Inflation & Recession: Darius Dale’s Macro Deep Dive

Darius recently joined our friend Andreas Steno-Larsen on Real Vision, where they discussed the economy, inflation, the labor market, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. What Is The Overall Outlook On The Economy?

From a fundamental standpoint, we are at a crossroads in the economy, coming off a period of strong, uninterrupted, accelerating growth that began in the second half of 2022.

Although growth is slowing, we expect it to surprise consensus to the upside over the medium term.

On the inflation side, we have accurately called for the current deceleration, and we anticipate inflation will continue to meander lower over the next few months before bottoming out.

However, by the first half of next year, we project inflation is likely to accelerate again. There is no historical precedent for inflation sustainably breaking durably below trend without a recession, so our view diverges from consensus, which currently expects a durable return to 2%.

2. How Will Inflation Behave In The Fourth Turning Regime?

We believe the Fed is yielding to fiscal dominance in this Fourth Turning regime, which is consistent with what the Fed has historically done in such periods. One key dynamic investors should anticipate during a Fourth Turning is the explosive growth of public debts and deficits and how those contribute to above-trend inflation.

As a result, the Fed will likely use its balance sheet and monetary policy toolkit to create excess demand for Treasuries relative to actual market demand for those securities.

Because of this Fourth Turning-style monetary policy, we believe inflation is likely to bottom at a level higher than 2%. As investors, we will likely realize this as we move throughout 2025. However, we do not see any immediate market risks associated with this today.

3. Should Investors Be Worried About The Rising Unemployment Rate?

Our research shows the unemployment rate is rising primarily due to the growth of the labor force, not because more people are losing their jobs.

While we acknowledge that the labor market is softening, we do not see an elevated risk of a recession in the medium term, based on current leading indicators of the business cycle and how they are trending.

That’s a wrap!

By now, you’ve likely realized that piecing together an investment strategy from finance podcasts, YouTube videos, and macro “gurus” on 𝕏 is not delivering the results you know you deserve.

This kind of approach only leads to confusion from conflicting advice, frustration from mediocre returns, and exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster of your portfolio swings.

If you don’t change your process, how can you expect to get better results?

Over 2,000 investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, actionable, and accurate signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to join them, we are here to support you.

When you sign up, you’ll get immediate access to our premium research and signals—and if we’re not the right fit, you can cancel anytime without penalty.

Private Investing 101

Darius recently hosted our friend Kris Naidu, Founder and CEO of Zeacon, on our monthly Pro to Pro, where they discussed the dos and don’ts of private investing.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. What Determines Success in Private Investing?

Having been involved in private tech investing for over twenty years, Chris believes in investing in what you know.

When investing in private companies, there is less information than in the public sector. The companies are not as well known, and their products are not as defined.

In private investing, success largely depends on anticipating where the market is headed and assessing whether the team can successfully develop the product or service to align with that direction.

2. How Do Investors Identify Where The Market Is Headed?

Spotting trends in the real world is crucial to understanding where the market is heading.

For example, AI is emerging as a transformative force, and examining how it will be used to solve real-world problems is important. In industries like healthcare and finance, AI has the potential to modernize outdated systems and outperform the current technologies.

Successfully predicting these trends comes from identifying where AI will have the most significant impact and investing in companies that can quickly capitalize on these opportunities.

3. How Do Investors Get Involved With Private Investing?

After six or seven years as a startup CEO, Chris began investing through an angel investment event in Seattle, where private investments were being pitched.

That experience provided valuable lessons: Chris learned that by being surrounded by both seasoned investors and newcomers, he was offered insights into what works and what does not.

For those interested in private investing, you should attend events and network with private investors with more experience so you can learn from their past successes and mistakes.

That’s a wrap!

This kind of approach only leads to confusion from conflicting advice, frustration from mediocre returns, and exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster of your portfolio swings.

If you don’t change your process, how can you expect to get better results?

Over 2,000 investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, actionable, and accurate signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to join them, we are here to support you.

When you sign up, you’ll get immediate access to our premium research and signals—and if we’re not the right fit, you can cancel anytime without penalty.

