Archive - 2013 - Blog entry

Count on technology to bring the world into a new Oil [and Gas] Renaissance.

Today there is just soot and and no hope.

After relatively large moves in the foreign exchange market since nearly the start of the year, participants were particularly vulnerable to commentary that encouraged a reversal of trend. Japan's Amari got the ball rolling, suggesting that the yen's decline has been sufficient and that excessive strength had been corrected. This encouraged a bout of short-covering and took some shine off the other major currencies as cross positions were unwound.

Then Juncker's comments hit in the North American afternoon yesterday, claiming that the euro's exchange rate was dangerously high. Again the market's reaction was more about positioning than about the policy signal. Part of the demand, after all, for the euro has been coming from some of the largest asset managers returning to the Spanish and Italian bond markets, believing that the Open Market Transaction scheme is indeed a viable backstop.

 I read that Rich Bernstein, former chief investment strategist at Merrill Lynch, is very optimistic about US stocks; he believes we are at a point similar to where the market was in 1982 – at the beginning of the 1982-2000 secular bull.  After you’ve gone through my slides, you’ll understand why it is so hard for me to share Rich’s excitement.

"Are those "talkers" and CB's really in charge? Or was that just a phase we passed through?"

Most of the major currencies are consolidating within yesterday's trading ranges. The main feature has been comments from Japan's Minister of Economic Revival that appeared to declare victory in the government's attempt to weaken the yen. News wires quoted him saying that the yen had corrected its excessive rise and was currently in line with fundamentals. This triggered a wave of short covering yen positions, driving the down form around JPY89.60 to near JPY88.60 in initial reaction that lasted about an hour. It has been consolidating since, mostly below JPY88.90. The sharp recovery of the yen was also felt on the crosses, though a more consolidative tone that was seen in the European morning was fading and the currencies moved back toward the lows as North American traders prepared to return to their screens.

History Repeats ...

We are on the same path as Greece, and Mr. President, you need to recognize that being a true leader is not doing the popular thing but the right thing with regard to fiscal responsibility.

With impeccable timing.

A little known fact about the Spanish crisis is that when the Spanish Government merges troubled banks, it typically swaps out depositors’ savings for shares in the new bank.

It is a “fraudulent transfer” to transfer assets with intent to leave the transferor with inadequate capital... Thus every bank “sale” done for the purpose of reducing regulatory capital is, by definition, fraud – a form of bank theft. 

The investment world is slowly emerging from its Central Bank policy induced stupor to realize two of our long-standing themes.

A world of klepto-crony-fraudocratic-ponzi-plutopianists...

The Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (similar to the US SEC) said that China can increase by 10-fold the size of the two main channels by which foreign investors buy mainland financial assets. It can, Guo Shuqing said, increase quotas under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors and the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors. The latter would make it easier for the yuan in Hong Kong (CNH) to be used to purchase Chinese securities. This hint helped lift China shares by over 3%, their largest gain in a month. The Shanghai Composite's 3% rise brings the gain to 19% off the multi-year low near 1949 (the year of China's Revolution) in early December.

Market Reform is required for futures market like agriculture and energy to avoid the Hedge Fund and Big Bank Malfeasance.