Money has “eyes”, will find its way through the global investment markets (stocks, properties, commodities, bond, forex, etc), looking for higher and quicker return in bull market (eg. stock and property markets with stronger economy); seeking safe haven market for safety during bear market (eg. more cash in bank or higher demand in bond market with weaker economy).
When investment market is fearful, fund with global money would flow from stocks to bonds (especially for Level 3 country level bond, eg. US treasury bond) due to safety, resulting in higher bond price, therefore lower bond yield. US 10 years treasury bond yield even dropped to about 0.5% during the recent flash stock market crash, recovering to around 1.1% recently, but still at historical low level.
A few key points on investment money flow:
1) US is No 1 world economy, a safe haven, despite lower interest rate (0%), USD is stronger during current bear market, therefore USD/SGD at high optimism, about 1.45 exchange rate. Similarly, usually emerging market currency would be stronger during a bull market. Forex traders or overseas investors (require forex consideration in stock or property investment) have to understand impact of economy and stock market, etc, on each pair of forex.
2) US government bond yield at 1% is no longer for investment, more for safety. Therefore, it is possible even for bond market to have major correction (price down, yield up) but only when confidence of country is affected and there is opportunity in stock market recovery, then fund would flow from bond market or cash (in bank or under pillow) to stock market again.
3) When market sentiment is fearful, even Level 1, individual bond (corporate bond) would suffer but bond has fixed income and guaranteed for principal upon maturity, therefore it is possible to invest in corporate bond with higher return (eg. over 5% bond yield) but need to focus on shorter term bond (<6-12 months to avoid higher risk during potential global financial crisis) with strong business fundamental (unlikely to default in bond, supported by strong asset, earning or cashflow with lower debt).
Current global stock market crisis (about 30% is US / Singapore, 40% in Europe) is only a stock crisis due to fear (technical recession with falling in stock prices), not yet a global financial crisis (with declining economy) but investor has to monitor very closely, especially the 2 black swans of Coronavirus condition and Crude Oil market price war, making crucial decision before summer (Jun-July 2020).
Since global Quantitative Easing (QE or printing of money) is back again, the natural balance among the investment markets would be affected. With QE, it is possible for both stock and bond market to rise (flooding of money) and drop (exit of QE) together, not necessarily opposite to each other (usually when there is no QE).
Recent global stock crisis is a major reversal of how the smart money may flow among the 5 major investment markets (cash in bank, stock, bond, property, commodity, forex).
Readers should take proactive actions in next few months, especially for stock market, many global giant stocks are at very attractive discount (some even more than 50% correction) but positioning requires a unique combination of counter-trend and trend-following strategies aligned with own personality.
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