Archive - Mar 1, 2013

Italian electors’ rejection of Brussels-imposed economic diktat is an extraordinarily important moment in the history of modern Europe - perhaps the best political news since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Given the power of unelected technocrats, it is easy to forget that sovereignty in Europe still resides with the nation state as expressed through elections. The problem for those unelected officials who conspired to capture the political system - think Jacques Delors, Jean Claude Trichet or Mario Monti - is the obvious failure of their great project. For the first time a majority of electors has decisively voted against the euro and rejected policies imposed by technocrats. What the eurocrats offer under the banner of "reform" is nothing of the sort but just an increase in their power and the destruction of the incredible diversity which made Europe an endlessly fascinating place. It is time to return to market prices and democracy and to accept that technocracy cannot work.

Washington is laying on the malaise pretty thick lately over automatic budget cuts set to take effect in March, with admonitions and partisan attacks galore.  Of course, those of us who are educated in the finer points of our corrupt puppet government are well aware that the public debate between Democrats and Republicans amounts to nothing more than a farcical battle of Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots with only one set of hands behind the controls.  The reality is, their decisions are scripted, their votes are purchased, and they knew months ago exactly how America’s fiscal cliff situation would progress.  The drama that now ensues on the hill is meant for OUR benefit and distraction, and no one else. There are plenty of irrelevant federal appendages out there that could be amputated, but probably won’t be, while other more useful programs will come under fire.  In the end, the budget cuts are not about saving money; they are about social maneuvering and political gain.  They will be used as an excuse for everything, and will produce nothing favorable, not because cuts are not needed, but because the people in charge of them are not trustworthy.

Banzai7: Ok

Presented with little comment except to note, each time the NYSE member firms margin-buying has become so vociferously positive over and above the Dow, things have not turned out so well...

While not according to official government statistics (yet), which we have come to trust so Pavlovian-ly, TrimTab's CEO Charles Biderman notes that based on what is important - the growth (or lack thereof) of real-time wages and salaries, the US economy has slowed enough to enter into recession. Following December's aberrant jumps thanks to tax hike concerns, after-tax wages and salaries (net of inflation) have been shrinking year-over-year since the second week in January. But it gets better, withheld income and employment taxes have been running about 8.3% higher year-over-year. While retail is being told to buy-buy-buy, Biderman exclaims that "insiders at U.S. companies have bought the least amount of shares in any one month," and that the ratio of insider selling to buying is now 50-to-1 - a monthly record. "So far the mass delusion is holding."

A major shift is taking place in Central Bank policy. The herd is ignoring the language as usual... just like they did in 2008.

Every now and then you get a glimpse. A vision of reality that confirms the surreality occurring all around us. This time it comes courtesy of Coleman Andrews, co-founder of Bain Capital, who asks bluntly how confident can investors be that this monetary program will have the effects that the Fed claims it will have? A look at what Fed Chairman Bernanke was saying in the run-up to the 2008 financial turmoil gives some insight into the Fed's record at predicting market outcomes. A must-watch 150 seconds today as it appears belief in Bernanke's omnipotence is back for a moment as he asks "would you trust your life-savings to an institution with that recent record of completely missing what happened in the housing sector and more broadly in the economy." Indeed...

Comes with an “Attendance Justification Tool Kit”

Recent news about Federal plans to "help" manage private retirement accounts renewed our interest in the topic of capital controls. One example of capital control is to limit the amount of money that can be transferred out of the country; another is limiting the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from accounts; a third is the government mandates private capital must be invested in government bonds. Though presented as "helping" households, the real purpose of the power grab would be to enable the Federal government to borrow the nation's retirement accounts at near-zero rates of return. As things fall apart, Central States pursue all sorts of politically expedient measures to protect the State's power and the wealth of the political and financial Elites. Precedent won't matter; survival of the State and its Elites will trump every other consideration.  All this raises an interesting question: what would America look like at $5000 an ounce gold?

Italian stocks have fallen five weeks in a row ending this week down over 3%. The rest of European stocks (including Spain) ended either side of unchanged. A similar picture in Sovereign bonds where Italian 10Y spreads smashed 50bps wider on the week (and Portugal +25bps) while the rest ended +5-10bps only on the week. Today was a weak day overall with the most obvious place to see that weakness the plunge in EURUSD which broke below 1.30 for the first time since early December. Swiss 2Y rates ended negative, EUR-USD basis swaps were leaking worse, and Europe's VIX closed up around 1 vol at 21.5% (well off its highs of the week). Critically, we saw no BTFD appetite in Italian risk assets this week - even with the auction going well - which suggests that Italian banks are as stuffed as they can be and fast money is fleeing.

At 11:35ET, President Obama will address the nation over how well the sequestration discussions are going. Following this morning's rumor-driven ramp, and Boehner's very recent comments that "discussions are over", we await the President's calming tones or hell-fire conjuring warnings... the question is - how many park rangers will be standing behind the President?

Big name brand banks push 75% loss ponzi schemes, yet everybody still flocks to work, and do business, with them. The term Muppet is a compliment!

We saw what happened yesterday when the unknowable vote went exactly as everyone expected - the supposedly totally-priced-in equity market dumped. Today, the rumor is that a deal is on the cards and sure enough S&P 500 futures ramp almost 20 points. Interestingly, this ramp has stopped just as Gold and stocks have recoupled relative to each other on the week. Of course, once the rumor is flatly denied or rejected, we would expect little to no selling pressure in this broken market because there is always hope...

For the first time in two years, Italy's youth unemployment rate is now higher than Portugal's at a staggering 38.7% (which is where Greece was just two years ago). Apart from Germany (which fell from 8.0% to 7.9%), every other nation saw youth unemployment rates rise with a record 24.2% of European youth unemployed. Greece (59.4%) and Spain (55.5%) remain the most concerning as we noted in the past, austerity sounds straightforward as a policy, until the consequences bite in terms of social unrest.