Archive - Mar 2012

Going into the US open, most major European bourses are trading in modest positive territory this follows the publication of a Goldman Sachs research note titled “The Long Good Buy” in which the bank outlines its thoughts that equities will embark on an upward trend over the next few years, recommending dropping fixed-income securities. We have also seen the publication of the Bank of England’s minutes from March’s rate-setting meeting in which board members voted unanimously to keep the base rate unchanged at 0.50%; however there was some indecision concerning the total QE, with members Miles and Posen voting for a further increase to GBP 350bln, however the other seven members voted against the increase. Following the release, GBP/USD spiked lower 35 pips but has regained in recent trade and is now in positive territory.  Looking elsewhere in the session, UK Chancellor Osborne will present his budget for this financial year at 1230GMT. We will also be looking out for US existing home sales and the weekly DOE inventories.

• So much for that: Obama to fast track southern portion of Keystone XL Pipeline (1600 Report)
• French Police Say They Have Cornered Suspect in School Shooting (NYT); French shooting suspect had been arrested in Afghanistan (Reuters); Suspect in French shootings says he’ll surrender to end standoff (Globe & Mail), Toulouse suspect escaped from Kandahar jail in mass Taliban jailbreak in 2008 (BBC)
• Bernanke Says Europe Must Aid Banks Even as Strains Ease (Bloomberg)
• Monti faces clash with unions over reform (FT)
• UK budget to balance tax breaks with austerity (Reuters)
• Romney scores big win over Santorum in Illinois (Reuters)
• U.S. Exempts Japan, 10 EU Nations From Iran Oil Sanctions (Bloomberg)
• Bernanke Says Fed Failed to Meet Goals During Great Depression (Bloomberg)
• Revised tax deal reached on Swiss accounts (FT)

There are those who, not illogically, thought that the second interest rates start creeping up, that there would be a rush of mortgage activity to lock in rates as low as possible before 30 year mortgages roll ever higher. Of course, for that plan to work, one Benjamin Shalom Bernanke would need to have broad credibility among the general population, as he would need to be perceived as one who would not rush to purchase bonds in the future, should rates jump far too high, in the process impairing banks and PDs which still hold massive amounts of paper. If, however, that plan were to not work, then the latest recent attempt to force a rotation out of stocks and into bonds would have abysmal consequences on housing, as the entire mortgage issuance machinery would grind to a halt. Alas, it appears the latter has happened. Minutes ago we got the latest MBA Mortgage Application data and it was ugly. The broad Mortgage Application index collapsed by 7.4% in the week ending March 16, when rates experienced the bulk of the move downward, which was the 6th consecutive week of declines, following last week's 2.4% drop. And while refis have been down for 5 weeks in a row, with the index slamming 9.3% lower as higher rates have now obviously killed any interest in mortgages, so have purchase applications. MBA Purchasing index was down 4.4%, breaking a trend of 3 weeks of gains. Some other hard statistics: the Average 30 year fixed rate soared to 4.19% from 4.06% last week, while the refi % of number of loans dropped to 73.4% - the lowest since July 2011.

Is there any truth in the allegations that informed circles made profits in the financial markets in connection to the attacks of September 11, 2001? My friend, the German financial journalist Lars Schall, examines this still unresolved and unanswered mystery.

US Army General Wesleyl Clark stated one month after 9/11 that the US had already planned to invade Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Iran. But could the real driving force behind these invasions not be about oil but about the almighty US dollar and gold?

Gorbachev Says Chernobyl – Not Perestroika or Reagan’s Arms Race – Caused the Break Up of the Soviet Union

Bernanke's splendiferous defense of all things holy and Central-Bank-like this afternoon has a little for everyone - if you spent the time to listen/read his entire lecture. For those who did not, perhaps the following word-cloud sums up his perspective - and its odd subliminal messaging. The words Gold and Standard appear more times than Central and Bank; the words Policy and Economy are almost equal in number and very close together in this 'randomized' word-cloud; Collateral and Essential appear infrequently but oddly proximate when the random hand of Worldle is applied; the Dollar got its rightful tiny mention; and the Inflation-Deflation debate will rage on - as Inflation slightly outnumbered Deflation but the randomizer did its job and strangely placed Inflation next to Bad and Deflation next to Great. There was no mention of Oz, Unicorns, Beard-Trimmer, Ron Paul, or Those-Bloody-Bears-On-YouTube.

Banzai7 News declares Wall Street win in Illinois...

Nope, I wasn't drunk.

It is widely known that US corporate profits recently hit an all time high. What is less known is that in Q4, profit margins for the first time rolled over by 27 bps, and double that if one excludes Apple. What is very much irrelevant, is that to Wall Street none of this matters, and the consensus (of which GMO's Jim Montier says "the Wall Street consensus has a pretty good record of being completely and utterly wrong") believes that Q4 will be largely ignored, and margins will continue soaring ever higher. Well, the same Montier, has a thing or two to say about this consensus surge in profits ("it is almost unthinkable that it will remain at current levels over the course of the next few years"). More importantly he looks at the Kalecki profits equation, and finds something rather peculiar. Namely Japan. Because while taking the profits equation at its face value would surely explain the 10.2% in corporate profits, of which a whopping 75% is thanks to America's burgeoning deficit, it would imply that Japanese corporate profitability, where there has been not only a long-running current account surplus, but zero household savings, and massive fiscal deficits, should be off the charts. Instead it is collapsing. Why? Montier has some ideas which may force Wall Street to renounce its bullish views, although probably won't. However, the implications of his conclusion are far more substantial, and if appreciated by corporate America (whose aging asset base is the problem), may ultimately result in a revitalization of the corporate asset base, however not before the dividend chasing frenzy pops in the latest and greatest bubble collapse.

In a succinct and chart-laden presentation, Professor Antony Davies, of Duquesne, offers a simple perspective on just how bad things are for the US (in terms of debt or obligations). Putting the interest cost in the context of war-spending, his analysis is interesting given the recent and dramatic rise in interest rates. Current interest payments, given the US Government's lowest ever 3% interest cost, are $440 billion, or three times the annual operating expenses of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. While his discussion of a market-set interest rate is perhaps a little off-the-mark given the extent of QE programs and their reach-around prime-dealer duration-reducing effects, it is nevertheless true that the more money the government is spending on interest, the less money is available to provide services and his punchline on what happens should rates rise even modestly from here sums the real problem the US faces (even as a currency issuer as opposed to a currency user - given the inherent instability that making totalitarian use of the reserve status would incur).

And vague smells of extortion.

One simple chart.

It was all ponies and unicorns as the EU-ECB-IMF 'Troika' mission found 'no sign of reform fatigue' in their report today, noting the 'remarkable' nature of the fiscal adjustment. Perhaps they should have asked someone outside of the halls of government as this tragic story from The Guardian notes the Portuguese death rate rising as health and welfare cuts from the 'remarkable' austerity package are biting at the people hard. During February, there were 20% more deaths than normal and the cost cuts are blamed as a visit to the ER has more than doubled. There is a general strike, as we noted earlier, on Thursday as the leader of the unions notes "They are driving the country towards disaster". While the IMF believes that Portuguese debt is sustainable, most practicing market participants who do not have a gun to their head see full well the unsustainable nature of the Portuguese debt load seeing the IMF's position as "wishful thinking". There is a growing tension as Irene Pimentel notes "I worry that democracy is at stake" and on the people's apparent stoicism for now, "I think it will explode eventually, it is impossible for people to remain this passive." At least Portuguese bonds are happy, and accept the culling of the Portuguese population at the altar of the euro, as a worthy supplication, worth at least 250 basis points.