Market View: December 23

Markets have been trading in a range now for more than 2 months, and everytime it tests the barrier at the end of its channel, it reverses back violently. Seems like it would stay within this range for eternity - but then, it appears this way most of times before the final break-out happens. The key question now is not whether the market would break-out, but when.

A lot of participants have lost hope of break-out this calender year, and believe that the next few days would be calm. The implied and realized volatility are both at their 1-year lows. Implieds went below 20 perhaps for the first time this year, and even the US VIX has taken a dip into the sub-20 ocean. Just for the point of comparison, the 20 year average for VIX has been 20, with high of 89, and low of 9. So, we are currently standing at the historical average level of volatility. I think this is a very good time to buy long term volatility (1-year) - just for the comparison, this is how the 1-year realized vols on Nifty has moved:

2001: 26%
2002: 17%
2003: 20%
2004: 29%
2005: 18%
2006: 27%
2007: 26%
2008: 45%
2009: 35%

I'm assuming the volatility next year should be somewhere around 30 (on the conservative side). Remember, most of these years have been bull market period with low volatility, so the current sub-30 volatility is indeed a very good buy.

My view on the markets is again back to bullish - too much of liquidity still waiting on the sidelines, and even though fundamentally valuations have got over-stretched and everything, I think we have steam left to go all the way upto 6000 on Nifty. Banks have become very aggressive on increasing their balance sheet, and this is after a pause of around 2 years. So, am assuming with increased lending, we would see economy coming back to higher growth levels, and corporates having access to easy liquidity in form of debt. All the corporates who have been running a tight leveraged scenario, and have taken a beating, might be the best performers over first half of next year. I think likes of Suzlon, Unitech, DLF, Idea, ICICI and Tata Group would be out-performers.

On the sectroal front, I think Autos have run out of steam as well as good news. Already sitting at the record sales numbers for the past 3 months, I guess its time for some correction. The vehicle sales would continue to surprise over the next 3-4 months, but most of that has already been factored into the current prices. I think market leaders such as Hero Honda and Maruti may be weak from here going forward, whereas Tata Motors may outperform relatively.

Banks would be the big sector next quarter, and whether they are able to take the shock from RBI measures would determine the market direction to a large extent. If the sector cracks (in case of hawkish measures), then we may see weakness in the whole market. However, my feel is that RBI won't be too aggressive in tightening, and we may see record loan growth over the next few quarters. I would go long the banks at the current levels, and review the position after the RBI policy announcements.

On Real Estate, I'm largely bullish, and think there would be huge upside in the sector over the next year. There is a huge pent-up demand, and I think the sector would return back to its glory days of 2006 and 2007. There would a sharp rise in housing activities, as well as trasnsactions happening.

 

Credit Crisis and Banking Bonuses

If last year it were the CEOs of large banks who were on the firing line, this time around its the banking community which is facing the backlash. And the worst part is, its the politicians who are meting out the punishment.

Yesterday, UK passed a special one time tax on 2009 year-end bonuses. This is in addition to the income tax payable by the employee. Somehow, the blame for the whole crisis has passed on to the banks, and more specifically to the bank employees. Which is as good as blaming Vijay Malaya for your the drinking habits of society, or the Casino owners for all the money lost by gamblers. Everyone is supporting the cause of middle-class which has been short-changed by the bankers. However, what everyone is conveniently ignoring is the underlying greed of effectively the whole world. Banks are responsible only to the extent of ‘selling dreams’ – they enabled people to buy houses and maintain lifestyles which they otherwise couldn’t afford. How on earth does one justify every T, D & H in the world buying 1 MM worth of houses?

Banks just earned their cut (which would be 1-2% in the whole transaction). What about all those property developers who sold their apartments at 200-500%  premium to their pre-crisis levels. It is them who made the biggest profit out of this whole mess – and yet, no one is pointing any fingers at them. Banks have been caught napping, just like the rest of the world. And to a large extent, they are in the same boat as everyone – fooled by the crisis, and lost all their equity.

