Archive - Dec 2013 - Story

While there was a plethora of macro data (starting with some ugly numbers out of Australia which clobbered AUD pairs overnight), China HSBC Services PMI dipping slighlty from 52.6 to 52.5, Final Eurozone PMI Services (printing at 51.2 up from 50.9 and beating expectations of the same on an increase in German PMI numbers from 54.5 to 55.7 and a decline in French PMI from 48.8 to 48.0), Eurozone retail sales declining by 0.2%, on expectations of an unchanged print, and much more (see  below), perhaps the most important news of the day came from Japan which many expect will be the source of much more easing in the coming months and thus serve as marginal lever to push global fungible markets higher. However, not only did various BOJ officials for the first time in a while talk down expectations of a QE boost, but the head of the Japan GPIF said that it doesn't need to sell JGBs right now as it would "rock markets" and that instead can achieve its targeted 52% weighing as bonds mature, that it may buy foreign bonds instead to raise weighting to core target (as the Fed buys Japan bonds?), and that it will be very difficult for Japan to hit the BOJ's inflation target in 2 years. Is Japan already getting cold feet on rumors of more QE and did it realize there are only so many assets it can monetize. If so, watch out below on the EURJPY which has now priced in about 700 pips of expected BOJ QE boosting in early 2014.

Although Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Northeast Asia this week will likely focus on defusing tensions over China’s new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), this is hardly the only issue plaguing the U.S. in Asia. In general, U.S. Asia policy during the second Obama administration has lacked focus as senior officials have been preoccupied with domestic and other international challenges. Moreover, a number of other issues suggest that the administration continues to give inadequate attention to the Asia-Pacific, and the results it is getting reflect this relative neglect.

Ongoing anti-regime demonstrations in Ukraine are weighing on investor's risk perceptions as CDS spike to near three-year highs today (up over 100bps). At a minimum developments lower president Yanukovich's chances of remaining in power beyond the spring 2015 elections and possibly undermine his hold on power earlier, further decreasing the likelihood of sizeable financial support from Russia. With Moody's earlier comments on the nation's "precarious external liquidity" position; as Goldman warns, with even higher political uncertainty ahead, an acceleration of capital outflows might also follow and while they think the authorities will eventually turn to the IMF to avoid a disorderly sell-off of the currency, recent events arguably raise the risks to that view. However, the capital outflows are already having an impact as Reuters notes, Russian banks are considerably exposed as Ukrainian banks should deposit runs escalate.

"Interest in PCs has remained limited, leading to little indication of positive growth beyond replacement of existing systems," is IDC's under-stated way of saying that personal-computer shipments are projected to fall 10.1% this year, by far the biggest annual decline on record. At IDC’s projected sales rates, shipments worldwide will stay at just more than 300 million through 2017, or barely above 2008 levels.

A world, in which former permabears David Rosenberg, Jeremy Grantham and now Hugh Hendry have thrown in the towel and gone bull retard, and where none other than the Chief Investment Officer of General Re-New England Asset Management - a company wholly-owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, has issued one of the direst proclamations about the future to date and blasts the Fed's role in creating the biggest mess in financial history, is truly upside down...

As an experiment, Bloomberg Businessweek typed the names of the 50 states into Google to see what people most frequently ask about them. The questions range from dumb (well, mostly dumb) to revealing, both about the states and about the people doing the searching. Lots of questions about carrying a gun, buying alcohol, getting divorced, and fighting union organizers. Whether a state is in the Midwest or South seems to be a particular obsession. But the most common question about the states is even more basic: Is it a state? or Is it racist?

Among Cliff Asness' top peeves are commonly held and oft-repeated beliefs that are wrong or misleading and can potentially hurt investors. The asset manager politely requests people stop saying - "There is a lot of cash on the sidelines." Everyone should pay attention...

One of the following seems very eager to please his new master...

As we noted here, October 2013 NYSE margin debt stood at a new record high of $412.5b (up from $401.2b in September) and exceeded the prior high from April of $384.4b and net investor worth dropped to a record low. However, as BofAML notes, NYSE margin debt and the S&P 500 have +0.76 correlation using a 48-month (4-year) correlation as of October 2013. This is the highest correlation in our data history back to 1964. A positive correlation means that margin debt and the S&P 500 tend to move together; which as they helpfully note means - as long as the market rises, margin debt is not a risk. Better keep BTFATHing, it's the patriotic thing to do.

Renting and leasing of consumer products with the intention of testing them out or keeping them after a specific period is nothing new, and has been the basis for viable business models in the US, and around the world, with companies such as Rent-A-Center and Aaron's for decades. However, renting and leasing clothes is something that only a materially cash strapped people would engage in. Such as those of Europe, where the depression has been going on for five years and has manifsted itself in record unemployment month after month, and youth unemployment that in many cases is well over the 50% mark. In this context one has no choice but to live thrifty, even if that means renting, and leasing, second-hand clothing.

Even if you don't have a Nobel Prize, it should be glaringly apparent to anyone with half a brain - the financial markets have been soaring while the overall economy has been stagnating. Despite assurances from the mainstream media and the Federal Reserve that everything is just fine, many Americans are beginning to realize that we have seen this movie before.  We saw it during the dotcom bubble, and we saw it during the lead up to the horrible financial crisis of 2008.  So precisely when will the bubble burst this time?  Nobody knows for sure, but without a doubt this irrational financial bubble will burst at some point.  Remember, a bubble is always the biggest right before it bursts, and the following are 15 signs that we are near the peak of an absolutely massive stock market bubble...

Annualized auto sales spiked their most MoM in almost 3 years reaching their highest level since May 2007 and beating expectations by the most since cash-for-clunkers in 2009. Inventories are at record highs, GM channels are almost the most-stuffed on record, and incentives are surging once again... the "field of dreams" economy rolls on... what could possibly go wrong?

It seems some among the mainstream media believe "the economy is improving." In the interests of clearing up that little misunderstanding, we hope the following chart will clarify which "economy" is improving...

When former Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski was convicted for stealing $150 million in company money in 2005 on 22 criminal counts including grand larceny, conspiracy, securities fraud/sales and falsifying business records to a prison term of 8.33 to 25 years, he became the poster child for corporate greed. Shortly thereafter the entire financial system nearly collapse when everyone on Wall Street became a poster child for corporate greed and nobody went to jail. As such it became a moot point to make anyone a symbol for "corporate greed" since the Department of Justice itself admitted there is a brand new category reserved for the uber-greedy ones, also known as Too Big To Prosecute. Which is why moments ago, news broke that Kozlowski was granted parole after serving 100 months in jail, exactly nobody was surprised.

Despite the double-POMO, US stocks fell with the highest volume in 2 weeks today. The S&P 500 and EURJPY were joined at the hip for entire day exchanging the leadership role with each momentum ignition rally faded at VWAP. No deer today but with VIX's move and stocks down 3-in-a-row, some are starting to worry (which with a 1.4% from the highs drop in the S&P is kinda pathetic). Treasuries rallied (but remain 2-4bps higher on the week) mirroring the move in the USD (which sold off back to unchanged on the week as EUR strengthened). Despite an early blip, gold flatlined but silver slid lower as WTI crude surged further (closing +3.7% on the week back over $96). VIX closed off its intraday highs but at 2-month highs as it seems hedgers unwound into underlying sales.