The Daily Spark

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  • Top 5 Themes in Markets at the Moment

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Here are five key topics for investors.

    Current themes in market
    Source: Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Work from Home Is Here to Stay

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The data for office use across the country shows that hybrid work is here to stay, see chart below.

    The numbers show the average for a week where Wednesdays can be as high as 60%, and Mondays and Fridays as low as 30%.

    The data is weekly and comes from 300,000 workers in 10 different cities, and in New York, the data covers 200 buildings and 70,000 workers.

    The latest data shows that the lowest office occupancy rate is for Philadelphia at 37%, and the highest is Austin at 58%.

    For more discussion of this topic, see also here.

    Office occupancy rates moving sideways around 50% across the country
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • The price of transporting a container is rising and air freight rates are increasing, but the ongoing supply chain problems are not broad based like the way they were during the pandemic, see our chart book available here.

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  • Fed Following Historical Pattern

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    If the Fed cuts in March, it will be eight months after the last Fed hike, which is exactly the average of all previous Fed hike cycles, see chart below.

    It takes on average 8 months from the last Fed hike to the first Fed cut
    Source: FRB, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist. Note: Discount rate used before 1988.

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  • Manhattan Hotel Prices

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The average price of a hotel room in Manhattan is now $375 per night, see chart below.

    The average daily rate for a hotel in Manhattan is $375
    Source: Timessquarenyc.org, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Germany: Home Prices Falling

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Home prices are in freefall in Germany, driven by higher rates, high construction costs, and massive amounts of red tape in the housing sector, see chart below.

    This downtrend is in sharp contrast to the US, where home prices are rising.

    With more persistent inflation in Europe, and the ECB therefore cutting after the Fed, the downward pressure on home prices is likely to continue.

    Germany: Home prices declining sharply
    Source: Eurostat, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Taylor Rule Points to a Fed Cut in March

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The main argument for the Fed cutting rates in March is that the Fed’s workhorse model says that because of the sharp decline in inflation over the past six months, the Fed funds rate today should not be 5.5% but 4.5%, see chart below. Specifically, the Fed has used the Taylor rule framework for decades to understand what the Fed funds rate should be, and inserting the current level of inflation and unemployment into the Taylor rule shows that the Fed funds rate today should be 4.5%, see chart below and Daily Spark here.

    The Taylor rule suggests the Fed should be cutting rates in March
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist. Note: Neutral real rate = 0.5, inflation target rate = 2, and NAIRU = 4.

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  • Big Differences in Population Growth Across States

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Since the middle of the pandemic, the population has been declining in New York and California, and growing in Florida and Texas, see map below.

    Change in population from July 2020 to July 2023
    Source: Census Bureau, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • EU Wage Inflation Up, US Wage Inflation Down

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The difference between European and US wage inflation is remarkable.

    Both economies have a strong labor market, but US wage inflation is falling and Euro area wage inflation is trending higher.

    The source of this difference is European trade unions, which often look back at last year’s consumer price inflation when articulating wage demands for the next year.

    This inertia in wage formation is making inflation in Europe more persistent and more difficult to control for the ECB.

    As a result, the Fed will cut rates before the ECB.

    Remarkable difference between wage growth in the US and Europe
    Source: BLS, ECB, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Upward Pressure on Goods Inflation

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Normally, 200 ships travel through the Suez Canal from south to north over a week, but that number has recently declined to 100, see the first chart.

    For the Panama Canal, northbound traffic has also declined 50%, from 90 ships per week to 45, see the second chart.

    The third chart shows that the price of transporting a container from Shanghai to Rotterdam has tripled.

    The bottom line is that higher transportation costs are putting upward pressure on goods inflation.

    Suez Canal traffic has declined 50%
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist
    Panama Canal traffic down 50%
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist
    Rise in shipping costs could boost goods inflation
    Source: BEA, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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