2025 Warning: Slowing Growth, Rising Inflation, and Productivity Could Squeeze Markets

Darius recently joined our friend Jeremy Szafron on Kitco News, where they discussed the recent decline in housing starts, the U.S. economy, inflation, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. What Does The Recent Housing Market Data Indicate About The Broader Economy?

Recent housing starts and building permit data, along with last week’s NAHB homebuyer market sentiment report, suggest an accelerated decline in the housing market, with housing starts and building permit data at levels not seen since summer 2020. This is concerning because the housing cycle has historically been a persistent leading indicator of the broader business cycle.

As a result, we anticipate growth will slow in the coming months. However, we do not advise investors to position for a developing recession in the U.S. economy.

Specifically, the latest retail sales and industrial production data, and other persistent leading indicators of the business cycle, currently indicate a recession is unlikely to materialize over a medium-term time horizon (3-12 months). Instead, we are currently observing a meandering off the top of the growth curve, which we believe is likely to persist over the next year or so.

2. How Is The U.S. Economy Transitioning From Its Growth Cycle Upturn?

The U.S. economy has been in a growth cycle upturn since the summer of 2022 when we authored our ‘Resilient U.S. Economy’ theme. We are now observing an economy that is merely getting less resilient.

Current data suggests a softening labor market, potentially at a faster rate than in recent quarters. However, our comprehensive analysis of leading indicators—including jobless claims, temporary employment, cyclical employment, layoffs, discharge rates, productivity, and corporate profit growth—does not indicate an impending severe downturn that would pose significant market risk.

While growth is likely to slow over the medium term, we do not anticipate the U.S. economy will decelerate as rapidly as the consensus currently expects. As a result, we believe the rate cuts presently priced into the 2025 forward rate curve in the U.S. are unlikely to materialize. A reconciliation is likely to occur near the year, but for now, we maintain a relatively optimistic outlook for asset markets – especially through year-end.

3. What Economic Challenges Might Emerge In 2025?

Our research suggests the inflation cycle will hit its low in the coming months before rising throughout 2025. This scenario implies growth potentially slowing to a below-trend pace in early 2025, with inflation bottoming at a level inconsistent with the Fed’s 2% target before reaccelerating.

Concurrently, we might observe a moderation or significant slowdown in productivity growth. The combination of slowing growth, rising inflation, and reduced productivity could lead to a margin squeeze and a significant slowdown in earnings. From a timing perspective, we view the first half of next year as the period with the most market risk.

Investors will likely need to reset their expectations for 2025 earnings lower during this time. However, we do not believe the markets need to debate this excessively at present because, historically, markets typically focus only on the next one to three months.

That’s a wrap!

This kind of approach only leads to confusion from conflicting advice, frustration from mediocre returns, and exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster of your portfolio swings.

If you don’t change your process, how can you expect to get better results?

Over 2,000 investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, actionable, and accurate signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to join them, we are here to support you.

When you sign up, you’ll get immediate access to our premium research and signals—and if we’re not the right fit, you can cancel anytime, without penalty.

How To Win In The 2024 Financial Marketplace

Darius hosted our friend Scott Diddel on this month’s Pro to Pro, where they explored Scott’s comprehensive presentation on understanding the basics of how to allocate assets from a tax-advantaged perspective.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from Scott’s presentation that can help you plan for your financial future:

1. How Do Inflation And Taxes Impact Long-Term Investments?

The impact of inflation and taxes on long-term investments is staggering.

A $1 investment in large-cap stocks from 1926 would have grown to $2,533 today without the impact of inflation and taxes. When taking into account the impact of taxes alone, the amount is reduced to $672. When both taxes and inflation are considered, the value plummets to $48. This represents a shocking 98% decrease from the nominal return to the actual return in your bank account.

Allowing your money to sit idly exposes it to the erosive effects of taxes and inflation. As an investor, you should actively strategize to implement tax-efficient strategies and preserve your wealth over time.

