Research Notes
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Research Notes
International Spotlight
International Spotlight
1H25: Earnings decline, flat dividend, price stretched?
Operating conditions remain weak
Cloud and AI demand still looks increasingly strong
Tariff uncertainty impacts US demand
Very Big, Very Good.
US installed base growth slower than expected
Early days in strategic realignment
Pending promises
News & Insights
At the beginning of the week, I was asked to write something about Iran. When I started looking at what had been happening , I realised that what we were talking about begins with an action by a proxy of Iran back in November 2023. How that was initially handled with the Biden regime, and how then it was dealt with deftly by Trump this year, in turn led to the need for an attack on Iran's nuclear facility.
Winston Churchill noted in his first volume of his history of the Second World War that it was important to understand that the United States is primarily a naval power. Indeed, the US remains the world dominant naval power. As such, two major strategic concerns remain for the US : the control of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal .
To the US The idea that another country might block access to either of these must be intolerable. Yet what began happening, beginning on the 19th November 2023, was that , Houthi rebels that controlled a the northern part of a small country in southwestern Arabia, began to act. These Houthi rebels were acting as a proxy for Iran. They were funded by Iran, and armed with Ship-killing rockets, by Iran.
By February 2024, they had attacked 40 ships which had been attempting to sail northwards towards the Suez Canal. By March 2024, 200 ships had been diverted away from the Suez Canal and forced to make the longer and more expensive voyage around the Cape of Good Hope of South Africa. At this point, I think The Economist magazine said that this was the most severe Suez crisis since the 1950s.
The U.S. did respond. On the 18th December 2023, the U.S. had announced an international maritime force to break the Houthi blockade. On the 10th January, the UN National Security Council adopted a resolution demanding a cessation of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.
As of the 2nd January 2024, the Houthis had already recorded 931 American and British airstrikes against sites in Yemen. Then Trump came to power. To Trump, the idea of the proxy of Iran blockading the Suez Canal could not be tolerated.
From the 15th March 2025, Trump began "Operatation Rough Rider". This was named for the cavalry commanded by the then-future President Theodore Roosevelt, who charged up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The U.S. then hit the Houthis with over a thousand airstrikes. So they were bombing at ten times the rate they previously had been. The result of that was that by the 6th March 2025, Trump announced that the Houthis, these proxies of Iran, had capitulated as part of a ceasefire brokered by Oman. This directly led to the main game.
It was obvious that the decision to do the unthinkable, and block the Suez Canal, had come from Iran.
What other unthinkable things was Iran considering?
It is obvious that Trump now believed that the next unthinkable thing that Iran was considering was nuclear weapons. As Iran's other proxies collapsed, Iran's air defence collapsed. In turn, this gave Trump the room to act, and he took it. He launched a bombing raid which severely disabled Iran's nuclear capacity. Some say it completely destroyed it.
Iran retaliated by launching 14 rockets at the American base in Qatar, warning the Americans this was going to happen, and this had no other effect than allowing Iran to announce a glorious victory by themselves over the Americans. Iran had thought the unthinkable and had achieved what was, to them, as a result, an unthinkable reverse.
The ceasefire that has followed has been interpreted by markets as a relief from major risk. Now, the major effect of this on markets has been a dramatic rocketing in the oil price, followed by a fall in the oil price. So I thought I’d look at the fundamentals of the oil price, from running two of my models of the Brent price, using current fundamentals.
Now, the simplest model that I’ve got explains 63% of monthly variation of the Brent oil price. And it’s based on two things. One is the level of stocks in the U.S., which are published every week by the Energy Information Administration . Those stocks are down a bit in the most recent months because this is the summer driving season where oil stocks are being drawn down to provide higher demand for gasoline. So that’s a positive thing. And the other thing that I’ve been talking about this year is that I think we’re going to see a steady fall in the U.S. dollar, and that’s going to generate the beginning of a recovery in commodities prices. So if I also put the U.S. dollar index into this model, it gives me an equilibrium model now of $78.96. And that’s about $US12 higher than the oil price was this morning.
