Archive - Jan 22, 2014 - Story

Following the deaths of three protesters (two from gunshot wounds) after the government crackdown overnight instigated by the increasingly hard-line President Yanuckovich, the streets are becoming markedly more tense and violent. The uprising in Ukraine is not simply one of a youthful population dismayed at not joining Europe. Similar in vein to Thailand's protests, Ukrainians have become disgusted with the corruption in government (and increasingly enraged at Yanuckovich's repressive laws against the protesters). As Martin Armstrong warned recently, "welcome the ticking clock measuring how little time we have until this whole things just goes bust." As the following images of the war-torn-looking streets of Ukraine show, perhaps that clock is closer than many think...

There was more good news for the UK economy this morning; the unemployment rate dropped to 7.1% during the three months to December - the biggest ever quarterly increase in employment. This follows the IMF this week raising its (admittedkly terrible track record-based) forecast for the UK economy; it now expects it to grow 2.4% this year which is faster than any other major European economy. Nick Beecroft, Chairman of Saxo Capital Markets UK, is “optimistic” about Britain’s recovery, but has three concerns...

Things in the country whose central bank assets have climbed to ¥229 trillion, or 48 percent of the nation’s nominal gross domestic product, are about to get very interesting: on one hand, it will have no choice but to slow down monetization under its existing QE program. On the other, pernicious inflation is spreading doubts the BOJ will be able to boost QE in the near-future. What is a country stuck in a vortex between deflation and runaway inflation to do? "It may be too late to prevent long-term rates doing something crazy” should the BOJ hold off on tapering before inflation reaches the target, said Richard Koo, the chief economist in Tokyo at Nomura.

• Winter Storm Expected to Make Northeast Commutes Harder  (BBG)
•  Invasion of Spanish Builders Angers France Struggling to Compete  (BBG)
• Toronto mayor, caught ranting on video, admits drinking a 'little bit" (Reuters)
• IBM's Hardware Woes Accelerate in Fourth Quarter (WSJ)
• Sharp Divisions Come to Fore as Peace Talks on Syria Begin (NYT)
• Afghanistan cracks down on advertising in favor of U.S. troops (Reuters)
• Microsoft CEO Search Rattles Boards From Ford to Ericsson (BBG)
• Banks Sit Out Riskier Deals (WSJ)
• Netflix Seen Reporting U.S. Web Users Reach 33.1 Million (BBG)

New York City may be buried under more than a foot of snow, but global markets don't sleep, however judging by the color of futures this morning, today's respectable $2.25-$3.00 billion POMO will have a tough time digging US equities out of the red, following a tepid overnight session in which the traditional driver of futures levitation, the USDJPY, was flat as the BOJ disclosed unchanged policy despite some inexplicable hopes that Kuroda would increase QE as early as today.