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The Biggest Myth About Investing In Europe

Tyler Durden's picture




 

One of the more prevalent myths in recent weeks is that just because everyone who manages money hates Europe, which recently entered a triple-dip recession if one excludes the "contribution" to GDP from hookers and blow, then it must be a good buy. After all, the only strategy that has worked like a charm under central-planning is BTFD, no further comment necessary. In fact, it was JPM itself that two days ago gave the world 5 reasons to buy Europe and Sell the US (the main of which was hope that the ECB would finally start buying everything that isn't nailed down at something more reasonable than the €3Bn/week snail's pace of covered bond monetization).

Which is why the BTFDippier of the fast money is already rotating into a long-Europe mode: their entire thesis is that sooner or later the whales will have no choice but to follow the momentum chasers right back into Europe, because where else are they going to go: in the "safety" of the S&P's 19x GAAP P/E?

In theory this would be a great strategy, if only in a world in which nobody actually does any fundamental homework and the only thing that matters is frontrunning the next great sucker. In practice, it is fatally wrong.

As the following observation from hedge fund Lyxor shows, while CTA and momentum strats have indeed bailed on Europe in recent months, the so-called smart money, the "global macro" funds never left.

Dispersion among strategies remains high, with CTAs leading the pack. In terms of positioning, momentum players recently turned short European equities (see chart). This is in stark contrast with discretionary managers, which remain long European equities. But the underperformance of Global Macro managers versus CTAs this year does not bode well for European equities.

 

 

L/S Equity is the worst performing strategy. Most of the disappointment came from European funds which suffered from their short exposure on energy services names (see page 4). US managers fared better as they held onto their long positions on retailers before Black Friday. Despite this, they failed from fully capturing the market rebound on the back of their low exposure to the energy sector, which experienced an unexpected rebound this week.

So all those momos hoping that just because they are doing what nobody else has possibly thought of, i.e., investing in beaten down markets, in hopes of frontrunning bigger investors, we have bad news: the only thing momo traders will be frontrunning is each other. And that, as CYNK most recently showed, always ends in tears.

 

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Wed, 11/19/2014 - 14:57 | 5466274 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

I might invest in the new "Northern Euro Zone"

  the Southern slop, plus or minus Vichy La Franze...,  not so much.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:03 | 5466303 HedgeAccordingly
HedgeAccordingly's picture

Just ask ABE for help.. Ben also consulting for $$

http://hedgeaccordingly.com/2014/11/abenomics-architect-koichi-hamada-ca...

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:00 | 5466294 ukspreads
ukspreads's picture

Yeah, keep buying APPLE and one day it will be big enough to swallow the FTSE, DAX and CAC in one go

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:03 | 5466304 SethDealer
SethDealer's picture

Europe is done. NEXT

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:16 | 5466363 tostaky06
tostaky06's picture

Europe is not done thanks to the oil crisis ... 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:04 | 5466305 Bell's 2 hearted
Bell's 2 hearted's picture

FOMC minutes about to come out

 

KEY

 

what they say about usd strength

 

last minutes were worried about strength 

DXY when last minutes released 85.60

currently 87.60

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:04 | 5466308 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Right now I'm looking at investing in a pair of fine bred Jersey heifers, I figure I'll have a better ROI then the market will provide.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:11 | 5466337 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

 

Get a Surge Bucket Milker

They are worth their weight in gold.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:14 | 5466349 devo
devo's picture

I bought a euro index. It's clear they will print a ton (just so the fed can do the same later). So might as well go there and get that pop, then sell and head back into u.s. stocks to get that pop. Duh. This is getting too easy.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:23 | 5466397 Jonathan Equine...
Jonathan Equine Phallus's picture

There's a lot of potential in Hungary, Bulgaria and here and there in Eastern Europe, not to mention Finland.  It wll likely be fucked up and squandered, and Hungary, especially, has the bankers' ire, but still.

 

Had I listened to ZH rather than people who understand the tech as to Apple, I would have lost a decent chunk of change.

 

----

And this is probably th biggest myth, period.

Cool new Christian Bale movie though - and a cast of hundreds of blue eyed Hebrews fighting eeevil brown Iranians...or Egyptians...  or whatever.

 

 

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 15:24 | 5466408 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

Yeah yeah I've had this "Europe recovery" idea every five years for the past 30 and so far it's been a bust every time.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 16:50 | 5466865 falak pema
falak pema's picture

Its not a myth its a reality of chasing marginal returns when the US market is over bought. 

That is captialism per se AS ITS PRACTISED. NOT AS ITS PREACHED.

We have to choose between fact and fiction (or theory).

Thats the Western way of life.

Wed, 11/19/2014 - 17:11 | 5466995 Ewtman
Wed, 11/19/2014 - 17:11 | 5466996 ukspreads
ukspreads's picture

Essentially, European shit isn't worth as much as USA shit 

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