Archive - Jul 2013

Maybe its a moment of Raghuram Rajan-like clarity facing his supposed bosses - or maybe its a need to discipline the ever-present fiscal profligacy but, it seems something happens that on average gives stocks (and other risk-on related asset classes) a seasonal affected disorder following the Humphrey-Hawkins Testimony.

• Bernanke Seeks to Divorce QE Tapering From Interest Rates (BBG)
• China launches crackdown on pharmaceutical sector (Reuters)
• Barclays, Traders Fined $487.9 Million by U.S. Regulator (BBG) - or a few days profit
• Barclays to fight $453 million power fine in U.S. court (Reuters)
• When an IPO fails, raise money privately: Ally Said to Weigh Raising $1 Billion to Pass Fed Stress Tests (BBG)
• Bank of England signals retreat from quantitative easing (FT) ... Let's refresh on this headline in 6 months, shall we.
• Russia's Putin puts U.S. ties above Snowden (Reuters)
• Smartphone Upgrades Slow as 'Wow' Factor Fades (WSJ)
• Snowden could leave Moscow airport in next few days (FT)
• New Egypt government may promote welfare, not economic reform (Reuters)

Moments ago Bank of America was the last TBTF bank to report earnings, which came in at $4 billion or $0.32 per diluted share compared to expectations of a $0.26 print. Revenue was $22.9 billion net of interest expense which was just a fraction above the $22.7 billion expected. The immediate reason for the beat: the usual accounting fudge to net interest losses which came in at $1.2 thanks to yet another $900 Million (well above the $804MM in Q1 and the same as Q4 2012) loan loss reserve reduction to the total net charge off number of $2.1 billion. And with $21.2 billion in credit loss "buffer" allowance still left on the books from those torrid days of 2008, expect the accounting fudges to continue for a long time.

Bernanke today testifies on monetary policy before the House Financial Services Committee (formerly the Humphrey-Hawkins). The testimony will be released at 8:30 am NY with Q&A after his testimony. Tomorrow he testifies before the Senate Banking Committee but the prepared remarks are the same for both days. Indeed it’s likely that the Q&A will be where all the fun starts. As DB says, he will likely try to pull off the trick of continuing to prepare the groundwork for tapering but try to give bond markets something to help them fight off the pressure of higher yields. With no post-meeting press conference planned for the July 30th/31st FOMC, and Bernanke not scheduled to speak publicly until he appears at the Global Education Forum event on August 7th, this week’s testimony may well be the only remarks we hear directly from the chairman for some weeks.

What happens if the central bank pushes the rate of interest below the marginal time preference? A destructive dynamic is set in motion...

If the Government Is Going to Spy … Why Doesn’t It Do Something USEFUL?

This is your economic pilot...

As we have exhaustively noted, given the various macro factors bringing influence to bear on the yellow metal, the bizarre price action of the last six months has run counter to most logical assumptions and has been a source of great frustration to many - including Grant Williams. Cyprus should have been a hugely positive tailwind for gold. But it wasn't. The ongoing money printing should have provided support for gold. But it hasn't. The talk of tapering should have had a minor but noticeable effect on gold, given its healthy recent correction. But it didn't. Sustained data suggesting a voracious appetite for the physical metal not only in Asia but in Western countries, too, should have led to a bounce on the COMEX. But it hasn't. The whole thing is as baffling as Kim Kardashian's fame. When the need to own gold jumps again - and it will; this is a long way from over - all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle of the weird and wonderful forest of gold manipulation that we have dropped onto the table will slot neatly into place. What if, when that happens, there just isn't enough gold to go around?

But Phil's shorting oil - betting against a crime scene. 

“There is no cure for high prices, like high prices.” This is why the Middle East can never truly have a prolonged supply shortage. They will price their customers out of the market!

Larry Summers has been failing up since he entered the public sphere. The reults have been catastrophic for many main street Americans.

Sunday's 'golidlocks' data dump from China was enough for many to herald the turn is in and it's all plain-sailing from here, but the reality is a little different (as always). As Bloomberg's Michael McDonough notes, there is little upside for the yuan given China's slowing economy and a strengthening US Dollar. The gloomier outlook may also weigh on domestic equity markets. The Shanghai Composite Index has underperformed global peers in the past year. The pace of expansion may fall below the government’s goal of 7.5 percent and that may prompt a rate cut and/or an accelerated pace of infrastructure project approvals. Policy makers need to prove they remain in control, meaning GDP growth must finish the year at or above the target (even if it means inflation and social unrest), but for now, the following four charts suggest all is not well with the 'soft-landing'...

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver his final semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress tomorrow (July 17), followed by questions from lawmakers. Goldman expects him to strike a similar tone to his comments at last week's NBER conference - "moar of the same." The prepared testimony (released unprecedentedly early at 0830ET) is likely to be uneventful, but here are the five key questions which he would probably cover mostly during the more interesting Q&A part of the testimony.

"Perhaps the success that central bankers had in preventing the collapse of the financial system after the crisis secured them the public's trust to go further into the deeper waters of quantitative easing. Could success at rescuing the banks have also mislead some central bankers into thinking they had the Midas touch? So a combination of public confidence, tinged with central-banker hubris could explain the foray into quantitative easing. Yet this too seems only a partial explanation. For few amongst the lay public were happy that the bankers were rescued, and many on Main Street did not understand why the financial system had to be saved when their own employers were laying off workers or closing down." - Raghuram Rajan