Chart Of The Day: Dollar On Course For 85.00

 | Jul 24, 2017 10:01AM ET

by Pinchas Cohenh3 America The Economically Not-So-Beautiful
/h3

America the Beautiful may still be one of the US's most well known anthems, but according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), America's economy is not nearly as beautiful as it once was. The global economy is less reliant on the US, more on the eurozone, China, Japan and Canada.

This comes after the dollar index has already fallen to its lowest level since June 2016. The slide began after investors bid it up on the reflationary hopes markets had for the newly elected President Donald Trump.

However, that very same Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal on January 17 the strong dollar was “killing us,” which incidentally, killed the dollar rally.

Since then, ongoing, often disappointing economic reports kept pushing the greenback lower, even as the Fed tried to convince investors that inflation will rear its lovely head at any moment. When Fed Chair Yellen finally admitted what dollar and yield investors already knew—that inflation was not coming as quickly as the Fed had anticipated—it just made matters worse for the US currency.

The final straw, however, may have occurred in late June, when ECB President Draghi began talking merely about tapering, in contrast to Yellen who had already mentioned shrinking the US balance sheet. The euro shot up to its highest price since August 24, 2015 and highest close since January 14 of that year.

While the IMF forecast 3.5 percent global growth this year, it estimates only 2.1 percent growth in the US and not just for this year, but for next year as well.

h3 China, Eurozone, Canada Growing/h3

This lowered estimate is merely readjusting expectations to what they should have been in the first place. The only reason the IMF expected more from the US was because of anticipated fiscal policy from the Trump administration. However, in June the IMF joined dollar and Treasury traders when they finally stopped counting on Trump’s policies for growth.

Furthermore, while the US economy is contracting, other nations' economies are expanding. China’s forecast is for 6.7 percent growth, up 0.1 point from April’s world economic outlook. For 2018, the forecast is a more moderate 6.4 percent, but still an increase of 0.2 points from three months ago.

The forecast for Japan climbed 0.1 point to 1.3 percent. The euro area is expected to grow 1.9 percent, up 0.2 points from three months ago, and an additional 1.7 percent in 2018, up 0.1 point. Even, Spain with all its economic problems, is forecast to be the eurozone’s bright spot for both years, with a revised growth forecast of 3.2 percent. Finally, it looks like Canada will be this year’s economic growth leader, expanding at 2.5 percent, up a whopping 0.6 points from April.

h3 Final Nail In The DXY's Coffin?/h3
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The IMF report delivers a double whammy against the dollar. First, it confirms what dollar bears have been saying this year. Second, it may be the last nail in the dollar’s coffin.