If I strengthen that model by adding the U.S. CPI, because, you know, the cost of production cost of oil raises over time, that increases the power of the model . And that lifts the equilibrium price very considerably to $97 a barrel, which is $30 a barrel higher than it currently is. So I regard that as my medium-term model, and the first one is my short-term model.
What’s really interesting is that the U.S. dollar has continued to fall. That puts further upward pressure on the oil price. So in spite of this crisis having been solved, I think we’re going to see more upward price action on the oil price by the end of the year.
We think the US economy is currently experiencing solid growth, with data from the Chicago Fed National Activity Index indicating an annual growth rate of just above 2%. This aligns with projections from other parts of the Federal Reserve System, such as the New York Fed. The New York Fed’s weekly Nowcast, updated every Friday, estimates that for the second quarter of 2025, the US economy is growing at an annualised rate of 2.34%, surpassing the 2% mark. This robust growth is consistent with our model’s view that the US economy is now performing strongly. However, we anticipate a slowdown in the second half of 2025.
On 18 June the Fed released its Summary of Economic Projections with the Federal Reserve’s forecasting US GDP growth to drop to 1.4% in 2025, down from their March estimate of 1.7%. Looking further ahead, growth is expected to pick up slightly to 1.6% in 2026 and 1.8% in 2027, aligning with the long-term trend growth rate of around 1.8%. We believe this recovery trend could be even higher, driven by reduced regulation under the second Trump administration and aggressive tax write-offs for companies building factories in the US, allowing 100% write-offs for equipment and buildings in the first year. This policy should foster stronger systemic growth.
The Fed expects that as the economy slows, unemployment is projected to rise to 4.5% from the current level of 4.2%. Inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is running at 3.5% this year, approximately 50 basis points higher than the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index of 3.0%, with 1.6% of this inflation attributed to tariffs. The Fed expects PCE Inflation to ease to 2.4% in 2026 and 2.1% in 2027. The Federal Reserve anticipates cutting the effective federal funds rate, currently at 433 basis points (according to the New York Fed), by 50 basis points by the end of 2025, followed by an additional 25 basis points in each of the next two years. This aligns with our own Fed Funds rate model’s current equilibrium federal funds rate of 3.85% . The Fed Outlook supports our scenario of a slowing US economy and rate cuts in the second half of 2025 and beyond. A falling US dollar is then expected to exert upward pressure on commodity prices, benefiting Australian Equity markets.
Taking questions during the Press Conference after releasing the Fed statement ,Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, addressed the certainty and uncertainty surrounding the inflationary effects of tariffs. Initially, at the start of 2025, the inflationary impact of tariff policies was unclear, but three months of favourable inflation data have provided this clarity, indicating that the inflationary effects are less severe than anticipated. Powell noted that the Feds own uncertainty on the inflationary effects of tariffs peaked in April 2025, and the Federal Reserve now has a clearer understanding that the inflation effects, are lower than initially expected.
The Fed view supports our own scenario of a slowing US economy in the second half of 2025, allowing for Fed rate cuts . This in turn should then lead to a falling US dollar, which we in turn expect to drive rising commodity prices.
The second half of 2025 will be an interesting time for everyone. Geopolitical uncertainty prevails. How will all of this impact the Australian investor and in particular, their wealth and retirement savings? Whether you are an accumulator, saving for short- and long-term goals, or a retiree, hoping for a comfortable retirement, the ability to manage this uncertainty will be key.
When we published the previous Your Wealth – First Half 2025, the Division 296 Bill (Div296) was also facing uncertainty. The Bill was eventually blocked in the Senate prior to the Federal Election. The Labor Party succeeded in winning so it’s Ground Hog Day for Div296. The Government doesn’t have the numbers in the Senate to pass the Bill without support from other parties. The Greens are the likely negotiating party but will undoubtably have their own agenda. Regardless, there is a high probability this legislation will be passed once Parliament resumes.
Our message to our clients is to wait until we know more details and to not act in haste.
In addition to our Feature Article which provides further insights on Div296, this edition also Spotlights the Aged Care changes due this year, with the start date pushed back to 1 November.
We hope readers enjoy this edition of Your Wealth.
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