Archive - May 12, 2014

• Hillary and Me: The 2008 campaign was a nightmare. Will 2016 be as bad?  (Politico)
• What Timothy Geithner Really Thinks (NYT)
• Rebels declare victory in east Ukraine self-rule vote (Reuters)
• Race for AIG's Top Job Has Two Favorites (WSJ)
• America on the Move Becomes Stay-at-Home Nation for Millennials (BBG)
• Old, Fired at IBM: Trendsetter Offers Workers Arbitration (BBG)
• Bad luck Jonathan: Pressure Mounts on Nigerian President (WSJ)
• Iran leader slams West's 'stupid' missile stance before talks (Reuters)
• Conchita Wurst of Austria Wins Eurovision Song Contest (WSJ)
• Greek Finance Ministry expects Q1 GDP contraction of less than 1.5 pct (Kathimerini)

East Ukraine may be independent in a result which the Kremlin said it "respects" and hopes for a "civilized implementation" of the referendum results, and which assures further military escalation in the proxy war of east versus west, but stocks are happy to ignore it all again.  The reason: a positive close over in Asia (ex-Japan) after China’s State Council pledged to reform markets buoyed demand for risk, although it really is just a follow through to the furious VIX slam in the last hour of US Friday trading, which said otherwise, means buying of US equities was the reason to buy US equities. More importantly and adding to the early spoo euphoria were comments by ECB's Nowotny who said that interest rate cut alone would likely be too little to combat low inflation - suggesting a European QE is coming - also acted as a catalyst for the latest uptick in stocks: when trapped like the ECB and when "guiding" to future activity, if unable to actually execute it, may as well go all the way. End result, Spoos up nearly 0.5% because, well, others are buying spoos.

After a job well done by a public servant, and by a job well done we of course mean facilitating the transfer of middle class, taxpayer wealth to private bank accounts, it is customary to reward them with a comfortable job in the same bank as repayment. This is also known as the revolving-door phenomenon and is the norm in US "regulation" (the epitome of career development by any SEC employee or US Treasury Secretary is to be hired by a Too Big To Fail Bank or private equity firm) and generally, politics. But not only US. Bloomberg reports that it is just as prevalent in Europe:

• Vittorio Grilli joins JPMorgan as chairman of corporate and investment bank in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
• Grilli will report to Daniel Pinto
• JPMorgan announces Grilli hire in memo to staff, obtained by Bloomberg News

Because when the time comes to bailout the likes of JPMorgan, again, it will certainly help to have connected former "public servants" like Grilli on board of course. Rinse. Repeat.

... To the astonishment of almost everyone in the room, Angela Merkel began to cry.  “Das ist nicht fair.” That is not fair, the German chancellor said angrily, tears welling in her eyes. “Ich bringe mich nicht selbst um.” I am not going to commit suicide. For those who witnessed the breakdown in a small conference room in the French seaside resort of Cannes, it was shocking enough to watch Europe’s most powerful and emotionally controlled leader brought to tears....