Archive - Oct 2010

After a tumultuous 2009, oil has been one of the least volatile assets of 2010. It now appears that this crucial commodity is stretching its muscles, limbering up, and getting ready for a serious move. The net effect of the BP oil spill will be a cut of one million barrels a day of Gulf production, about 5% of US consumption. A serious run on the dollar is adding fuel to the fire. (USO), (XOM), (CVX), (OXY), (RSX)

Baton-toting police have stormed the Acropolis clashing with government workers and blocking Greece's most sacrosanct archeological site for a second day. So, aside from Waddell & Reed, what else caused the flash crash again?

The chart pretty much speaks for itself. Voodoo economics at its best. Speaking of, where's Krugman?

Today's economic data avalance is a trifecta of horror: the August trade balance came at - $46.3 billion (deficit, duh), on expectations of $-44.0 billion, with the previous revised to ($42.6) billion. This is the second highest trade deficit in years. This also means the Q3 GDP will be revised lower again. Oh yes, and Schumer is currently frothing in the mouth as the trade deficit with China was at a record $28 billion, as expected based on the reverse lookup from yesterday's China trade surplus (which dropped). Elsewhere, PPI came in at 0.4%, on expectations of 0.1%: congratulation Ben, you have your inflation, as the bulk of the increase was in food and gas. PPI ex Food and Energy was 0.1%, in line with expectations. Lastly, jobless claims surge from 445K to 462K, with the prior number revised higher for the 24 out of 25 times. And speaking of revisions, the prior week Continuing Claims number was revised from 4,462K to 4,511K: yes stunning, we know. Those on Extended and EUC claims plunge by 340,000 for the week ended September 25, taking away a few more pips from GDP. All in all, this further cements the economic suicide that is QE2.

• The Fed itself says QE2 would have little/no effect (St Louis Fed) - then again this is not FRBNY, but the ultra hawkish St Louis Fed. Trench warfare within Fed is intensifying
• Dollar Slide Causes Fresh Scramble for Risk (FT)
• U.S. is currency war's "tomb maker": China economist (Reuters)
• This will make China happy: Germany Warns of Trade War Over Yuan (WSJ)
• The Next Bubble (NYT)
• Fed's Lacker Says Making Jobs an `Imperative' Risks Inflation (Bloomberg)
• The Fed seeks to boost jobs, but it could have bad side effects for consumers (Barrons)
• Yuan Bond Sales Climb to Record Led by Railways: China Credit (Business Week)
• China's Leaders Prepare to Meet as Elders Slam Censorship of Wen (Bloomberg)
• Spain's Santander Funds at Higher Rate to Inferior Banks (Bloomberg)
• LVMH Sales Rise 23% Confirming Luxury Recovery (WSJ)

The heavy flow of data begins with the trade balance and producer prices in addition to unemployment claims. Later in the day, we hear again from the Fed…

• Gold hits fresh highs, taps $1,388.10 on Globex.
• API shows surprise oil inventory decrease of 4 million barrels for the wk ended Oct. 8.
• Asian stocks advance as economic, earnings reports boost recovery optimism.
• Bank of Korea leaves benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25%.
• China’s foreign reserves rise by $194B, adding pressure on value of renminbi.
• Dollar was quoted at 81.23 yen- 15-year-low against yen.
• Dubai’s worst office buildings will be empty forever, CBRE says.
• Fed to buy $32B in Treasury debt in next month.
• Foreclosure filings up 3% in September over last month.

RANsquawk European Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 14/10/10

Since March 6, 2009, the S&P 500 has seemingly been on a remarkable run, gaining 76.68% when priced in our favorite of monopoly currencies, the US dollar. However, when priced in gold, despite the daily rigging games of the government/banker cartel for the past two years, it has only managed to rise 21.64% over the same time span. When priced in silver, the S&P 500 has astonishingly lost 1.8% during the same investment period. To these enormous anomalies, we ask the question,"Will the real currency please stand up?"

