Is a China-Taiwan Conflict Likely? Watch the Region's Stock Market Indexes

By Mark Galasiewski | Elliott Wave International

The U.S. government in early May sanctioned 300 Chinese entities for supplying machine tools and parts to Russia for its war against Ukraine, while in mid-May Russian president Vladimir Putin made a two-day visit to China. In turn I found myself thinking about how tensions between China and the United States could lead to open conflict, specifically over Taiwan.

The likelihood of conflict depends in part on the region's social mood, as reflected in Asia's stock market indexes. When social mood is negative, countries are more likely to behave aggressively.

Tensions in the region have been high. On May 23, China conducted a military drill that sent 111 warplanes plus several navy destroyers and frigates close to Taiwan and its outer islands. China said the drill meant to punish Taiwan for an offense committed by its new head of state, Lai Ching-te, who used his May 20 inauguration speech to suggest that Taiwan is not part of China.

Yet China appeared to end the provocative move after just two days, much like Iran quickly ended its reprisal drone attack on Israel in April. Both examples reflect the desire to limit the scope of new conflicts, consistent with the improving social mood and burgeoning rally in emerging markets.

As our "Bull versus Bear" chart shows, the mood in Taiwan remains positive amid the global tech boom: The Taiwan Index rose right through the military drill. In contrast, the mood in China remains severely negative, as reflected in the Shanghai Composite's long-term pattern. That does raise the risk of Chinese aggression -- or at the least increases the risk of accidents and miscalculations. As Singapore's deputy prime minister Gan Kim Yong recently said at the Nikkei Forum in Tokyo, bad outcomes tend to follow during periods "when each side views the other as an adversary."

Some geopolitical observers frame the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a proxy battle in a new cold war between the United States and its democratic allies, versus the China-dominated axis of autocratic states that includes Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Long-term charts offer perspective.

In 2020, the MSCI Asia-Pacific Ex-Japan Index ended a 26-year sideways pattern, while the MSCI World Ex-U.S. Index ended its own, similar 20-year-long sideways trend. This two-decade period is comparable to the 1929-1949 corrective period in the U.S. stock market. The Covid pandemic erupted toward the end of the triangless much like the 1948-1955 polio epidemic spread across the globe and killed half a million people a year at its peak.

The first proxy battle in the current cold war -- Russia-Ukraine -- erupted two years post-Covid during the correction in the index, much like the first proxy battle -- the Korean War -- in the earlier Cold War erupted in 1950 and lasted until 1953. The Russia-Ukraine war could follow that precedent by ending in a stalemate sooner than most observers imagine, even as the developing bull market in world ex-U.S. stocks contributes to years of relative peace. Then, once China becomes much stronger militarily, the next proxy battle in the cold war rivalry -- perhaps over Taiwan -- would be analogous to the Vietnam War when the U.S. dramatically escalated the fighting in 1965 and pulled out eight years later, as the communist government of North Vietnam in turn took over South Vietnam to reunite the country.

We're watching the region's stock market indexes closely.

If you'd like to learn more about Elliott wave price patterns, including the triangles mentioned above, EWI has made available the entire online version of the book Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior.

FX, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptos... Learn How to Know When This Key Price Pattern is Over (Video)

By Elliott Wave International

"12345-ABC." That's a basic Elliott wave pattern in a nutshell. That "12345" is a so-called impulse, and it's a key price pattern to know, because impulses point in the direction of the larger trend. In this clip from a recent Trader's Classroom lesson, host Favio Poci shows you step-by-step how to spot an impulse and know when it's likely over. (Market in focus: EUR/CHF, but you can apply this to any liquid market.)

Continue Your Education on Impulse Waves with this FREE Online Course!

