Urea, Natural Gas and things fertiliser are nearing lows

Following my pithy comment about food, calories and fertiliser,
readers can track my historical posts about this topic here,

https://lnkd.in/gJ-2rQh8

There is continuity in those posts about the relationship that fertiliser prices have with the price of Natural Gas.

The chart below is the latest illustration and update between the U.S. Gulf Urea price and the Henry Hub Natural Gas price.

May 2, 2024
by Rob Zdravevski
rob@karriasset.com.au

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It’s quiet on the food front

I remember all of that noise around Urea, Fertiliser, Nitrogen, Grains and the world requiring calories……

……now not so much.

#contrarian

Woolworths shares can halve from its peak

Many investors think that you “can’t go wrong owning ‘blue chips'”.

The #Woolworths share price traded down to A$30.12 today.

5 months ago, I wrote this note implying that shares in the Australian & New Zealand (supermarket) retailer could see $30.00 before experiencing some sort of ‘exhaustion’.

If I was ever interested in buying shares in a retailer with a 2% net margin……today’s price is still not cheap enough.

Even though #Woolies (WOW.ASX) shares have recently declined 25%, I think a price of $24.60 is possible. That would represent a decline of a further 20% from today’s A$30.50 closing price.

May 2, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au

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Late in the ‘current’ gold trade

For buyers of buying gold related equities at current levels, probability isn’t stacked your way.

“They” are closer to being a sell, than a buy.

If expressed in the form of the GDXJ (Van Eck Junior Gold Miners ETF), I think I’ll be able to buy it 25% cheaper than todays $42.67.

And be careful of historical charts showing where prices “once came from” and phrases such as ‘breakouts’ and “resistance lines”, whether its monthly or weekly or daily or hourly………

Caveat Emptor!

April 30, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au

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Intel CEO on the ropes

I think Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger is on the ropes.

I’ve watched his various media interviews and listened to Intel quarterly earnings calls. Tone and posture has changed over the past 2 years and not for the better.

Coupled with Intel’s woeful stock performance since his appointment as CEO in February 2021, using the word’s “A.I” and “Data Centres” can only do so much for the stock price.

Intel had 5 rounds of job cuts in 2023.

It just won $8.5 billion in U.S. Federal subsidies from the $52 billion CHIPS Act Congress passed last year and was promised to receive $11 billion in loans.

Regarding the funds available within the CHIPS Act, CEO Pat Gelsinger said he is counting on additional federal funding this year for defense-related semiconductor projects. And he said he hopes for a second CHIPS Act to reverse the long erosion of domestic technology manufacturing.

“We’ll need at least a CHIPS 2 to finish that job,” Gelsinger said.

https://www.govtech.com/workforce/intel-wins-8-5b-in-federal-chip-factory-subsidies

Its an early call, but a change in CEO will be good for the stock price.

by Rob Zdravevski

April 29, 2024

rob@karriasset.com.au

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Investing Noise – April 29, 2024

3 months ago, heaps of noisy pessimism in Chinese equities. Now, they are 20% higher.

2 months ago, lots of noise for a rising Uranium price, today…..it’s quiet at the moment and prices are 20% lower.

Prior 3 weeks, Gold and Silver bullishness attracted lots of noise.

Today, very noisy around the weakness of the Japanese Yen

Currently, there is noise in Lithium, Lumber or Steel prices.

Apple’s stock price is nearing mean reversion

Whether its Mean Reversion or Mean Convergence…..

Should I become interested in buying shares in Apple Inc., then $147 would be a place I’ll ponder.

Apple’s stock price is much closer to such mean reversion/convergence than the other mega cap tech companies.

April 28, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au

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Macro Extremes (week ending April 26, 2024)

A weekly Macro, Cross Asset review of prices trading at extremes which may generate future investment ideas and opportunities.

The following assets (on a weekly timeframe) either registered an Overbought or Oversold reading and/or have traded more than 2.5 standard deviations above or below its rolling mean.