2. What Are The Tax Implications of Different Investment Vehicles?

Investment vehicles are categorized based on their tax treatment: “Tax Later,” “Tax Now,” and “Tax Once and Never Again.”

Qualified plans like 401(k)s and IRAs fall under “Tax Later,” offering tax-deferred growth until you withdraw the investment. “Tax Now” includes outside investments, such as stocks and bonds, which generate taxable income annually. Lastly, the “Tax Once/Never Again” category features options like Life Insurance Retirement Plans (LIRPs), providing tax-free growth and distributions.

Understanding these distinctions is crucial for optimizing your investment strategy. Each category offers unique advantages, allowing investors to tailor their portfolios to their specific financial goals and tax situations.

3. How Can A Life Insurance Retirement Plan (LIRP) Enhance Retirement Distributions?

A Life Insurance Retirement Plan (LIRP) can significantly boost after-tax retirement income.

In a scenario without a LIRP, a desired $250,000 distribution results in only $170,000 after taxes. By incorporating a LIRP, the same distribution yields $208,000 after taxes. This $38,000 annual difference amounts to an additional $760,000 over a 20-year period.

LIRPs achieve this through tax-free growth and distributions, complementing traditional retirement accounts and outside investments. This powerful tool offers a tax-efficient way to supplement retirement income, helping you earn additional income in your retirement years.

That’s a wrap!

By now, you’ve likely realized that piecing together an investment strategy from finance podcasts, YouTube videos, and macro “gurus” on 𝕏 is not delivering the results you deserve.

This kind of approach only leads to confusion from conflicting advice, frustration from mediocre returns, and exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster of your portfolio swings.

If you don’t change your process, how can you expect to get better results?

Over 2,000 investors around the world confidently make smarter investment decisions using our clear, actionable, and accurate signals—and as a result, they make more money.

If you are ready to join them, we are here to support you.

When you sign up, you’ll get immediate access to our premium research and signals—and if we’re not the right fit, you can cancel anytime.

Markets Turning From ‘Goldilocks’ Towards Deflation

Darius joined our friend Adam Taggart this week to discuss the risk of recession, inflation, the risk of a US fiscal crisis, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. How High Is The Risk of Recession In The Next 3 to 12 Months?

While we agree with the consensus that the economy is late cycle, with a low unemployment rate of 4.3% and an inverted yield curve since October 2022, we do not currently see a high risk of recession in the next 3 to 12 months.

Our assessment is based on our econometric study of all the postwar economic cycles in and around recession. That process consisted of normalizing the policy, profits, liquidity, growth, stocks, employment, credit, and inflation cycles, and comparing current trends to historical patterns leading into and through a recession. Despite observing significantly tight policy, we have not experienced the typical breakdown in the corporate profit cycle, liquidity cycle, growth cycle, or stock market cycle that usually occurs a few quarters ahead of a recession.

The current constellation of these leading indicators suggests limited recession risk in the medium term. However, we will continue monitoring and flagging critical inflections in these indicators for our clients, as the US economy remains in a late-cycle condition.

2. What Is Driving The Risk of A US Fiscal Crisis?

We believe the risk of a US fiscal crisis is much closer than most investors realize.

Our assessment stems from a significant shift in the labor versus capital dynamic around 2000 – Employee Compensation as a share of Domestic Corporate Businesses Value Added dropped below trend and has remained there, primarily influenced by factors like China’s entry into the WTO, globalization, and domestic deregulation. This shift has concentrated corporate profits among the elite, creating an inequitable situation and fueling the rise of populism on both sides of the political spectrum.

Many do not realize that both political parties are contributing to a high probability of a fiscal crisis by the end of this decade. Democrats are implementing policies that inflate the incomes of the lower half of the income distribution, while Republicans are doing the same for the upper half. These forms of socialism require piling on debt, which in turn is pushing us toward a potential fiscal crisis.

3. What Is The Outlook For Inflation?

Per the same deep-dive empirical study highlighted above, we have found that inflation is the most lagging indicator of the business cycle.

Heading into a downturn, policy generally tightens first, followed by a breakdown in corporate profits and liquidity. Growth and stocks break down about one to two quarters later, followed by employment and credit. Inflation usually breaks down below trend 12 to 15 months after a recession starts.

