Archive - Oct 2014

Presented with no comment...

JPMorgan Chase has issued a statement confirming that a cyber-attack against the bank's Chase.com and JPMorganOnline.com websites on October 2nd breaches customer data:

*JPMORGAN: COMPROMISED DATA IMPACTS ABOUT 76M HOUSEHOLDS, 7M SMALL BUSINESSES
*JPMORGAN HASN'T SEEN UNUSUAL CUSTOMER FRAUD RELATED TO INCIDENT

The bank noted it is cooperating with government agencies on their investigations.

An ugly and very heavy volume flush into the European close was followed by the kind of miraculous v-shaped low volume recovery traders have become used to in US equity markets. Having broken below several key technical levels, high beta Russell and Trannies soared (fortgetful it seems that Europe will once again open for business in about 8 hours) to close comfortably in the green on the day. VIX was rammed lower (under 16) to support the exuberance along with EURJPY and AUDJPY. The USDollar faded to close unchanged on the week. Gold flatlined while silver slipped. Oil collapsed early on only to v-shape recover to close modestly higher on the day. Treasury yields bounced 3-5bps higher (after yesterday's huge plunge) but remain 7-10bps down on the week. By the close, The Russell 2000 had its best day in 6 weeks and the S&P's buying-panic scramble to perfectly unchanged - miraculously avoiding the 4-day losing streak not seen since Sept 2013.

It remains a very good time to diversify with the price of gold near multi year lows and under valued & stocks, bonds & property looking very toppy. It is very reminiscent of 2005-2007 period. Fail to diversify, prepare to fail ...

Health experts all over the United States are promising us that we do not need to be worried about Ebola whatsoever.  Even though one case has already been confirmed in Dallas, Texas and another potential case is being monitored, health authorities assure us that we have the greatest health system in the history of the planet and that we will be able to handle any isolated cases very easily.  And all over the mainstream media on Wednesday, there were headlines declaring that the arrival of Ebola in America is a non-event. So are they right?  Should the rest of us just kick back and relax because a bunch of really smart guys are assuring us that our health system can easily deal with anything that Ebola can throw at us?  The following are 10 quotes from prominent experts promising us that Ebola will not be a problem in this country...

First Dallas, now Utah. Moments ago Fox13 reported that Health officials confirmed they are investigating a possible case of Ebola at Primary Children’s Hospital. "Primary Children’s said it is unlikely the patient has Ebola however officials are taking this opportunity to use the emergency plan they have been working on to provide maximum protection to staff, patients, families and the greater community. Officials said they admitted a patient who has symptoms raising concerns about Ebola."

With over $16 trillion in market capitalization represented, the NYSE Composite Index is the world's largest.. and today it took out its 200-day moving-average for the first time since late 2012. That time it was a false breakdown as soon after Bernanke rescued the world's wealthy by unveiling open-ended QE... this time that's not going to happen...

Stop trying to predict what exactly the Black Swans will be (not likely), when a Black Swan will arrive at our doorstep (less likely), and start trying to be more antifragile

This should be good... "economic fairness" is the defining challenge of our time.

“I completely stand behind the integrity and work of our supervision staff,” he said after a speech today in New York. “They are operating completely in the public interest.” Dudley said there has been a “significant reorganization” following a report commissioned by the regional Fed bank, and that “improving supervision has been and remains an ongoing priority for me.” “I don’t think anyone should question our motives and what we are trying to accomplish,” Dudley said today in defense of his institution. “Examiner independence is completely paramount.”

The way to preserve great wealth is to buy political protection of that wealth. The way to protect great political leverage is to grease the machinery of governance with cash.

The Argentina MERVAL stock index is down 16.5% since yesterday's news of the resignation of the last voice of reason among Argentina's policy-makers. As we noted previously, "this is not a good sign" and indicates a worrying escalation in the chances of hyperinflation.. This is the MERVAL's worst 2-day drop in 6 years. What some money-printing gives, too much money-printing takes away...

As we explained previously, the end-of-quarter catastrophe in reverse-repo window-dressing malarkey between The Fed and The Banks (that own it) shows the Fed simply has no idea (once again) how financial markets really work in the modern era. As Alhambra Partners Jeffrey Snider explains, “We don’t exactly know how it will work” should be stamped upon every message coming from the policymaking apparatus from this point forward, and then retroactively applied to every message in the age of risk and rate repression. Action in short-term money markets has heated up yet again, and that is not a positive statement toward vital function.