Archive - Jul 2015

Schäuble seems to have foresaw the crisis back in 1994, distinguishing between core members and non-core members. Therefore, his thinking is quite different from that of France. Behind the curtain, the federalization of Europe is the ultimate goal, although politicians always denied that in front of the curtain. The curtain is starting to be drawn, but the equal federalization of Europe was never part of the German mindset.

"Public statements, media reports and market data reveal that Beijing unleashed 5 trillion yuan in funds - equivalent to nearly 10 percent of China's GDP in 2014 and greater than the 4 trillion yuan it committed in response to the global financial crisis - to calm a savage share sell-off. Beijing has thus produced the equivalent of around 1 index point gain for every $1 billion committed," Reuters reports.

It appears the "Greece is fixed" exuberant reach for risk is over. 30Y Treasury yields had soared 30bps in 3 days after a disastrous "Greek deal" was announced, has rallied all the way back and now trades back below the crucial 3.00% level... This is the best streak of gains for the long-bond in 4 months.

As the following clip from Turkey's DHA news agency shows, one may wonder if NATO-member Turkey's land invasion of Syria, which many have said was long overdue following months of rhetoric and belligerent posturing, under the pretext of ISIS "liberation", has just begun.

There has been a lot of chatter in recent days about the plunge in commodity prices - capped off by this week’s slide of the Bloomberg commodity index to levels not seen since 2002. That epochal development is captured in the chart below, but most of the media gumming about the rapidly accelerating “commodity crunch” misses the essential point. To wit, the central banks of the world have shot their wad.  The Bloomberg Commodity index is a slow motion screen shot depicting the massive intrusion of worldwide central bankers into the global economic and financial system. Their unprecedented spree of money printing took the aggregate global central bank balance sheet from $3 trillion to $22 trillion over the last 15 years. The consequence was a deep and systematic falsification of financial prices on a planet-wide scale.

"If in the short run, to paraphrase Benjamin Graham, equities are a voting machine, then it seems many of these votes are being coerced by interventionists.Central bankers the world over have become obsessed with asset prices, to the extent that the notion of central banks making outright purchases of equities is no longer confined to the lunatic fringe."

Across the board commodities are weak again today as CCFD unwinds and mal-investment booms collapse across the world. Copper is under the most pressure today, plunging to its lowest since June 2009... but of course, Dr. Copper now knows nothing about economics because eyeballs trump reality in the new normal... even as Goldman warns lower prices are to come.

US equity prices are back below yesterday's lows leaving The Dow down over 350 points off its "everything is awesome" highs on Monday (nearing its 200-DMA at 17,743). It's not just the Dow, as the rest of the major indices have given up all the post-Greferendum gains from a month ago...

WTI gave up earlier gains and is tumbling once again to 4-month lows, back into the $48 handle range... S&P Energy stocks are now back at Dec 2012 levels as Forward P/Es collapse back to reality...

Just in case you still harbored any doubt that absolutely zero lessons were learned from the cataclysmic financial collapse of 2008/09...

As the following chart shows, with $203 billion in investible dry powder which is probably the best way of calling AAPL's cash the Cupertino-based company is more than $30 billion larger than what is generally accepted to be the largest hedge fund in the world, Ray Dalio's Bridgewater, which however "only" managed some $171 billion as of May 2015.

Just minutes after rumors of Axel Springer Verlag's interest in buying The Financial Times were flatly denied, Marketwatch reports that Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei said Thursday that it is buying Financial Times from U.K. publishing group Pearson for 160 billion yen, or $1.29 billion.

Great news... jobless claims are at 42 year lows. So sell stocks, sell 'em all...

China matters after all. As recently as three weeks ago, Bridgewater - the world's largest hedge fund - was among the most effusively bullish on China deflecting fears of the stock market drop on the basis that its "movements are not significant reflective of, or influential on, the Chinese economy." However, that meme that has been spewed by endless talking heads protecting their assets under management, has evolved. In his latest letter to investors, Ray Dalio warns, "our views on China have changed... there are no safe places to invest." As WSJ reports, the move adds to a growing chorus of high-profile investors who are challenging the long-held view that China’s rise will provide a ballast to a whole host of investments, from commodities to bonds to shares in multinational firms, as they realize, "it appears that the repercussions of the stock market’s declines will probably be greater."

Bloomberg's Consumer Comfort index slipped lower once again this week back to six-week lows but the most notable aspect within the survey data was a sudden burst of consumer confidence among Democrats... one wonders why?