Extremes “above” the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations)

Australian 2, 3 & 5 year government bond yields 

Australian, Brazilian, Japanese, South Korean and U.S. 10 year government bond yield 

U.S. 20 year government bond yields 

TBT 

U.S. 5-7 year corporate bond yield 

U.S. 5 year government bond yield minus U.S. 5 year inflation breakeven rate

U.S. 10 year government bond yield minus U.S. 10 year inflation breakeven rate

Aluminium 

Tin

Nickel

AUD/IDR

AUD/THB

USD/BRL

HSCEI

Hang Seng

Singapore’s Strait Times

Overbought (RSI > 70)

Japanese 2 year government bond yield 

Cocoa

Gold in AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP & USD.

GBP/JPY

Italy’s MIB

Spain’s IBEX

OMX Stockholm 30

Turkiye’s BIST 100

Malaysia’s KLSE

And Pakistan’s KSE Index

The Overbought Quinella – Both Overbought and Traded at > 2.5 standard deviations above the weekly mean)

Russian 10 year government bond yields 

Copper

Coffee (Arabica)

Coffee (Robusta)

AUD/JPY

EUR/JPY

USD/IDR

Extremes “below”the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations)

Lumber

GBP/USD

PHP/USD

Dow Jones Transports

And Indonesia’s IDX30 

Oversold (RSI < 30)

Chinese 10 year government bond yields

Australian Coking Coal

Lithium Hydroxide

North European Hot Rolled Coil Steel

JPY/USD

The Oversold Quinella – Both Oversold and Traded at < 2.5 standard deviations below the weekly mean)

Lumber

BRL/USD

IDR/USD

Notes & Ideas:

Government bond yields rose.

The host of spreads appearing in last week’s edition are no longer overbought.

Chilean 10’s broke their 6 week rising streak.

Canadian 10’s are in a 5 week winning streak. 

And across the curve, British yields have climbed for 5 straight weeks as have South Korean 10’s.

Equities (seeming against the grain) rebounded, recovering most of last week’s losses.

I think this move was commensurate with the weakness in the Japanese Yen, confirming the ‘risk-on’ mood.

China’s A50 Index and the U.S. KBW Bank Index have risen 5% in the past fortnight.

While many U.S. equity indices are no longer so, we still have some European entries and we are seeing Asian markets re-appear in the overbought extremes list.

Since the point of its overbought extreme, Egypt’s main index has slumped 18% over the past 7 weeks.

Inversely, the HSCEI and Hang Seng rose 9% for the week.

The former has risen 20% since its January 2024 oversold extremes. Remember all of that “China is uninvestible pessimism” a few months ago?

Stockholm is making a new all-time high.

The SOX posted a stunning 10% rise for the week.

The Russell 2000 rose 2.7% recovering the 2.8% decline it posted over the past 3 consecutive weeks, bouncing off its 200 week moving average.

The Nasdaq Transports has declined for 4 consecutive weeks, while Copenhagen OMX 25 and Switzerland’s SMI snapped their 4 week losing streak.

Commodities were mostly lower.

The CRB Index broke its 6 week winning streak.

We saw strength in base metals, softs and coals, again.

Silver fell. It’s not overbought this week and has closed at a 3 week low, last seen on April 4th.

Gold broke its 5 week weekly winning streak.

Weakness was also noted in Coal, Cocoa, Tin, Palladium, Platinum and Gases

Coffee and Wheat prices were amongst the largest gainers for the week, again. Robusta Coffee has risen 39% over the past 9 weeks, while Arabica Coffee prices run of 5 consecutive weeks of higher prices came to an end.

Cotton has fallen for 7 straight weeks, while Lumber, Tin and U.S. Hot Rolled Coil Steel prices all broke their 4 week declining streak.

The LNG JKM price (in Yen) declined 4% following a 20% rise in the preceding fortnight.

Cocoa has been overbought for 27 weeks, but it break its 9 week winning streak.

