Archive - Oct 3, 2011 - Story

Everyone hoping that the last quarter of the year would start on an optimistic note was disappointed following not just the continuation of last week's manipulations now that hedge funds have their marching orders from their LPs, who are certainly seeking to redeem tens if not hundreds of billions in capital, but also from Bill Gross' monthly letter who in "Six Pac(k)in'" writes that "there are no double-digit investment returns anywhere in sight for owners of financial assets. Bonds, stocks and real estate are in fact overvalued because of near zero percent interest rates and a developed world growth rate closer to 0 than the 3 – 4% historical norms. There is only a New Normal economy at best and a global recession at worst to look forward to in future years." And pontificating on a theme started many months ago by Zero Hedge with observations on the relative contribution to income from labor and capital (a modern day warning to Marxists), Gross warns that "both labor and capital suffer as a deleveraging household sector in the throes of a jobless recovery refuses – if only through fear and consumptive exhaustion – to play their historic role in the capitalistic system. This “labor trap” phenomenon – in which consumers stop spending out of fear of unemployment or perhaps negative real wages, shrinking home prices or an overall loss of faith in the American Dream – is what markets or “capital” should now begin to recognize" His conclusion: "A modern day, Budweiser-drinking Karl Marx might have put it this way: “Laborers of the world, unite – you have only your six-packs to lose.” He might also have added, “Investors/policymakers of the world wake up – you’re killing the proletariat goose that lays your golden eggs." More or less reminds us of the warning above the gates of hell in Dante's Inferno...

Two months ago we said core European default risk is about to surge on risk transfer fears. This morning German CDS just hit a record. Yesterday, and on Friday, we said Belgium CDS is about to be monkeyhammered. Sure enough, Belgium is the worst performed of all European sovereigns, +18 on the day and soaring and threatens to go offerless as we type on imminent Dexia nationalization fears. And there's your alpha for the day.

Risk averse trade was observed in early European trade following the news over the weekend that Greece were to miss budget deficit targets set by the Troika with the Asian markets closing sharply lower into the beginning of the European session and consequently fixed income markets being heavily supported. Focus remained on the banking sector following reports that consultations are underway regarding the nationalisation of Belgian bank Dexia with further comments from ECB’s Noyer on the dependence of French banks on USD funding. At the Equity open Dexia opened down 12% with the French banks underperforming heavily, however as the session progressed risk sentiment did begin to creep back into the markets with the Euro-area manufacturing PMI’s generally being higher than expected. This was allied with the ECB’s Securities Market Programmed rumoured to be buying in the Spanish and Italian curves with significant tightening observed in both countries 10-year government bond yield spread over Bunds. Looking forward in the North American session focus will be on the Eurogroup meeting due to start at 1600BST where discussions on EFSF leveraging will be on the agenda. In terms of data there will be the ISM manufacturing report for September and the start of Operation Twist, alongside the latest Outright Treasury Coupon Purchases.

Nomura Bob is back with another hotly anticipated if, unfortunately, grammatically flawless, market strategy piece. Short and sweet, Bob as usual cuts right to the point. "My secular view remains bearish. In or within a year from now I expect global equities to be 25% to 30% lower. My S&P500 target for the low in 2012 remains 800/900, and I think an 'undershoot' into the 700s is entirely possible. In this bearish outcome I would expect 10-year bund yields at 1% to 1.25%, 10 year UST yields at 1.25% to 1.5%, and 10-year gilts below 2%. The USD should do well, credit and commodities should not....On a secular basis, investors should remain cautious, and focus on strong balance sheets and strong/robust business models. I expect the next year to be about capital and job preservation. Any counter-trend rally should be tradable but short lived - it should be viewed opportunistically."

ISM manufacturing index, construction outlays and vehicle sales/GM channel stuffing.