As a result, we believe it is very unlikely that inflation returns durably to trend without a recession in the US economy. We do not, however, believe price stability is the Fed’s priority in a Fourth Turning regime. Maintaining order in global sovereign debt markets amid structurally elevated public debts and deficits is far more important.

That’s a wrap! If you found this blog post helpful, explore our research for exclusive, hedge-fund-caliber investment insights you can act on today.

How Did Japan Break Bitcoin and Stocks?

Darius joined our friend Anthony Pompliano this week to discuss the JPY carry trade, the 42 Macro Weather Model, the 42 Macro GRID Model, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. What Caused The JPY Carry Trade?

The unwind of the JPY carry trade is gaining attention because many global financial institutions have used the low-yield Japanese yen to fund their leveraged positions.

Japanese yields have been significantly lower than those of other major central banks, making it cost-effective to borrow in yen and convert to USD, Euros, or other currencies for investments.

We are starting to see the beginning of that unwind now.

2. What Does Our Macro Weather Model Indicate About The Outlook For Asset Markets?

The 42 Macro Weather Model, which provides a short to medium-term outlook across the five major asset classes, is currently signaling a neutral outlook for the stock market and Bitcoin, suggesting baseline returns and volatility over the next three months.

Various fundamental factors, including an uptrend in global liquidity, projected rate cuts, and a projected decline in the unemployment rate, support this outlook.

However, we remain optimistic about the overall performance of these asset classes, as we don’t anticipate significant economic risks in the US that would force the Fed to cut rates more aggressively, which could otherwise hasten the unwinding of the yen carry trade.

3. What Does The 42 Macro GRID Model Indicate About The Outlook For Global Economies?

Our 42 Macro GRID Model indicates that the US economy is likely to enter a DEFLATION Bottom-Up Macro Regime in the third quarter, with both growth and inflation slowing. Despite this, we are not worried about asset markets. Our GDP growth estimates are significantly higher than consensus, and our deep dive into business cycle analysis suggests there is a limited risk of a recession in the US economy over the medium term.

Moreover, we believe inflation will likely bottom out in Q4 before rising in 2025. That could pose a future market risk, but isn’t an immediate concern at this time.

Global economies are largely diverging from the US, with most of the world likely to remain in a GOLDILOCKS Bottom-Up Macro Regime throughout 2H24, and the growth accelerating + inflation deceleration dynamic is a typically supportive backdrop for asset markets.

That’s a wrap!

If you found this blog post helpful, explore our research for exclusive, hedge-fund-caliber investment insights you can act on today.

Where Are Global Economies Headed?

Darius joined our friend Ben Brey on this month’s Pro to Pro Live to discuss China, the federal budget deficit, the “K-shaped” economy, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. If Beijing Fails To Act Forcefully, China Will Slip Into A Structural Debt Deflation Akin to 1990’s Japan

China currently faces a difficult position. It has to balance its development goals against a high level of private sector debt, comparable to Japan’s before the 1990s.

Moreover, in 2011, China’s investment as a percentage of GDP peaked near 50%, roughly 1500 basis points higher than Japan’s peak before its long-term debt deflation.

China is caught between a rock and a hard place because it needs to both stimulate the economy to avoid a deflationary spiral and deal with the consequences of past capital misallocation from previous stimulus efforts. We believe the most likely outcome is that China will opt for more stimulus sooner rather than later to address these challenges.

2. The Fiscal Impulse Is Currently Negative, Which Is Likely To Contribute To The Pending Slowdown In Nominal Growth

As our 42 Macro Fiscal Policy Monitor demonstrates, we already see signs that the federal budget deficit is beginning to contract.

Despite being significantly larger in 2023 compared to 2022, the federal budget deficit is now $51 billion smaller on a year-to-date basis through May-24.

This shrinking deficit could lead to a stronger dollar, negatively impacting global liquidity by making it more expensive for other countries to borrow and service debt in dollars. This scenario may lead to a more significant global economic slowdown than the consensus estimates, which currently predict an average of 3% growth this year and next.

