Archive - May 7, 2014

• Alibaba files for what may be biggest tech IPO (Reuters)
• Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank (BBG)
• Developers Turn Former Office Buildings Into High-End Apartments (WSJ)
• Thai court orders Yingluck Shinawatra to step down as PM (Guardian)
• German industry orders fell 2.8% in March, the biggest drop in one and a half years (RTE)
• Ukraine Bulls Scatter as Death Toll Mounts (BBG)
• China Property Slump Adds Danger to Local Finances (BBG)
• Stein Says Fed May See Bouts of Volatility as It Approaches Exit (BBG)

Perhaps the most important "news" of the day is that it is non-Tuesday. Yes, there was actual news news, like German factory orders dropping -2.8% on expectations of a 0.3% increase, French industrial production down -0.7% on expectations of a 0.3% increase (both misses driven by a soaring Euro which is now spitting distance away from the 1.40 ECB "redline"), the Nikkei tumbling 2.9% to just above 14000, the Shanghai Composite down 0.9%, SocGen Q1 profit plunging 13% and conveniently blaming it on Russia, speaking of Russia things continue to deteriorate even though Interfax reported that the country has received the first part, some $3.2 billion, of the promised IMF bailout - money which will be used to promptly pay Gazprom... and buy gold, a sudden conflict between China and Vietnam escalating over the placement of an offshore oil rig and so forth, but in the new normal, none of this matters.

"I asked Bernanke questions, And the answers were frightening."--David Einhorn