Archive - May 2010 - Story

Banks protesters storm Irish parliament

Protesters have stormed parliament during a march against government plans to inject billions of euros into the country's banks.

Dozens of people broke away from the march and ran at the gates of the parliament's main building, Leinster House.

They wrestled with police, who tried to force them back and secure the gate.

At least one man suffered a head injury during the scuffles with organisers appealing for calm.

RANsquawk Market Wrap Up - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 11/05/10

Right about now the world's foremost expert on pornography, Mary Schapiro, is discussing, on a cable channel near you, market structure. We urge you not to listen to her on pain of brain liquification. Sitting next to her is Goldman emeritus cum laude Gary Gensler, head of the organization that today is getting pounded in the buttocks by its inability to manipulate gold prices lower any longer, courtesy of a DOJ that is only 20 years behind the antitrust curve, thus resulting in a new all time high in the precious metal. Yet as both of these special people have something to say about the market crash, we have culled the key points from Gensler's prepared remarks that present the official party line on Thursday's festivities.

"Most institutional and retail investors have no idea that the private trade information they are entrusting to the market centers is being made public by the exchanges. The exchanges are not making this clear to their clients, but instead are actively broadcasting the information to the HFT’s in order to court their order flow. The exchanges are likely to counter that when a subscriber signs up to their exchange they then allow the exchange to use this data as they see fit. However, how many investors would have signed that agreement knowing that their hidden orders were being exposed? This practice has been going on for years but not many investors have read the market data specifications. Every day high frequency traders are using the information that some exchanges are supplying to disadvantage unsuspecting investors.
Every time a trader places an order in certain market centers, whether at the market centers directly, or through a third-party DMA, those market centers are collecting data regarding the trader’s order flow. They are supplying the information to HFT’s that allows them to track when an investor changes price and how much stock has been accumulated. This information is helping HFT’s predict short term price movements. Institutional as well as retail footprints are being detected, and “modus operandi” and trading profiles are being created. Traders believe that their trading strategies are protected, when actually their strategies (personal data) -- including variables such as displayed quantity, time stamp, side, revisions, reserve orders, linked executions, order id numbers, accumulations, number of shares -- are being misappropriated for sale by the market centers." - Themis Trading

Another wild trading day with Algo/Igor/Robo programs running amok, as if Marlon Perkins was airhorn blasting the Wildebeest herds from a helicopter. Crazy moves back and forth, with intraday boner runs, followed by shanks, clothesline drops, so fast that the 19-year old gamers cannot even follow the motion.

Do you see what happens Larry when a CNBC anchor and a trader discuss a concept that is not prominently featured every day on Page 6? The punchline from Steve Grasso: "Michelle, I love you despite not having common sense on this issue." 4 out of 5 moronic bloggers would certianly not be so generous as to add the the last qualifier. But yes, when even people MCC, whose "talents" are elsewhere, become trading pundits, you know the end of the trading world is nigh.

Explains it all really.

Everyone's favorite permabear, Bob Janjuah, was interviewed by Bloomberg TV's Erik Schatzker. Among Bob's observations were that the EURUSD is going to parity, that Treasury yields will surge, that the European bailout is at a dead end in Europe, that the S&P fair value is at 850, and that gold will "easily" see $1,500/ounce this year. Not much new here for those how have followed his musings on Zero Hedge, but a terrific ten minutes for those who have yet to be introduced to Bob.

Well, we had a two whole days of HFT-free markets. That was about all we could ask for. And now, like evil German-sounding robots from the future, they are back. The market is melting straight up without interruption, and without any volume. Retail is now completely out of the market, and our advice to everyone is to stay out and let the computer blow themselves up again. In the meantime, please don't ask how and why Goldman and JPM can both have a perfect quarter. The chart below says it all.

Yesterday we discussed the statistically impossible trading desk results of Goldman Sachs, which reported in its 10Q that it lost money on exactly 0 days last quarter, and was profitable on 63 out of 63 days. Today we find that the rape and pillage of the middle class was not isolated to Goldman, and that JP Morgan also had a flawless quarter. And if the odds of Goldman making 63 out of 63 are virtually impossible in any universe in which risk goes hand in hand with return (but in those in which monopolies are encouraged and bailed out), the coincidence of the two main firms that control the world having a perfect track record is impossible². And since things in reality tend to be zero sum, when everyone makes money, someone may be tempted to ask the question, just who is losing money? And the answer, dear taxpayers, and [Goldman|JPMorgan] clients, is you.

And so liquidity overflows once more, with investors stampeding to get first into stocks and now into bonds, with the 3 year $38 billion auction closing at 1.414% and an all time high BTC of 3.27[actually November 2009 was the only time that BTC was slightly higher at 3.33, so for all you purists out there, now you know]. But no, there is no bubble. It is just that investors are diversifying by buying bonds, stocks, commodities and gold all at the same time.

• $38 Billion 3 year closes at 1.414% (1.307% Low, 1.370% Mid), 1.776% previously
• Bid To Cover 3.27x, previous 3.10, average 3.00. This is an all time high BTC
• Indirects at 50.7% vs average 50.91%
• Direct take down 16.5%
• Primary Dealer hit ratio 14.99%
• Allotted at high 22.27%

RANsquawk US Afternoon Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 11/05/10

Even as the toothless Sanders amendment passes unanimously and with the full endorsement of Chris Dodd (all you need to know) the Vitter amendment is voted down 62-37. In the meantime, America still pretends it is not a bankster-controlled despotic regime, in which the wealth of the middle class is funneled every day into the Wall Street/Propaganda ponzi. We will provide the rollcall and names of all financially secure for life, pardon, nay voters shortly.

MOODY'S: EURO PACKAGE `MARGINALLY INCREASES' RISK AMONG GOVS.
MOODY'S: SAYS MORE RISK BETTER THAN EURO AREA DE-INTEGRATING
MOODY'S SAYS EURO PACKAGE `ALLEVIATES LIQUIDITY CONCERNS'
MOODY'S: SAYS EURO-AREA `FISCAL RETRENCHMENT' MUST COME FASTER

This market is a joke: 3 days after the powers that be ended up causing the biggest market crash in history, they have now pushed the autopilot button, which basically means nobody among the 5 entities that still trade, is allowed to sell. And the algos chase every offer into the stratosphere. This will continue until the next time the banks needs to pass a Trillion dollar bailout or push a few hundred billions in treasury supply and get all the idiots chasing after the "riskfree" assets.