I’m not a supporter of complex financial instruments per se – but somehow I think its not the complexity that took the world down. It was simple plain vanilla naked Greed which caused all this mess.

Market View: December 9

This was to be the year of surprises, and hence, it was apt that the last couple of months were also on a predictable trend – defying all the expectations and market views. There were people who were clamoring for a year-end rally (including myself), and then there were the Bears who thought sanity was just around the corner. However, it was not to be – nothing happened in the last few weeks.

Apart from the shocks of Dubai (where everyone over-reacted, and then quickly forgot all about it), and downgrade of Greece (which almost no one took notice of), nothing has really happened. All the central banks have continued to stand by their expansionary policies, giving their own sets of reasons. Gold crossed over its previous best, only to come down again (though might go up on another round of central bank purchases), and EUR also is getting closer to its highs. There is a high chance that this would be a quite year end – and a small chance of a small correction.

I’m not bullish on the markets anymore, and think the rate hikes would start earlier than most people anticipate. Inflation is going through the roof, and if the government has to even perform lip-service to the poor strata of the society, then they would need to at least try to bring them down. And whatever they may say, inflation is not totally a supply-side problem in India. Give them loans at 7-8% (which is the trend now), and you know that people would buy almost anything. Markets seem to be running out of steam (though this may be the December effect also with lot of money managers on vacation). 

Gold Cross $1200: Way to Go

An interesting milestone was reached today in the markets, and Gold finally broke through the USD 1200 barrier as well. With the Central Banks of China and India standing in queue to buy more and more Gold from IMF, I think this would go a long way up from these levels as well.

I would think even a level of $1500 is possible, and would buy gold at these levels also. Its common knowledge now that most of the reserve rich nations want to diversify out of USD, and in absence of any credible alternative, will stock up Gold for the time being. I think Gold would the thing for the next few years, and may see newer peaks in coming days.

Brain Drain: A Tale of Two Centuries

Whenever we hear the term ‘Brain Drain’, we usually think in terms of migration of labor to developed economies. We associate it in terms of geographical movement of ‘brain’. However, equally important is the phenomenon of Brain Drain between industries, though it is much less talked about.

Automobile sector to IT sector
I remember receiving a chain mail long ago which compared the rate of innovation between the automobile industry and the IT industry. It went on to say that if the pace of innovation in automobile was as good as IT, then the current generation cars would be much better than what they are.

If automobile technology had improved at the same rate since 1960, a new car would cost less than an entry fee to the cinema hall, and we could drive through the length of our own country on less than a litre of petrol or diesel.

There was a huge shift in skilled labor from the automobile industry to the IT industry in the 1960s– and this led to the huge growth in technology over the past few decades. No other sector was able to match the rate of innovation, and companies came out with real surprises every now and then. However, now the IT industry finds itself in the shoes of automobile industry, and it too has been relegated to the ‘second choice’ employer status. Currently leading the pack are Goldman and the likes. And if we see the innovation across different sectors, we realize the impact of these changes.

IT sector to Finance sector
When I first learnt about the securitization business, I was dumbstruck. In the traditional model of banking, banks acted as the intermediaries between people with surplus cash, and people who needed cash. They used to take deposits from the public, and use the same to make loans. The sole purpose for the existence of banks was the match the source and need of funds – and they earned a margin for this. Also, they used to bear the counter-party risk in case of default, and the world largely was unaffected.
In the world of securitization, the banks sold-off these loans to institutions as well as public – in various forms (but lets not get into that). So, essentially, banks were accepting deposits as earlier, but not giving out loans in the same way. They used to give loans, but later sell them off to get the money which they further lent (and it went on and on). So, in the current scenario, banks weren’t matching those who had cash with those in need of it, but rather they redistributed everything. So, it was like a giant network where everything was connected to everything else. And banks were just acting as agents providing operational support to the whole system. In this system, everyone depended upon others, and if one link failed, the whole system would collapse. This was the ultimate dream for any bank – a vast ocean of people who lent money to each other, more directly than ever before – and these guys just controlled this massive spider web. In terms of IT sector, this is very close to the concept of Grid Computing. And whereas the concept is still in early stages in the IT industry, it has been done to death in the financial circles. And if the brain drain continues, very soon IT sector would also be left to the same fate as that of Automobile sector – and die a slow death. 