Still Cocoa remains more expensive than Copper. The latter has put together a 4 week winning streak and this week registers an overbought quinella.

Aluminium snapped its 8 week winning run. It rose 24% during that run. It fell 5% this past week.

And Lithium Hydroxide has now spent 41 consecutive weeks in weekly oversold territory.

Currencies were generally boring for the week, except for the strength in the Aussie and the weakness in the Yen.

Sustained U.S. strength is also keeping many of the reciprocals in oversold territory for another week.

The CAD and EUR were mixed.

We are seeing weakness in a range of Asian currencies.

And the Brazilian Real (BRL) broke its 7 straight week losing streak against the USD and moves out oversold territory.

The larger advancers over the past week comprised of;

WTI Crude Oil 2%, HRC 1.7%, Lumber 1.6%, Cattle 2.3%, Orange Juice 3.3%, Gasoline 2.3%, Robusta Coffee 7.8%, Oats 3.8%, Wheat 9.8%, AEX 2.6%, KBW Banks 2.6%, Budapest 3.1%, China A50 2%, DAX 2.4%, HSCEI 9.1%, Hang Seng 8.8%, IBEX 4%, S&P SmallCap 600 2.4%, Russell 2000 2.7%, Nasdaq Composite 4.2%, KLSE 1.8%, KRE Regional Banks 2.6%, KOSPI 2.5%, FTSE 250 2.2%, S&P MidCap 400 2.1%, Mexico 3.5%, Nasdaq Biotechs 1.7%, Nasdaq 100 4%, Nikkei 225 2.3%, Oslo 1.8%, Stockholm 2.2%, Philippines 2.9%, J’burg SA25 3%, SET 2.1%, SOX 10%, S&P 500 2.7%, STI 3.3%, TAIEX 3%, FTSE 3.1%, Vietnam 3% and BIST 100 rose 2.3%.

The group of largest decliners from the week included;

Aluminium (4.5%), Rotterdam Coal (6.2%), Baltic Dry Index (10.3%), China Coke (2%), Cocoa (7.5%), Lean Hogs (2%), JKM LNG (1.7%), Arabica Coffee (3.4%), JKM LNG in Yen (4%), Tin (3.5%), Newcastle Coal (5.2%), Natural Gas (8.4%), Palladium (6.6%), Platinum (2.3%), Sugar (1.7%), Dutch TTF Gas (6%), Uranium (2.2%), Silver in AUD (6.8%), Silver in USD (5.1%), Gold in AUD (4%), Gold in CAD (2.8%), Gold in EUR (2.6%), Gold in GBP (3.2%), Gold in USD (2.3%), Gold in ZAR (3.9%), Egypt (8.5%), Indonesia (2.4%), Nasdaq Transports (2.8%) and ASX Industrials fell 1.6%.

April 28, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au

AUD/JPY at exteme highs

Its the 4th time in 10 years that the Australian Dollar #AUD has traded a) at a certain percentage above my long term moving average while b) simultaneously registering an overbought weekly reading and also c) trading at stretched standard deviations above its rolling weekly mean……against the Japanese #JPY Yen.

#AUDJPY

I like watching this currency pair as an indicator of risk appetite.

April 26, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au

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4 months ago, I posted this note about Anglo American

It was titled, “Bugger this, take me private”

Today, #AngloAmerican (AAL) has said it received a #takeover offer from #BHP.

#AAL is now 48% higher since that December 13, 2023 note.

M&A activity is increasing and in this case, it is easier to buy existing copper and nickel mines, rather than developing them. BHP would also get 85% ownership of De Beers Group (diamonds) too.

If this deal closes, they won’t exactly become ‘private’ but certainly eases the quarterly investor and analyst palaver for AAL management.

Although, it is early at this dance, it’s always possible that a privately held suitor emerges with buying interest that doesn’t require any de-merger of Anglo American’s divisions or business lines.

April 25, 2024

by Rob Zdravevski

rob@karriasset.com.au