A black swan is an event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and is extremely difficult to predict. Black swan events are typically random and unexpected.
Investopedia
With the market jittery of late, my sense is it’s waiting for another shoe to drop. If only we knew when and why. With a decelerating economy looming, greater uncertainty present and anticipated struggles with earnings comps it doesn’t stretch the imagination much to envision additional – or greater – turmoil.
The question becomes: what is the catalyst? For purposes of this post we can ignore politics. Having survived the past two years gives us that luxury. The usual suspects; oil, interest rates or political upheaval are in check. The economy, if not robust, is no slouch. If I concur with pundits that postulate we can bounce along at these levels for awhile then I still must make the attempt to identify a black swan. For this posts’ purpose some economic thing. One example being 1997’s Asian Contagion. In the absence of such a trigger I suspect Michael Pento’s analysis is a little dire, but with minimal tailwinds I could make a case for stagnation.
In my spare time I’ve been performing a cursory analysis on the ETFs I added this year. Only from the aspect of understanding each company and ending with a determination as to whether I would choose to own the component outright. The process is a little laborious but results in more detailed knowledge on my part. Australia and Mexico were a breeze. Europe is last. Japan was painful with the keiretsu overlaying business relationships (formal and informal) coupled with subsidiary relationships and interlocking ownership structures. While my research remains incomplete, I may have found a lurking black swan.
With much of the analytical commentary in the US centered on corporate debt in a rising rate environment, in this vein, how about a growing Japanese banking scandal that, by comparison, makes the Wells Fargo scandal pale in comparison. In essence, in April Japan’s Suruga Bank (a roughly $3.5B regional bank) came under investigation for fraudulent lending practices, falsified documentation and a laundry list of assorted unscrupulous business dealings. In September, an independent investigation revealed at least 795 cases of fraud. Garnering my attention was a fear that some “analysts have warned (this) could generate risks for the entire Japanese banking sector“. All this has come to a head with the filing of a lawsuit against the founding family this week.
One could speculate this issue is confined to this bank – and the answer could well be yes. However one of the issues with the Japanese corporate system is the propensity to delay remedial action – basically a holdover from the glory days of the keiretsu. The Suruga scandal has the potential to spread into Shinzo Abe’s government and the BOJ. Not as direct participants but as a negative reflection of their policies.
My eyes will remain on this as we enter the new year as if Japan stumbles the ramifications on interest rates in the US could be interesting as an inflow of currency to one of the world’s remaining ‘safe-havens’ could result in some artificial – and likely temporary – swings in yield curve.
Have a Happy New Year!
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