Archive - Aug 2015

A few months ago, Ashley Madison was the most anticipated upcoming adultery social network IPO. Then it was hacked, and all 34 million member accounts were exposed (with some amusing results and even more amusing explanations), leading to questions how long can  the company exist in its current iteration, if at all. Moments ago we got the first answer, when the Daily Beast first reported that Avid Life Media, Noel Biderman, is stepping down.

Demand Surge and Shortages of Bullion as Stocks Fall Sharply, Gold Outperforms All Assets In August

If you can't work for yourself and afford health insurance, something is seriously messed up.

Given Monday's flash-crashing mayhem, and given how predisposed household investors are to mistrust Wall Street in the post-crisis, post-Flash Boys world, retail outflows during uncertain times shouldn’t come as a surprise, but as Credit Suisse notes, something happened in July and August that hasn’t happened since Q4 of 2008...

After July's disappointing drop in UMich Consumer Confidence, August did not help. Printing 91.9, below expectations of 93.0, UMich is hovering at the 2015 lows. Both current and future sub-indices dropped with hope falling to its lowest since 2014 (biggest 7mo decline in 2 years). Income growth expectations dropped and business expectations dropped to lowest since Sept 2014. This follows the highest conference board confidence in 2015 and lowest Gallup confidence in a year. Bill Dudley will be disappointed after proclaiming this a key driver of The Fed's rate hike call (more important than jobs).

In the last 2 days traders have bought Colombia Pesos with both hands and feet, sending the currency soaring almost 5% higher. This is the biggest 2-day gain since 2010...

The Fed's ultimate dove has been unleashed and this time he means business. Faced with the inevitable rate hike, Kocherlakota has come out swinging to explain how cataclysmic inflation is and why The Fed should use its asset-purchase tools and lower interest rates further... i.e. to negative... Gold reacted instantly...

If anyone was curious why the Fear and Greed index is at 13 (up from 5) despite the biggest 2-day surge in the Dow Jones ever, the answer is very simple: nobody believes the "broken market "any more, as confirmed by the biggest weekly equity outflow on record.

This is the first time that the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average since August 2011, creating the ominous-sounding "death cross." The month following this 'event' has produced negative returns 80% of the time...

The relief rally from the market drop that resulted over fears of a Fed rate hike, has pushed financial conditions back to a level which allows the Fed to hike again, which in turn means the market can drop again having risen enough to allow the Fed to do what it has done.

After 3 days of carnage and a day of stability, it appears the death of the bond bull market has once again been greatly exagerated. Whether it is China's absence after a strengthenig in the Yuan overnight or month-end rebalancing amid equity vol, Treasury yields are notably lower this morning...

As the situation in China continues to move into the realm of a full-blown crisis, you have to wonder how much more of their massive stockpile of treasuries are they willing to dump on the market?

After forensically analyzing Morgan Stanley's balance sheet (which is very much like the rest of Wall Street's balance sheet) I can draw direct parallels to that of Lehman and Bear Stearns in 2007. It's a party!

While the headline spending and income data consists of marginal moves, personal spending missed expectations by the largest amount since the dismal weather-strewn days of January. Consumption rose 0.3% in July, less than the 0.4% expectation and flat from the 0.3% June print. Income rose 0.4% - in line with expectations - ticking up YoY to 4.3% 0 juiced by a $13 billion government transfer receipts print - the most since March. The savings rate ticked up once again as those darned consumers refuse to spend as the elite demand.