TMI Indicators: Commodity Sentiment Review - Restocking On, But China Macro Momentum May Have Peaked

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Introducing TMI Data Science: Delivering Alpha With Custom NLP-Based Leading Indicators

Managing Director

Elan Gore

TMI Data Science

TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade & traditional media.  Our proprietary software, TMI Machine, is a text-mining platform designed with the buy-side & capital markets professional in mind, text-mining the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income & individual equities.  TMI provides custom leading indicators and systematic trading strategies, operating at the nexus of linguistics & statistics drawing on vast experience in investment banking and hedge fund settings in senior quantitative and fundamental roles.  

TMI Data Science was founded by Elan Gore, an award-winning Senior Global Basic Materials Equity Analyst & China Economist with 15 years of experience in North American hedge funds & institutional managers; and Alessandro Porrino, Ph.D., an Algorithmic Trading Analyst and Programmer with 10 years of front-office experience ranging from complex FX option pricing to auto-hedging strategies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered.  Mr. Gore holds an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business, and Mr. Porrino holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Brunel University London.

Cross Asset Strategy

Multiple Countries / Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Following the November melt-up, we text-mine for clues on inventory restocking dynamics going into year-end</li>
<li>While references to a general inventory restocking in the global financial media are up nearly +4x STDEVs, our data suggests this is the second notable raw materials restocking wave since the recovery began, following a more robust restocking seen in August; nonetheless, the current phase is abnormal relative to typical year-end seasonality, highlighting much-anticipated pent-up demand</li>
<li>Our short-term broad commodity sentiment indicator hit +2x STDEVs, its highest reading since January, on 11/23; this followed a significant spike in China macro sentiment earlier in November, which was preceded by a multi-year record in our Copper sentiment indicator in the first half of the month</li>
<li>Current readings see continued positive sentiment momentum in palladium, copper, aluminum and crude, while negative sentiment persists in pulp, uranium and silver</li>
<li>Our sentiment picture for iron ore and steel has been obfuscated by Australia-China tensions, having turned neutral after readings of +3x STDEV and +1.8x STDEV in recent weeks; but our news attributions also identify reports of seasonally declining BF utilization and end demand in recent weeks</li>
<li>While raw materials-specific and short-cycle industrial restocking may pause in the next 6-8 weeks, the broader global finished goods restocking is likely to remain a supportive factor keeping commodities trading in tighter ranges relative to winter averages </li>
</ul><div class="content-highlight"><p>TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade &amp; traditional media. Our proprietary software text-mines the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income &amp; individual equities. </p></div>


Following the November melt-up, we text-mine for clues on inventory restocking dynamics going into year-end
While references to a general inventory restocking in the global financial media are up nearly +4x STDEVs, our data suggests this is the second notable raw materials restocking wave since the recovery began, following a more robust restocking seen in August; nonetheless, the current phase is abnormal relative to typical year-end seasonality, highlighting much-anticipated pent-up demand
Our short-term broad commodity sentiment indicator hit +2x STDEVs, its highest reading since January, on 11/23; this followed a significant spike in China macro sentiment earlier in November, which was preceded by a multi-year record in our Copper sentiment indicator in the first half of the month
Current readings see continued positive sentiment momentum in palladium, copper, aluminum and crude, while negative sentiment persists in pulp, uranium and silver
Our sentiment picture for iron ore and steel has been obfuscated by Australia-China tensions, having turned neutral after readings of +3x STDEV and +1.8x STDEV in recent weeks; but our news attributions also identify reports of seasonally declining BF utilization and end demand in recent weeks
While raw materials-specific and short-cycle industrial restocking may pause in the next 6-8 weeks, the broader global finished goods restocking is likely to remain a supportive factor keeping commodities trading in tighter ranges relative to winter averages 
TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade &amp; traditional media. Our proprietary software text-mines the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income &amp; individual equities. 

TMI Indicators: December Commodity Sentiment - Restocking into Winter on Pent-Up Demand Expectations