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Over the last few years, the financial industry has been the top choice for most of the fresh graduates and post-graduates. Hence, its no wonder that they have been miles ahead of other sectors in terms of innovation.

Market View: November 27, 2009

Something Is Not Right!

Markets were spooked by the Dubai storm, and bears finally had their long awaited wish. Everything was falling, and people rushed to buy protection. Nifty futures were back to trading in discount, and it seemed like bear market was back.

Nifty opened close to 5100 on the expiry day (26th day), and traded in a range for most part of the day. However, towards the end, it succumbed to the global pressures, and went into sharp fall. Thankfully US has a Thanksgiving and so it didn't add anything to the fall. And today as well the markets continued to fall amidst higher fears on the Dubai default (which seems unlikely, and a clear case of over-reaction currently. Unless...). Nifty touched 4820 levels, but recovered soon after HK closed, and went on to regain most of the fall. It finally closed at 4940 levels - quite a rally from its intra-day lows.

As I write this, Europe has re-bounded, and is trading in green. However, I think even if Dubai is averted, there are others waiting to explode. Its a liquidity rally, and nothing more than that - and NOT A RECOVERY RALLY. We are still groping in the dark about the way forward. Spain is struggling, Ireland is close to default, and now Dubai joins the list.
I would be surprised if this party continues for another year. I would be happy to buy Nifty 5000P December 2010 at current levels. Something doesn't seem to be right in this rally - and I don't know what.

Market View: November 6

Markets have been making a fool of bears for a long time now, and there was nothing new in its behavior over the past couple of weeks as well. Initially, it appeared that all the bulls have gone quiet taking a breather, and bears came out with their daggers. A week of fall in the markets, and we all thought ‘This is IT’ – a phrase which eventually got related to Michael Jackson more than the markets.

So, it wasn’t this time again, and the party continues. US has made it very clear that they aren’t going to raise the rates anytime sooner. Effectively, they would continue to write blank cheques, and the champagne would keep flowing.

With all the talks of rates hike marginalized, I go back to my bullish stance, and think that the round for correction is over. Now, we are back to listening to the Rally Monkey chants. Last year, there was no year end rally, but this time around, there may be one.


Food for Thought: Markets for the last couple of years (from when I have started observing) haven’t changed their trend in the months of November and December. In 2007, the party continued late into the night, and the music stopped early in January. Similarly, in 2008, the markets continued to fall down, and only recovered in March. So, in both the years, November and December just continued the overall annual trend of the market. And think it would be same this time around. If not a sharp rise, we shouldn’t end lower than the current levels.

Automobiles Sector Basics: 101

Market Movers

This is not amongst the largest sector in the Index (~3% weight), and is affected by news flow.

1. Monthly numbers: Vehicle sales numbers are declared on 1st of every month
2. Interest Rates: Lower interest rates mean higher sales for the industry - as loans would be cheaper
3. Capacity Addition/Suspension: Affects the supply and competition in the industry
4. Economy: Related to economic growth as well, over the medium term

 

Reading the Statements

1. Auto-stocks are most sensitive to EBITDA margins (as volumes are known beforehand).
2. Primary costs are Raw Material expenses - 70-75% of net sales

 

Long Term Concerns/Factors

1. GDP Growth
2. Loan Growth - and interest rates
3. Tax Cuts - Income tax cuts would boost auto sales
4. Demographic - long term growth potential

 

Industry Structure

1. Two wheelers is highly consolidated industry with top 3 players (Hero Honda, Bajaj, and TVS) accounting for 80% market share.

2. Cars are also very much a consolidated markets, but there is a threat of increased competition going forward.

Banking Sector Basics

Overall Picture
Banks have very high linkage to the overall macroeconomic environment, and have very standard practices across the globe (can be compared with global peers on different ratios). This being a very important sector, is very tightly controlled and highly regulated.
One key unique feature of the industry is that here equal emphasis is given to the balance sheet (along with Income statements).
 
