Archive - Oct 10, 2014

The Swiss National Bank has lashed out at the so-called "gold initiative" efforts to "Save Our Swiss Gold" unsurprisingly proclaiming it as a bad idea. As Ron Paul previously noted, "The gold referendum, if it is successful, will be a slap in the face to those elites," and so the full-court press ahead of the Nov 30th vote has begun (a la Scotland fearmongery) as SNB Vice Chairman Jean-Pierre Danthine explains how a 'yes' vote for the initiative "would severely constrain the SNB’s room for manoeuvre in a future crisis," as it "poses danger to the conduct of a successful monetary policy." His reasoning (below) is stunning...

"We reduced our derivatives position even further, selling just-barely-out-of-the-money calls against our newly established aluminium position. Hence one half hour into the market we were marginally net long… and then panic hit! We will likely take no further action in our own account today, for we are now, as noted above, marginally net short…  and we do indeed mean  marginally…" - Dennis Gartman

The best performer among the top-five US banks is U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and by a wide margin... 

Whether this trend will hold or reverse is unknown, but it does suggest that there are advantages to being the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry.

This week has seen some market volatility (see VIX Chart) reminiscent of the functioning market from days of old. The markets are spooked, bad news is overtaking good news and bearish views are becoming vogue. We are seeing a titanic battle taking place between the various bull and bear camps and they are starting to unleash some serious firepower. 

A year after the Fed injected $1 trillion into the stock market, the US economy was supposed to show stable, benign inflation north of 2%, validating stable, benign "growth" and pushing yields well into the mid-3% range. It failed to do that, stumping many a Keynesian hack who can't explain how it is possible that inflation (at least the variety measured by the BLS, not the real type, like food, energy, tuition costs, and healthcare which is considered largely irrelevant) has so far failed to spring up. For all those hacks, here is the answer in one simple chart.

Two months ago, US and European equity markets exploded higher after RIA tweeted that Russia sought a de-escalation in Ukraine. Today, after an ugly week of higher volatility and even higher anxiety, RIA is at it again, tweeting the following - Kiev agrees to withdraw troops from several Eastern Ukraine cities – DPR leader Zakharchenko - and stocks have started to ramp...

In another well-funded research study, the New York Fed has, via its Liberty Street Economics blog, unveiled its explanation for why volatility is low (obviously missing the Kevin Henry-Citadel dark-pool VIX-slamming machinations that are so evident on an almost daily basis). Their findings are a little awkward for The Fed... the current volatility environment appears substantially different from what happened prior to the financial crisis. However, the Fed's conclusion, as Helen Thomas notes, is worrisome - low interest rates tend to mute volatility (something we already knew) - but if that is the case (from their findings) then implicitly: If low volatility is caused by low rates which in turn cause low volatility, what happens when rates go up?

AAL, ABB, ABX, ACI, ADI, AES, AG, AGCO, AIG, ALGT, ALK, ALU, AMID, ANR, ANV, ANV, AON, APA, APC, ARMH, ARP, ATEN, ATH CN, ATVI, AUY, AVP, BBEP, BHI, BHP, BMS, BTE, BTE CN, CAJ, CAM, CAT, CCE, CFX, CHK, CLF, CLR, CMC, CMRE, CNQ, CNQ CN, CNW, CNX, COG, COP, COS CN, COSWF, CPG, CPG CN, CR, CTCM,  CVE, CVE CN, CVX, CX, CXO, CYOU, DAL, DDS, DE, DOV, DRQ, DVN, EC, ECA, EMES, EOG, EPE, ERF, ERF CN, ESL, ESV, EVEP, F, FLR, FLS, FM CN, FMC, FR CN, FST, FTI, FWM, GG, GM, GOLD, GSK, GSS, GT, GWR, HAL, HAYN, HBM, HCLP, HES, HP, HSE CN, HSIC, HUN, IAG, IGM CN , IMG CN, INT, ITT, JCP, KEX, KGC, LGCY, LIF, LLTC, LOPE, LPI, LPX, LRE, MAN, MCEP, MDCO, MG, MGA, MMLP, MON, MT, NBR, NE, NEM, NGD, NGD CN, NLSN, NOV, NWSA, OAS, OXY, PAAS, PBCT, PCLN, PD CN, PGF CN, PGH, PPG, PTEN, PWE, PXD, QRE, RDS/A, ROK, ROSE, RPM, RPT, RTI, SAP, SAVE, SCCO, SCHN, SDRL, SLB, SLCA, SLW, SSW, STO, SU, SU CN, TAL, TCK, TCK/B CN, TCS, TEN, TGI, TLM CN, TLP, TMK, TOO, TXT, UBS, UNM, URI, UTX, VET, VET CN, VIP, VNO, VNR, VSH, WDR, WFT, WLK, WLL, WLT, WMMVY and ZNGA.

• It wasn't Obama this time: Pakistani teen, Indian activist win Nobel Peace Prize (Reuters)
• Surging VIX Shakes Bulls as S&P 500 Charts Go Haywire (BBG)
• Global shares hit six-month low as growth worries mount (Reuters)
• Police, protesters clash in St. Louis ahead of weekend of rallies (Reuters)
• We're Sitting on 10 Billion Barrels of Oil! OK, Two (BBG)
• Spain seeks answers as seven more enter Ebola isolation (Reuters)
• Iran will sell its oil to Asia in November at the biggest discount (BBG)
• Redefining honeypot: U.S. DEA 'most interested' in U.S. investors in Canadian marijuana firms (Reuters)
• UKIP Wins First Commons District With Conservative Defector (BBG)
• Fake Ebola Patients Help Hospitals Prepare for Next Case (BBG)

And just like that. everything is crashing. Whether it is Asia, Europe, or even US futures, an entire generation of traders are waking up to something few have seen in the past 6 years: a very rare sea of red only this time with the main difference that the perpetual backstop of all risk, the Fed and/or "Edward Quince", may not be there to halt the collapse.

Thesis:  Oil supply is where the pressure is coming from and the China-Russian oil deal has not undermined the dollar, but OPEC.