Archive - Jan 24, 2015
David Stockman: Woodrow Wilson's War & Why The Entire 20th Century Was A Mistake
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 22:00 -0500"My humble thesis tonight is that the entire 20th Century was a giant mistake. And that you can put the blame for this monumental error squarely on Thomas Woodrow Wilson - a megalomaniacal madman who was the very worst President in American history... well, except for the last two."
"Cheerful" Dutch Financier Becomes 4th ABN Amro Banker Suicide
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 21:15 -0500Following the deaths of 36 bankers last year, 2015 has got off to an inauspicious start with the reported suicide of Chris Van Eeghen - the 4th ABN Amro banker suicide in the last few years. As Quotenet reports, the death of Van Eghen - the head of ABN's corporate finance and capital markets -"startled" friends and colleagues as the 42-year-old "had a great reputation" at work, came from an "illustrious family," and enjoyed national fame briefly as the boyfriend of a famous actress/model. As one colleague noted, "he was always cheerful, good mood, and apparently he had everything your heart desired. He never sat in the pit, never was down, so I was extremely surprised. I can not understand." Most believe that the suicide is not related to his work at the bank, but a former colleague had noticed that on his Facebook recently changed its job title to "former." Chris leaves behind a son - who had recently been cleared of cancer.
A Bunch Of Criminals
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 21:01 -0500When you read about female doctors feeling forced to prostitute themselves to feed their children, about the number of miscarriages doubling, and about the overall sense of helplessness and destitution among the Greek population, especially the young, who see no way of even starting to build a family, then I can only say: Brussels is a bunch of criminals. And Draghi’s QE announcement is a criminal act. It’s a good thing the bond-buying doesn’t start until March, and that it’s on a monthly basis: that means it can still be stopped.
Get Ready For Negative Interest Rates In The US
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 20:30 -0500With Fed mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath warning - in no lesser status-quo narrative-deliverer than The Wall Street Journal - that The ECB's actions (and pre-emptive collapse in the EUR) means the U.S. economy must deal with a rapidly strengthening dollar that will make American goods more expensive abroad, potentially slowing both U.S. growth and inflation; and Treasury Secretary Lew coming out his crypt to mention "unfair FX moves," it appears The Fed (and powers that be) are worrying about King Dollar. This suggests, as Mises Canada's Patrick Barron predicts, the Fed will start charging negative interest rates on bank reserve accounts as the final tool in the war on savings and wealth in order to spur the Keynesian goal of increasing “aggregate demand”. If savers won’t spend their money, the government will take it from them.
The US-Saudi Relationship (Summed Up In 1 Cartoon)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 19:45 -0500With President Obama shunning Bibi and cutting short his India trip (along with Michelle) to meet new Saudi Arabian King Salman (dementia and all), we thought this cartoon summed up the relationship between America and its oil-exporting ally...
How Mario Draghi Unleashed A $1.4 Trillion Negative Interest Rate Tsunami
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 19:25 -0500The ECB may have failed at everything else but it has certainly achieved one thing: sending 20% of Europe's universe of government bonds, some €1.4 trillion, into negative territory.
Repeat After Us: "Correlation Isn't Causation"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 19:00 -0500But if it walks like an idiot, and talks like an idiot...?
Spot The Difference: Money Printing, Then And Now
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 18:15 -0500What Crispin Odey, And His $12.4 Billion In AUM, Thinks Are The 6 Risks Underpriced By The Market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 17:55 -0500- Sovereign QE not working in Europe
- Emerging market capital flight
- Political risk/popularist governments
- US wage inflation
- Increased currency volatility
- Insurance against natural catastrophes
"Oil Drillers Are Going To Die" In Q2, Conway Mackenzie Warns "Expect Outright Liquidations"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 17:31 -0500"The second quarter is going to be devastating for the service companies," warns Conway Mackenzie - the largest U.S. restructuring firm - adding that, despite slashing thousands of jobs, delaying (or scrapping) billions in capex amid the prolonged rout in oil prices, "there are certainly companies that are going to die." As Bloomberg reports, oil drillers will begin collapsing under the weight of lower crude prices during the second quarter and energy explorers who employ them will shortly follow with oilfield-service providers are facing a "double-whammy." As we noted here, there are more than a few candidates for this 'death' list as it appears increasingly clear that what was considered an "unambiguously good" narrative for the nation is anything but...
With Syriza Leading By 7 Points, Greek Incumbents Fear-Monger Looming "Toilet-Paper-Run"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 16:45 -0500Left-wing anti-EU party Syriza has extended its lead over incumbent Nea Dimokratia (ND) to 7 percentage points in the polls ahead of tomorrow's crucial Greek election. As Keep Talking Greece reports, To Potami and Golden Dawn (the neo-Nazi party that is facing charges for being a "criminal organization") are running 3rd with 6-7% of the vote (Syriza 33.5%, ND 26.5%) and with 20% admitting they had changed their opinion about which party to vote for in the pre-election period, it appears ND incumbents have taken up the "Scotland" strategy - fearmongery. Speaking on Greek TV, just 48 hours before the elections, ND-candidate Sofia Voultepsi implied that if Syriza wins the elections and forms a government on Monday Greeks will run out of toilet paper... and with JPMorgan noting that deposit outflows hit EUR8bn last week (double the previous 2 weeks combined), the "bank run" could easily morph into Venezuelan "toilet paper runs."
Davos – The Arrogance Of Officialdom
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 16:00 -0500In 55BC, Cicero stood before the Senate of Rome (warning of its looming demise), spoke of the “arrogance of officialdom” and the more one studies going ons throughout history, the clearer it becomes – the story remains the same, only the actors change - history repeats because the passions of man never change. Those who may grudgingly support the ECB stimulus in the hope that it will buy time for governments to enact structural overhauls, keep praying that politicians will push aside their own personal self-interests for once and focus of the interests of the people. Such wishful thinking is foolish since history demonstrates that only takes place when the system collapses. People who do hold to this view are also worried that looser monetary policy may work against structural measures. The European Central Bank’s stimulus diminishes any incentive for governments to reform. The policy makers and specialists at Davos were divided over the effect of even that program; but where do these people get off assuming they have the ability and right to manipulate the world?
"QE Benefits Mostly The Wealthy" JPMorgan Admits, And Lists 8 Ways ECB's QE Will Hurt Everyone Else
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 15:21 -0500Over the past 48 hours, the world has been bombarded with a relentless array of soundbites, originating either at the ECB, or - inexplicably - out of Greece, the one place which has been explicitly isolated by Frankfurt, that the European Central Bank's QE will benefit everyone. Setting the record straight: it won't, and not just in our own words but those of JPM's Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, who just said what has been painfully clear to all but the 99% ever since the start of QE, namely this: "The wealth effects that come with QE are not evenly distributing. The boost in equity and housing wealth is mostly benefiting their major owners, i.e. the wealthy." Thank you JPM. Now if only the central banks will also admit what we have been saying for 6 years, then there will be one less reason for us to continue existing.
Chart Of The Day: Souring "Mother's Milk" Edition
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/24/2015 15:00 -0500If earnings are the "mother's milk" of equity market returns, then stocks are about to turn sour (that is of course if fundamentals have anything whatsoever to do with it anymore). As we detailed previously, Q4 is shaping up to be the worst in years for earnings, and with next week seeing the bulk of names (36% of the S&P 500) reporting (including many of the biggest belwethers and major energy firms), we suspect the 2014 EPS chart below (and the already collapsing consensus expectations for 2015 earnings) will continue to plummet.
FiRST We TaKe MaNHaTTaN...
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 01/24/2015 14:30 -0500Then we take Berlin...




