Archive - May 3, 2011 - Story

Conservative Party wins outright parliamentary majority, with New Democrats now in role of official opposition. Liberal Party has its smallest representation ever and Bloc Quebecois dwindles to just a few seats.

In my worst nightmares, when the lights are swallowed by the smog of some nefarious gloom and the air itself becomes a stale sarcophagus into which I am entombed, and the grim hands of putrefied fate sink their wretched grip into the thick of my neck and all seems irrevocably lost, I merely recall that soon I will awaken to the horror of a terminal America infested by career criminals and certifiable morons, and suddenly, my off color dreams don’t seem so bad. Ultimately, there is nothing worse to me than a public majority that takes everything they hear from the mouths of political warlocks at face value. Even the fear of death is truly a pittance compared to the threat of being enveloped by a stampeding herd of frightened, stupid, human cattle. Is this melodramatic? Not at all. When a man is aware, and by aware I mean honest with himself, he inevitably suffers the pain of being certain while the rest of the world enjoys the bliss of false assumptions. We live in a culture that inflicts great punishment on those who know, and lavishes enticing but short lived rewards on those who ignore. In such a place as this, meaning disappears, and countries die.

A light data calendar today in an otherwise busy week.

• Treasury Will Act to Avoid Default (WSJ)
• Conservatives Romp to Crushing Canadian Election Win (Reuters)
• China Housing Buyers Hang Back (Shanghai Daily)
• Fed Says Banks Eased Terms as Loan Demand Rose (Bloomberg)
• Morgan Stanley Joins Funds Buying Commodities As Goldman Sachs Says Sell (Bloomberg)
• U.K. Manufacturing Index Dropped to Seven-Month Low in April (Bloomberg)
• Global Standard on Banks’ Lending Risks Urged (FT)
• New Bundesbank Chief Takes Helm (FT)
• Swiss Freeze Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali’s Funds (FT)
• Nations Brace for Retaliation (WSJ)

After a few less than negative pieces of economic data out of the UK came out recently leading some to believe that the UK appreciation is a safe bet in advance of what seems an imminent BOE hike, today all the GBP bulls got another cold dose of reality after the PMI came at 7 month lows. From Reuters: "Manufacturing activity grew more weakly than expected in April, at its slowest pace in 7 months, and a sharp slowdown in new orders cast a cloud over a sector that has been a rare bright spot in the UK economy. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI headline index, published on Tuesday, fell to 54.6 in April, its lowest since September, from a downwardly revised 56.7 in the previous month and well below the 56.9 consensus forecast in a Reuters poll on Friday." So to update: Japan slashes growth forecasts, Europe is overheating and due for a major monetary tightening, China already is (although the PBoC it pushed the parity to just above 6.50 last night so as not to seem too desperate), and the UK is in shambles. And somehow reverse decoupling is still expected to work? Judging by the now traditional futures levitation each and every morning the answer is a resounding yes.

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