Archive - Apr 6, 2013
THe END oF MF GLoBaL
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 04/06/2013 21:26 -0500The swindling art is in his tentacles...
These Charts Better Not Reflect The True State Of The US Economy
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 19:16 -0500If this chart is in any way indicative of what is truly going on behind the scenes of the US economy, then watch out below...
The Knockout Blow People Will Not See Coming
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 18:45 -0500
Have you ever done something really stupid, just because you were in love? Something you look back on and cringe, thinking “why on earth did I do that?” Of course. Who hasn’t? In the world of economics and finance, they call this ‘sentiment’. Consumer confidence, business confidence, investor confidence… these are basically emotional readings. Screw the numbers. To hell with the truth. It’s all about how people feel. It seems crazy, but it’s true. Right now, for example, ‘sentiment’ is telling us that the euro crisis is over. It’s telling us that the debt ceiling is pretty much resolved. And, after taking five years to reach pre-crash levels, it’s telling us that the stock market is once again safe for the average investor. Yet the numbers tell a completely different story. Something just doesn’t add up. Investors are throwing caution to the wind right now... ignoring the basic fundamentals and focusing exclusively on euphoric sentiment. (Or central bank policy). We can personally attest, and any boxer will tell you, that it’s the punch that you don’t see coming which knocks you out.
Endangered Species: An Entrepreneur In France
Submitted by testosteronepit on 04/06/2013 17:34 -0500“I need to hire more people, but the government won’t let me”
Guest Post: Is Tunisia the New Hot Spot for Energy Investors?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 17:06 -0500
Until recently Tunisia was considered to be a minor league and relatively underexplored venue in Africa’s rapidly expanding oil & gas scene. [Yet another example of the slow re-colonization of the African continent - a topic we have been discussing for months now - most recently here] This situation has quickly changed with new bid rounds and forced relinquishments creating an opportunity for new companies to come in. Major American E & P companies like Shell have jumped at the opportunity to acquire ground that had been dominated for decades with little to no work conducted, mostly by European State oil & gas companies in this former French protectorate. For the first time major spending has been committed to test Tunisian basins which are arguably equally prolific as those in neighbouring environments with more work performed, such as Libya. Should Tunisia now be on energy investors watch list?
No Country For Rich, Fat Men
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 16:08 -0500
Given the increasing weight of taxation on the middle- and upper-incomes in this country and the first step towards savings 'wealth' taxation, it is perhaps no surprise that the nation's employers have decided enough is enough with another implicit tax - healthcare. As the WSJ reports, cost-conscious companies (such as spare tire manufacturer Michelin North America) are passing on the additional costs of healthcare to their obese workers. Are you a man with a waist measuring 40 inches or more? Have high blood pressure? Starting next year, your unhealthiness will cost you. Incentivizing 'healthiness' via credits is increasingly shifting to penalizing unhealthiness as six in ten employers are set to enforce a 'fat tax' in the next few years. The inability to grow top-lines and need to cut costs amid the uncertainty surrounding the surging corporate healthcare costs resulting from Obamacare means employers' balance of carrot and stick seems to be tilting increasingly to the stick. So the people got their pro-equality Obamacare but if you are an 80/20 risk factor - you will be less equal than others.
Protecting Yourself From Japanese Insanity
Submitted by Asia Confidential on 04/06/2013 15:33 -0500There's never been coordinated global money printing of the scale of today and it's likely to end badly. Here's how you can protect your investment portoflios from what's to come.
Guest Post: Economy In Pictures: Have We Seen The Peak?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 15:21 -0500
The general mantra from mainstream analysts and economists since the first of the year is that the "economy is set to finally turn the corner." The premise of the assumption is that the Fed's continued monetary actions, and now specific targeted goals of suppressed inflation and targeted employment, is going to push the economy into "escape velocity." Today, we leave the analysis up to you. The following series of charts displays several important economic variables ranging from incomes and production to economic growth. The question for you to answer: "Is the economy about to boom OR has it peaked for the current economic cycle?" As you look at each chart below compare what you are visualizing versus what you are being told.
