Archive - Aug 1, 2011

Two weeks ago we presented a chart that shows the uncanny correlation between the debt ceiling and the price of gold. Now that we know the final amount of the next debt ceiling hike, somewhere in the $2.5 trillion ballpark, it allows us to extrapolate where gold will end up as a result of the debt ceiling hike which will likely be voted into law at 7pm PDT. A simple correlation rule of thumb allows us to predict that gold will be at $1,950 by the end of the year if it simply retains it close correlation to the debt ceiling. Should Bernanke announce that he will additionally need to monetize some or all of this incremental debt amount, we anticipate that gold will be well over $2,000 by the end of the year, courtesy of yet another round of accelerated dollar debasement, which also means that real gains in US stocks will be negated courtesy of the devaluation of the currency in which they are priced. The same, however, does not apply for gold, which with every passing day is priced in nothing but itself.

RANsquawk Market Wrap Up - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 01/08/11

With total Treasury cash dropping by $15 billion on Thursday, many were expecting a far uglier print as of the close of last week. Instead, total cash in the Federal Reserve Account staged a dramatic bounce on Friday, and is now back to $65 billion, following tax revenues offsetting contractual spending and another $13.7 billion coming in from the settlement of public debt issues. From here on out it is only downhill, and the cash is likely about $20 billion lower as of market close today (we will know for sure tomorrow). If the burn rate is smaller it means that Tim Geithner is dipping far more aggressively in Government retirement and Social Security trust funds than anyone could have imagined (Bruce Krasting discussed this previously). And yes, for those with a double digit IQ, the Treasury has less cash than Apple still.

Here it is...

Just a tweet from ABC's @rickklein for now. We expect Boehner to confirm this during his conference to begin shortly.

Tim Geithner has released his projection of expected borrowing needs for the final fiscal quarter of 2011 (ending on September 30). But before that, we learn that while back on May 1 the Treasury had expected to raise $142 billion in marketable debt in Q3, instead if raised $190 billion, with the difference going primarily to build up the EOQ cash balance which instead of being $95 billion, was $137 billion, obviously due to the threat of the debt ceiling breach. That threat however has not prevented the Treasury from assuming that the debt ceiling will be raised without a hitch, and it now predicts issuing $331 billion in net marketable debt issued in Q4, $74 billion less than the projection from May 1 (and further sees another $285 billion in borrowing needs in Q1 2012). In other words, if there is no debt ceiling deal, the Treasury will be $616 billion short in revenues over the next 6 months. Of course, the numbers net out the massive issuance that has to hit the market to fund the "disinvested" government retirement funds and various other mechanism that were used to prevent the Treasury from running out of cash, which amount to about $300 billion primarily in the form of short-term bills that matured and were not rolled over to make space for marketable debt issuance. In other words, gross issuance in the next quarter will be about over $660 billion. This is just a little under the total debt issued in the last 3 quarters (due to the May 16th debt ceiling breach)! And people think the Treasury can raise this money without the Fed monetizing at will? Fascinating.

How the Debt Kremlin of United Obamerican States might look after it is rubber stamped by the Supreme Court...[Kaffee Nyet!]

Yes, the melodrama is back. Follow the latest developments straight out of Congress, which is now expected to be far closer to passing the bill as more republicans have voiced the support of the Compromise bill. This could be your last chance as today could well be the final day of the debt ceiling episode. At least for the current season.

In the end, everything is connected.

One thing that NEEDS to be mentioned is that this time around, bad economic news is resulting in sell-offs. For the last two years, whenever bad data came out, stocks actually rallied on the belief that the Fed would have to provide more stimulus. So the fact that stocks are now tanking on bad economic data should be a major red flag that things have changed.

Friday deja vu with not enough votes once again. Keep an eye on the The Hill's Whip Count (link) which summarizes what the mood of republicans and democrats is as we go into the vote. Unless Boehner can convince enough republicans to share his opinion, and we do get a failed vote, it would make the Tarp vote failure pale in comparison with what happens to the market...

It's not Jefferson County, yet, but it could certainly be seen as the precursor to the first domino. "The state-appointed receiver overseeing the cash-strapped Rhode Island town of Central Falls has filed for bankruptcy on the city's behalf in an effort to help it get back on its feet. Receiver Robert G. Flanders and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced the step - which Flanders has described as a last resort - at a news conference at City Hall. Flanders filed the legal paperwork seeking bankruptcy protection Monday. "From the ashes of bankruptcy Central Falls will rise again," Flanders said." The biggest losers: unions. "With the city now seeking bankruptcy protection, Flanders said he plans to reduce pension benefits beginning in late August. He has asked the federal court to immediately reject collective bargaining agreements. He said the next set of pension payments will reflect at least the cuts he outlined to city retirees. In addition, he said city workers will face layoffs. Flanders called the step unavoidable, as taxes have already been raised and city services have been cut "to the bone." Expect Barack Obama to thaw Steve Rattner from carbonite explain to creditors, using a variety of four letter words, that they will be last in line of payment after every single union claim has been satisfied, with the resultant husk of a town reverse merged with GM.

First it was Zero Hedge two hours ago, now it is the turn of JP Morgan's Michael Ferolli. "The employment index plunged a huge 6.4 points to 53.5, a print which adds a little downside risk to our already-below-consensus outlook for only 45,000 job growth in this Friday's July employment report." As a reminder, consensus is 90,000 or thereabouts. A negative print this Friday will bring QE3 within weeks. Which, of course, is the plan to go alongside the $2.5 trillion in debt coming to the market.

Headline flashing now openly warning that the BOJ is preparing to intervene:

• JAPAN PREPARES FOR CURRENCY INTERVENTION, NIKKEI SAYS
  
• COORDINATED INTERVENTION MAY FOLLOW JAPAN ACTION: NIKKEI

We call complete bullshit on this. Never do central banks preanounce when they intervene. Never. This is merely more posturing by the toothless and completely powerless BOJ which now has resorted to spreading rumors in order to get the USDJPY higher. Ref: Philipp Hildebrand who has been crouched in a fetal position for the past 6 months in a continuous PTSD daze.

Everyone appears to be confounded by the Dax futures flash crash as noted previously. Here is Goldman's Mark Bellak responding to client inquiries, confirming that even GS has no clue what just happened.