Archive - Mar 23, 2011

Even as the spin continues by both the media and nuclear energy advocates that the dangers from Fukushima are overblown, calculations done behind the scenes indicate that Fukushima and Chernobyl are actually very comparable in terms of radioactive particulate release, and in some cases, such as Cesium 137, Fukushima is already runrating as a worse catastrophe than Chernobyl. From Reuters: "The release of two types of radioactive
particles in the first 3-4 days of Japan's nuclear crisis is estimated
to have reached 20-50 percent of the amounts from Chernobyl in 10 days,
an Austrian expert said on Wednesday. Based on measurements made at monitoring
stations in Japan and the United States, Wotawa said the iodine released
from Fukushima in the first three-four days was about 20 percent of
that released from Chernobyl during a ten-day period. For Caesium-137, the figure could amount to some 50 percent." In other words, run rating the release of Cesium for a 10 day period, leaked radioactive Cesium is now about 120-150% of what it was during the full blow reactor explosion experiencing during Chernobyl. But yes, aside from the facts, watering the reactor that are certainly melting down (if haven't done so already) should surely have great benefits.

RANsquawk US Afternoon Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 23/03/11

Finding the Holy Grail of cheap lithium batteries. BYD’s E6 promises a 200 mile range for $40,000.The globally integrated, low cost business model beats all. Making competitors obsolete before they even enter the market. Building a “stealth” US dealer network. What will happen to my Nissan Leaf? Is there a ten bagger here in the stock? (BYDDF).

Can't wait for the moment when the Portuguese parliament falls and TSHTF in earnest? Then follow the parliamentary session live at the following webcast.

I have been looking for decent drawings of the Mark I Reactors. These are the best laymen oriented drawings I have found, courtesy of Mother Jones Magazine.

Zero Hedge has been updating our readers periodically with Fukushima radiation dispersion maps as they become available. Below we present the latest one out of the French meteorological office, which presents the global nature of the radioactive fallout, which at last check hit a record 500 millisieverts by Reactor 2 and was climbing, which unfortunately means the subsequent dispersion cloud will be even more potent, and so forth, and so forth, until an actual practical resolution, instead of just propaganda, is implemented.

Judging by the incomprehensible action in both WTI and gold, both of which are surging, it appears the stock market may not have priced in the full impact of Bernanke's Put on the Armageddon. And after all, what disaster, man made or otherwise, can not be circumvented through the printing of a few [...]illion in new linen-cotton forms of monetary exchange.

• INTERIOR MINISTER ELI ISHAI SAYS SITUATION DETERIORATING
• ISHAI SAYS ISRAEL MAY HAVE TO ACT IF DETERIORATION CONTINUES
• ISHAI LINKS JERUSALEM BOMBING TO ITAMAR STABBING, GAZA VIOLENCE
• ISHAI SPEAKS ON ISRAEL ARMY RADIO

Priced in?

Several days ago there were a few rather amusing anecdotes in the blogosphere that just because Sprott filed a selling shareholder shelf in PSLV, the ETF was about to crash and burn. What was not disclosed is that in 2011 there have been about 200 comparable shelves filed for public companies, yet nobody called for the imminent anihilation of 40% of the S&P. Stunningly, just because someone requests the right to sell an asset they own when said asset is trading at all time highs, apparently does not mean they intent to exercise said right. To wit: the premium to NAV for the Eric Sprott physical silver ETF just hit an all time record of 23%. We are confident that this is due to JPMorgan being massively long the metal, and also because anywhere one walks these days, physical silver lying on the ground is more prevalent than dog excrement. Also, those who decided to play the premium-NAV compression trade, are advised to promptly close it unless, of course, they are a TBTF bank.

...Just the wrong kind of record. At just 250,000, this was the lowest annualized new home sales number ever. So on one hand you have a TV clown tell you the housing market bottomed in August 2008, on the other you have a pathological tax cheat Welcoming all to the Recovery, and on the mutated third hand (thank you Fukushima), reality continues to indicate that the biggest depression in history persists without abating.

Put in your time at the Fed, then collect fat bonuses from the company you helped bailout. Nice work if you can get it.

Bad news for the Goog???

From Haaretz: "A bomb tied to a telephone pole exploded Wednesday at a crowded bus stop outside the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, just opposite the central station. At least 25 people were wounded in the incident, four of them seriously. All of the casualties have been evacuated to the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem. The Magen David Adom emergency services said that there were no fatalities. The blast could be heard throughout Jerusalem and blew out the windows of two crowded buses, No. 74 and No. 14. An eyewitness in the area at the time of the explosion told Haaretz that she heard a loud blast close to the central bus station and second later sirens began to wail and security forces rushed to the scene. Meir Hagid, one of the bus drivers, said he heard a loud explosion as he drove by the site, located near the main entrance to Jerusalem and its central bus station. "I heard the explosion in the bus stop," he said. He halted his vehicle and people got off. He said nobody in his bus was hurt." Reuters adds: "Israeli embassy spokesman in Washington issues correction, says Jerusalem blast not on bus and "apparently not a suicide attack." At last check Israel CDS were rather well bid.

Remain cognizant that what you are witnessing here is the compression of annual refresh cycles into a MATTER OF WEEKS!!! It was only two weeks ago that Samsung stated it was unhappy with its offering in relation to Apple’s iPad 2 and had to go back to the drawing board. Well, they are to the drawing board and back – 2 weeks later.

The Euro just eeked out a new high, invalidating the Head and Shoulders pattern and setting the stage for additional upside gains to 145 or even 150 if things really take off. It’s extraordinary given that the European Union continues to collapse (Portugal is next up on the block).This rally in the Euro has coincided with further weakness in the US Dollar, which has now taken out its 2010 low, leaving the 2009 low and 2008 lows as the final lines of support before we enter uncharted territory.