK, US and EU, the number of deaths has perhaps unsurprisingly increased only marginally. The rate of increase and total number of deaths remain negligible in New Zealand despite a sill modest vaccination roll-out. It has to varying degrees been a similar situation in Australia, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.The increase in deaths has also been modest in India and Philippines, albeit from a higher starting point. The increase in deaths has been far higher in Indonesia, Malaysia and in particular Thailand.  Vaccination rates are a critical variable from a health and economic perspective but their direct impact on currencies has been mixed.New Zealand Dollar has outperformed but is not particularly expensive in our view. Going forward we would expect it to remain well supported even if still vulnerable to pull-backs.

In the past couple of months governments in Asia-Pacific have materially accelerated the administration of Covid-19 vaccines.But because of low starting points, vaccination rates remain low compared to the EU, US and UK and even a number EM economies (including Turkey). The exceptions are Korea, Malaysia and Japan which have now administered a similar number of doses per capita as the US, while Singapore has pulled further ahead. In countries where governments started to vaccinate early such as the US and in particular the UK, vaccine roll-outs have slowed materially in the past nine weeks. These countries are taking additional measures to encourage those not yet vaccinated to do so and there is talk of jabs for under-18s and of booster jabs at least for the most vulnerable.The picture for the increase in Covid-19 deaths since early July is even more granular. In countries where governments started vaccinating early and now have high rates of vaccination, including the UK, US and EU, the number of deaths has perhaps unsurprisingly increased only marginally. The rate of increase and total number of deaths remain negligible in New Zealand despite a sill modest vaccination roll-out. It has to varying degrees been a similar situation in Australia, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.The increase in deaths has also been modest in India and Philippines, albeit from a higher starting point. The increase in deaths has been far higher in Indonesia, Malaysia and in particular Thailand.  Vaccination rates are a critical variable from a health and economic perspective but their direct impact on currencies has been mixed.New Zealand Dollar has outperformed but is not particularly expensive in our view. Going forward we would expect it to remain well supported even if still vulnerable to pull-backs.

Fixed Income and Currency Strategist

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

We suggest taking profits on our long-standing recommendation to buy the Mexican peso against the Canadian dollar. The peso has been among the best-performing currencies in EM this year helped by the central bank’s surprise rate hike at the last meeting. The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, has underperformed following last month’s dovish taper by the central bank. We remain constructive on the peso but opt to close the trade as we see the risk that the central bank conveys a dovish message at the next meeting even as it raises the policy rate.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

We suggest taking profits on our long-standing recommendation to buy the Mexican peso against the Canadian dollar. The peso has been among the best-performing currencies in EM this year helped by the central bank’s surprise rate hike at the last meeting. The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, has underperformed following last month’s dovish taper by the central bank. We remain constructive on the peso but opt to close the trade as we see the risk that the central bank conveys a dovish message at the next meeting even as it raises the policy rate.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

FX Dashboard: Take Profits on Long Mexican Peso Vs Short Canadian Dollar

In our monthly trade ideas recap note, we provide a performance update of the trade recommendations in FX and rates that we make weekly and discuss the new recommendations as well as those we closed over the past month. We have made a total of 21 trade recommendations so far, of which 15 are in the money.

In our monthly trade ideas recap note, we provide a performance update of the trade recommendations in FX and rates that we make weekly and discuss the new recommendations as well as those we closed over the past month. We have made a total of 21 trade recommendations so far, of which 15 are in the money.

Alpha Bites: Performance Summary of Trade Recommendations – August 2021

As a group, Asian currencies have underperformed the broad EM complex this year. Several factors are behind this underperformance: delay in the economic recovery due to the slow pace of vaccination, differences in monetary policy stances with much of the rest of EM already raising rates, and aggressive FX interventions. With these factors still broadly applicable, we see no reason for Asian currencies to outperform in the near term. Instead, we find differentiation among countries in Asia providing relative-value opportunities.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

As a group, Asian currencies have underperformed the broad EM complex this year. Several factors are behind this underperformance: delay in the economic recovery due to the slow pace of vaccination, differences in monetary policy stances with much of the rest of EM already raising rates, and aggressive FX interventions. With these factors still broadly applicable, we see no reason for Asian currencies to outperform in the near term. Instead, we find differentiation among countries in Asia providing relative-value opportunities.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

FX Dashboard: Will Asian Currencies Continue to Underperform?

We are not expecting the FOMC meeting tomorrow to be market-moving. Having said that, with the (negative) correlation between the US dollar and EM currencies the highest since 2012, any implications for the dollar from the meeting tomorrow would ripple through EM currencies. This impact is likely to get exacerbated by the rising correlations within the EM FX universe, which implies that we are currently in a "risk-on/risk-off" period.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

We are not expecting the FOMC meeting tomorrow to be market-moving. Having said that, with the (negative) correlation between the US dollar and EM currencies the highest since 2012, any implications for the dollar from the meeting tomorrow would ripple through EM currencies. This impact is likely to get exacerbated by the rising correlations within the EM FX universe, which implies that we are currently in a "risk-on/risk-off" period.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which we seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

FX Dashboard: Cross-Correlations Between EM Currencies Rise Sharply

Malaysia

The Malaysian ringgit is the official currency of the Federation of Malaysia. 

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Vaccination and Currency Immunity

Vaccination rates matter but for some Asia-Pacific countries, economies and currencies they are not proving to be a panacea.

Olivier Desbarres

FX Dashboard: Take Profits on Long Mexican Peso Vs Short Canadian Dollar

We suggest taking profits on our long-standing recommendation to buy the Mexican peso against the Canadian dollar. The peso has been the best...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

Alpha Bites: Performance Summary of Trade Recommendations – August 2021

We provide a performance update of all our trade recommendations along with discussing the new trades from last month. We have made a total of 21...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

FX Dashboard: Will Asian Currencies Continue to Underperform?

Asian currencies have underperformed and are likely to continue doing so because of the impact on growth and monetary policy from the low...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

FX Dashboard: Cross-Correlations Between EM Currencies Rise Sharply

While we are not expecting the FOMC meeting tomorrow to be market-moving, we need to watch for any impact on the dollar as it would ripple through...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

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