Fade Tightening Expectations

ZeroHedge: Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers, shares Zero Hedge's healthy dose of skepticism over two things: the pace of tightening in Europe, which the market is now taking for granted (the EURUSD hit 1.4315 earlier following rumors of Petrodollars now being recycled by purchasing European currency, not dollars: deja vu 2005 anyone?), and Fed tightening following a purported QE2 end. Summarizing: "our argument is two-fold. First, in Europe, we suspect the market is ahead of itself on the likely pace of ECB tightening. The market appears ripe for buy (the euro) on the “rumor” of an ECB rate hike and sells on the fact type of action. Second, similarly, the market appears too aggressive in pricing in Fed tightening after QEII is finished. The pendulum of market sentiment has swung too hard and we expect it to adjust in the weeks ahead." The problem is how to trade this: if the market is expecting too much tightening in both the EUR and USD, shouldn't the two offset? Then again, with the Yen carry trade now being put on en masse by everyone in the aftermath of the reserve-repo carry end, what happens with the two currencies may be quite irrelevant as everyone rushes to short the Yen. That said, there appears to be further EUR upside before the strong Europe trade finally fizzles: "Prudent investors should also consider what is potentially on the euro’s upside. An initial barrier is seen in the $1.4280-$1.4300 area. A break could signal another 1-2% euro rise to the $1.4450 and possibly $1.4600. To be sure, we suspect further euro appreciation in the face of tightening of monetary and fiscal policies will exacerbate the pressure in the periphery and act as further headwinds to European growth."