Archive - Feb 6, 2013

Down over a point in the long bond. Up almost a point in the long bond. Equities down more than 100 points. Equities up almost 100 points. All of this in the span of two days. Nothing was particularly new; no event popped up on the radar screen, no black swan swopped in from the horizon to startle the markets and anyone observing the markets may well ask, reasonably ask, just what the heck is going on. First, in my mind, we are getting a pretty good signal that the markets are running out of steam and that the collective vision of the way forward is murky. We are in a fragile state; near a tipping point. Please remember, however, that there are two components to additional debt and the markets have only focused on one side of the equation which is the interest rate variable.

We had to reread this DOJ statement on today's RBS wristslap twice, as the hypocrisy was literally mind-blowing: “As we have done with Barclays and UBS, we are today holding RBS accountable for a stunning abuse of trust,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  “The bank has admitted to manipulating one of the cornerstone benchmark interest rates in our global financial system, and its Japanese subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to felony wire fraud.  The department’s ongoing investigation has now yielded two guilty pleas by significant financial institutions.  These are extraordinary results, and our investigation is far from finished.  Our message is clear:  no financial institution is above the law.”

Conjuring Kyle Bass' recent explanation of the massive surge in the nominal price of the Zimbabwean stock market enabling the purchase of only 3 eggs, much is being made of the surge in Japan's Nikkei index (overnight up ~3.8% and the last few months). It would appear that, as we noted recently, the world forgets (quite readily) that 'real' and 'nominal' returns are quite different. With JPY collapsing at its fastest rate in a decade (relative to fiat and hard currency) to 33-month lows, is it any wonder that the nominal price of the stocks that represent the nation are surging to keep their 'value'. In nominal terms, NKY is at its highest since 2008; in real (gold) terms, it is laboring at its lowest since 1984 - which do you trust to judge your wealth?

When it comes to estimates of China's growth rate, we could go with the local politburo propaganda which even China itself has admitted is goalseeked worthless drivel fit "only for reference", or we could listen to a megacap CEO, who actually is on the ground and whose business model depends on accurately predicting the underlying economic reality of the world's biggest nation. We chose the latter, in which case we now know that China's 2012 GDP growth was only 3-4%, half the reported 7.8%.

Buy Apple till $1,000! Hurry & get this Facebook IPO while its hot! Short Google to go long Apple! I short the sell side & storm CNBC! Guess how it turned out.... 

Well that didn't take long. It appears spending time with the family is over-rated (or perhaps they couldn't stand him either) as Turbo Timmy has landed his first post-Treasury gig (Citi next?). The Council of Foreign Relations has graciously brought this "tireless and creative" thinker on board as a Distinguished Fellow. His role... "to strengthen their capacity to produce thoughtful analysis of issues at the intersection of economic, political, and strategic developments." We assume this is his gracious 'giving back' phase before six-months down the line slithering over to the big bucks at a bank when he suspects no one will be looking... The mutual adoration society continues...

Six months after the Barclays epic wristslap in which there were none - zero - criminal charges against Libor manipulators, it is time to trot out the same old theatrical song and dance again, this time focusing on bailed out RBS, which the CFTC just fined a whopping sum of $325 million, modestly less than the $16 billion profit the bank made in 2007, followed by the epic subsequent collapse which saw $104 billion in bailouts to keep the bank afloat courtesy of Biritsh taxpayers. In other words: manipulate the world's most sensitive credit-related metric, and you will see either 5% of your peak profits deducted, or we will force you to get even more bailouts.

Platinum prices have already risen by more than 12% so far in 2013, following the same advance for all of 2012. Platinum supplies have fallen to a 13-year low as mines in South Africa, the world’s biggest producer, close and the platinum industry is in crisis due to industrial unrest, geological constraints and sharply rising costs. Global production will drop 2.7% to 5.68 million ounces, the least since 2000, according to Barclays Plc, which raised its 2013 shortage estimate sixfold last month after Johannesburg-based Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) said it plans to idle shafts.  Anglo American Plc’s platinum unit, the largest producer, last month proposed the halt of four mine shafts that would cut about 7% of global production. At the same time, demand from carmakers, the biggest consumer of the metal, will increase 0.5 percent in 2013, Barclays says.  Perhaps, most importantly investors are buying platinum at the fastest pace in three years and yet holdings of platinum remain very, very small. Global production of the metal will fall as South African output drops 3.4% to a 12-year low of 4.11 million ounces, Barclays estimates.

The completely bankrupt US Postal Service, employer of some 500,000 government workers, which for the past two quarters has been surviving on liquidity fumes even as it posted it biggest ever loss in Fiscal 2012, and which recently announced its latest stamp price hike (which bought it two extra weeks of time), has just disclosed what was long anticipated: the end of Saturday mail delivery - a crushing blow to shippers of junk mail everywhere. Look for many more weekdays of mail delivery to be cut before the USPS itself has to be bailed out. In the meantime, the USPS can spend what little money it does not have on TV ads on channels such as CNBC whose viewers are certainly unaware of the services provided by this most bloated of legacy government entities.

• Tunisian opposition politician shot dead, protests erupt (Reuters)
• China says extremely concerned after latest North Korea threats (Reuters)
• Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs (AP)
• Debt Rise Colors Budget Talks (WSJ)
• Obama proposes short-term budget fix, Republicans swiftly object (Reuters)
• S&P Analyst Joked of Bringing Down the House Before Crash (BBG)
• Dell’s Bigger Challenge Ahead in Turnaround After Buyout (BBG)
• Some of the Mark Carney Gloss Is Coming Off (WSJ)
• Japan Official Says BOJ Tools Sufficient as Shake-Up Looms (BBG)
• S&P Lawsuit Undermined by SEC Rules That Impede Competition (BBG)
• Heavy Clashes Erupt in Syrian Capital (WSJ)

Perhaps the biggest news of the night was the resurgence of Silvio Berlusconi, who managed to close the lead to the Democratic Party leader Bersani, embroiled in the fallout from the Monte Paschi scandal, to just 3.7 points, or within the 4 point margin of error, before the February 25th elections. According to a SkyTG24 poll, support for Bersani’s bloc dropped 0.2 point to 33.1% from yesterday while support for Berlusconi’s bloc rose 0.1 point to 29.4%. This is certainly the most catalytically destabilizing event on the horizon for Italy, and Europe, as should Silvio win the Italian elections, an outcome unthinkable as recently as a month ago, all bets about Europe's technocratic/Goldman-forced "recovery" in which only the banks are recovering, if not the people, are off.

Two examples today of the strange way things work here in the Netherlands regarding conflicts of interest. Of course we know that things are getting increasingly blurry whereever you are between government, regulators and corporations. I'll be interested to hear what you think about the whole issue.

The first example is for a business that tests LED lamps and publishes the results on the internet. The people that run the tests both work full time at Philips. Maybe not on the lamps themselves.