Archive - Sep 2015

The characteristic feeling of the post-2008 world has been one of anxiety. Occasionally, that anxiety breaks out into fear as it did in the last two weeks when stock markets around the world swooned and middle class and wealthy investors had a sudden visitation from Pan, the god from whose name we get the word "panic." Pan's appearance is yet another reminder that the relative stability of the globe from the end of World War II right up until 2008 is over. We are in uncharted waters. The relentless, if zigzag, rise in financial markets for the past 150 years has been sustained by cheap fossil fuels and a benign climate. We cannot count on either from here on out...

After 6 straight weeks of rig count increases, last week saw a 13 rig drop - the most since May. This leave the rig count at its lowest since July 24th. WTI Crude jumped 60c on the news and is holding gains...

Remember last Friday? The Dow screamed 140 points higher in the last hour of the day to "prove" everything was awesome into the weekend. It wasn't! With The Dow down 300 points today, it is now 600 points below those panic-buying highs just a week ago...

"What happens in any bull asset bubble such as what we've seen is you run out of buyers. It's hard to get deals done if the bottom third can't get a mortgage."

A LIBOR Day Message...

The can is no longer rolling along. Instead, it has come to a near halt, with central bankers and government policymakers desperate to give it another boot. Watch out!

Low oil prices? Low interest rates? Jobs galore? Wages pressures? Time for a rate hike? Then explain this...

Corruption isn't just bribes and influence-peddling: it's protecting the privileges of the few at the expense of the many. Rampant pollution is corruption writ large: the profits of the polluters are being protected at the expense of the millions being poisoned. What China will be left with a poisoned land stripped of talent and capital.

Meanwhile, in Turkey...

Since the start of the Second Great Depression, the US economy has lost 1.4 million manufacturing workers, but has more than made up for this with the addition ff 1.5 million waiters and bartenders.

On the heels of the unprecedented proximity of 5 Chinese naval ships in the Bering Sea, U.S. military satellites have been tracking a Russian spy ship - capable of cutting undersea communications cables and other sensors - since it was spotted in the north Atlantic last month off the coast of Kings Bay, Ga., home to the U.S. Navy’s East Coast ballistic missile submarine fleet. As FOX News reports, The Pentagon says the ship is transiting toward its next destination - Cuba.

FANG - Forget About New Gains? It appears another one of the legs of the new investing meme has broken. NFLX is now down 25% from its record highs in August and has entirely roundtripped from the post-stock-split exuberance...

While conspiracy theories of Trump's run as a disruptive influence in the Republican ranks to 'help' Hillary seems to be floundering following his pledge and jibes yesterday, it appears the two have more in common than anyone could have believed. It turns out Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are distant cousins - sharing royal blood that runs deep in their family lines. No wonder The Oligarchy is so comfortable ruling over us serfs.

While we have exposed the ugly under-belly of today's jobs data, mainstream media is spinning it as a 'Goldilocks' report with enough hits-and-misses for every hawk or dove. The market's initial reaction signals rising expectations of a September rate hike but, as Goldman's Jan Hatzius explains, they continue to expect the FOMC to keep policy rates unchanged at the September 16-17 meeting.