3. The US Economy Is A “K-shaped” Economy And That Dynamic Had Bullish Implications To Date

The US economy is currently “K-shaped,” where different segments of the population experience divergent recovery paths. We are observing higher-income individuals experience significant growth in consumption while those in lower-income brackets continue to struggle or worsen.

Our research shows that the lower part of the “K” has diminished in size, while the upper part, representing higher-income individuals, has grown larger. This is evident from consumer spending data, showing that the lower third of income earners accounts for only 15% of consumer spending, while the upper third accounts for 51%.

As long as stocks remain in a bull market and credit markets support private equity and private credit, the wealthier segment will continue to drive the economy. We believe this disparity is currently preventing a significant decline in corporate profits and a contraction in the business cycle.

That’s a wrap! If you found this blog post helpful, explore our research for exclusive, hedge-fund-caliber investment insights you can act on today.

Risk Management Strategies: How To Avoid Losing It All

Darius joined our friend Andreas Steno Larsen on Real Vision last week to discuss inflation, what 42 Macro’s quantitative asset allocation process is signaling, where we are in the positioning and liquidity cycles, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. We Believe Inflation Is Likely To Slow, But Bottom Above 2%

We have maintained for nearly two years that the Fed would need to revise its inflation target to be higher, as their policies since early 2022 suggest they will allow the economy to run hotter for longer.

Moreover, we believe inflation is likely to slow over the medium term. However, given the current era of fiscal dominance and other structural factors, we do not foresee a durable return to the Fed’s mandate of 2%.

We believe the Fed’s decision to perpetuate a higher nominal GDP growth economy is structurally bullish for risk assets like stocks, credit, commodities, and crypto, and bearish for defensive assets such as Treasury bonds and the US dollar. Investors will still have to manage cyclical risks along the way, however.

2. Our Discretionary Risk Management Overlay aka “Dr. Mo” Is Responsible For Keeping 42 Macro Clients On The Right Side Of Market Risk

We utilize our Discretionary Risk Management Overlay as the primary tool to advise our clients on the appropriate trades and position sizes across every major asset class, sector, and factor.

At the time of the recording, we were in a risk-on REFLATION Market Regime, and our Discretionary Risk Management Overlay aka “Dr. Mo” recommended maximum long positions in many risk assets across equity, credit, and macro markets — recommendations it has maintained since November.

The recommendation logic is based on the interplay between an asset’s Volatility-Adjusted Momentum Signal (VAMS) and its historical performance within the current Market Regime. These trade recommendations are updated six times a week for our clients at 42 Macro and only change if the Market Regime or VAMS for a particular asset changes.

3. Our Analysis On Liquidity Cycle Upturns Suggests Risk Assets May Have A Larger Drawdown Ahead

Investors should focus on both the liquidity and positioning cycles to better understand how exogenous shocks, like geopolitical events or crises, can influence asset market behavior.

We have analyzed the various liquidity cycles since Mar-09 to aid our clients in predicting expected asset market performance and potential drawdowns during these cycles. Currently, we are in a liquidity cycle upturn that began in October 2022, lasting for 19 months—shorter than the median duration of nearly two years typically seen in past cycles. Despite this shorter duration, the performance has been greater than the median 37% return of other cycles, with the S&P 500 up 40% since the current liquidity cycle upturn began.

However, a concern for us is that we have not reached the median maximum drawdowns observed in past liquidity cycle upturns. In this cycle, the maximum drawdowns have been -10% for the S&P, -11% for the NASDAQ, -27% for Bitcoin, and -34% for Ethereum. These figures are significantly milder compared to the median drawdowns of -14%, -16%, -61%, and -51% for these assets, respectively. This analysis leads us to caution that, despite the strong performance and the persistence of the liquidity cycle upturn, there remains a potential for significant corrections in asset markets.

That’s a wrap! If you found this blog post helpful, go to www.42macro.com/research to gain access to 42 Macro’s proprietary trading signals, asset allocation recommendations, and portfolio construction pivots.

