Archive - Jun 2011 - Story

A few months ago we reported on Goldman's proposal to change the definition of GDP to make the US economy appear to be growing faster than it really is. So far, it has not caught on, as even the revised definition will soon confirm a contraction. But that proposal appears to have given Joe Biden some ideas, who now has taken the Fukushima approach to (sur)reality, whereby one merely changes the terms of data measurement when the data does not cooperate. Enter the revised CPI: "Lawmakers are considering changing how the Consumer Price Index is calculated, a move that could save perhaps $220 billion and represent significant progress in the ongoing federal debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks." And because nobody has an issue with the current artificial hedonic and otherwise adjustments to the CPI which always reflect a far lower increase in prices than what is actually happening, here comes the government with another idea to make inflation appear to be rising even slower: "According to congressional aides familiar with the discussions, the proposal would shift how the Consumer Price Index is calculated to reflect how people tend to change spending patterns when prices increase. For example, consumers tend to drive less when gas prices increase dramatically.  Such a move is widely seen by economists as resulting in a slower rise in inflation. That would impact an array of federal programs that are linked to CPI including the Social Security program and income tax brackets set by the federal government. The proposal could lower federal spending by around $220 billion over the next decade, based on calculations by last year's White House deficit commission, which recommended the change as part of its final report." What does this mean practically? SImply said, the worst of all worlds for the US middle class: "[the proposal] would likely lead to both lower benefits paid to seniors and higher taxes paid by most people who pay federal income tax." We expect this last-ditch accounting gimmick will be implemented shortly, and the broader American population will not care one bit that it's purchasing power will see a step function drop yet again in the ongoing crusade to destroy the dollar.

From Reuters:

• EDF <EDF.PA> SAYS MINOR INCIDENT AT PALUEL REACTOR 3 IN APRIL CAUSED INTERNAL BREACH IN WATERPROOFING, NO EXTERNAL LEAKAGE

And since they promise no external leakage occured, who are we to doubt them?

Merely minutes after reporting the third daily surge in the SHIBOR we see a Dow Jones update which confirms that this liquidity escalation is far more serious than a merely transitory jump in short-term lending rates. Per DJ: "China's central bank said Wednesday it will suspend its regular open market operation Thursday, in an apparent response to the tight liquidity conditions in the banking system." As a result of the just reported 7 Day SHIBOR hitting 8.81%, the highest since October 2007, the PBoC will not conduct regularly scheduled open market operations tomorrow when it offers three-month paper, to mop up excess liquidity in the country. "The PBOC sold CNY1 billion ($154.6 million) worth of one-year bills at 3.4019% in its operation Tuesday, after leaving the rate unchanged at 3.3058% for the past 11 weeks. On Thursday last week, the PBOC lifted the rate on its three-month bills by eight basis points to 2.9985%, the first increase on the three-month central bank bill yield since early April. "It is difficult for the central bank to find enough demand for its short-term bill offering amid the severe liquidity squeeze in the money market. If it persisted with the three-month bill offering tomorrow, the yield would jump again, adding pressure to the central bank's operating costs," said a Shanghai-based trader with a local bank."

Three days ago we first reported that not all is well in the Chinese unsecured lending market as indicated by the country's interbank lending (SHIBOR) and repo rates. Subsequent to this, the PBoC attempted to restore some sense of normalcy to the market by conducting an emergency reverse repo for CNY50 billion on Monday night, which however as expected, did nothing at all. Alas, as a quick check of the most recent 1 week SHIBOR confirms, the liquidity lock up continues as the market is scrambling over the implications of what ongoing PBoC tightening implies for the market: 7 Day SHIBOR has once again risen overnight, this time by 51 bps, to a nosebleed inducing 8.83%, doubling from a week ago. This means that it costs banks nearly 10% to borrow one week cash from one another, and confirms there is absolutely no excess liquidity in the market. Looking forward, don't look for this number to go down notably any time soon: as Market News reports: "China's economic planning agency said Wednesday that efforts to control prices are having an impact, and that monetary conditions have improved, but warned that consumer inflation this month will likely exceed May's 5.5% y/y." Which means that the only recourse the PBoC will have after reporting a 5.5% CPI will be more RRR and Interest Rate hikes, which means more liquidity extraction, which means that the 1 week SHIBOR will likely pass 10% in the next few days. It is ironic that Europe's fate now rests with China whose interbank lending market is about 8 times more tight than the comparable one in Europe. Will Europe be forced to provide China with unsecured liquidity in exchange for China buying PIIGS bonds? Ah the wonders of a ponzi scheme.

