US Senate Shows It Has Its Priorities Straight...

Well, you have to admit one thing - the United States Senate certainly has its priorities straight. Summing it up - what governments in Europe and the Land of the Free are telling us this week is:-

Beer and Populism: good.
Private property rights, freedom, privacy, business, price stability: bad.

The Debt Ceiling Is Back

While many may not recall that the US has been without an official debt ceiling for the past three months, or even that it has a debt target ceiling, the bonus period agreed upon in January to let the nation rake up some $400 billion in addition debt in the past few months, officially runs out tomorrow, May 19, when the debt limit will be restored to its previous level plus the debt that was incurred in the interim, which means around $16.735 trillion in total debt as of yesterday, plus the amount incurred today, excluding the debt not subject to the cap which is about $30 billion. And since no grand bargain is forthcoming in a world in which official governance is now almost universally in the hands of the world's central bankers and out of the hands of the theatrical career politicians, it means that the next deadline in the endless US debt ceiling saga will be the day when the extraordinary measures to extend the debt ceiling run out. Such a deadline will likely be hit in just over three months.

S&P 1666

Whoever orchestrated the last two hour closing ramp sure has a satanic sense of humor, opting to close the S&P at 1666 or exactly 1000 points above the "generational" low. A late-day desperation to buy-buy-buy, triggered by an avalanche of stops being triggered in the DAX futures market (as it broke all time highs), sent stocks soaring. Treasuries had been weak all day (giving back yesterday's gains and more). The equity spurt was not accompanied by VIX or Credit or Oil or Copper but JPY's break of 103 was another trigger supporting the rise. But that doesn't matter. The release of weak IP and in-line CPI data on Wednesday seemed to trigger the 'change' as gold and silver diverged lower from copper and oil's surge, Treasuries rallied, and stocks and the USD surged thereafter. WTI crude ends the week unchanged (against a USD gain of 1.37%) with PMs down 6-7%. Volume was light today but that doesn't matter either.

Dax Future Triggers Stops, Goes Parablic, Launching Late Day Megaramp

Presented with little comment because frankly everything is now full retard. That is the Dax; This is the Dax on low-volume, mega levitation drugs, at 9pm on a Friday in Germany, when out of nowhere someone goes on a mega buying spree in the Dax futures, and sends global risk assets, and FX pairs, surging. Is Bernanke LBOing Germany? Or is Spain due for junk downgrade and this is the ultimate bad is good trade which sends global risk assets, and FX pairs soaring to fresh record highs across the board.

In Diplomatic Escalation, Russia Publicly Exposes The CIA Station Chief In Moscow

Earlier this week, the CIA's Russian outpost was deeply humiliated when (in a calculated move following accusations that the US had not gottern appropriate Russian information on the two Boston bombers, and following the visit of John Kerry whose primary objective was to, unsuccessfully, get Russia to relent on Syria) Russia's FSB exposed and broadcast on live TV the arrest of its agents caught while attempting to recruit a Russian spy.  Back then we suggested to "expect a prompt retaliation by the US" however it turns out Russia was not nearly done with embarrassing the US in what is becoming an obvious campaign to humiliate the US intelligence service, this time by going where very few clandestine operations go, at least during peacetime detente: by publicly exposing the head counterparty US spy. As Telegraph reports, "Russia's Federal Security Service has publicly revealed the identity of a man it calls the CIA station chief in Moscow, in what experts say is a serious breach of intelligence protocol."

RANsquawk Weekly Wrap - 17th May 2013

Guest Post: Tune In, Turn On, Opt Out

What happens to everyone in the ruling Elites and those desperately trying to join the ruling Elites when the debt-serfs stop paying and the tax donkeys drift away to lower-cost, lower-income lifestyles? If you think Tune In, Turn On, Opt Out sounds ludicrous, check back in four years (2017) and eight years (2021) and see how many of your fellow debt-serfs and tax donkeys have quietly abandoned the bloated cost-structure, debt and derangement of the Neofeudal Debtocracy's twisted consumerist dream.