Archive - Aug 2014

An earthquake of 6.0 magnitude, the largest in the region for 25 years, shook the San Francisco Bay Area early on Sunday, waking residents and causing some power outages and minor damage, according to initial reports.

"Their various reconnaissance aircraft have been wandering around foreign airspace for decades and watching the military secrets of other countries like a disgusting thief spying over his neighbor’s fence. However, when the neighbor comes back with a big stick, the thief will turn tail and run away, blaming the neighbor. When you show people weakness, they will bully you. When you show people strength, they will respect you. We believe the Chinese Air Force and Naval aviation should maintain a high level of vigilence and morale in southeast coastal region to prevent the further US action. America has lost face and does not want to show the world they are sick. They have been lording over other countries for so long, and they will never let it go after they eat this loss."

Unthinkable...

Welome to the the new and improved Age of Terror...

The econ data this week signal the US Economy is in a bull market (not the same as the Fed -roided stock and commodity markets), now let`s hope we can keep inflation from spoiling the party! 

When we last met Sergei Glazyev, Vladimir Putin's chief 'integration' adviser (who has been regularly featured on these pages in the past (see Putin Adviser Threatens With Dumping US Treasurys, Abandoning Dollar If US Proceeds With Sanctions and Putin Adviser Proposes "Anti-Dollar Alliance" To Halt US Aggression Abroad for two examples) he explained "how the U.S. military and oligarchs are trying to maintain leadership in the global competition with China." Arguably the best informed main in Russia, his perspective seems important to grasp as he considers "The world today is going through a year of overlapping cyclical crises. This is a period when the global economy is changing as the structure that has driven economic growth for 30 years has exhausted itself. The world needs to transition to a new system and transition has always come about through war..."

Another day, another brilliant scheme from the think-tank that is the G-20: prevent systemic collapse from TBTF banks loaded up with record amounts of debt by forcing them to... issue more debt.

Just what Europe needs... more QE... this is the real problem - not only is demand for credit weak in the periphery as the balance sheet recession rolls on, but "real" borrowing costs are at near-record highs... Despite Draghi's earlier comments and promises, cramming SME loans down the throats of borrowers at suppressed risks will do nothing but kill bank balance sheets (most critically the ECB's)...

And Should We Just Kill Them All - as an American News Commentator Suggests - and Let God Sort 'Em Out?

Michael Franzese, a former mob boss for the Colombo crime family in New York (and GoodFellas character), told CNBC, "there's a bubble there that's going to burst at some point and when it does it's not going to be good," but there is another reason he says investors should avoid the U.S. stock market - "I did a lot of things at times with people on Wall Street.. a lot of guys are shady and they did shady things with me and I don't trust them. And I don't like other people that I don't know really well taking care of my money." As we noted earlier, his advice is to hold gold (in Physical bullion bars not ETFs), because "there will always be something there," unlike stocks "where in our country, you go to sleep, everyone tells you everything is wonderful, you wake up and everything is gone."

Amid both domestic and world crises, which accounted for just 3 Press Statements during President Obama's 15-day vacation to Martha's Vineyard, he found time for other things...

Events, food purchased away from home and live entertainment are increasingly unaffordable to the bottom 90%.

A year ago, when chatter began about China lifting its one-child policy, we explained the implications (and warned of excess exuberance). As Bloomberg reports, it appears China's anticipated baby boom is more of a bust. Nine months after stock-market wagers on a baby boom in China reached record levels, the bets have turned into some of the nation’s biggest losers as living costs deter couples from having more than one child - less than 3% of the 11 million Chinese couples eligible for another child applied for permission by the end of May, jeopardizing government efforts to bolster a population that the United Nations predicts will start shrinking by 2030.

A "Yes" vote for Scottish independence represents a "high risk" event according to Citi's Michael Saunders. With the so-called 'neverendum' now less than a month away, Citi continues to highlight three particular concerns if Scotland does vote for independence: Scotland’s relatively weak fiscal position, Scotland’s large banking system and uncertainties over the currency arrangements of an independent Scotland. The Scottish Government seems to be seeking a policy of "sterlingisation" - which even their economic advisors judge "is not likely to be a long-term solution." For now a "no" vote is most likely, however, even if the Scottish referendum does not pass, the UK political landscape is likely to remain in a state of flux.

The first half of the year has been relatively quiet for the markets, but the coming months might bring more turbulence...