Archive - Feb 2014

February 27th

williambanzai7's picture

SPiDeR YeLLeN...





A currency debasing spider...

 

Tyler Durden's picture

John Kerry: "The US Is Beginning To Act Like A Poor Nation"





The following remarks by John Kerry, borne out of his humiliation over the complete fiasco that was the US intervention in Syria last year and the even greater fiasco that was this year's attempt to get all feuding parties on the table in Geneva, only to see that outcome obliterated as well, appear to be borne out of his disgust at the defunding of the US defense budget, which for Kerry, more than his gross incompetence, is the reason why the US now finds itself in a "new isolationism" leading him to conclude that the US is "beginning to act like a poor nation." One wonders what tipped him off: the fact that the US debt just hit a record high $17,419,220,117,766.69 or that the biggest monetizers of US deficit spending are the Fed, China and just as insolvent Japan?

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Meanwhile, More Russian Military Vehicles Amass In The Crimean





While the IMF is promising a massive bailout to the Ukraine, and NATO is using the harshest language it can possibly muster to halt Russia in its tracks, Putin is doing what he does best: employing brute force (as seen below), and using even harsher language, to wit: RUSSIA: WEST MUST STOP MAKING PROVOCATIVE STATEMENTS ON UKRAINE.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Yellen Testifies Before The Senate: Live Stream





Two weeks ago, Janet Yellen's testimony to the Senate, following her remarks to the House, were delayed due to inclement weather. Now that it is no longer snowing, she is back behind the mic at the Senate Banking Committee, where she will deliver the same identical prepared remarks as she did last time, but obviously with a different Q&A. Watch it live here.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

NATO Calls Ukraine Developments "Dangerous And Irresponsible", Urges Russia Not To "Escalate Tension"





Russian tat. And now, NATO tit.

  • NATO CHIEF SAYS ACTIONS BY ARMED GROUP IN CRIMEA "DANGEROUS AND IRRESPONSIBLE"
  • NATO URGES RUSSIA NOT TO DO ANYTHING THAT WOULD "ESCALATE TENSION OR CREATE MISUNDERSTANDING"

And the lie of the day:

  • U.S., NATO HAVE NOT DRAWN UP ANY CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR HOW THEY WOULD RESPOND IF RUSSIA INTERVENED IN CRIMEA-NATO'S TOP MILITARY COMMANDER
  • THERE IS NO REASON FOR NATO AND RUSSIA TO COMPETE OVER THE FUTURE OF UKRAINE-NATO COMMANDER

Actually, there is, which is precisely why Putin will smile when reading the latest NATO pleadings.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Spot The Adjustment To The Seasonal Adjustment





See if you can spot the Durable Goods ex Transports seasonal adjustment outlier.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Another Recessionary Print: Core CapEx Posts First Annual Decline Since 2012





For now the only number that matters is the capital goods orders nondefense aircraft, aka core capex. It is here that while the sequential print was a modest increase of of 1.7%, compared to expectations of a -0.2% decline, it is the annual number that is of interest. We focus on this, because as can be seen on the chart, the annual change just posted its first annual decline in a year: in the past any such decline would mark the start of a recession, except of course for in 2012 when the New Normal central planning, and the trillions in Fed liquidity injections, made the business cycle as we know it meaningless. So much for that $1+ trillion in QE: it is good to know that it went to stock buybacks and dividends... if not so much to actually investing in future growth.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Pro-Russian Gunmen Seize Ukraine Crimean Parliament; Russia Puts Jets On High Alert; Hryvnia In Record Plunge





All those clips we showed in the past few days of Russian forces amassing in the Crimean? Well, turns out they were all predictive of what has just happened in the Crimean region parliament at Simferopol, where around 120 pro-Russian Gunmen occupied the parliament building and raised the Russian flag. The scene was the site of Wednesday’s scuffles between Tatar groups and pro-Russian supporters. As Euronews reports, local Tatar leader Refat Chubarov posted that the buildings have been occupied by men in uniforms bearing “no recognisable insignia.” Kyiv says it would regard any movements by Russian military in Crimea outside Moscow’s Black Sea Base in Sevastopol as an act of aggression. Following the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych divisions in Ukraine have come to the fore. All this happens as Russian troops in the area are building up and at the same time as Russia put fighter jets on combat alert, according to Interfax.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Initial Weekly Claims Surge To Highest Of The Year





