Friday, February 25, 2011

Soc Gen’s Economic Surprise Indicator

By Barry Ritholtz

Alain Bokobza of the Société Générale Quant team, writes that their “Economic surprise indicator” suggests risky assets are now technically vulnerable:
“After undergoing a massive rally since last September, risky assets are now technically vulnerable: SG Quant sentiment indicator is close to an all-time high, economic revisions have rarely such a high percentage of upgrades, equity volatility is at a four-year low, the Canadian dollar is dear versus the USD and lastly inflows into equities reached $8bn last month, led by “panic-buying.”
This  economic surprise indicator is a measure of the deviation of economic data surprises, calculated as the difference between figures released and figures expected by consensus. Global Equities relative to Global Bonds: 3-month performance of MSCI World Index (in US$, in total return) divided by Barclays Global Bond Index (in US$, in total return).

Economic Surprise Indicator




Bonds no longer expensive vis à vis equities

1 & 3: time to switch out of bonds into equities
2 & 4: time to switch out of equities into bonds

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