Archive - Nov 5, 2014

"... the admissions of financial danger by internationalists, the sharp drop in stocks at the beginning of fall, the reversal of the political theater, and the fact that mainstream investors now recognize the illegitimacy of the markets yet continue with the scam anyway, signals the last gasp of the global economy. I expect increasing market instability from this point on, as well as numerous geopolitical distractions which will be blamed for the fiscal chaos. Needless to say, the coming storm is a deliberately engineered one, meant to achieve very specific goals, including a fearful and panicked populace, easy to manipulate as the system goes off the rails for the last time."

Shit just got real. The Bank of Japan said it will buy 100% of new bond issuance.

It would appear the blood-red pen of veto will be running dry by the time the President's term is up based on Mitch McConnell and John Boehner's WSJ op-ed explaining "now we can get Congress going." As they begin, "Americans have entrusted Republicans with control of both the House and Senate. We are humbled by this opportunity to help struggling middle-class Americans who are clearly frustrated..."

Thanks to improving life expectancy and the Federal Reserve's financial repression lowering yields, US company pension funds have been hit by a double whammy. As Moody's warns, companies will have to find $110 billion in the next seven years to fund pension liabilities shortfalls. Moody's adds, "given these increasing liabilities and cash drains, we expect to see an acceleration in lump sum offers," as firms try to derisk.  Of course, if the pension funds just followed Japan's lead and went all-in on stocks, there would be no problem, right?

No money-back guarantee? Seems 'unfair'!

Economic data from China have generally been on the weak side of late, but not catastrophically so. And yet, apart from growing weakness in aggregated data, we also see more and more anecdotal evidence that the economy is deteriorating.

Unbeknownst to many, America is gripped in a saline shortage that is "Potentially related to the flu season." A shortage, which according to the ISM is now in its 10th month. That must have been some flu season. Then again, counting back from October, the first month when there was a saline shortage was in January of this year, when incidentally there wasn't much if any major flu outbreak as most people were staying home and away from the infamous Polar Vortex. Yet one key event did take place just around January of 2014. The WHO reminds us what: "On 26 December 2013, a 2-year-old boy in the remote Guinean village of Meliandou fell ill with a mysterious illness characterized by fever, black stools, and vomiting." 

Japanese bond yields have crept slowly higher since the big flush on Monday and Nikkei 225 is 2.6% below its highs on Monday seemingly pinned at 17,000. We note this as Abe & Kuroda's currency collapses yet another big figure to 115.00 (up 7 handles in 7 days from pre-FOMC) - the highest in over 7 years. The crucial 120 line in the sand should be crossed early next week at this rate... What was the trigger for tonight's exuberance, we hear you ask, why the Japanese market opening - which sent USDJPY instantly up 40 pips.

We've written a lot about Japan lately as what happens today under the no longer rising sun is going to have such repercussions worldwide that it would be foolish not to pay attention. Moreover, there’s something about what Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said this morning that both perfectly and painfully illustrates to what depths, economically as well as morally, the country has sunk.

"...watching bonds persist in their long-term uptrend regardless of money printing, and watching gold prices languish with no understanding by investors that throughout history gold has always been considered the only real money in a world of monetary fakery, is concerning to say the least. Maybe history has stopped."

Speaking at Schwab's IMPACT conference in Denver this evening, Ben Bernanke may not have earned his $250,000 but did unleash some uncomfortable truthiness - not unlike his predecessor's comments last week. As CNBC reports, the ex-central bank chief warned all those front-runners out there - just as we have explained numerous times - The ECB faces significant political barriers to enacting a sovereign bond purchasing program (let alone a corporate bond buying binge).

It would appear the first big test for President Obama's 'veto' pen will be no lesser issue than the Keystone Pipeline. Reuters reports that Republicans will quickly introduce stand-alone legislation in the first quarter of 2015 that would approve the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from Canada, Republican Senator John Hoeven said in an interview. "It's really a good chance to see if the president's willing to work with us," Hoeven said, suggesting they would pressure Obama to act one way or another by attaching the bill to some must-pass legislation leaving Obama's only option but to fold or shut down the government. As Reince Priebus exclaimed, "he's going to be boxed in."

In recent days, there has been a global scramble to acquire silver bullion coins and bars after the price falls according to Reuters. Maple Leaf silver coins are difficult to acquire according to bullion dealers, with the  Royal Canadian Mint on allocation from September. There is a concern that supply times will increase and premiums are likely to jump according to Reuters. “A tumble in silver prices to four-year lows has triggered a global scramble by consumers to purchase silver coins and bars, as the spread between the price of the metal and gold reaches its widest in five years. Retailers and distributors in Asia and the United States said they were struggling to get supplies of items such as Canadian Maple Leaf silver coins. While demand for silver has been strong over the last few months, retailers say buying interest soared in recent days as the metal fell towards its lowest since 2010, along with gold.

Since Jim Bullard unleashed his "we're gonna need a bigger QE" speech as the Dow-Data-Dependent Federal Reserve saw a 1000-point drop as the trigger for moar intervention, the world has changed. In fact, the exuberance is so effusive that, according to AAII, the percentage of Bullish advisors surged by the most on record... and yet we keep being told how negative everyone is?

"It doesn't make me mopey"