A stock trader worries about the market action in Germany (Photo: AP)
Volatility and risk are of primary concern to advisors and investors in 2019.
Deutsche Bank recently chimed in on these issues, releasing what it sees as the 30 primary risks for the New Year:
- Algo-driven, risk parity-driven fire sale in equities and credit continues
- Slowing growth in China and Europe slowing down the U.S. economy
- Slowing growth in China and Europe triggering significant U.S. dollar appreciation
- Tailing U.S. Treasury auctions and/or declining bid-to-cover ratios
- Increased U.S. T-bill issuance continues to push 3-month Libor-Overnight Index Saw wider
- Increased U.S. Treasury issuance pulls dollar out of investment-grade credit and equities
- Higher hedging costs continue to lower European and Japanese appetite for U.S. credit
- European Central Bank (ECB) quantitative-easing ending means less global demand for fixed income
- Bank of Japan (BOJ) QE slowing means less global demand for fixed income
- U.S. 2/10-year Treasury yield curve inversion has negative impact on confidence in credit and equity markets
- U.S. corporate tax cuts continue to boost buybacks but not capital expenditures
- Impact of potential U.S. government shutdown on markets
- No deal Brexit in March could be negative for markets
- No deal Brexit in March could be negative for U.K. economy and hence also European economy
- U.S.-China trade war escalates further
- U.S.-Europe trade war escalates further
- Fed decides to ignore accelerating trade growth (this could threaten profit margins)
- Fed decides to ignore accelerating wage growth (this could un-anchor inflation expectations)
- Escalation of yellow-vest protests in France
- European Parliament elections
- Continued inflation of housing bubble in Germany
- Italian fiscal situation
- House price crash in Australia and Canada
- Chinese economy less and less responsive to stimulus
- China's current account deficit arrives faster than consensus expects
- Japanese growth can get hit by China slowdown
- Potential political changes in India, Argentina, South Africa, and Indonesia
- Continued increase in global inequality
- Fed and ECB re-start QE and risky assets don't rally
- Monetary and fiscal policy are out of ammunition and the world experiences a Minsky moment
The Deutsche Bank list is pretty comprehensive.
However, after reading through the various scenarios that can potentially trigger a black swan event, I realized that the author of the article — Torsten Slok, the bank's chief international economist — had neglected to point out the elephant in the room: the possible collapse of Deutsche Bank.
The stock price for Deutsche Bank recently broke the $8 mark and is looking eerily similar to Lehman Brothers. It holds a gargantuan quantity of derivatives, which have multiple layers of derivatives backing primary derivatives, reminiscent of the 2008 derivative debacle.
In June, the Wall Street Journal published an article, "Deutsche Bank Fails Fed's Stress Test," citing "material weakness in capital planning" and the lender falling short in capabilities to forecast revenues and losses in key business lines and was deficient in risk-management controls.
