Archive - Aug 2014

In the first seven months of 2014, Goldman notes that equity, fixed income, and FX markets were most intently focused on the labor market with a number of the largest moves occurring due to employment reports and jobless claims. The equity market responded to a mix of economic, monetary policy, and geopolitical news. The fixed income market focused on employment reports, although other factors also resulted in large one-day moves. The dollar, although less volatile than usual, did move on both US economic developments and news out of Europe.

The last time the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) crossed the Bosphorus was three weeks ago to depart the Black Sea, following the end of the Bulgaria-led NATO exercise Breeze 2014. Back then, the departure of the cruiser left no American ship in the Black Sea but the numbers of NATO ships have been on the rise since March. Ahead of Vella Gulf’s departure, there were nine NATO ships in the Black Sea on July 9, according to Russian state news service RIA Novosti. So following a rest in the Mediterranean and as a result of the most recent deterioration in second Cold War, the USS Vella Gulf has re-entered the Black Sea, the ship's third trip to the Black Sea. The reason: "to promote peace and stability in the region."

Stocks dumped (EU weakness)-and-pumped today with the majors ending marginally higher (except the Trannies down 7 of last 9 days). The Dow Transports are down over 6% from record highs - the worst slide since Feb 2014. The Russell is down over 7.5% from its peak (and the rest of the majors are playing catch-down from that turning point). The S&P bounced perfectly off its 100-day moving-average. Gold and silver jumped notably higher (gold +1% on the week) after more invasion headlines early on. Oil slipped. Treasury yields mimicked stocks, falling early to 13 month low yields and rising (selling TSYs) after Europe closed to end modestly lower ion yields on the day. The headlines though were focused on the plunge in the US Dollar (driven by a surge of JPY buying around lunchtime). Credit markets tracked stocks moestly but we note one pulled high-yield deal today (unusual). When AUDJPY quit on stocks, VIX took over, rammed back under 15.8 to ignite stocks but pushed higher after Europe closed.

Presented with no comment...

The official Ebola death toll is now at 932 with over 1,700 reported cases but as the WHO reports, in the last 48 hours, deaths and cases have exploded (48 and 108 respectively). As the charts below show, this epidemic is going exponential. What is perhaps most worrisome is, while playing down the threat in Nigeria (most especially Lagos - which the CDC Director is "deeply concerned" about), officials have formally asked the US for the experimental Ebola drug, which suggest things are far worse than the 3 deaths reported so far in Nigeria would suggest. Finally, as we warned yesterday, Saudi Arabia is suffering too as the main who was hospitalized yesterday with symptoms has died - the first reported casualty in the Arab world.

Presented with little comment aside to ask... is it different this time?

The average jobseeker is hoping to nail down a corporate or government position, for the usual reasons: security, pay and benefits. But there aren't enough secure, high-paying corporate/government jobs for everyone who wants one. Low-wage serfdom is not the only alternative to a shiny Corporate America/government bureaucracy job. To understand the alternatives, we have to understand the economy we have, not the one we wish we had or the one we might have in the future.

While bonds and stocks shrug off the volatility in FX markets, it appears the crude oil complex is suffering. Despite Putin's discussion of "countermeasures", crude oil prices have tumbled back under $97 to fresh 6-month lows. Brent Crude is notably not selling off (yet) as the spread pushed back above $8.

While Jack lew promised the economic impact on the US economy of Russian sanctions would be minimal, the facts suggest the opposite. Admittedly, Russia is not the US' largest trade partner but escalating sanctions have resulted in a 34% collapse in US exports to Russia - the largest absolute drop since 2010. Imports (from Russia) also fell (for the 3rd month in a row) but while the US is suffering 'costs' it is clear Russia is hurting more (for now - as Putin is set to unleash his countermeasures). Since sanctions began Russian stocks are up 9.5% and the S&P up 4.5% but the spread has collapsed in recent weeks.

Japan’s QE was large enough that no one, not even the most stark raving mad Keynesian on the planet, could argue that it wasn’t big enough. Which is why the results are extremely disconcerting for Central Bankers at large.

The fundamentalist retro-gang that has conquered Northern Iraq has decided it needs to go Taliban on cultural monuments it disapproves of. In short, the group is not only killing people that don't conform to its harsh version of Islam, it is also trying to erase all traces of their history and culture - "The demolition of structures erected above graves is a matter of great religious clarity." It is quite ironic that Saudi Arabia, allegedly one of the main financial backers of ISIS, is finally getting worried a bit in light of all these events. Luckily, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Not only do the Saudis believe that “ISIS will run out of steam” just before it gets to Mecca (see above), but more importantly, “the US State Department also issued a statement that it was “actively monitoring” the Iraqi situation” (apparently it neglected to “actively monitor” the Lebanese situation though). What could possibly go wrong?

Just in case the legacy of Abenomics wasn't clear enough (it should have been after we reported that its legacy is "Japan's Greatest "Misery" In 33 Years"), here is another confirmation that in the New Normal, only bad things happen when you forget to BTFD.

No headlines on the tape for now but suddenly the world wants out of Dollars... (world's FX traders searching for Sikorski and Putin's "sell" button)... It appears led by major JPY buying as someone just puked a huge carry trade (25,000 JPY futures contracts or around $3 billion notional).

Are you prepared?

A few years ago, the definition of "strong banking" was Switzerland; now, not so much. But eager to restore some of its former banking luster, Switzerland has taken note of this and is rapidly positioning itself to become a major center of European RMB trade. Continuing to believe that the dollar is going to maintain its global reserve status is now not only foolish, but financially hazardous. To countries, businesses and individuals. Those who ignore the trend do so at their own peril.