Archive - Mar 10, 2010

The recovery has been uneven around the globe. The US with heavy stimulus has returned rapidly to positive growth (whether we can sustain it is a completely different debate), Swiss real estate was never really affected by the quasi worldwide slide and GDP in Switzerland is expected to be between 1% and 1.5% for 2010, and Canada has not only returned to positive growth but it also has to consider slowing down a bubbly real estate market. Meanwhile Europe's leading rebounder Germany is not guarantied to post positive GDP for Q1, Greece is wondering wether debt refinancing and what it will take will lead to civil war, Spain's industrial output is still approximately 30% off of what it was in late 2007, and Japan is discussing extending QE. The least we can say is that the bottoming process is rather uneven based on where you live, and with rates at near 0% everywhere or almost, we look at what relative value opportunities may present themselves as central banks debate how to transition from QE to more "normalized" liquidity environment and finally towards higher rates. - Nic Lenoir

Yields 3.735% vs. WI of 3.744% as of 1 PM

Allotted at high 70.94%

Bid To Cover 3.45 is a new record, previous at 2.67, previous reopening at 3.00

Indirects 35.1% vs. Avg. 42.01% (Prev. 28.85%), hit ratio on Indirects 51.5%

Direct Bidders surge to a record 17.5%, hit ratio on Directs 43%

Primary dealer hit ratio at record low 19.9&

The ABC Consumer Comfort Index, which is by far the most pessimistic of all confidence trackers, and which conveniently comes out each Tuesday after market close, and just came in at -49 "has been iced in a 3-point range since early January, averaging -48 on its scale of +100 to -100 this year. That ties last year’s average, the worst on record in weekly polls since late 1985." Digging into the data reveals why the non-millionaires in America - those that do not have access to the government's record excess liquidity - are just plain unhappy about the economy: "The index’s individual components tell the story: Half or more Americans have rated their personal finances negatively in 91 of the last 97 weeks. Fewer than one-third have rated the buying climate positively steadily since November 2007, about when the recession began. And at least eight in 10 have rated the economy negatively since late March 2008, stuck in a 4-point range since last April." While we have little doubt UMich Confidence and Conference Board will show dramatic improvements, as these two are merely a lagging market indicator, the question of just whom these various indices tracks, is becoming increasingly relevant as even the divergence between assorted confidence levels reaches record levels.

Recap of market activity post the European close.

A new report by Moody's "U.S. Bank Asset Quality: Negative Trends Slow Down, But The Pain Isn't Over" has some gloomy observations about the asset quality of the US financial system, and its implications for future charge offs and overall profitability. In estimating total loan charge-offs between 2008 and 2011 Moody's predicts that of the total $536 billion (really $633 billion if unadjusted for purchasing accounting marks), which is equal to 9.7% of all loan outstanding at December 31, 2007, only $240 billion has been charged off, leaving $296 billion still to hit the books. Yet banks have taken loan loss allowances of "only" $188 billion, leaving just over $100 billion unaccounted for. And people wonder why banks are unwilling to lend. Moody's conclusion on what happens as reality catches up with charge offs: "Although banks have provisioned for a substantial amount of their remaining charge-offs, the additional provision required will extend the period that many banks will be unprofitable well into 2010, and will reduce capital levels." Obviously, Moody's estimates do not go past 2011 when many anticipate the next major wave of loan impairments to occur in the form of Option ARM resets and Commercial Real Estate maturities. Furthermore, Moody's does not account for securitized credit card losses, which will also be an area of major pain for the banks in the upcoming years. Just how big the impact of all these will be is still to be determined although it is very likely that the overall impact will impair overall bank capital by well over $100 billion over the next several years.

RANsquawk 10th March US Afternoon Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc.

In his piece today, Rosenberg analyzes the increasing lumpiness of volatility in the secular market, observing an increasing performance variation as the duration of major market moves is reduced, while the delta from the flatline keeps growing. Ironically this is happening even as implied correlation drifts lower over time. And even as all eagerly await to see just what the financial regulation overhaul will look like, Rosie observes that the market is now experiencing "intense volatility that has been and continues to be nurtured by government policy." As we shift to a market which is backstopped by taxpayers holdings of assets on which even the FASB encouraged informational opacity, one wonders just what is the real value of information that prices now convey?

