ReSolve Riffs: Andy Constan on Hard vs. Soft Landing, Fed Reaction Function & Higherer for Longerer

This week we welcomed back Andy Constan (CEO / CIO of Damped Spring Advisors) and thought-provoking commentator on financial markets. His deep understanding of the global macro landscape and structure of markets, as always, made for a fascinating conversation that covered: A disciple of two completely different and complimentary schools of global macro excellence Navigating his portfolio in 2022 through the Twitter looking glass Listening between the lines and hearing the drumbeat of quantitative tightening (QT) early on In the old days, understanding inflation and growth was enough for capital allocation The game is now mostly about policymakers’ toolkit, stimuli, and their impact on flows The driving force of equity derivatives and their huge impact in the second half of last year Under normal circumstances, commercial banks account for the lion’s share of money creation and liquidity Issuance, roll-offs, and duration management – the mechanics behind the Fed’s balance sheet Credit and leverage as a function of banks’ ability and willingness to expand their own balance sheets The role of duration in the Fed’s balance sheet activity Why Japan, the original QE trailblazer, was ineffective in its efforts to support asset prices for many years Compression of risk premia, asset inflation, and a weak transmission mechanism towards wealth effects and increased consumption Valuation multiples as the inverse of risk premia Multiples expansion as the primary mechanism for QE-driven asset bubbles Debt monetization as the medium-term bogey on the radar How the Fed relinquished control of QT duration to the Treasury And so much more This is “ReSolve Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global* and Richard Laterman of ReSolve Asset Management Inc.   *ReSolve Global Inc. refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global Inc. is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.