Archive - Nov 1, 2013

Back in January,  we highlighted the main problem plaguing the Greek financial system, and why a bailout (at least third, but likely fourth and fifth, and so on) is inevitable because "the amount of non-performing loans has exploded by a laughable amount, rising some 50% from December 2011, when it was "only" 16% and stood at a gargantuan 24% last month (indicatively, in the US this would mean that some $1.7 trillion in loans was nonperforming). And therein lies the rub, because as Kathimerini prudently notes, the "bad loans come to a considerable 55 billion euros. This means that the sum of NPLs already exceeds the total funds set aside for the recapitalization of the local credit system, which amounts to €50 billion." Yesterday, Kathimerini provided a much needed update on the amount of NPLs in Greece: according to the latest PwC report, NPLs have risen by another €10 billion in under one year, and now amount to €65 billion, which is now larger than the recapitalization funding and amounts to more than double the €30 billion capital base of local banks!

It is now clear why according to the Obama administration there were no glitches plaguing the Healthcare.gov website administering Obamacare: because a whopping six people managed to sign up on the first day it was launched - the same day the government proudly reported previously it had received 4.7 million unique visitors - a conversion factor of, well, Div/0. By the end of the second day: 248 happy participants in a socialized healthcare ponzi scheme. It is also clear why there was nobody happier than the president when the republican party decided to shut down government on the same day as Obamacare was rolled out: because if public attention had focused on the absolute and now confirmed, disaster that the healthcare law's rollout had been, then everyone, not just the Tea Party, would be demanding a substantial delay in Obamacare.

• US admits surveillance on foreign governments ‘reached too far’ (FT)
• He must be so proud: Obama halted NSA spying on IMF and World Bank headquarters (RTRS)
• Obamacare website gets new tech experts; oversight pressure grows (Reuters)
• R.B.S. to Split Off $61 Billion in Loans Into Internal ‘Bad Bank’ (NYT)
• Draghi’s Deflation Risk Complicates Recovery (BBG)
• Abenomics: Nissan slashes full-year profit forecast 15% (FT)
• Credit Suisse Dismisses London Trader Over 'Unusual Trading' Losses (WSJ)
• RBS avoids break-up with 38 billion pounds 'internal bad bank' (Reuters)
• Twitter Said to Attract More Than Enough Interest for IPO (BBG)

Curious which were the best and worst performing asset classes for the month of October? Deutsche Bank explains.

After a blistering October for stocks, drunk on yet another month of record liquidity by the cental planners, November's first overnight trading session has been quiet so far, with the highlight being the release of both official and HSBC China PMI data. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.4 in October from 51.1 in September. It managed to beat expectations of 51.2 and was also the highest reading in 18 months - since April 2012. October’s PMIs are historically lower than those for September, so the MoM uptick is considered a bit more impressive. The uptrend in October was also confirmed by the final HSBC manufacturing PMI which printed at 50.9 which is higher than the preliminary reading of 50.7 and September’s reading of 50.9. The Chinese data has helped put a floor on Asian equities overnight and S&P 500 futures are nudging higher (+0.15%). The key laggard are Japanese equities where the TOPIX (-1.1%) is weaker pressured by a number of industrials, ahead of a three day weekend. Electronics-maker Sony is down 12% after surprising the market with a profit downgrade with this impacting sentiment in Japanese equities.