Archive - Oct 2, 2009 - Story

It appears that even "conspiracy-minded, often-disjointed and harmful-only-to-themselves retail day-traders" are capable of not only participating in the content creation effort, but on occassion, making useful contributions to fact-finding. Or so thinks Reuters' Matt Goldstein in his latest piece "Sheila Bair and the black marker"

• Everyone buying HFT platforms: chip sales rise 5% in August (WSJ)
• Geithner says "Strong dollar is very important" to US (Bloomberg) too bad he is lying
• IMF chief renews call for currency reform (FT)
• Banks with 20% unpaid loans at 18 year high amid recovery doubt (Bloomberg)
• Glorious is fifth flop in Hong Kong IPO "Massacre" (Bloomberg)
• Wall Street wizardry reworks mortgages (WSJ, h/t Geoffrey)
• For sale, cheap: "Old GM" peddles a bankrupt empire's remains (WSJ)

Where to start here: A horrendous September NFP number coming in at -263,000 versus -175,000 consensus; numerous prior period revisions, demonstrating just how clueless the BLS is in this volatile environment; unemployment at a 25 year record 9.8%; a once again dropping work week (33 hours vs. 33.1 prior), slowing growth in average hourly earnings at 0.1% vs. 0.4% in August, or, most relevantly, how on Earth did Goldman know to increase its NFP estimates by 25% less than 24 hours ago, to a number so much more aligned with reality: does Jan Hatzius have a direct, unrecorded line to a BLS "janitor"? Or does he just like keeping his clients in suspense until the 11th hour on what the truth really is? Inquiring minds want to know.

And real unemployment (U-6%) has just hit 17%: now this is Non Farm Payroll change you can truly believe in.

• Asian stocks markets were sharply lower Friday, dragged by losses on Wall Street.
• Asia-Pacific bond risk jumps on concern US recovery faltering.
• Banks with 20% unpaid loans at 18-yr high as doubts over recovery deepen.
• Bernanke calls for higher insurance levies on big groups.
• EU regulators sent antitrust complaints to AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, British Airways Plc and Spain’s
• Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA re. alliance.
• France plans to spend €1.5B on creating a battery-charging network for electric vehicles.

You may remember Daniel Hannan for his rather direct and brazenly eloquent critique of Gordon "The Devalued Prime Minister of a Devauled Government" Brown last spring.  If not, it is quite easy to get acquainted with Mr. Hannan's singular voice via his veracity-charged YouTube channel.  (We are particularly fond of the instant classics, Richard II on the EU constitution, The Brussels Racket, and The Germans Have Caught On).  I have personally been a Hannan-fan for quite some time so it should surprise no one to learn that I was thrilled when he accepted my invitation to write for Zero Hedge.  As a result, Zero Hedge is pleased to present our readers with the first of what we hope are many Hannan pieces at Zero Hedge.  Welcome, indeed, Mr. Hannan!