Tired of all the trite meaningless propaganda from Economic PhDs who crawl out of the woodwork every time there is a downtick in gold, proclaiming in big bold letters that the Gold "bubble" has burst, only to crawl right back in when gold soars $100/oz in the days following their latest terminally wrong proclamation? Or, alterantively, wondering what will happen to gold from this point on? Then the following report from Nomura is for you. As Saeed Amen analyzes: "In this article we explain why the price of gold has fallen in recent weeks. Notably, price action during Asian hours has become very bearish, which had not been the case in previous unwinds earlier in the year. In addition, it is likely that losses in risky assets such as equities helped precipitate unwinding of very heavily extended long gold positions. However, the key reasons for being bullish gold remain; namely, a very low interest rate environment and the potential for long-term demand from Asia. Also, the potential for gold’s status as a safe-haven hedge to tail risks arising from various uncertainties due to the European debt crisis is likely to be enhanced, especially now that short-term speculative positioning is relatively light. Also on a short-term basis, we have begun to see some reversal in gold  back upwards during Asian hours, after the unwind." Overall, informative but nothing new to regular readers: gold liquidations on market plunge (confirming ironically that gold is now among the most liquid types of investments in the market) as had been predicted months ago, and the same long-term fundamentals for the metal once the current stock downturn shakes out all the weak hands.

• German conservative MP says "Greece is bankrupt" (Reuters)
• Eurogroup to discuss EFSF leveraging, Greek reforms (Reuters)
• Europe Aims to Dodge ‘Scapegoat’ Label (BBG)
• UK Treasury Fears Effects of a Euro Break-up (FT)
• Dollar Beating All Assets in September Undermines S&P Downgrade (BBG)
• Japan Tankan Sentiment Below Pre-Quake Level on Global Slump (BBG)
• Osborne Reaches for Middle Ground (FT)
• Hong Kong Banks Face Higher Credit Risks in Midterm, KPMG Says (BBG)
• Greece to Miss Deficit Targets Despite Austerity (Reuters)
• US Congress Presses China on Currency (FT)

Just when you thought the latest round of liquidity improvement rumors out of the ECB (such as the resumption of a 12 month refinancing operation from last week) would buy the European financial system some time (not like many did, but for the sake of sentence construction bear with us), here comes reality confirming that it took about 4 days before liquidity got hopelessly snarled up again. As of Friday, the ECB Deposit Facility usage soared to a fresh 2011 high of €200 billion, beating the previous high of €198 billion set on September 12. Once again banks are scared of keeping excess cash with each other (as confirmed by the nearly 50th consecutive increased in LIBOR) and instead have dumped a 2011 high amount with the ECB. And the flip side, or looking at the ECB's Marginal Lending Facility, which does just as it says, shows that €1.4 billion in cash was loaned out from the ECB to "needy" banks - the highest since the €3.4 billion lent out September 14.

If there is one thing Zero Hedge readers should be well aware of, it is that the biggest Belgian bank (whose assets are 180% of Belgian GDP) Dexia is in trouble. Potentially very big trouble. Sure enough, even those embarrassingly late to the party "analysts" at Moody's have just figured it out: "Moody's Investors Service has today placed on review for downgrade the standalone bank financial strength ratings (BFSRs), the long-term deposit and senior debt ratings and the short-term ratings of Dexia Group's three main operating entities -- Dexia Bank Belgium (DBB), Dexia Credit Local (DCL) and Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (DBIL). The review for downgrade of Dexia's three main operating entities' BFSRs is driven by Moody's concerns about further deterioration in the liquidity position of the group in light of the worsening funding conditions in the wider market." Immediate result: stock plunges up to 15% overnight. We are still confident the outcome will be a full or partial nationalization, with all the ensuing bells and whistles for the various trading securities.

On the policy front, a series of critical EFSF votes went through last week without any hiccup, including the German, Finnish, and Slovenian decisions. Though the clearing of these hurdles provided some support to markets in the earlier part of the week, renewed Greek headlines pushed risky assets lower. In FX, a similar pattern persisted as in other asset classes, with most Dollar crosses matching the round trip during the week, including in EM. Only a few currencies marked notable new lows last week, in particular the Canadian Dollar. Positioning has continued to move in favour of defensive currencies, in particular the USD. The latest IMM report hints at very stretched short positioning in currencies like the EUR, AUD, and CAD. The upcoming week will provide more detail on both key subjects. Firstly, we will get the latest round of PMIs, though regional US surveys and preliminary readings in Europe suggest that macro data will continue to stabilise at relatively low levels, as mentioned earlier. The second important issue is the upcoming ECB meeting.