Archive - Jun 2009

With headlines like this, who can argue that the media machine, in full control for the past 3 months, has gotten skewered on its own (lack of) propaganda:

1:00 pm : A lack of upbeat headlines has allowed participants to take control of the session. In turn, losses have been deep and broad-based, leaving stocks to test a major technical hurdle.

Moody's has released its April Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) update and it is a doozy: -8.6%, after what many had expected was a shooting green reading of just -1.7% in March. The problem that many don't grasp, that even Moody's has finally caught on, is that once capitulation in CRE sets in, the bottom will be torn out.

Not a single buy-program in da house today.

Trust GM to try to slide a fast one. In an attempt to get all the dealers who did not receive the "thin letter" to get on board with the restructuring process, the bankrupt automaker had sent to the surviving dealers highly secretive amended Participation Agreements (presented below) with extensive "No Protest" clauses, which would require dealers to stock more inventory, stop selling non-GM vehicles and accept new or relocated GM dealerships nearby without protest. Any disagreement with the Agreement, and the dealer would find himself joining the 1,300 dealers already terminated. However, if GM was hoping this one would simply slide with nobody noticing, it was quite wrong.

One word: Reundecoupling (was also very appropriate last year when the China thesis plummeted, but investors have 24 hour long-term memory).

Developing story: German Government adviser says Porsche should sell some VW (VOW GY) shares to raise cash.

Disclosure: no holdings of volkswagen or porsche securities.

As Ben is about to be crucified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, below is his full prepared testimony. Also, if readers want to watch the hearing live without CNBC's commercial interruptions for Sham-Wow or Mark Haines doing long division on air to calculate the difference between Dow futures and fair market value, they can do so here.

In an interview with MarketWatch's Jon Friedman, Janet Robinson, CEO of embattled former media titan and now merely distressed media company scrambling to plug debt covenant holes, New York Times, has announced that she has had it with other members of the evil, speculative media world.

• Second derivative promptly trounced: Initial jobless claims pick up again to 627k (Reuters and Bloomberg)
• Jonathan Weil: Capital One's $549 million man buys back freedom (Bloomberg

• Bernanke will face hostile questioning on BofA deal.
• Fed leaves bond-purchase program unchanged, says pace of contraction slows.
• Fed: Key interest rate will remain near zero "for an extended period."
• Irish banks face $49 billion in losses.
• New-home sales unexpectedly fell 0.6% in May from the prior month.
• Bed Bath & Beyond's qtr net up 14% at $87.2M; revs up 2.8% at $1.69B.
• China Construction plans to set up a venture with Banco Santander.
• China Petrochemical completed purchase of Addax for $7.2 billion.
• CKE Restaurant
  

• Wall Street begins campaign to thwart populist overreaction (Bloomberg) [Zero Hedge soon to begin campaign to thwart this campaign]
• $27 billion of 7 Year USTs on deck (Bloomberg)
• Deflating our way to Posterity (

First, Darrel Issa taking on Bernanke in what may prove a fateful and timely opposition against the Federal Reserve, now Alan Grayson going for Bernanke, Geithner, and Vikram's jugular. Just when it seemed that the D.C.-Wall Street crony alliance would last forever (don't worry Barney, we still love you), opposition voices finally emerge and take on the biggest culprits head on.

Among the questions that Grayson is seeking the SIGTARP's assistance on are:

The following may or may not be all the emails that will be referenced at the hearing tomorrow. Oddly (or not) the $78 billion portfolio of problem positions has been redacted.