Archive - May 18, 2009 - Story

At least not the way that Americans are viewing it. There have been many, many comparisons in the media to the Great Depression, the worst economic climate in the past 70 years, etc. but the reality is that this is only slightly worse than normal for the Japanese (especially in the context of the last 20 years). With the release of consumer confidence numbers yesterday, it's interesting to see the Japanese consumer reaction.

The chart below presents the top 20 sovereigns with the largest amount of net CDS (not gross) notional outstanding. Interestingly, Italy and Spain, with their $20.4 billion and $11.1 billion in net notional, have the most net risk exposure, (General Electric, parent of brutally realistic and objective financial news station CNBC is at $11.2 billion). Additionally, the chart demonstrates not just the current spread of any given sovereign's CDS level, but also the phenomenal tightening that has occurred since March 6.

Not only is the market bouncing like an schizophrenic yoyo, but the vol in the VIX seems to also be now drawn to the market's sociopathic magnetism. Whoever has been buying straddles on the VIX has been making buck. When is iShares coming out with an ETF that tracks the volatility of the VIX (and how many days later will Merrill try to underwrite a follow on offering for the ETF?). After all, the powers that be can not afford one day of respite for the casino.

Not only is the market bouncing like an schizophrenic yoyo, but the vol in the VIX seems to also be now drawn to the market's sociopathic magnetism. Whoever has been buying straddles on the VIX has been making buck. When is iShares coming out with an ETF that tracks the volatility of the VIX (and how many days later will Merrill try to underwrite a follow on offering for the ETF?). After all, the powers that be can not afford one day of respite for the casino.

Not only is the market bouncing like an schizophrenic yoyo, but the vol in the VIX seems to also be now drawn to the market's sociopathic magnetism. Whoever has been buying straddles on the VIX has been making buck. When is iShares coming out with an ETF that tracks the volatility of the VIX (and how many days later will Merrill try to underwrite a follow on offering for the ETF?). After all, the powers that be can not afford one day of respite for the casino.

The Chrysler National Dealer Council, which represents the dealers the bankrupt automotive company announced it would eliminate last week, has decided to take their fight public and filed a statement with the bankruptcy court earlier today, in which the NDC seeks to prevent Judge Gonzalez from cancelling their existing contracts, and in principle to afford them non-bankruptcy rights.

S&P higher by 20 points. Credit (IG12) wider by 1 point. The disagreement continues.

Moody's is swinging the axe again, and in a move which could spell trouble for the rating for the US itself, it downgraded Japan's last triple-A foreign currency credit rating. Amusingly, Japan has almost no foreign currency debt exposure, so the action may be perceived as posturing by Moody's as it prepares for some sort of credit action on the US. In Moody's own words:

Titanium dioxide maker Tronox, which filed for bankruptcy a mere 5 months ago, has decided to default yet again (this time in the confines of bankruptcy court), this time on its $125 million DIP which was arranged by Credit Suisse. The reason for the default is Tronox' inability to file audited 2008 financial statements on time. A recent filing explains the reason for the default:

Titanium dioxide maker Tronox, which filed for bankruptcy a mere 5 months ago, has decided to default yet again (this time in the confines of bankruptcy court), this time on its $125 million DIP which was arranged by Credit Suisse. The reason for the default is Tronox' inability to file audited 2008 financial statements on time. A recent filing explains the reason for the default:

Titanium dioxide maker Tronox, which filed for bankruptcy a mere 5 months ago, has decided to default yet again (this time in the confines of bankruptcy court), this time on its $125 million DIP which was arranged by Credit Suisse. The reason for the default is Tronox' inability to file audited 2008 financial statements on time. A recent filing explains the reason for the default:

Twilight zone^2. When Lear is the biggest upside mover, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and roll your eyes.

Source: Loan Pricing Corp.

The squeeze in credit continues, however now with a twist. While tightening was a dominant theme as it has been in the past 10 weeks, average loans tightened by 31 bps (from a much tighter average absolute spread), more than than double the absolute spread tightening in bonds, which tightened by "only" 16 bps.

The squeeze in credit continues, however now with a twist. While tightening was a dominant theme as it has been in the past 10 weeks, average loans tightened by 31 bps (from a much tighter average absolute spread), more than than double the absolute spread tightening in bonds, which tightened by "only" 16 bps.

The squeeze in credit continues, however now with a twist. While tightening was a dominant theme as it has been in the past 10 weeks, average loans tightened by 31 bps (from a much tighter average absolute spread), more than than double the absolute spread tightening in bonds, which tightened by "only" 16 bps.