The BLS has released the January state unemployment update: the unemployment rate increased in 30 states, while somehow nonfarm payrolls increased in 31 states. Presumably this is due to an increase in the total labor pool. As reported, "Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.3 percent in January. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.0 percent; Rhode Island, 12.7 percent; South Carolina, 12.6 percent; and California, 12.5 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.2 percent in January, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.6 and 4.8 percent, respectively. The rates in California and South Carolina set new series highs, as did the rates in three other states: Florida (11.9 percent), Georgia (10.4 percent), and North Carolina (11.1 percent). The rate in the District of Columbia (12.0 percent) also set a new series high. In total, 25 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.7 percent, 11 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 14 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation."

Remember G-Pap's statement, repeated roughly once for every dollar of US sovereign debt, that Greece is not looking for financial aid? One could say the man knows a lost cause when he sees one (nobody can say they refused to help you if you didn't actually need help), which is why Greece has just become the biggest sovereign debt panhandler, begging its own people for a bailout. The Greek situation is now so bad that as of a few days ago there is a newly opened account titled "Solidarity Account for Repayment of Public Debt" at the Bank of Greece, which is now redirecting public donations straight for the "repayment of Greece's public debt." We hope these are tax deductible. This account has appeared about at the same time as California has started asking retail investors to directly invest in its critical $2 billion bond offering. In the sovereign crises of the future, will paypal donations play a critical role? All signs point to yes.

For much of the early going the Industrials looked like they might have a go at a run toward new highs. Part of the thrust came from a series of rumors that spurred trading in the likes of Fannie, Freddie, AIG and Citi. The rumor that seemed to help them all was a zany thesis that the U.S. might ban shorting of the companies that it had a large stake in. While the rumor seemed whacky and unfounded, a rumor is not responsible for who believes in it. That became evident as buyers surged into the above-named stocks, probably on the theory that a shorting ban could cause a massive short covering rally. Citi benefitted from a couple of other rumors. Charlie Gasparino reported on Fox that the U.S. government was looking to sell its Citi stake. That might free the company up. The stock spiked 7%. Also helping was the strong demand for some preferred shares the company was issuing. The rumor driven frenzy in those stocks swelled the volume sharply. Monday looked like the slowest day of year, followed by the highest volume in a month. All thanks to a couple of rumors. - Art Cashin

• Regulators tell US banks to hold money (FT)
• Even as Italy is expected to go bust next, Italy's Romano Prodi Says "Greek Crisis Is Over, Rest of Region Safe" (Bloomberg)
• Race to the bottom with G4 currency rhetoric (Reuters)
• Finance: an exposed position (FT)
• Todd Harrison: The witch hunt widens on Wall Street (MarketWatch)
• Simon Johnson reviews Hank Paulson's memoir (The New Republic)

• Asian stocks fluctuated as shipping lines and oil companies declined.
• British banks face increased bonus disclosure as Myners plans to lower bar
• China's trade surplus shrinks to smallest in a year as imports surge 44.7% in Feb.
• Chinese banks lend about $102.6B in February, around half the loans issued in Jan.
• EU is considering a ban on speculative derivative trades, including credit default swaps.
• Japan's Jan machinery orders fall 3.7%; business spending revival may be slow.
• Manufacturing in U.K. unexpectedly plunges as it sees `fragile' economy

RANsquawk 10th March Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc.

If you think that the world of crime has to be shady and underhand, you are wrong. With the beginning of the fourth world war, organised crime has globalised its activities. In this new war, politics, as the organiser of the nation state, no longer exists. Now politics serves solely in order to manage the economy, and politicians are now merely company managers. An oft misunderstand leader, Subcomandante Marcos, now Delegado Zero, tried to warn us more than 12 years ago that "it takes no more than a few minutes for companies and states to be sunk", and that they would be sunk, not by military theater operations, but by hurricanes of finance. More than a decade later, with many of his predictions now coming true, perhaps it's finally time we started listening to him.

A detailed overview of the current state of charge-offs, delinquencies and (yes) improvements in the mortgage industry - and most importantly what can be discerned from these trends...