For a very limited time, you can get free access to our online course, "How to Spot and Capitalize on Impulse Waves." ($99 value)

In about 1 hour, you'll learn:

1. "What do I look for?" -- just what, exactly, should you look for on a price chart? See an easy way to spot an impulse wave.
2. "What does it tell me?" -- Impulse waves are great at showing you the direction of the larger trend (which, as you know, is "your friend"!)
3. "Are there variations?" -- Most impulse waves are simple, but some are... well, different. You'll see how to quickly distinguish one from another.

Start Watching Now

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline FX, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptos... Learn How to Know When This Key Price Pattern is Over (Video). EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Trouble Lies Ahead. Are You Ready For It?

By Steven Hochberg | Elliott Wave International

Conversations about whether or not the Fed will cut interest rates any time soon continue to dominate the airwaves. But we are looking elsewhere for signs about where markets and the economy are headed.

Having observed market behavior for 45 years, we've got a lot of historical precedents to lean on. The emerging picture suggests that investors not paying attention may be caught unprepared for an impending change.

The chart below is stunning in its implications.

It shows the spread between the yield on U.S. corporate junk bonds and the yield on 3-month U.S. Treasury bills going back to the 1990s.

Junk bonds, IOUs of companies with the weakest financial structures, currently yield just 2.7% more than the risk-free rate on 3-month U.S. T-bills, which is 5.4%.

This is one of the narrowest spreads in history, revealing a hunger for risk-taking so fervent that investors cannot comprehend a financial environment that will be different from today's.

Back in February 2007, the junk-yield-to-T-bill-yield spread narrowed to just 2.2%. That extreme coincided with a peak in the S&P 500 Financials Index, which occurred at the forefront of the worst economic and monetary crisis since the Great Depression. Near the end of the crisis, the spread had skyrocketed by a full ten times, to 22.9%, as corporate defaults shot higher and investors panicked into any asset that was perceived to offer safety.

When another widening of this spread starts, investors' historic complacency toward risk will be replaced by anxiety and eventually panic as financial asset values contract.

If you want to learn how you can prepare for difficult times, Elliott Wave International has a free report that not only explains the problems, but also offers solutions, such as how to bank safely and store your precious metals: Preparing for Difficult Times.

The Fed Leads and the Market Follows? It's a Big Fat MYTH

By Murray Gunn | Head of Global Research, Elliott Wave International

We help investors by analyzing what really drives the markets. Along the way, we often uncover a market myth, something most investors believe moves the markets, but really doesn't.

I want to show you one of the biggest market myths in existence. It will help you understand what the Fed can and cannot do.

The one thing the Federal Reserve can do is control the money supply. The physical printing of dollars, or the digital creation of reserves, is in its gift. The natural state of affairs is for the money supply to grow at a rate of around 5% per annum.

Make no mistake: This is actual inflation, and is used by the Fed in an attempt to grease the wheels of economic growth.

All it really does though is devalue the purchasing power of the dollar over time. Now, after historic inflation of money in 2020 and 2021, the money supply is being purposefully deflated by the Fed.

When it comes to interest rates though, the Fed is NOT in control. The Fed does not lead; it follows the market.

This chart shows the Federal Funds Rate alongside the U.S. Treasury 2-Year Yield. You can see that at major turning points, it's the 2-Year Yield that moves first, and then after awhile, the Fed changes its benchmark interest rate. This was profoundly the case in 2019 when the Fed cut rates well after the 2-Year Yield had declined. And of course in 2022, the Fed had lagged the move higher in 2-Year Yields by many, many months before it started hiking.

Conventional analysts and the financial media are obsessed with how the Fed will change interest rates, thinking that it will influence the financial markets. But to find out how the Fed will act, all they need to do is look at the short end of the bond market.

The idea that the Fed leads the market is just one of many myths that investors believe. Other myths include that corporate earnings drive stocks and that OPEC decisions determine oil prices. If you want to learn about these market fallacies and others, EWI has a free report that uncovers 13 market myths that deceive most investors.

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline The Fed Leads and the Market Follows? It's a Big Fat MYTH. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.