According to the meteorologists interpreting last week's initial claims report, it must have snowed a lot in the week ended February 22, because while no states had any numbers estimated, the initial claims for the past week jumped by 14K, to 348,000 - the highest weekly number in all of 2014, and the biggest miss of expectations of 335K in a month, with the prior week's print revised as usual higher by 2K to 336K. Curiously while the Oracles attribute the seasonally adjusted number to seasonal factors (the NSA print actually dropped from 321K to 311K), the DOL itself said there were no special factors in last week's claims figures. So someone is lying. What is not lying, is that as the chart below clearly shows, the weekly claims level is now back to levels last seen in July of 2013 and is continuing to deteriorate. A lot of snow must have fallen in the past 7 months to explain this.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Draghi's Monetary Nightmare Refuses To End As European Private Lending Remains Stuck At Record Low Levels





With just released inflation figures out of Germany coming weaker than expected, Mario Draghi's monetary nightmare - how to spur credit creation in Europe to the private sector - just got even worse. Incidentally the topic of Draghi's "Monetary Nightmare" is well-known to regular readers and has been covered here extensively in the past, most recently here. So while we await to see how the ongoing deflation in Europe, soon hitting its core too, spreads through the system, the most recent data out of Europe is that lending to non-financial corporations declined once again in January, this time by €11.7billion, adjusted for securitizations and sales. On an annual basis, the decline in January was -2.0%, the same as December, and worse than the -1.8% in November as reported by the ECB.

 

GoldCore's picture

Ukrainian Currency Collapses - Down 28% In 4 Days Against Gold





The political and economic crisis in Ukraine has led to a currency crisis. The Ukrainian hryvnia has fallen by 50.14% against gold in 2014 and by 28% in the last four days alone. Ukrainians who own gold have protected their savings - again showing gold’s safe haven properties.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Frontrunning: February 27





  • European Bonds Surge on Slowing German Inflation, Ukraine Tumult  (BBG)
  • Ukraine tensions hit shares (Reuters)
  • Debating Geithner’s Appearances in 2008 Transcripts  (Hilsenrath)
  • Tensions in Asia Stoke Rising Nationalism in Japan (WSJ)
  • GM Investigated Over Ignition Recall Linked to 13 Deaths (BBG)
  • Smartphone wars shift from gadgetry to price (Reuters)
  • Some Companies Alter the Bonus Playbook (WSJ)
  • London’s Subterranean Luxury Manors Lure New Breed of Lenders (BBG)
  • Japan No Country for Old Farmers as 7-Eleven Takes Plow (BBG)
  • Dream of U.S. Oil Independence Slams Against Shale Costs (BBG)
 

Tyler Durden's picture

Futures Sell Off As Ukraine Situation Re-Escalates





Three unlucky attempts in a row to retake the S&P 500 all time high may have been all we get, at least for now, because the fourth one is shaping up to be rather problematic following events out of the Crimean in the past three hours where the Ukraine situation has gone from bad to worse, and have dragged the all important risk indicator, the USDJPY, below 102.000 once again. As a result, global stock futures have fallen from the European open this morning, with the DAX future well below 9600 to mark levels not seen since last Thursday. Escalated tensions in the Ukraine have raised concerns of the spillover effects to Western Europe and Russia, as a Russian flag is lifted by occupying gunmen in the Crimean (Southern Ukrainian peninsula) parliament, prompting an emergency session of Crimean lawmakers to discuss the fate of the region. This, allied with reports of the mobilisation of Russian jets on the Western border has weighed on risk sentiment, sending the German 10yr yield to July 2013 lows.

 

Gold Standard Institute's picture

The National Debt Cannot Be Paid Off





Government spending is out of control. But even if voters and politicians wanted to stop, they couldn't. The root of the problem is a flaw in the nature of the dollar.

 
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