Unprecedented spending by each lawmakers as well as the Federal Reserve to stave off a pandemic-induced market crash helped drive stocks to new highs last year, but Morgan Stanley consultants are actually concerned that the unintended consequences of extra dollars and pent-up demand once the pandemic subsides could very well tank markets this year-quickly and abruptly.
Dow Plunges Despite Fed Buyout Plan for Debt Traders work on the floor of the new York Stock Exchange. 

Key FACTS
The biggest market surprise of 2021 might be “higher inflation than many, including the Fed, expect,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note on Monday, arguing that the Fed’s substantial spending during the pandemic has moved beyond just filling gaps left by crises and is as an alternative “creating newfound spending that led to probably the fastest economic recovery on record.”

By making use of its cash reserves to purchase back again some one dolars trillion in securities, the Fed has created a market that is awash with cash, which usually helps drive inflation, along with Morgan Stanley warns that influx could drive up costs as soon as the pandemic subsides and companies scramble to meet pent-up consumer demand.

Within the stock market, the inflation risk is actually greatest for industries “destroyed” by the “ill-prepared and pandemic for what might be a surge in demand later on this year,” the analysts said, pointing to restaurants, other consumer and travel in addition to business related firms which could be forced to drive up prices if they are unable to meet post-Covid demand.

The most effective inflation hedges in the medium-term are commodities and stocks, the investment bank notes, but inflation can be “kryptonite” for longer-term bonds, which would ultimately have a short-term negative impact on “all stocks, should that adjustment occur abruptly.”

Ultimately, Morgan Stanley estimates firms in the S&P 500 could be in for an average eighteen % haircut in the valuations of theirs, relative to earnings, if the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasurys readjusts to complement latest market fundamentals-an enhance the analysts said is “unlikely” but shouldn’t be entirely ruled out.

Meanwhile, Adam Crisafulli, the founder of Vital Knowledge Media, estimates that the influx in Fed and government spending helped boost valuation multiples in the S&P by a lofty 16% more as opposed to the index’s 14 % gain last year.

Vital QUOTE
“With worldwide GDP output currently back to pre pandemic levels as well as the economy not yet even close to totally reopened, we imagine the danger for much more acute priced spikes is actually higher compared to appreciated,” Morgan Stanley equity strategists led by Michael J. Wilson said, noting that the quick rise of bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies is an indication markets are right now beginning to think currencies like the dollar can be in for a surprise crash. “That adjustment in rates is just a matter of time, and it’s likely to take place fairly quickly and without warning.”

KEY BACKGROUND
The pandemic was “perversely” beneficial for large companies, Crisafulli said Monday. The S&P’s 14 % gain pales in comparison to the tech-heavy and larger Nasdaq‘s eye popping 40 % surge last year, as firms boosted by federal government spending utilized existing strategies and scale “to develop as well as save their earnings.” As a result, Crisafulli concurs that rates should be the “big macroeconomic story of 2021” as a waning pandemic unearths upward cost pressure.

Big NUMBER
$120 billion. That is how much the Federal Reserve is spending each month buying back Treasurys and mortgage backed securities following initiating a massive $700 billion asset purchase program in March. The U.S. federal government, meanwhile, has authorized some $3.5 trillion in spending to shore up the economic recovery as a consequence of the pandemic.

CHIEF CRITIC
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said Monday he’d “full confidence” the Fed was well-positioned to help spur a robust economic recovery with its current asset purchase plan, and he further mentioned that the central bank was ready to accept adjusting its rate of purchases as soon as springtime hits. “Economic agents needs to be equipped for a period of very low interest rates as well as an expansion of our stability sheet,” Evans said.

What to WATCH FOR
President-elect Joe Biden nominated former Fed Chair Janet Yellen to head up the Treasury Department, an indicator the federal government could very well work more closely with the Fed to assist battle economic inequalities through programs such as universal standard income, Morgan Stanley notes. “That is just the ocean of change which can lead to unexpected effects in the fiscal markets,” the investment bank says.