The latest must have reference for the rest of us...(Important message: if you work for the Federal government, go back to sleep)

This daily report is designed to help traders find opportunities to trade against this group. The premise is very simple we are looking for 66% of retail traders to be trading either long or short a currency pair, we then look for opportunities to fade (trade against) this group. For example if 72.99% of traders are long the USD/CHF we look for opportunities to short that pair. The pairs that we feel offer the highest opportunity for success are described in the Shortand Long Zones.

Looks like someone may have had a little advance notice on October's foreclosure semi-moratorium festivities. According to RealtyTrac, September foreclosures marked a 5 month high of 347,420, jumping 3% from the previous month and 1% from September 2009, even as the 3rd quarters marked the highest foreclosure activity on record. For the first time in history, bank repossessions (REOs) surpassed 100K, hitting 102,134. Providing some much needed color on what is actually happening in the foreclosure market, James Saccio, CEO of RealtyTrac said: "Lenders foreclosed on a record number of properties in September and in the third quarter, taking a bite out of the backlog of distressed properties where the foreclosure process was delayed by foreclosure prevention efforts over the past 20 months. We expect to see a dip in those bank repossessions — and possibly earlier stages of the foreclosure process — in the fourth quarter as several major lenders have halted foreclosure sales in some states while they review irregularities in foreclosure-processing documentation that has been called into question in recent weeks." And plunge, foreclosure activity will: the 24 judicial foreclosure states most affected by the foreclosure documentation issue accounted for 40 percent of all foreclosure activity in the third quarter and 36 percent of bank repossessions, or REOs. And the worst part is precisely what Jim Cramer thought was going to represent a boost to home prices, confirming just how little the man understand basic market principles: "If the lenders can resolve the documentation issue quickly, then we would expect the temporary lull in foreclosure activity to be followed by a parallel spike in activity as many of the delayed foreclosures move forward in the foreclosure process. However, if the documentation issue cannot be quickly resolved and expands to more lenders we could see a chilling effect on the overall housing market as sales of pre-foreclosure and foreclosed properties, which account for nearly one-third of all sales, dry up and the shadow inventory of distressed properties grows — causing more uncertainty about home prices.” In other words: a complete housing market collapse.

Before we get into the latest bank assessment of fauxclosure, this
time from BofA's Michelle Meyer, we wanted to highlight one point from
today's JPM financial supplement which appears to have evaded pretty
much everyone (perhaps due to its appearance on the last page, and only
lawyers go that far). In today's earning call, Jamie Dimon stated that
the average length a mortgage is delinquent before it is finally
foreclosed upon is 14 months, or 448 days. However, it seems that average
and median in this metric are quite different. To wit, on page 21 of the supplement we read that the average delinquency at foreclosure for Florida is 678 days, while for New York, it is, get ready, 792 days! That's right, a house is delinquent on its payments, which usually means not paying anything, for over two years in New York before it is foreclosed upon. Which
also means that only now are those who stopped paying their mortgage
around the days when Lehman filed being foreclosed upon. And guess
what happened to the economy, and the stock market in the 6 months
immediately after... In other words, there is such a huge cliff of
accrued foreclosures that is supposed to be hitting right about...now,
that the double whammy of foreclosure gate and the accrued foreclosures
will blow right through the balance sheets of banks like JPM. And with
that out of the way, here is why BofA believes that there is a
"heightened risk of a more dismal scenario. If negative momentum in
the housing market kicks in, and feeds into the banking system and
broader economy, it will be hard to fight." Alas, Michelle, it already has.

Is another French Revolution on its way and will it shake the foundations of Casino Capitalism?

Oh shit, it is on again like white on rice, stink on shit, and Black on Scholes (and for you quants, just know that Brownian motion has more than one meaning), as a flurry of blue chip companies beat earnings guesses and pushed the market higher. With the 50 day moving average now rising above the 200 day moving average the S&P has hit the fabled Golden Cross (which is kind of like the Hindenburg Omen only less fiery, with fewer McClellan Oscillators, and the exact opposite), which means technicians are expecting to be showered with returns.