Goldman Sachs Wrong on Economic Recovery, Macro Hedge Funds Say By Cristina Alesci
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who outperformed peers last year, is wagering that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley got it wrong in declaring the start of an economic recovery.
Jones's Tudor Investment Corp., Clarium Capital Management LLC and Horseman Capital Management Ltd. are taking a bearish stand as U.S. stock and bond prices rise, saying that record government spending may be forestalling another slowdown and market selloff. The firms oversee a combined $15 billion in so- called macro funds, which seek to profit from economic trends by trading stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities.
If we have a recovery at all, it isn't sustainable, Kevin Harrington, managing director at Clarium, said in an interview at the firm's New York offices. This is more likely a ski-jump recession, with short-term stimulus creating a bump that will ultimately lead to a more precipitous decline later.
Tudor, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm started by Jones in the early 1980s, told clients in an Aug. 3 letter that the stock market's climb was a “bear-market rally. Weak growth in household income was among the reasons to be dubious about the rebound's chances of survival, Tudor said.
A focus on misleading indicators is driving markets, macro managers say.
Clarium watches the unemployment rate that accounts for discouraged job applicants and those working part-time because they cant find full-time positions, Harrington said. July joblessness with those adjustments was 16 percent, according to the Department of Labor, rather than the more widely reported 9.4 percent.
The housing data isn't as rosy as some see it, Harrington said. As existing U.S. home sales rose 7.2 percent in July from the previous month, distressed deals including foreclosures accounted for 31 percent of transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors, a Chicago-based trade group.
A report by the Mortgage Bankers Association, based in Washington, showed the share of home loans with one or more payments overdue rose to a seasonally adjusted 9.24 percent in the second quarter, an all-time high.
Loaded for Bear
Clarium, which oversees about $2 billion, is positioned for an equity bear market through investments in the U.S. dollar, Harrington said. Falling stock prices will strengthen the currency by forcing leveraged investors to sell equities to pay down the dollar-denominated debt they used to finance those trades, he said.
High unemployment, lower wages and potential missteps by policymakers around the globe may stifle economic growth in 2010, Tudor said. The firm, which manages $10.8 billion, is at odds with 55 economists projecting an average of 2.3 percent growth next year, according to the Bloomberg survey.
Macro managers' pessimism is fueled in part by the U.S. government's response to last year's financial crisis, which they say fails to address the root cause. Banks still hold hard- to-sell assets on their balance sheets, the managers said.
Subdued Credit Growth
Some critical initiatives have been cut short, Tudor said. As a result, toxic assets remain on balance sheets and credit growth is likely to be subdued for a long period.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted in April to relax fair-value accounting rules. The change to mark-to-market accounting allowed companies to use significant judgment in gauging prices of some investments on their books, including mortgage-backed securities that plunged with the housing market.
Banks are reporting better earnings because they haven't been forced to account for their losses yet, Clarium's Harrington said.
We haven't fixed the problem, he said. We've just slowed down the official recognition of it.
Source: Bloomberg
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