Archive - Apr 15, 2011 - Story

Bank of America continues crawling along the razor's edge, with the biggest threat to its continued business model: ongoing legacy CFC fraud being largely unprovisioned for. In the just released earnings presentation, we learn that the bank provisioned only $1 billion for its ongoing Reps and Warranties liability, after charging off a minuscule $238 million - the lowest in over a year, bringing its total liability accrual to $6.2 billion. Yet over the same period total outstanding claims by counterparty surged by nearly 30%, from $10.7 billion to $13.6 billion, primarily due to GSEs, although the steady putback rise in monoline GSE claims is relentless (and appears to have gotten to the bank considering the just announced Assured Guaranty settlement, see below). Total outstanding claims at the end of Q1 totalled $13.6 billion. Also someone please explain to us how Merrill Lynch (see footnote
2) is one of the parties responsible for filing new claims against its
parent and rescuer Bank of America. As for a real world example of just what the real cost of these
liabilities is in a full discharge scenario, we have the just announce
settlement with Assured Guaranty which cost the company $1.1 billion to
settle loss-sharing reinsurance arrangement on 21 first
lien RMBS transactions totalling $4.8 billion net par. In other
words the settlements that are about to be announce with MBIA and other
monolines could possibly be in the double digits, crushing BAC's earnings in whatever quarter they are announced.

Gold and silver have reached new all time and 31 year record highs in trading in London this morning. Silver is particularly strong and the euro particularly week on sovereign debt contagion concerns. Inflation and sovereign debt fears are leading to continued safe haven demand. It is import as ever to note that the record highs are nominal highs and inflation adjusted gold and silver remain a long way from their respective highs of $2,400/oz and $140/oz in 1980. These inflation adjusted highs remain viable long term price targets. $1,500/oz and $50/oz remain short term targets. Resistance levels have been breached and thus these psychological price points will likely now be tested. Trading and timing markets remains high risk but astute hedge funds and other traders will continue to “make the trend their friend’. The negative treatment of gold and silver is in marked contrast to the treatment of more high risk individual equities and equities in general. Bearish sentiment abounds and we have seen a lot of profit taking this week. These are tell signs and contrarian signals that gold and silver are far from the bubbles that some have been claiming for some time.

Following China's blistering CPI which came as leaked at 5.4%, today we get our own number which is known by only very select traders on Wall Street. We will also get the Empire Index, TIC treasury flow data, Industrial production and capacity utilization, UMichigan consumer sentiment, a couple of Fed speeches and of course, POMO.

Just as JP Morgan, Bank of America takes accounting manipulation to the next degree and lowers its credit loss provision to $3.8 billion, down $6.0 billion from a year earlier, and $2.3 billion from Q4, even though the actual amount of charge offs sequentially barely declined from $6.7 billion to $6.0 billion. "The provision for credit losses was $3.8 billion, which was $6.0 billion lower than the same period a year earlier. The provision was lower than net charge-offs, resulting in a $2.2 billion reduction in the allowance for loan and lease losses, including the reserve for unfunded commitments, in the first quarter of 2011 (net of reserve additions of $1.6 billion related to consumer-purchased credit-impaired portfolios as noted below). This compares with a $1.0 billion reduction in the first quarter of 2010." Even so, the company still was unable to goal seek its EPS consensus of $0.26, coming in at $0.17. Without this accounting gimmick, BAC would have had a sizable loss in Q1.

RANsquawk European Morning Breaking News - Stocks, Bonds, FX -- 15/04/11

RANsquawk European Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 15/04/11