• Overnight the Greek government passed through a crucial confidence vote, however risk-aversion remained the dominant theme today as markets look ahead to next week when Parliament discusses the country's medium-term fiscal plan
• A German government source said that the finance ministry will hold talks today on working group level with banks and insurers over private creditor contributions for Greece
• BoE’s June meeting minutes revealed that some members think it is possible that more QE might be warranted if downside risks materialise

• Poll: 44% of Americans Say Worse Off Under Obama (Bloomberg)
• QE 2 Proves No Silver Bullet (Hilsenrath)
• China’s Money Rate Rises to More Than Three-Year High as Banks Hoard Cash (Bloomberg)... hmm, where have we heard this before...
• Europe’s Threat to Asian Exports May Force Slower Interest-Rate Increases (Bloomberg)
• Fed Frets Over Fiscal Recklessness Behind Calm of 0.09% Yield (Bloomberg)
• Greek Two-Year Government Notes Rise After Papandreou Wins Confidence Vote (Bloomberg)
• Plan to Ease Way for Unions (WSJ)
• PIMCO's El-Erian predicts Greece, others will default (Reuters)
• IMF: Spain needs bolder job-market reforms (Businessweek)

Gold is again being seen in Greece as an essential store of wealth, hedge against inflation and safe haven asset. The Financial Times reports that “Greek citizens are emptying savings accounts and buying gold as they brace themselves for the possibility of a sovereign default and a run on the banks.” Sales of gold coins have soared as savers seek a safer and fungible source of value, says the FT. “When the global financial crisis started, our sales of coins to investors overtook bullion for the first time,” said Harry Krinakis, at Sepheriades, a Greek precious metals trader. “Now the sales ratio has reached five to one.” Tomas, a computer technician, has exchanged his euro savings for gold coins: “I keep them at home just like my grandmother did in the second world war.” Greece is the canary in the coalmine and the likelihood is that what is happening in Greece today, people using their cash deposits in banks to buy gold bullion, will be seen in many other countries in the coming months. Indeed, news from the Perth Mint of record sales of silver coins is indicative that this trend has already begun. Bloomberg reports that “Silver-coin sales from Australia’s Perth Mint, which was founded in 1899 and processes all of the country’s bullion, have surged to a record as buyers seek to protect their wealth with the metal known as poor man’s gold

All that matters today is the Chairsatan's second post-meeting press conference and updated forecasts from the FOMC. And yes, there is no POMO today due to the early FOMC decision.

Just like yesterday's G-Pap vote of confidence was largely a snoozer and a "sell the news" type of event, so today's FOMC meeting and subsequent press conference, will likely disappoint, despite the 2 Year now trading at an Operation Twist 2 "priced in" 0.358%. It is certain that this expectations of at least some modest Fed intervention has slipped into equities. Thus, should Gross' prediction of a tentative QE3 announcement today fall through, and remember that the S&P has to be about 20% lower for the green light in our humble opinion, look for Waddell and Reed to be put under quarantine again at 12:30 when the decision is released.

Remember the whole UK stagflation scare, where the misery index recently hit a 20 year high, as both inflation and unemployment surged to two decade highs, keeping the GBP strong on expectations of rate hikes by the BOE? Well, the stagflation is still there, but according to just released BOE minutes, there has been a sudden 180 within the Monetary Policy Committee, which has now flipflopped, and just as we predicted, has fallen back to the traditional central bank fall back plan, namely "buy more bonds" as despite surging inflation, the country's central planners once again view deflation as a greater threat. As Bloomberg reports: "Bank of England minutes showed some policy makers see a potential need for further bond purchases as the economic recovery struggles and “downside” risks to growth and inflation mount. For the majority of the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, “the fiscal challenges in the euro-area periphery highlighted the potential for further adverse shocks to demand,” according to minutes of the June 8-9 meeting published today in London. “For some of these members, it was possible that further asset purchases might become warranted if the downside risks to medium-term inflation materialized." So the spin now is not to worry about that surging inflation: it's "transitory"... just as the imminent UK QE2 will be: "While U.K. inflation was 4.5 percent in May, more than twice the central bank’s target, Governor Mervyn King said last week that the current price surge is temporary as he defended keeping the key rate on hold to aid the economic recovery during the government’s budget cuts. Paul Fisher said yesterday that adding to the bank’s bond program remains “very much on the table” as a policy tool." Next up: a major quantitative easing episode out of Japan as the two "peripheral" developed economies attempt to fill the void left by the Fed and fail miserably, at which point Bernanke will have no choice but to get involved as well.

