Archive - Apr 2012

The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence headline data beat expectations and rose to its highest level since February 2011. However, the somewhat surprising drop in 1-year inflation expectations (to four-month-lows) and drop in Current Economic Conditions index to four-month-lows that underlies less exuberance. Perhaps it is the fact that this current economic conditions index dropped by its largest amount in eight months that is fading equities.

Between credible and non-credible political and fiscal policies and a reflationary or deflationary monetary policy aimed at the financial system, Morgan Stanley provides a quick-and-dirty 'map' of where Europe finds itself and the four different scenarios that await this troubled region. The 'Quantum Leap' of credible fiscal integration with term liquidity support and even easier monetary policy is where everyone hoped we would be by now (especially post the October 26th Grand Plan decisions). However, the sad truth in reality is the drop in credibility of political will (or direct nationalism emerging) combined with some concerns over inflation and the dramatic fading of the liquidity impact of the ECB's latest actions means we are drifting rapidly towards 'Debt Crisis Derailment' as the elite continue to confuse insolvency and illiquidity and stick their heads in the sand with regard the reality they face under the restrictions of Maastricht. With implicit monetary conditions dramatically easy and peripheral banks over-stuffed with sovereign debt, there is little room for anything but more encumbrance or ECB-Treaty-busting direct printing (which is the rumor floating all boats this morning).

Presented without much commentary, because little is necessary: the only ratio that matters for the US economy, the change in US public debt ($359.1 billion) and US GDP ($142.4) in the first quarter, hit 2.52x and rising.

It takes $2.52 in new debt to "buy" $1 of economic "growth"

Put your coffees down please...

So much for the +3.0% GDP whisper number. Instead of printing at the expected number of +2.5%, the first preliminary GDP data point (two more revisions pending) came out at 2.2%, a big disappointment for a quarter which had a substantial boost from the weather. And while of the 2.2%, Personal Consumption came in strong - as expected, as it was precisely the factor most impacted by pulling in demand forward courtesy of "April in February", 0.59% of the 2.2% was an increase in inventories, something which was not supposed to happen as it means that the quality of the economic growth in Q1 was far worse than expected. Cementing the ugly composition of Q1 GDP was fixed investment which added just a paltry 0.18% - this is the number which is critical for ongoing cashflow generation and unfortunately, the very low print means that growth outlook for Q2 is now even worse than before and we expect economists will promptly trim their already bearish predictions for Q2 GDP. Finally, government "consumption" subtracted just 0.6% from the total number, a decrease from the 0.84% in Q4, which means that once again the government is starting to become less of a detractor to growth - a dagger in the heart to anyone who claims there is "quality" in GDP growth. And the number you have all been waiting for: At March 31, US Debt/GDP was 100.8%

A fundamental overview of the stocks available for drafting during the CNBC Street Signs Stock Draft airing, with my comments & opinions. Yesterday I released the analysis of Apples Q2 earnings & I'm sure it contained content that you didn't read anywhere else.

In 45 minutes we will get the first unrevised big picture look of how the US economy did in the record hot weather-boosted first quarter of 2012. Consensus is looking for a +2.5% print, although according to some preliminary analysis, the weather, which simply pulled "demand" forward, may have resulted in an up to 30-40% increase in the baseline print. Whether or not that is the case depends on the flow through Q2 data, which so far has been quite horrible as we showed yesterday, but far more importantly, on how much debt the Treasury issues, as when one cuts out the noise, the only thing that does matter for "growth" is what the net re-leveraging in the system is. Everything else is mostly weekly BLS BS that only serves to increase the general level of Schrodingerian confusion. Anyway, for those who enjoy observing the trees and ignoring the forest, here is a preview of what to expect today, first from Bloomberg and then from Goldman.

In bullfighting, the spot in the ring where the bull always returns is called Querencia. In finance that spot is called Mean Reversion...

Futures are unchanged after dropping steeply overnight following the Spanish re-downgrade as the Italian 5/10 year bond auction was bad, but still passed (somehow the lack of the European bond market ending is good news). This is ironic with Europe very much on edge following the release of very disappointing EU data, with German confidence, French consumer spending, Spanish unemployment all worse than estimates. Offsetting all of the negativity to some extent is the gross JPY10 trillion and net JPY5 trillion injection by the BOJ, which is a harbinger of what will happen west of Japan when push comes to shove. And so now all eyes turn to US GDP, which, continuing the Constanza bizarroness, better miss for stocks to surge, as a beat of consensus of 2.5% will mean the Chairman was not joking when he told the world he was morphing from a dove to a hawk (if only for theatrical purposes).

• Hollande Says Germany Can’t Make Europe’s Decisions Alone (BBG)
• Monti Hits at Eurozone Austerity Push (FT)
• Firm that made loans to Chesapeake CEO defends them (Reuters)
• Bo Xilai's Son Doesn't Drive a Ferrari. He drives a Porsche (WSJ)
• Geithner Urges China to Loosen Hold on Finance System (BBG)
• and yet... Son of Bo Xilai Says Father’s Ouster ‘Destroyed My Life’ (BBG)
• U.S. growth slows as inventory accumulation wanes (Reuters)
• S&P 500 Dividend Payers Climb to Highest in 12 Years (BBG)
• Lacker Sees Fed May Need to Raise Rates in Mid-2013 (BBG)
• Ireland Passes Latest Bailout Review (WSJ)

While Europe is still keeping up a facade that all is well in the aftermath of the Spanish downgrade, but far more importantly its sheer economic collapse as noted earlier, just so Italy could price €4.916 billion in two On The Run 5 and 10 year bond issues (compared to a target of €5 billion), the tension is there, as can be seen in a decidedly week Italian bond auction, which saw yields soar, Bids to Cover slide, and tails spike. Italy also sold less than the maximum in off the run 2016 and 2019 bonds. All in all, while the market may experience a brief recovery rally that Italy managed to sell anything at all (that was not a Bill of course - that gimmick always does the trick), the reality that these yields are not sustainable will slowly seep in within a few hours.

In a week that Spain can't wait to end, the country was just hit with the bad news bears Trifecta, starting with the Real Madrid loss, following with the second S&P downgrade of Spain's credit rating for the year last night (or is that now SBBB+ain?), and concluding with economic data released this morning which showed that the economy is in a free fall that is approaching that of Greece, after retail sales fell for the 21st consecutive month, while Q1 unemployment soared to, drumroll please, one quarter of the working population or 24.44% to be specific, trouncing consensus estimates of 23.8%, and up nearly 2% from the 22.85% as of December 31. Which likely means that the real unemployment is far higher, and confirms not only that the economy is in free fall mode, but that Moody's, which delayed its downgrade of the country's banks to May, will proceed shortly.