Archive - Dec 2015

Puerto Rico faces its moment of truth on Tuesday as the commonwealth must decide whether to default on GO debt and risk triggering a cascade of litigation. Meanwhile, Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla is on Capitol Hill hoping to drum up support for a plan that would allow for some of the island's agencies to file for bankruptcy.

BlueCrest Capital Management Limited "BlueCrest" announces it will, over the next several months, transition to a Private Investment Partnership, and will return to its clients the $8 billion it currently manages on their behalf.  Following the transition, BlueCrest will manage assets solely on behalf of its partners and employees.

In a broad-based press conference, President Obama is expected to address everything from climate change and fossil fuels to more mundane threats such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Turkey, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. As you watch the President explain how he is solving all these 'issues', bear in mind his statement from earlier today that the global pact on climate control is "an act of defiance" against terrorism that proves the world stands undeterred by ISIS. Yeah that really showed them, eh?!

The S&P 500 has completely disconnected from most risk assets, driven by the usual manipulation during options expiration week, performance gaming by hedge funds before end of the month results are posted, and short covering.

With Jeremy Corbyn's divided Labour MPs free to break party rank in Wednesday's key vote, "RAF crews could be bombing the Isis headquarters in Raqqa by the end of the week." Meanwhile, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approved deploying warplanes over Syria in the fight against Islamic State."

• Global Stocks Edge Higher on Expected ECB Stimulus (WSJ)
• Moment of truth as Puerto Rico faces crucial debt payment (Reuters)
• Obama urges Turkey to reduce tensions with Russia, stresses support (Reuters)
• Russian Media Takes Aim at Turkey (WSJ)
• Support Grows for U.S. Commando Raids to Fight Islamic State (BBG)
• Yuan Drops as SDR Approval Seen Prompting PBOC to Reduce Support (BBG)

There was something for everyone in last night's much anticipated Chinese PMI data, with the official number sliding to the lowest in over 3 years, suggesting the PBOC will need to do more stimulus and is thus bullish, while the unoffocial Caixin print rising to the highest since June, suggesting whatever the PBOC is doing is working, and is also bullish. Not unexpectedly, global stocks decided to take the bullish way out, and have risen across the globe led by Asia, where stocks rose as much as 1.8%, Europe also green and US equity futures up 10 points as of this writing.

Fill her up Erdo...

Even despite the saturation criminality that readers have already seen, many will still argue that we “need” these Big Banks, and that we even “need” fractional-reserve (no reserve) fraud.