Archive - May 2012

Taking current trends across all employment indicators, using 12 Month trailing averages in the changes of those employed, unemployed and dropping out the labor force, we can predict, with IMF-level precision, that at the current surge of those leaving the labor force, the US unemployment rate will hit 0.0% in December of 2021 and finally go negative, or -0.1% in January 2022. So there you have it: maybe the BLS can just fast forward us to the end of this thought experiment when everyone will be so fat they couldn't look for a job if they wanted to (recall by 2020 75% of Americans will be obese), but at least the Propaganda Times will be blasting in 24/7 red flashing headlines that, for the first time ever, America's unemployed are now somehow negative, and we can all rejoice while collecting all those welfare stamps bought on negative interest credit funded directly from the uber politburo of the USSA located in the Marriner Eccles building.

Just days after his last live webcast "To QE3 or Not To QE3" DoubleLine's Jeff Gundlach is out once again with his latest presentation and live webcast titled "Deficits Don't Matter" (just don't tell that to the PIIGS). We are confident this is a Regan-referencing joke. Hopefully, in the off case it isn't, Jeff should also make the case why, in that case, taxation is also meaningless and should be abolished. After all, the Federal Government, courtesy of various newfangled economic theories can print its way to gargantuan debt and perpetual prosperity.

When the founder of the world's largest currency hedge fund FX Concepts says that Greece will be out of money by June and out of the Euro soon after, people should listen. While we disagree with the premise that Greece's exit will not be chaotic, his general thoughts on the situation in Europe, espoused in this Bloomberg TV interview, are summed up by his reply when asked if Europe is a sell "I do. I also feel passionately that the euro is effectively a break up." Taylor also points out that the stability of a post-Greece Euro landscape is really up to the ECB noting that "I think the ECB should let the Euro go down. To hell with Germany." Covering whether the Euro will crater, the contagion effects, and how the rest of Europe will behave, the non-Duran-Duran Taylor who readily admits his mistakes on misjudging the Fed's excess, sees the timeline for exit as soon after the next round of elections in Greece this summer.

The paradox of an advanced post-industrial economy is that the number of jobs needed declines even as the cost of living rises. The fundamental dynamic of America's job market is simple: we need relatively few workers to provide the absolute essentials of life even as the cost-basis of the economy inexorably rises. In other words, there are fewer jobs even as the costs of maintaining a "middle class" life rise. The solution to the post-industrial decline of labor is not unproductive "make-work" jobs and borrowing trillions of dollars until the system implodes, it's lowering the cost basis of the entire economy and culture, which means eliminating all the systemic sources of unproductive friction.

A Zero Hedge reader's vision realized...

With Gold, Silver, and Oil down quite considerably since the second LTRO from the ECB ended the immediate elevations in global central bank stocks and flows and now all marginally positive/negative year-todate, the question of the day is whether this is a dip to be bought or a liquidation to be sold into. Sean Corrigan, of Diapason Commodities, provides some guidance.

Just a month ago we warned that all was not well in the political elites of China. Critically, expectations of some coordinated and massive stimulus to save the world were far overblown since "the last thing Hu & Co. would want in their final months in office would be to unleash another oligarch-enriching orgy of speculation". Sure enough, as Reuters just reported, 'China's ruling Communist Party is seriously considering a delay in its upcoming five-yearly congress by a few months amid internal debate over the size and makeup of its top decision-making body as the party struggles to finalize a once-in-a-decade leadership change.' The delay will likely further unnerve global financial markets whose perception of Chinese politics as a well-oiled machine has already been shaken this year by the extraordinary downfall of an ambitious senior leader, Bo Xilai, in a murder scandal.

While not exactly surprising, today's Senate failure to extend a bill extending the currently low interest on student loans, after a blocking vote by the GOP may bring even more attention to what Zero Hedge has dubbed one of the biggest bubbles of 2012...  That there will be politics involved in this touchy subject is not a secret. What, however, will hit the American (young) consumer class (and recidivist iGadget buyer) like a wall of bricks is if on July 1 there is still no deal, and the student protests seen in the recent past in London and Montreal spread to US campuses, where students demand the dignity to file for bankruptcy in peace... and full debt discharge. The counter of course will be whether anyone had put a gun to their head when they were taking out a loan. The counter to that counter will be that no students expected there would be zero jobs available upon graduation. And so on, in a tit for tat repeat of the housing bubble and the massive unexpected consequences as yet another $1 trillion bubble pops, which just like last time, will result in yet another broad taxpayer funded bailout, in which the all end up paying for the the few.

So we know that the pro-bailout parties in Greece have failed to form a coalition, and that this will either mean an anti-bailout anti-austerity government, or new elections, and that this will probably mean that the Greek default is about to become extremely messy (because let’s face it the chances of the Greek people electing a pro-austerity, pro-bailout government is about as likely as Hillary Clinton quitting her job at the State Department and seeking a job shaking her booty at Spearmint Rhino). It was said that the E.U.’s existence was justified in the name of preventing the return of nationalism and fascism to European politics. Well, as a result of the austerity terms imposed upon Greece by their European cousins in Brussels and Frankfurt, Greeks just put a fully-blown fascist party into Parliament.