Asset Liability Mix
The asset side of the balance sheet mainly consists of Loans and Advances (~60%) and Investments (~27%). Most of these investments are into G-Secs (meeting the SLR requirements), and very little investments in other assets.
On the liabilities front, bulk of it is from the customer deposits (~75%).
 
Competition
More than 75% of the loans are from Public sector banks, with SBI group alone having a 25% share. Private banks have only 25% of the market now, but are growing rapidly.
 
Market
India has amongst the lowest Loan/Deposit ratio in the world. And total loans are still ~50% of the GDP. Also, consumer loans are just 10% of the GDP, so there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.
A large chunk of household savings flow to Bank Deposits - more than 50%. Good opportunities in Wealth Management, and Insurance - private banks are well positioned to capitalize on these.
Historical growth rate has been high at 12-20%, and this seems sustainable for another decade. Penetration level has improved considerably, though still much below global standards. NPLs have continued to drift down.
 
Financial Services Opportunities
1. Brokerages
2. Wealth Management
3. Life Insurance
 
Key factors affecting Stocks

• Loan Growth: Slowing down recently, from 30%+ levels in 2007 to ~17-18% now.
• Earnings: Major contributors are Growth and Portfolio Gains (in falling rates scenario)
• Interest Rates: Meaningful -ve correlation between stock prices and interest rates. However, key is the distinguish whether low rates are due to liquidity (positive for economy) or lack of loan demand (negative).
• Asset Quality: This factor is quite passive, and is talked about only in cases of sharp asset deterioration

Stock Futures Basics

Advantages of Stock Futures

1. Leverage
2. Lower Transaction Costs
3. Hedging/Shorting

Market Participants

1. Cash volumes are mainly generated by Long Only funds, DII and Retail participants. The volume in retail is fairly stable over time, compared with futures volume.

2. In Stock Futures, major participants are retail speculators and hedge funds – looking for high leverage.

3. Index Futures are mainly used for hedging purposes by institutional players – long only funds.

OI Information
Stock Futures OI largely are a function of speculative activities in the market. In periods of heavy bullishness (2007-end), there was huge OI build-up in the stock futures (and not much in Index Futures). However, that corrected after the crash, and came back to normal levels. Index Futures OI do not fluctuate too much as hedging requirements do not wildly fluctuate.
 
Important Indicators

1. Basis: Sign of pressure from longs or shorts
2. Open Interest: Amount of interest in the underlying
3. Price Change: Direction of the momentum in the underlying

Have to see these indicators together to make sense of the activities of the market participants – for example, when basis is strong, and OI is rising, a price rise indicates long side speculative activities.
 
Index Arbitrage
Nifty futures usually trade at a discount to the fair value (as it is used as a hedging instrument by the long only guys), and as a result, arbitrageurs put up positions in Long Nifty Futures and Short Stock (or SSF).
A large chunk of this position is sticky, in line with the fact that a large chunk of short Nifty (hedge) is also sticky. However, not all arbitrage players have access to the full 50 stocks at all times, and hence they usually have to short a few SSF also in the stock basket. Hence, some of the stock futures also trade at a discount due to this factor (mostly those whose inventory is not readily available). Most of the under-owned stocks trade at discounts (only Nifty stocks).
 
Futures Rolls
At expiry, investors have the following options:

1. Unwind
2. Expire
3. Rollover
4. Convert to Spot (buy/sell spot in VWAP)

Considerations during the expiry

1. Basis: If the futures have been trading in premium over the month, then there would pressure from the long side – rolls also might happen at a premium (the premium in near month would move to next month close to expiry)
2. Market Trend: A rising market would imply futures in premium – and hence rolls also might happen at a premium
3. OI with Price Action: A rising OI with price increase would also mean more and more pressure on the long side, and higher roll premiums.
4. Historical Rollover Ratio: The proportion of futures positions getting rolled every expiry also gives a good indication of the remaining interest in the counter.