Archive - Apr 10, 2015

Import Prices dropped YoY by 10.5%, the biggest sequential drop since Dec 2008 (following the Lehamn shock). Priod data was revised lower and March's MoM import prices dropped 0.3% after rising 0.2% in Feb (revised lower from a 0.4% rise). US Auto import prices suffered their biggest YoY drop on record as currency wars and implicitly the strong dollar start to bite (even as imported fuels prices rose 0.4%). Other good news for Americans is that food prices are down 1.1%.

• Nikkei tops 20,000, Europe hits 15-year high (Reuters)
• GE to sell real estate holdings, sets $50 billion share buyback (Reuters)
• Iran’s Middle Class Plans for Life After a Deal (BBG)
• Walgreens to Close 200 Stores as It Expands Cost Cuts (WSJ)
• Hillary Clinton expected to announce presidential run as soon as this weekend (Reuters)
• It will cost $1.5 billion to keep Deutsche Bank Libor Manipulators out of prison  (USA Today)
• Police Cameras Bring Problems of Their Own (WSJ)
• Obama says concerned China bullying others in South China Sea (Reuters)
• Investors Revive Appetite for Asian Junk Bonds (WSJ)

Moments ago, General Electric showed why April is much more likley to be a rerun of February than January or March when it announceed that it would go ahead and repurchase half of the total record stock buybacks announced in February, or some $50 billion in what may be the largest stock buyback announcement in history! How will GE fund this massive distribution to its shareholders, of which the most concentrated one will once again be the biggest winners? Simple: by dumping the division that nearly caused its insolvency during the financial crisis, the hedge fund known as GE Capital. As part of the just announced mega transaction, GE announced an agreement to sell the bulk of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. Wells Fargo will acquire a portion of the performing loans at closing.

Overnight market news was once again driven by the Asian superbubble, where as expected, the Hang Seng (+1.22%) soared once more and is now up 9.5% for the week, following news the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) expects it will "substantially increase" quotas for the stock connect program between Hong Kong and Shanghai, HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li said on Friday. The exchange could boost the current quotas, which cap how much mainland investors can buy Hong Kong stocks and vice versa under the trading link, by more than 20 or 30 percent, Li said at a media briefing in Hong Kong. Li did not give a precise date for when the quotas would be raised, but one thing is clear: everyone in China, and Hong Kong, must be all in stocks if the Chinese housing bubble can not be reflated. The Shanghai Comp closed higher by almost 2.0% following better than expected Chinese inflation data, while HK stocks continued their recent rally to closer higher by 9.5% for the week.

Oil is our most-precious commodity as fuel for the global economy. It is also becoming a scarce commodity, as global production has flattened, while global demand continues to climb relentlessly, everywhere in the world except for the dying economies of Europe and North America. It is a classic “seller’s market.”