Last week, looking at Third Point's best performing positions we noticed something odd: a big win in Portuguese sovereign bonds in the month of April. We further suggested: "We suspect the plan went something like this: Loeb had one of his hedge-fund-huddles; the cartel all bought into Portuguese bonds (or more likely the basis trade - lower risk, higher leverage if a 'guaranteed winner'); bonds soared and the basis was crushed; now that same cartel - facing pressure on its AAPL position (noted as one of Loeb's largest positions at the end of April) - has to liquidate (reduce leverage thanks to AAPL's collateral-value dropping) and is forced to unwind the Portuguese positions. A quick glance at the chart below tells the story of a Portuguese bond market very much in a world of its own relative to the rest of Europe this last month - and perhaps now we know who was pulling those strings?" Since the end of April, both AAPL and Portuguese bonds have tumbled, and Portugal CDS is +45 bps today alone, proving that circumstantially we have been quite correct. Today, we have the full Long Portugal thesis as explained by Loeb (it was a simple Portuguese bond long, which explains the odd rip-fest seen in the cash product in April). There is nothing too surprising in the thesis, with the pros and cons of the trade neatly laid out, however the core premise is that the Troika will simply not allow Portugal to fail, and that downside on the bonds is limited... A thesis we have heard repeatedly before, most recently last week by Greylock and various other hedge funds, which said a long-Greek bond was the "trade of the year", and a "no brainer." Sure, that works, until it doesn't: such as after this past weekend, in which Greece left the world stunned with the aftermath of what happens when the people's voice is for once heard over that of the kleptocrats, and the entire house of cards is poised to collapse.

Just as we warned last night, the lack of an active European credit market to look over the shoulders of their more exuberant equity colleagues quickly came to bear today as London traders turned up for work in no mood for bullish hope. Investment grade credit spreads in Europe jumped their most in a month and pushed close to four-month wides as the entire credit complex sold off aggressively. It seemed Main (the European IG credit index) was instrument of choice for hedgers (cheaper and more liquid with a smattering of financials) as opposed to XOVER (the European HY credit index) but we suspect the latter will rapidly catch up. Stocks fell further with Greece hitting multi-decade lows but Italy and France underperforming (as reality bit following yesterday's pump). Euro Stoxx 50 was down around 2% (now -3.5% YTD) but Spain remains the YTD biggest loser -18.2% (as opposed to Germany's DAX +9.25%). Sovereign credit was also not happy (just like yesterday) but as US opened, Italy and Spain saw notable derisking pushing their 5Y spreads +7bps and +15bps respectively on the week now. Portugal is +24bps on the week so far as the basis trade unwind begins. Europe's VIX surged above 31% for the first time since the beginning of the year and while Treasuries were bid (with 30Y touching 3%), 10Y Bunds outperformed on the safety rotation now 28.5bps inside of the 10Y TSY. EURUSD slid back under 1.30 shortly after the US opened but some miraculous gappiness (and comments from Greece) dragged its lumbering body back over the 1.30 Maginot line for now.

"Sometime the math just doesn't add up" is how CNBC's Rick Santelli begins what should become must-watch viewing for the youth of America as he tries to "Wake Up Young People" to the incredible realities of the level of debt encumbrance they are being born with. The lessons we are learning from our European brothers is that no-one is going to volunteer for austerity and fundamentally, to Rick, austerity is about 'past due bills'. From birth (where the average soon-to-be-taxpayer is already encumbered by $138k) to the future (looking for growth through capital attainment and job creation), Santelli starkly looks into camera, addressing the under-27-year-old demographic and tells them straight "you are paying for a meal that previous generations have eaten". The worrying point is that in order for the youth not to revolt against this 'unfairness' they need optimism and what appears to be occurring now is a fading of that generational optimism (except for CEOs whose last name begin with Z) as joblessness, and the costs of college and healthcare anchor our traditionally upwardly mobile bias. So how do 'we' hook the younger generations in? Student loan forgiveness? But where's that money going to come from? ...and so the ponzi feeds on itself once again.

Yep. Now it's official. 

As we warned, the EURUSD would surge on any headlines that a coalition pro-bailout government would be formed (the chances of which died yesterday when Samaras handed back the government formation mandate to the president). However the following...

• GREEK CONSERVATIVE LEADER SAMARAS SAYS IS READY TO TOLERATE MINORITY GOVERNMENT - BBG
  
• SAMARAS SAYS SYRIZA STATEMENTS DON'T SECURE PLACE IN EUROPE - BBG
• GREECE'S SAMARAS SAYS DON'T WANT COUNTRY TO GO TO NEW ELECTIONS - BBG
• GREEK CONSERVATIVE LEADER SAMARAS SAYS I WILL NOT PUT SIGNATURE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF GREECE - BBG

... is NOT the good news for a pro-bailout Greek government, that the algos were looking for, as it means that the Euro-friendly forces do not have the needed majority, which is to be expected in a government in which anti-bailout parties have nearly 60% of the vote: sorry, but the math just doesn't work. Of course, the algos have not been programmed to read into nuances, and the initial EURUSD spike is 40 pips higher. We can patiently wait until their 19 year old math Ph.D. programmers of algo signals understand what this headline actually means.