Oil analysts claim the Tillerson ouster is bullish for oil.
Rex #Tillerson ouster bullish for #oil (bearish for #IranDeal) analysts like @JoeMcMonigle say https://t.co/KNpa6mVWGh via @dan_graeber @crudeoilprices pic.twitter.com/9ULJqwDzGj
— Hedgeye (@Hedgeye) March 14, 2018
Joseph McMonigle writing for HedgEye says Tillerson’s Departure Signals End of Iran Nuclear Deal & Higher Oil Prices.
- Trump’s decision to replace Tillerson surely signals the end of the Iran nuclear deal. While a reluctant Trump issued another waiver of Iran oil sanctions in January, he warned that it was the last waiver unless the agreement is changed to address his concerns.
- Re-imposing US oil sanctions on Iran would put as much as one million barrels a day of Iranian crude exports at risk of being removed from global markets. Such a move would inject significant geopolitical instability in oil markets and likely send oil prices higher.
- Trump’s new Secretary of State-nominee Mike Pompeo is aligned with Trump on the Iran policy. He had been a leading opponent of the Iran nuclear deal when he was a Member of Congress.
I strongly disagree for political reasons and economic reasons. Throw in sentiment for good measure.
Political: Trump is a Lone Wolf
Unless the ECB also puts sanctions on Iran, Trump will be an ineffective lone wolf.
There is no reason to believe the ECB will go along with Trump. The ECB despises Trump.
On July 30, 2017, the Financial Tribune announced a Six-Fold Rise in EU Oil Imports From Iran.
Is that going to change because of Trump? Are exports to China going to change because of Trump?
No, to both.
On January 16, 2018, Reuters reported India’s imports of Iran oil in Dec scheduled to rise to most since March.
Will exports to India change because of Trump?
Sentiment
Sentiment is not a timing indicator, but that is about as lopsided as things get.
Price – West Texas Intermediate Futures
The market does not agree that the removal of Tillerson is bullish and neither do I.
Economic Reasons
Retail sales have been pathetic, Down Three Consecutive Months.
Talk about jobs all you want, but consumers are not spending. Economists are shocked. I’m not.
GDP Estimates
GDP estimates are falling like a rock. Once again, there’s no surprise here. 4th quarter spending was goosed by hurricanes and this is payback time as predicted.
Home Sales
- February 26: New Home Sales Down 7.8%: Six Reasons Sales Can’t Break Out
- February 28: Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Dive to Lowest Level in 3.5 Years
Think about those reports. It should take about 1 second.
When consumers are not buying homes, they are also not buying new carpets, new appliances, new furniture, or new kitchen cabinets.
Auto Sales
Investors have been demanding more protection against losses on auto-loan-backed debt. This is pressuring auto lenders, and will likely make it more expensive to take out car loans. https://t.co/OASIeFAORi
— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1) March 14, 2018
Inflation?
Where’s Inflation? Inflation is in the Rear View Mirror, that’s where.
Distressed debt is at a 7-year high, up 11.5% in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The Financial Times notes “More Americans are also falling behind on their mortgages, for which problematic debt levels rose 5.2 percent over the same period to $56.7 billion.”
Deflationary Debt Trap Setup
These numbers are hugely deflationary. When credit expands there is inflation. When credit contracts (think defaults, bankruptcies, mortgage walk-away events), debt deflation occurs.
Here’s my definition of inflation: An increase in money supply and credit, with credit marked to market.
Deflation is the opposite: A decrease in money supply and credit, with credit marked to market.
You may or may not like my definitions, but they are how the real world works. Banks keep lending, and lending on riskier and riskier assets to support riskier and riskier projects, until problems hit.
Looking Ahead
- Credit card delinquencies are priced as if they will be paid back. They won’t.
- As soon as recession hits, defaults and charge-offs will mount. In turn, this will reduce the amounts banks will be willing to lend.
- Subprime corporations who had been borrowing money quarter after quarter will find they are priced out of the market, unable to roll over their debt.
When asset prices decline, banks cannot take more risk. Lending declines.
In a fiat credit-based global setup, this is how the real world works.
Perhaps we get consumer inflation for a quarter or two, but inflation is largely if not entirely in the rear view mirror, primarily having impacted asset prices, not consumer prices.
What economists expect to happen, already has. They don’t see it because they do not understand what inflation really is.
Still like crude? With the economy clearly slowing and sentiment massively lopsided? Why?
I will add one possibility for the long side: We actually attack Iran, taking out their refineries. I do not see this as likely.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
@Jev25 I’m going on a hunch that nobody knows how much fossil fuel is underneath the North American continent, nor the proportion we will be capable of utilizing, nor domestic demand for the next 100 years.
100 years of oil? I call BS on this. Show me evidence.
Good comments on the supply of credit and inflation/deflation Mish. Good post.
USA has enough oil discovered for at least 100 years right here on our continent. We still import it but we would not have too. It has nothing to do with Trump or anyone else. It’s all bout supply and demand, or did the article disclose that?
The new director of our CIA actively participated in and then attempted to cover up programs to torture civilians that were never charged with any civil or military crime. Supporting Saudi terrorists in their efforts to destroy Iranian infrastructure to sway an election and boost the domestic economy would be too immoral for her? What about just not stopping Russia from from doing the same thing against Saudi Arabian infrastructure?
I added this: I will add one possibility for the long side: We actually attack Iran, taking out their refineries. I do not see this as likely.
Can the US and Russia engineer or inflate a Middle East conflict while staying clean enough that it doesn’t damage our domestic politics? If it is possible, I think it will happen.
@vboring
Nice comment!
I’m not sure higher oil prices are strictly “good” for the US, but things are certainly less one-sided now, than it has been for the past few decades. Throw in that higher oil prices aren’t just good, but pretty darned critical, for Russia, as well as for the regimes in Saudi and Iran; and you have, at a minimum, an argument for being more bullish on oil than on peace in the Middle East…
Oil is a global commodity. Domestic analysis is a poor proxy for the global economy. The case for oil is that for the first time, rising oil prices are good for the US. If the US starts a war in the middle east and oil prices go up, we win – at least, the red parts of the country where the oil comes from win. Add in a political belief that wars are good for incumbent parties during elections and a bet on domestic oil is worth a shot. Rising oil prices will also help LNG exports. Every else’s NG contracts are tied to oil prices. Ours float separately.
The falling wedge pattern on the WTI chart looks a bit ominous.
Okay Mish. I’ll take a very leveraged $100 short on oil futures in honor of your brilliance. If I lose it all I will blame you lol.