The Daily Spark

Want it delivered daily to your inbox?

  • Inflation Expectations Coming Down

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Survey-based and market-based measures of inflation expectations are starting to decline, and the market believes that the Fed will get inflation down to the FOMC’s 2% target, see charts below.

    Chart showing inflation expectations from surveys coming down over one- and three-year time frames
    Source: FRBNY, Haver, Apollo Chief Economist
    Chart showing hedging costs falling
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Who is Buying Treasuries?

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    With rates rising and the dollar going up, foreign private investors are buying US Treasuries at a record pace, see chart below.

    Chart showing foreign investors are buying US Treasuries at a record rate as interest rates and the dollar rise
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Recession Probability Rising

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The consensus now sees a 50% probability of a recession in the US and 60% chance of a recession in Europe and the UK, see chart below. Investors should be positioned accordingly.

    Chart showing the probability of a recession rising in the US, EU, and UK
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Inflation Mainly Driven by Supply

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    US and European inflation for the past two years has been almost identical despite the fiscal response to covid being double the size in the US relative to Europe, see charts below.

    With a much more aggressive fiscal response in the US, both headline and core inflation should have been much higher in the US today than in Europe.

    The identical path of inflation in the US and Europe strongly suggests that inflation is not driven by demand but instead by supply problems associated with covid. Some of these supply problems for goods will get resolved quickly as supply chain problems ease. But other supply problems in the labor market will take some longer time.

    The implication for markets is that the Fed and the ECB may not need to do much demand destruction to get inflation down.

    This topic is also debated in several Fed working papers at the moment, see here and here.

    Chart showing inflation in the US and EU has mostly followed the same path
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist
    Chart showing that the fiscal response to COVID in the US has been much greater than the EU in 2020 and 2021
    Source: OMB, ECB, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • S&P500 today vs 2008

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    There is a striking similarity between how the S&P500 has traded during this period of high inflation and the pattern we saw during the financial crisis in 2007-2008, see chart below. Maybe one conclusion is that when investors are faced with extreme levels of uncertainty, the behavioral response in financial markets over time is relatively similar. Markets think the problems are over and want to go higher but as more data comes in, then realize that the shock is still here and the downside risks are still substantial. Our latest Slowdown Watch is available here.

    S&P500 is following a pattern similar to 2007-08
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Comparing Housing Markets

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The share of renters is higher in Germany and France than in the US, and the share of households with a mortgage is higher in the US than in most other OECD countries, see chart below.

    The structure of homeownership in OECD countries
    Source: OECD, Apollo Chief Economist. Note: Data for 2019 or latest year available

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Net Supply of Treasuries Growing

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The annual net supply of Treasuries before the pandemic was $500bn. In 2023 it will be $1.5trn, with $1trn coming from the budget deficit and $500bn coming from Fed QT, see chart below.

    This increasing supply of Treasuries is at risk of crowding out demand for other types of fixed income, including IG, HY, loans, and mortgages, in particular as the level of the risk-free rate continues to increase.

    The upward pressure on rates because of the higher net supply of Treasuries is in addition to the upward pressure on rates coming from higher inflation.

    The bottom line is that there is upside risk to rates not only from inflation but also from the growing supply of Treasuries, and the growing supply of Treasuries trading at higher rates could lower demand for other fixed income assets.

    Net Supply of Treasuries: $500bn before the pandemic and $1.5trn in 2023
    Source: CBO, FRB, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist. Note: QT is SOMA redemptions with cap assumed $60 bn per month in 2023

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • SPR Release Weighing on Oil Prices

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The US releases about 1mn barrels of oil daily from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the SPR inventory is now at levels last seen in 1984, see charts below.

    Strategic petroleum reserve capacity and inventory level
    Source: DOE, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist
    Source: DOE, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • European Energy Price Monitor

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    European energy prices are coming down from recent peaks. Our weekly energy PDF is available here.

    European energy prices trending down
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist (TZT1 Comdty as Dutch natural gas price, JXY1 Comdty as Germany electricity price, TM1 Comdty as European benchmark coal)
    Europe: Electricity prices down from recent peak
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Rising Risks of a Recession in Europe in 2023

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The consensus is close to forecasting a recession in Europe in 2023, see chart below.

    Outlook for Europe deteriorating
    Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


This presentation may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others in whole or in part without the express consent of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Apollo”).

Apollo makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, reasonableness, or completeness of any of the statements made during this presentation, including, but not limited to, statements obtained from third parties. Opinions, estimates and projections constitute the current judgment of the speaker as of the date indicated. They do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Apollo and are subject to change at any time without notice. Apollo does not have any responsibility to update this presentation to account for such changes. There can be no assurance that any trends discussed during this presentation will continue.

Statements made throughout this presentation are not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, accounting, legal or tax advice and do not constitute an investment recommendation or investment advice. Investors should make an independent investigation of the information discussed during this presentation, including consulting their tax, legal, accounting or other advisors about such information. Apollo does not act for you and is not responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients. This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, product or service, including interest in any investment product or fund or account managed or advised by Apollo.

Certain statements made throughout this presentation may be “forward-looking” in nature. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking information. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology including, but not limited to, “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target”, “project”, “estimate”, “intend”, “continue” or “believe” or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology.