Archive - Sep 2013

• BOE Leaves Policy Unchanged as Carney’s Guidance Assessed (BBG)
• Surprise or not, U.S. strikes can still hurt Assad (Reuters)
• Samsung Gear: A Smartwatch in Search of a Purpose (BusinessWeek)
• 'Jumbo' Mortgage Rates Fall Below Traditional Ones  (WSJ)
• Capital Unease Again Bites Deutsche Bank  (WSJ)
• Technical snafus confuse charges for Obamacare plans (Reuters)
• JPMorgan subject of obstruction probe in energy case (Reuters)
• U.S. Car Sales Soar to Pre-Slump Level (WSJ) - i.e., to just when the market crashed
• BoJ lifts assessment of Japan’s economic health (FT)
• Dead Dog in Reservoir Helps Drive Venezuelans to Bottled Water (BBG)
• Russia Boosts Mediterranean Force as U.S. Mulls Syria Strike (BBG)

What perhaps Minsky couldn’t conceive of was the point at which debt, deficits and interest rates would go to such extremes that the creation of credit itself, which was and remains the heart of capitalism, would be threatened. No longer might the seventh inning stretch lead to a Coke, some “Cracker Jacks” and the resumption of the old ballgame. Instead, zero-bound interest rates and debt/GDP ratios in a majority of capitalistic economies would begin to threaten, not heal, the nature of finance and investment in the real economy. Investors, leery of not only overleveraged investment banks such as Lehman Brothers, but overextended countries such as Greece, Cyprus and a host of Euroland lookalikes would derisk as opposed to rerisk as per the Minsky model. As well, with interest rates close to the zero bound, investors in intermediate and long term bonds would become dependent on Big Bank to do their bidding. When that QE buying power became jeopardized via tapering and the eventual ninth inning conclusion of asset purchases, then the process of maturity extension and the terming out of historically modeled corporate lending was prematurely threatened.

Just when the market thought it had priced in a new equilibrium without (or with - it is not quite clear) a Syria war, here comes Thursday with a data dump that will make one's head spin. Central bankers are once again on parade starting overnight, when the BOJ announced no change to its QE program and retaining its monetary base target of JPY270 trillion. The parade continues with both the BOE and ECB, the latter of which is expected to address the recent pick up in Eonia rates and take praise for the recent very much unsustainable "recovery" in the periphery even as Germany continues to slide lower (this morning's factory orders plunged 2.7% on exp. -1.0%), which in turn lead the Bund to pass above 2.0% for the first time since March 2011. Speaking of bonds blowing out, the US 10Y is now just 6 bps away from 3.00%, the widest since July 2011, and likely to breach the support level, taking out a boatload of stops and leading to the next big step spike in rates as the second selling scramble ensues. And just to keep every algo on its binary toes, today we also get a NFP preview with the ADP private payrolls at 8:15 am (Exp. 180K, down from 200K), Initial Claims (Exp. 330K), Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Costs (Exp. 1.60% and 0.9%), Factory Orders (Exp. -3.4%), Non-mfg ISM  (Exp. 55), Final Durable Goods, EIA Nat Gas and DOE Crude Inventories, oh and the G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg where Putin and Obama are not expected to share much pleasantries, and where John Kerry's swiftboat may not be allowed to dock.

Qatar has enough natural gas to make every citizen of the country wealthier than any other in the world. Sheikh Tamim bin Khaifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar is a new ambitious determined leader that plans to make Qatar a prominent country in the world.

Today we present the Target2-system and the fiscal bail-out facilities in our series on European efforts to bail out itself. For new readers, check out part 1 here http://bawerk.net/?p=123

UPDATE 2: And there go the precious metals... with their ubiquitous 'opening' slamdown...

UPDATE 1: US Treasuries are now rallying urgently back from the edge as European markets awake (and the EUR slammed)... what else would one expect on ECB/BoE day?

The exuberance of the US day-session has flopped into the evening and Asian stocks, buoyed by a plunging JPY and the carry-mob is on a charge once again. USDJPY just broke back over 100.00 for the first time since July 25th managing to lift the Nikkei almost 1000 points since Friday's close. Most Asian stocks are higher (India +2.6%) but FX is more varied with the Rupiah, Baht, and Ringgit lower still as the Rupee strengthens modestly (as forwards compress too). The USD is bid against the majors with EUR cracking lower. The tale of the night though is US Treasuries which have slammed higher in yield once again. The spread between 5Y Treasuries and 30Y has plunged over 30bps in the last month and now hovers just above 200bps - its lowest in 13 months. This bear-flattening (belly and short-end is underperforming notably overnight) has driven the market's implied 10Y rate for year-end over 3% for the first time since July 2011. The entire forward curve of the Treasury complex is repricing higher in rates as 'absolute' NIM expectations drop.

Over the past several decades, a tumorous growth has emerged from and taken over the Republican Party. This cancer is called a neoconservative, or colloquially just simply neocon. These folks are extremely insecure and hotheaded. It is best to avoid them in the wild whenever possible. Some signs that you may be in the presence of one are below...

Ahead of September, historically the worst month for stocks, Deutsche Bank notes that volatility has picked up and corporate bond issuance has slowed. There are several possible risks over the next few weeks that could trigger a further escalation in market volatility...

Next week Congress can do far more than stop a feckless Tomahawk barrage on a small country which is already a graveyard of civil war and sectarian slaughter. By voting “no” it can trigger the end of the American Imperium - five decades of incessant meddling, bullying and subversion around the globe which has added precious little to national security, but left America fiscally exhausted and morally diminished. By long standing historical demonstration, the US Congress specializes in paralysis, indecision and dysfunction. In the end, that is how the American warfare state will be finally brought to heel and why the American Imperium will come to an end - at last.

With interest rates rising and now clearly weighing on the housing recovery (and affordability, as we noted earlier), many look at the extreme jumps in auto sales being pumped out today and worry that higher rates will impact that credit-fueled orgasm of optimism. While house price appreciation and belief in its linear extrapolation seemed to have prompted an inordinate amount of fed-funded credit-based car sales in the last month, the fact is that rates won't 'directly' affect car-buyers, since as CNBC's Rick Santelli exclaims, auto-loan rates are massively high already with millions paying high double-digit rates and terms are now as long at 97 months!! Simply put, with incomes stagnating, should we see any marginal impact on ability-to-pay or credit-availability (which will be affected by higher rates weighing on funding abilities - see below), then as Santelli concludes, watch out for these little words... "Auto Sub-prime loans."

As we asked (rhetorically, of course) over 3 months ago, why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria?  Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria?  Of course.  Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia.  This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all...

As a proxy for economic activity, the addition of US exports and imports provides a useful indication of 2-way trade underlying growth in the US. Following the collapse in 2008/9, 2-way trade surged by over 30% YoY providing the impetus for the initial 'recovery' off the lows. That 'growth' has now dissipated and for almost 2 years, 2-way trade has gone nowhere. The last 3 times that this activity indicator was so poor, very significant systemic events occurred. Will 4th time be the charm?

Perhaps the reason behind America's moral, economic and social decay is, more than anything, the unprecedented apathy among the general population.

"I have met a number of politicians over the years, but lately it has dawned on me that very few of them are seriously prepared to stand up for their beliefs, if indeed they have any. ...

Ideologies and courage have been consigned to the past and, as I see it, Europe’s Achilles’ heel is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the de facto leader of the EU, and her lack of vision for the single-currency bloc. ... Her lack of vision stands as a striking contrast to the emotional feelings that dominated much of post-war European political thinking. ...

As I see it, the research is done. The verdict is out. We have to re-evaluate the EU."