Archive - Dec 14, 2015

Despite the downward pressure on oil, the devil's advocate wonders: could oil be setting up a tradable bottom?

“They need to show they’re selling quickly to calm markets and stop the free fall of their shares. For that to happen they need to accept the price buyers want to pay.”

Several days after the biggest credit event in years took place, the SEC has released a statement by its spokeswoman Gina Talamona, who said that the "commission staff is on site, and we continue to closely evaluate the fund’s efforts to ensure it provides an orderly process that best protects investors."

Many people are cheering now that yesterday Marine Le Pen and her Front National (FN) party didn’t get to take over government in any regions in the France regional elections. They should think again. FN did get a lot more votes than the last time around, and, though she will be a little disappointed after last weekend’s results, it’s exactly as Le Pen herself said: “Nothing can stop us”.

From Thigh Yield Santa Ho...

There is no cure for low natural gas prices like low natural gas prices.

Having disposed of Saudi's "dopey, daddy's boy" Prince bin Talal, Donald Trump has turned his attention back to domestic affairs, taking Hillary Clinton head on. With some of his most heated comments yet, The Hill reports, the Republican presidential front-runner is pinning blame for the Syrian civil war and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Hillary Clinton.

"While there might be a few areas where I have concerns, such as deteriorating underwriting standards in leveraged lending, farmland prices, a few things, I don't see those excesses having  developed at this point.... Taking into account a broad range of metrics that bear on financial stability, our overall assessment at this point is that threats are moderate."

If You Think It's Muslims Versus Jews and Christians, You're Being Played ...

Having crushed the "greatest global threat" over the weekend with a "bullshit" deal, President Obama turns his attention back to that other thing... the war on terror. In a statement which will, in The White House's words, "update the nation on the US campaign to Degrade and Destroy ISIL," Obama will, we are sure, explain why they didn't bomb ISIS' oil facilities, why they are still allies with Saudi Arabia, why Russia's "success" is just propaganda, and how awesome the US-based coalition is (as opposed to the bad guys, which includes Putin). Grab your popcorn.

Over the last two decades the Fed’s interventionism has created artificial booms and real busts. Their dreadful mistakes are “fixed” by currency debasement, lower interest rates, and money printing – creating even worse mistakes. They have successfully gutted the American economy and left a hollowed out shell. The coming collapse will be three pronged as stocks, bonds, and real estate are all simultaneously overvalued. Junk bonds are the canary in a coalmine. High end real estate in NYC has topped out. New and existing homes sales growth has stalled out. Retailers desperately slash prices to maintain sales, while destroying their profits. Corporate profits are falling. The stock market is teetering on the edge.

Camera-on-a-stick is down 83% from its October 2014 (the end of QE3) highs (and down 75% since Jim Cramer said it was "bargain" in July). GoPro is down 33% from its IPO price... and down 16% today as more analysts realize now is the time to downgrade before it goes full Kodak.

In light of surging concerns about mutual and hedge fund fixed income (and soon other asset classes) "gating", "runs" or outright liquidation, Deutsche Bank has prepared the following infographic which summarizes the main choke points which predispose both open and closed-end funds to runs or outright shutdown.

For the first time October 15th, S&P 500 cash has broken below the key "everything is awesome" 2,000 level...