JPMorgan: "Nothing Appears To Be Breaking" But "Something Happened"

If you thought you were merely on the fence about being confused on the topic of the global economy, and how the Fed may be on the verge of a rate hike when on both previous occasions when financial conditions were here the Fed was launching QE1 and QE2, here is JPM's chief economist Bruce Kasman to make sure of that.

Something happened

The August turbulence in global markets has produced significant shifts, including a 6.6% fall in equity prices. The currencies of emerging market countries have depreciated substantially against the G-4, while emerging market borrowing rates for sovereigns and corporates have moved higher. Global oil prices have been whipsawed as have G-4 bond yields.

The speed and magnitude of these movements is reminiscent of past episodes in which financial crises emerged or the global economy slipped into recession. However, nothing appears to be breaking. Global activity indicators have, on balance, disappointed but remain consistent with a modest pickup in the pace of growth. Additionally, despite the turbulence in financial markets, there is no sign of unusual stress in short-term funding markets or of a credit crisis in any large EM economy.

And just to ease the confusion somewhat, here is Kasman's attempt at explaining what many others had foreseen months, if not years, ago:

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