Archive - Nov 4, 2013

The ObamaCare website rollout fiasco, joined by the bait-and-switch “You can keep your current insurance (not)” tempest, obscure the fundamental quandary about so-called health-care in America: that it is a gigantic racket structured to allow countless layers of grift and counter-grift. The end product of all that artifice is that medical care costs twice as much in America as any other civilized country, and that it has to be operated by a cruel and despotic matrix of poorly coordinated bureaucracies that commonly leave people more disabled financially than the diseases that brought them into the system. ObamaCare was designed to work like a giant roll of duct tape that would allow the current cast of characters in charge (Democratic Progressives) to pretend that the system could keep going a few years longer.

Market attention is on the Third Plenary Session meeting of the 18th Central Committee (Third Plenum), where a blueprint for major reforms over the next decade is to be announced during the four-day congress starting on November 9. However, history shows that economic growth tends to be lower after major third plenum meetings. This is because structural reforms, while good in the longer term, tend to slow growth in the near term. While this is 'bad' for the global economy overall, the following nine nations, who are dependent on China to consumer over one-half of all their total exports, are particularly at risk.

Following Jimmy Kimmel's infamous kids roundtable where the solution proferred by one young chap was to "kill all the Chinese people" since they are the ones we owe money to, the Chinese people decided enough was enough and put together this brief tutorial on China, and how many 'peoples' have tried to kill them in the past... meet "The Undying Chinese"

This morning's announcement of the 25% rise in the IPO price of Twitter raised a few eyebrows across Wall and Main Street. Most will argue that investors have all learned many lessons in the 18 months since Facebook IPO'd to a clarion call for retail money large and small from every form of media that exists... The following headlines from the pre-IPO suggest, unfortunately, that we learned absolutely nothing...

Store of value, gold coin buyers more than tripled their purchases from the U.S. Mint in October from the prior month, U.S. Mint data confirmed.

The Dow Transports continue their entirely sensible march to infinity as they have no risen over 11% in the last 19 days with only 4 marginally lower days in that period. The S&P tested lower around the open but that 'dip' was mandatorily bid and lifted the index back towards the highs (with a 330 Ramp off VWAP for good measure). Volumes in futures, options, and stocks were absolutely abysmal (S&P futures lowest non-holiday in a couple years). The USD decided to limp lower (led by EUR strength), gold and oil ended unch (silver and copper -1%), Treasury yields very modestly lower, and VIX was banged back under 13%. Credit remains un-impressed (though rallied modestly in the day).

Moments ago the Treasury released its marketable borrowing estimates for Fiscal Q1 and Q2: it revealed that funding needs for the October-December quarter declined from $230 billion to $204 billion, while the Q1 funding needs set at $356 billion, in line with last year's number. And yet, the Treasury also announced that despite a lower funding need in the current quarter, it would proceed with issuing $32 billion more in net Treasurys, or $266 billion, than previously estimated. Why? To push the quarter end cash balance from $80 billion to $140 billion at December 31, 2013. This is the highest quarter-ending cash balance since 2010. Why is the Treasury scrambling to build up cash ahead of calendar 2014? Simple: as is well-known, the debt ceiling drama comes back with a vengeance in late January and early February, and this one promises to be just as theatrical and protracted as all prior ones.

Hiding Your Head In the Sand Doesn’t Work …

As we recently exclaimed, European macro data is deteriorating rapidly (even as talking-head after talking-head simply ignore this 'fact' and steer investors into EU stocks because, well, they are going up). That "Europe is recovering" meme appears an unarguable truth - except when you look at the truth of the following charts.

The financial markets continue higher, and the excesses of the status quo continue expanding with little ill effect (so far). Why is it so difficult to predict the timing of crisis/collapse? The question is equally valid for both bears and bulls; how could all the boosters of housing be so wrong in 2008 when they asserted that "housing is not a bubble"? Here are ten possible factors in why it's so difficult to predict crisis/reset.

The last time we looked at Thorsten Heins' potential "golden parachute" farewell gift from Blackberry for, well, completing the destruction of the company started by former Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsille when he took over in early 2002, the amount could have been as gargantuan as $55 million. This number has subsequently been revised modestly lower, and while nobody is precisely sure just what Heins is entitled to, according to the Globe and Mail's latest calculation, the golden parachute in question could be as large as $16 million. Then again, considering RIMM stock back then was $18/share and by the time Heins left BBRY will be just over $6, one wonders if instead of any bonus Heins shouldn't instead be paying the company's long suffering shareholders for virtually destroying what was once the world's dominant smartphone brand.

Via an emailed statement, the soon to be jailed SAC logo (since nobody else is actually going to jail) proudly proclaims: ""We take responsibility for the handful of men who pleaded guilty and whose conduct gave rise to SAC’s liability.The tiny fraction of wrongdoers does not represent the 3,000 honest men and women who have worked at the firm during the past 21 years."... aka the textbook definition of "just us" justice.

It's been three months since we discussed in depth the 'problems' that CAT faces. Recent earnings were a disaster and the CEO offered little to no hope for short-term recovery. Today, things got a little worse...

*CATERPILLAR TO CLOSE UNDERGROUND-MINING EQUIPMENT PLANT
*CATERPILLAR SAYS DECISION AFFECTS ABOUT 40 PEOPLE

Of course, the irony is not lost on us as we rhetorically ask, who said the following: "You Can Measure America's Bottom Line By Looking At Caterpillar's Bottom Line." Let's hope not for the nation's sake.

Having discussed the "unprecedented" scale of their law-breaking previously, we expect Bharara to bring a little gloat with the SAC press conference today...

Obesity rates have increased at least slightly so far in 2013 across almost all major demographic and socioeconomic groups, according to Gallup's latest study. The largest upticks between 2012 and 2013 were among those aged 45 to 64 and those who earn between $30,000 and $74,999 annually - which 'coincidentally' is perfectly in the cohort that is 'disincentized' to work by the growing shadow of bought votes and entitlements. So, the question then becomes, is the considerable spike in 2013 that is so evident below the "peak" in obesity rates as the government is forced to introduce more haircuts on its foodstamp program? Time will tell...