Kim Jong-Un Launches Morale-Boosting "Mine's Bigger Than Yours" Weapons Display On State TV
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 14:32 -0500
North Korean State TV provides 127 seconds of sheer unadulterated weapons-brandishing propaganda as Kim Jong-Un visits the test firing of various anti-Western civilization policy tools - from rocket-launchers, drones, and automatic weapons, the omnipotent leader himself even gets in on the action brandishing an admittedly small weapon... ironic really when all that really matters is the big red button 'threat'.
Be Careful What You Wish For; Why The Re-Industrialization Of America Is Bad For Stocks
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 13:46 -0500
Jobs; it is all about jobs; and yesterday's dismal payrolls print suggests that despite the orgasmic flourish of monetary policy (and fiscal deficits), things are not going so well. However, the clarion call for a pending manufacturing renaissance continues; the hope remains high that with just a little more time and little more money, we will revert to some pre-crisis utopia and the re-industrialization of America will begin. Be careful what you hope for is the message from Morgan Stanley's Gerard Minack who warns that this 'reindustrialization' is bearish for stocks. The biggest medium-term issue for equity investors is whether current high profits can be sustained. One factor boosting margins was the Asian-led surge in global labour supply, which squeezed returns to labor and boosted returns to capital. This was particularly pronounced in America. Reindustrialisation implies that this process has run its course, suggesting that returns to capital will revert to normal over the medium term. Most see the prospect of America reindustrialising as bullish, but reindustrialisation may reverse the current mix: Economic growth may improve, but margins worsen.
A Picture Of Health
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 13:05 -0500
As one of the largest segments of the US economy, health care accounts for trillions of dollars in spending, both by governments and private individuals. Top Masters in Healthcare decided to take a closer look at where the money goes in this infographic covering everything from 'who does the spending?' to 'where the spending goes' and which states have the highest rates of obesity. The impact of the healthcare industry on everyday Americans continues to grow, whether they see it in their insurance bill or whether they earn their salaries from the health care industry. The issue also continues to dominate the political conversation... there's no escaping it.
Fukushima: Massive Leaks Continuing On a Daily Basis … For Years On End
Submitted by George Washington on 04/06/2013 12:19 -0500Is Fukushima Leaking … Or Are the Reactors Wholly Uncontained?
IB Prepares For Surge In Japanese Bond Volatility, Removes All Intraday Margins On Japanese Products
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 12:03 -0500
On Friday morning, after the humiliating for the BOJ halt of the ¥1 quadrillion Japanese government bond market, the second largest in the entire world due to unprecedented 13-sigma volatility, we joked that as a result of the central bank's desperation, it has now made trillions in the formerly world's "safest" security trade like a penny stock. It appears our joke was not far off the mark as a few hours ago, in advance of the Sunday reopening of the JGB, at least one broker has decided to prepare for another record vol session by completely eliminating intraday margins and thus avoid the possibility of even more limit up/down crashes as a result of margin stops being hit and starting a self-reinforcing feedback loop of even more buying or selling.
Chinese H7N9 Bird Flu Strain Found In Chickens, Poultry Markets Closed, Culled As Epidemic Concerns Spread
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/06/2013 11:09 -0500
When we updated last on the most recent happenings in Shanghai (and now various adjoining provinces) as a result of the spread of the H7N9 bird flu, which has so far taken 6 lives, we warned that it is "starting to have major spillover effects on the broader economy, such as mass slaughter of poultry at local markets - a move which will have certain inflationary effects to an economy already on the cusp of losing the war with the G-7's hot money." Indeed, while the human casualties may be promptly contained, it will be the downstream effects on the economy that will have long-term reverberations. As SCMP reports, following yesterday's spot checks at various closed Shanghai poultry markets, the H7N9 strain has been found to have infected local chickens. "The ministry said last night that 10 chicken samples from two markets in the Minhang district of Shanghai and at the Huhuai Farm Products Market in the adjacent Songjiang district had tested positive for H7N9. The virus was also found in two pigeon samples and seven environmental samples collected from these markets, out of a total 738 samples tested." The result has been widespread culling of chickens both in Shanghai and elsewhere, and while the government has been "generous", promising to pay vendors "compensation equal to at least 50% of the market price of the poultry slaughtered", the result is a complete collapse in all chicken-related sales.
Protecting Yourself From Japanese Insanity
Submitted by Asia Confidential on 04/06/2013 11:00 -0500There's never been coordinated global money printing of the scale of today. It will end badly and investors need to prepare accordingly.