A snapshot of the European Morning Briefing covering Stocks, Bonds, FX, etc.
Market Recaps to help improve your Trading and Global knowledge

Describing new evidence of illegal foreclosures, inflated fees, and other widespread abuses, Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings wrote to Chairman Darrell Issa today to request that the Committee issue subpoenas to require mortgage servicing companies to produce previously-requested documents. “You have not hesitated—in other investigations—to issue subpoenas in a matter of days when your deadlines were missed, so it is unclear why a different standard applies to this investigation,” Cummings wrote.  “This same sense of urgency should apply even when the targets of the Committee’s investigation are banks.” On February 10, 2011, the Committee voted unanimously to investigate “the foreclosure crisis including wrongful foreclosures and other abuses by mortgage servicing companies.” “If mortgage servicing companies are allowed to disregard requests for documents that are integral to this investigation, the Committee’s integrity will be called into question and, more importantly, abuses may continue,” Cummings wrote. Today’s letter from Cummings marks the fourth in a series of letters he has sent to Issa over the past six months urging the Committee to take action on wrongful foreclosures and other egregious abuses by mortgage servicing companies. On May 24, Cummings sent a letter to Issa requesting that the Committee issue subpoenas to six mortgage servicing companies that have refused to provide documents relating to foreclosure abuses. “The best long-term solution that our Committee can offer in response to illegal acts committed by mortgage servicing companies is vigorous investigation, oversight, and reform,” Cummings added.  “Inaction will tacitly reward abuse and signal tolerance for major corporate wrongdoing.” So... what's wrong with that exactly?

A blast from the "the more things change, the more they stay the same" past courtesy of Grant Williams: "Back in the dog days of October 2008, The Consumerist published a piece on its website called ‘12 Signs You’re Addicted to Debt’. This public-spirited piece was designed to help people recognize an addiction to debt that might topple them over the edge of the abyss in the new, post-Lehman world of fear and desperation. You remember that world, right? Lehman had just collapsed? The world was about to spiral into a nightmare the likes of which hadn’t been seen in a generation? You remember, surely? The ‘GFC’? The ‘Great Recession’? No? But we all said it was a watershed that would change our behaviour for decades to come. We all swore never to forget how close we came; how terrified we all were.... In the interests of brevity, I’ve cut the original twelve signs down to ten, but that should be plenty to ascertain whether the world is addicted to debt (though it may make this introduction may be a little longer than usual). Let’s get started, shall we?..."

Following a rather anticlimatic day in which Greece did precisely as the conventional wisdom expected it to, leading to a modest sell the news drop in the EURUSD (down to 1.4370 as of this writing), Greece is a long way from being out of the woods. Summarizing the immediate next steps is SocGen's Vladimir Pilonca: "George Papandreou’s PASOK government survived the confidence vote on Tuesday night. As expected, Papandreou obtained a relatively narrow majority, with 155 votes to 143 in the 300 seat Parliament (and two abstentions). The focus now shifts to next Tuesday’s Parliamentary vote of the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan (MTFS). The MTFS includes €28bn of additional austerity measures for 2011-2012 as well as an accelerated privatisation plan."

A few days ago, JPM's Michael Feroli literally wrote off Q2 GDP: "Recent economic data have been dispiriting, and increasingly 2Q is being written off as a lost quarter in which no progress will be made in closing the output gap." The silver lining, however, according to Feroli was that Q3 GDP would jump on a surge in auto supplies and sales to fill the vacuum left in the post-Fukushima space: "Motor vehicle assemblies sank in April, particularly at the US plants of Japanese automakers, as supply lines for parts from Japan were interrupted. That, in turn, led to a steep drop in inventories of cars on dealer lots. As Japanese parts and supplies come back on line, automakers located in the US are planning to ramp up production to replenish lean inventories." Uhm, lean inventories? It seems Michael has not had a chance to actually see what inventories look like (unlike Zero Hedge readers). In fact as we demonstrated three weeks ago, GM dealer stuffing has hit an all time high, so we can attribute this oversight to Mr. Feroli's zeal to validate yet another projection hockeystick. Yet somehow we fail to see how this massively excess inventories situation will be amenable to prompt restocking. And now we are not the only ones. According to the AP, "General Motors plans to close two U.S. pickup truck plants for two weeks in July as sales of pickups begin to wane and trucks are backlogged on dealer lots, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing the auto maker." That sure doesn't sound to us like something that would happen to an industry that has just faced a "steep drop" in inventory.