Archive - Feb 12, 2015
Standard & Poors Slashes Russian Credit to Junk, but Why?
Submitted by Sprott Money on 02/12/2015 12:17 -0500The Russian economy continues to suffer. The absolute desolation of the oil market effectively destroyed the economy in Russia, which is incredibly dependent on the commodity. Job’s have been lost, the standard of living has collapsed and now the once proud Russian bond, is being attacked.
Standard and Poors, what some call, “the international credit watchdog” slashed Russian debt to BB+, one step below what the markets consider investment grade.
Dollar & Bond Yields Are Plunging
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 12:04 -0500US equity markets are quietly doing what they do - go up and stay up. But in the biggest markets in the world - US Treasury, Japanese bonds, and foreign exchange - something turmoily is happening. Yields are cratering today.. The USDollar is getting hammered on the back of JPY gapping dramatically stronger and EUR surging.
Audit The Fed - And Shackle It, Too
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 11:45 -0500The monetary politburo has every reason to fear Rand Paul’s demand for a “policy audit” of the Fed. An honest one would show that its so-called “independence” has been monumentally abused in a manner which is deeply threatening to both political democracy and capitalist prosperity. Needless to say, we can’t have that audit soon enough. In short, what the nation really needs is not an “independent” Fed, but one that is shackled to a narrow and market-driven liquidity function. The rest of its current remit is nothing more than the self-serving aggrandizement of the apparatchiks who run it; and who have now managed to turn the nation’s vital money and capital markets into dangerous, unstable casinos, and the nations savers into indentured servants of a bloated and wasteful banking system.
The U.S. Government Wouldn't Cover Up a Foreign Government's Murder of Our Military Men ... Would It?
Submitted by George Washington on 02/12/2015 11:33 -0500“If America’s Leaders Did Not Have The Courage To Punish [the Foreign Country] For The Blatant Murder Of American Citizens, It Seemed Clear That Their American Friends Would Let Them Get Away With Almost Anything”
AMeRiCaN NeoCoN: F*CK THe EU!
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 02/12/2015 11:20 -0500That's right, F*CK the EU...
The Problem Country That’s Bigger Than Greece, Spain Italy and France Combined
Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research on 02/12/2015 10:59 -0500This problem DWARFS Greece, Spain, Italy, even France (combined).
Why Greece Should Leave The Euro In 1 Simple Chart
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 10:57 -0500Is it any wonder that The Greeks want to leave The Euro? One glance at the following chart and it is clear who the growth engine is and who the anchor is...
"Do Nothing!"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 10:32 -0500What's an equity investor to do these days?
Business Inventories Grow At Slowest Pace Since May 2013, Inventory-To-Sales Worst Since Lehman
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 10:16 -0500Business inventories grew at a mere 0.1% in December, missing expectations for the 7th of the last 8 months. This is the slowest inventory growth since May 2013. Perhaps most worrisome is the drop in sales (down 1.1%) which slammed the inventory-to-sales ratio to its highest since July 2009.
Investors Are "Panic Buying" US Bonds & Stocks
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 10:06 -0500Since the miserable US retail sales data hit, it appears the world's investors have decided that buying US stocks and US bonds is the thing to do...
Stealth Greek Bank Run Continues: ECB Hikes Emergency Lending To EUR 65 Billion
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 09:59 -0500It would appear the un-sourced rumors of Greek banks having used up their Emergency line of credit with the ECB are true. Following a hastily put together conference calls this morning:
- *ECB RAISES GREECE ELA ALLOWANCE TO EU65BN: FAZ
Up from the previous EUR59.5 Billion. It appears the stealth bank run in Greece is showing no signs of slowing.
Chart Of The Day: "Profits And Sales Are Crumbling"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 09:37 -0500When not even Tesla's non-GAAP adjustment magic, shown previously in the following "bridge", can boost sales or earnings any more to beat Wall Street expectations, one things is clear: as SocGen's Albert Edwards puts it "US corporate profits and sales are crumbling."
Spot The Mal-Investment Boom
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 09:13 -0500It's hard to avoid the feeling that the world is over-supplied...
Jobless Claims Jump Back Above 300k As Shale State Losses Mount
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 08:51 -0500As the noise of jobless claims data once again ripples through the narrative of unequivocally good low gas prices, initial claims in Shale States continues to trend higher. TX and PA saw the largest rise in claims (from the Shale States) lagged a week. Overall, initial jobless claims jujmped 24k to 304k (above the supposed Maginot Line demarcating the "everything is awesome" from the "we're gonna need a bigger QE") missing expectations by the most in a month. The Initial Claims trend appears to have seen a regime shift from lower to higher...
Retail Sales Plunge Twice As Much As Expected. Worst Back-To-Back Drop Since Oct 2009
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/12/2015 08:38 -0500Following last month's narrative-crushing drop in retail sales, despite all that low interest rate low gas price stimulus, January was more of the same as hopeful expectations for a modest rebound were denied. Falling 0.8% (against a 0.9% drop in Dec), missing expectations of -0.4%, this is the worst back-to-back drop in retail sales since Oct 2009. Retail sales declined in 6 of the 13 categories.
