Archive - Sep 11, 2014

Well that didn't take long. After espousing his strategy last night of leading a broad coalition against ISIS, it appears President Obama's "allies" are backing away from the plan. As The WSJ reports, Germany and the U.K. on Thursday ruled out carrying out air strikes on Islamic State militants in Syria. It appears the Europeans, realizing the ire that these actions will likely cause to Putin, are stepping back - "We haven't been asked, nor will we do it," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters and his U.K. counterpart Philip Hammond explicitly ruled out air strikes in Syria, after the U.K. parliament struck down such a move last year. So that leaves the French?

One quick look at the map of the UK shows the biggest impact a loss of Scotland would have on the Divided Kingdom (f/k/a UK) of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, should the "Yes" vote in the Scottish referendum garner a majority in one week.  But how else would a Scottish departure impact the UK? Here are the answers...

Plus: Exclusive Interview with FBI Whistleblower

Today, the 13th Anniversary of 9/11 will see many people recall how things were. To remember that day and the heroes it spawned who better than UBS' Art Cashin - who thought it simplest to repeat what he wrote back then.

Sometimes we wonder what world Japanese leaders live in. This morning's mind-blowing lies and propaganda from BoJ chief Kuroda show one thing and one thing only - Japan has reached Europe's Juncker moment - "it's serious enough that one has to lie." But it's the market's reaction to his every word that is whipsawing JPY around and running algos wild as first he said more QE is to come then rejected it saying there is no need for more QE now...

The Ukraine "ceasefire" may be raging, but don't tell that to the "rebel", "separatists", "pro-Russian terrorists" or whatever it is that the ethnic Russians in east Ukraine are called nowadays, because a few short hours ago even Kiev finally admitted that the insurgency, with or without Russian backing, has finally hit the beach of the Azov Sea, which implicitly means that the only thing that is prevent the formation of a land connection from Russia to Crimea is the city of Mariupol, which as Ukraine reported overnight, it is now massing heavy weapons for what may be the most critical fight of the entire Ukraine civil war to date.

Yesterday, when Gazprom was supposedly "troubleshooting its systems", we reported that in what was the first salvo of Europe's latest cold (quite literally, with winter just around the corner) war, Poland complained that up to 25% of its usual gas deliveries from Russia had been cut. Russia indirectly hinted that this was also a result of Ukraine using "reverse flow" to meet its demands, with Europe allowing Kiev to syphon off whatever gas it needs without paying Gazprome for it. It also led Poland to promptly admit it would halt reverse flow to the civil-war ridden country. Fast forward to today when Polish financial website Biznes reports that things are going from bad to worse in Russia's energy retaliation war, after Poland claimed a 45% shortfall in Russian natgas imports as of Wednesday.

"The set of measures adopted on Monday will enter into force on Friday 12 September 2014.  At the same time, it is my understanding that the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) before the end of the month will carry out a comprehensive review of the implementation of the peace plan on the basis of an assessment carried out by the European External Action Service (EEAS).  We have always stressed the reversibility and scalability of our restrictive measures. Therefore, in the light of the review and if the situation on the ground so warrants, the Commission and the EEAS are invited to put forward proposals to amend, suspend or repeal the set of sanctions in force, in all or in part. It is expected that the Council will consider these proposals urgently with a view to take action if appropriate." Herman Von Rompuy

Well that didn't last long. The late-day exuberance inspired by a small sample size poll of Scottish independence voters has been entirely removed as America went back to war, the West prepares (boomeranging) new sanctions for Russia, and US macro data showed weakness (and for once bad news appears to be bad news). AUDJPY is in charge of stocks so far (as USDJPY fades back from 107). The Ruble has tumbled 4 days in a row and is now at record lows against the USD. Treasury yields are sliding this morning, as is the USD and gold is bouncing back modestly from early weakness...

For the 2nd week in a row, initial claims missed expectations and on the heels of last week's dismal payrolls data (which was "unbelievable" according to the smartest people in the room) it surged to 315k - the highest since June. Perhaps most critically, on both an adjusted and unadjusted basis, initial claims are highher year-over-year (SA 315k vs 307k, NSA 234k vs 229k respectively). Is this noise? It has been 7 weeks now from the mid-July lows... and the 4-week-average many look at, has risen for 4 of the last 5 weeks.

• Obama orders U.S. airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State (Reuters)
• Obama Relying on Mideast Allies to Counter Islamic State (BBG)
• Scotland Nationalists Claim U.K. Oil in 40-Year Campaign (BBG)
• Scottish Polls Embolden Catalans Pushing Rajoy for Vote (BBG)
• Royal Bank of Scotland: RBS will leave Scotland if voters back independence (Guardian)
• Most Hedge-Fund Managers Are Overpaid, Unigestion Says (BBG)
• China Inflation Softens to Four-Month Low (WSJ)
• Munger Hosts Groupies, Mocks Wall Street, Praises Buffett (BBG)

Following yesterday's confusing exuberance, which saw the sluggish market rise in the last hours of trading as the latest Scottish poll showed a reverse of the "Yes" momentum (and fading Gartman's latest reco of course), overnight European jitters have re-emerged once more following a speech by Catalonia's Artur Mas, who has long pushed for independence of the region, and who said that while there are different ways Catalonia can vote, the important issue is that Catalans vote somehow. Mas says Spanish govt will likely try to block Catalan vote "the reasons why the central government is blocking the vote are political not legal", which in turn has once again brought attention to Europe's artificial, unstable and temporary political and monetary union, which threatens a reversion of the nightmare days from 2012 when Mario Draghi was promising he would do everything in his power to send the EUR higher (as opposed to now).

Quick update, and outline of reasons to suspect anxiety over Scottish independence has peaked.