8 U.S. business predictions for 2014

The holiday season is the traditional time of year to prognosticate about the upcoming year. But, before I start, I want to make a distinction between short-term and long-term forecasts.

Long-term trends are just that, and they unfold slowly. And, while I have great concerns about the long-term consequences of inflation, the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency, the bloated Fed balance sheet and resulting excess bank reserves, and the freight train of unfunded liabilities which will impact the debt and deficit, because these are long-term issues and simply don’t appear overnight, I do not believe there is anything contradictory about being optimistic about the short-term.

With that caveat, here are my predictions for 2014:

1. Real GDP will grow faster in 2014 (3.5%): The “fiscal drag” that caused headwinds for the economy has now passed with the signing of the first budget in four years in mid-December. Since 2009, governments at all levels have been shedding jobs. But, that has now all changed. The November jobs reports show that employment at all levels of government has turned positive.

No matter your view of the desirability of this for the long-term, in the short-term, those employees receive paychecks and consume goods and services. I predict the real gross domestic product growth rate will be more than 3.5 percent in 2014.

2. Manufacturing and trade are healthy and will get better in 2014: The Institute for Supply Management’s indexes, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing, are as high or higher than they were in the ’05-’06 boom. In November, industrial production finally exceeded its ’07 prior peak level.

Auto sales today are as frothy as they were in the pre-recession boom, and auto sales in the holiday buying period are destined to surprise to the upside. Online sales in the weekend before Christmas overwhelmed both UPS and FedEx, causing many gifts to be delivered on the 26th.

3. Housing, while not near its old bubble peak, has turned the corner: Part of the reason the economy is not overheating is housing. While November’s housing starts surprised to the upside, they still only represent 53 percent of their bubble peak. Nevertheless, because new home construction has been in the doldrums for the past six years, the resurgence evident in the economy has pushed the median price of homes to the point where many homeowners, who were underwater just a couple of years ago, can now show positive home equity on their balance sheets

While interest rates have risen and may be a cause for concern for housing, they are still very low by historic standards, and we have a Fed that, on Dec. 18, recommitted to keeping them down for a period much longer than the market ever anticipated.

4. The unemployment rate will end 2014 somewhere near 6%: Because the popular unemployment index is a lot higher today than it was in the ’05-’06 boom (7 percent vs. 5 percent), the popular media assumes that the labor markets are still loose. But, demographics and incentives to work have changed over the past seven years.

The labor sub-indicators imply much tighter labor conditions than the traditional unemployment index would lead one to believe. Recent data for nonfarm payrolls are equivalent to their monthly numbers in ’05-’06. Weekly new jobless claims are in a steep downtrend. The sub-indexes for layoffs and discharges are lower than they were in ’05-’06. And hard-to-fill-position and job-opening subindexes are in definite uptrends and are approaching ’05-’06 levels. As a result, expect a steady decline in the unemployment rate in 2014.

5. Investment in new plant & equipment will rise in 2014: For the past 5 years, large-cap corporations have hoarded cash and have not reinvested in their businesses. As a result, because equipment and technology is older, labor productivity has stagnated. This is one reason for the strong labor market. In 2014, I predict there will be an upturn in the reinvestment cycle. Beneficiaries will be technology companies and banks.

6. Inflation will be higher in 2014, both “officially” and in reality: While every individual player in the financial markets knows that everyday prices are rising, each espouses the Fed’s deflation theme, perhaps only to play along hoping the Fed will continue printing money.

Are we to believe that the jump of retail sales in October of 0.6 percent followed by 0.7 percent in November were all without price increases as the Bureau of Labor Statistics says? The “official” consumer price index says that airline fares have not increased despite the 18 percent growth of airline revenues in 2013 (bag check fees, etc.)? Should we believe that double-digit revenue growth rates at restaurants are volume-only and we are just eating more? I don’t know what the actual rate of inflation is, but it sure feels like it is higher than 5 percent. In 2014, it will be even higher than that.

7. Equity markets will rise in 2014: The fiscal headwinds are behind us; industrial production and sales are strong; housing is healing, the rise in home prices have generally raised consumer confidence; there appears to be the beginning of an upturn in the capital investment cycle; and, most important, the labor markets are strong. Any equity market corrections should be bought. Meanwhile, longer-duration bonds should be avoided unless there is an accompanying hedge instrument.

8. Gold — it should rise in 2014, but this is a tricky market: Every indicator points to a rise in the price of gold, especially since all of the world’s major central banks are printing money at record rates. But, contrary to logic, the price of gold has fallen in 2013 by nearly 30 percent.

The reason behind this lies with leverage and hypothecation — getting a loan using collateral — in the gold market. Once again, Wall Street has discovered that money could be made by leveraging; and the paper gold market is about 100 times larger than the physical market. When you have that kind of leverage, collusion, price fixing, or just plain panic can quickly move markets.

As inflation is recognized, the price of gold (both physical and paper) should rise. In a healthy economic year, as I predict for 2014, a collapse in the paper gold market is unlikely, and perhaps the price of gold will rise in response to rapidly expanding fiat money. But beware. The only safe gold is what you can hold in your hand.