Cooling Inflation Could Create A ‘GOLDILOCKS Vibe’ In Asset Markets

Darius joined our friends at Mornings With Maria on Fox Business last week to discuss inflation, rate cuts, the resilient US economy, and more.

If you missed the interview, here is the most important takeaway from the conversation that has significant implications for your portfolio:

Many positive fundamental catalysts are driving the market’s strong performance. Growth has been resilient, the labor market remains robust, and inflation is increasingly behaving in a manner that allows the Federal Reserve to consider policy rate cuts.

While the economy has been resilient, we believe it is likely to slow over the medium term. However, our research indicates growth is likely to surprise to the upside, and inflation is likely to surprise to the downside. This combination could cause the current GOLDILOCKS Market Regime to persist.
That said, current market conditions are not an all-clear signal for investors. We are in an adverse spot in the positioning cycle, with various metrics indicating we are in the late innings of the market cycle. Many indicators we track in our 42 Macro Positioning Model are flashing red for medium to longer-term risks despite optimistic calls for the S&P to reach 6000.
The U.S. economy has experienced a K-shaped recovery, where different segments of the population recover at different rates. The top third of income earners account for 51% of total consumer spending, while the bottom third accounts for only 15%. This disparity has significant political ramifications for this year’s election, and when considering the direction of the stock and bond markets, it is crucial to view the economy in aggregate terms.

How To Navigate The Fourth Turning

Darius hosted our friend Kris Sidial on this month’s Pro to Pro Live to discuss the 42 Macro Positioning Model, inflation, the Fourth Turning, and more.

If you missed the interview, here are the three most important takeaways from the conversation that have significant implications for your portfolio:

1. Our Positioning Model Suggests Vulnerability In Equities

Our 42 Macro Positioning Model monitors 14 indices relative to their historical time series. By identifying the thresholds of each indicator that correspond to major bull market peaks and troughs, we can determine whether we are approaching cyclical tops or bottoms in asset markets.

Currently, six of the seven indicators related to equities are flashing red. Specifically, the AAII stock allocation, AAII bond allocation, AAII cash allocation survey, S&P 500 realized volatility, S&P 500 implied volatility correlations, and the S&P 500’s valuation have all breached historical thresholds observed at bull market peaks.

The positioning cycle is not ever the cause of breakdowns and breakouts in stock market momentum, but it does act as an accelerant once a catalyst(s) has triggered. That means investors should be on higher alert than normal for signs of rapidly deteriorating fundamentals. A better process would be to trust proven risk management signals that will help you book gains closer to the top than waiting for or even attempting to [oft-erroneously] predict those catalysts.

2. Is 3% Inflation The New 2%?

At 42 Macro, we have conducted an in-depth analysis of the economic dynamics surrounding the Fourth Turning.

Our findings suggest that over the next decade, investors should anticipate significant upside surprises in the growth of public debt relative to current projections and a marked increase in inflation compared to the pre-Fourth Turning baseline.

This conclusion aligns with a report we published in January 2022 featuring our secular inflation model. Our analysis revealed that the Core PCE trend from 2010-2019 was 1.6%. However, our models project that the trend for 2020-2029 is likely to be between 2.6% and 3.0%.

3. A Higher Inflation Trend Will Have Important Implications For Investors’ Portfolios

The inflation outlook during the Fourth Turning has significant implications for the stock-bond correlation and investors’ portfolios.

In periods of 1-2% Headline CPI, as experienced over the past decade, the stock-bond correlation tends to be negative. Conversely, in periods of 2-3% Headline CPI, the correlation becomes positive, and increasingly positive beyond those levels.

If our Fourth Turning thesis holds true, a traditional 60/40 portfolio is likely to underperform more thoughtful asset allocation strategies over the next decade. Investors will need to consider alternative instruments, such as volatility products, to hedge their portfolios effectively. Investors should consider the 42 Macro KISS Portfolio Construction Process, which is already being relied upon to deliver superior investment performance for thousands of investors around the world.

That’s a wrap!

If you found this blog post helpful, explore our research for exclusive, hedge-fund-caliber investment insights you can act on today.