Archive - Oct 14, 2014 - Story

The rising fear may reflect a shift in sentiment from faith in the omnipotence of central banks to skepticism.

As the US-Saudi 'secret' oil deal continues to depress the price of oil, pressure Russian revenues, squeeze European budgets, and raise doubts about the status quo (OPEC and the rest of the world), not all of The Kingdom's elites are happy. Infamous billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has written an open letter to Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and other ministers, as Reuters reports, saying the world's top oil exporter should start worrying about the recent slide in global oil prices and warned against the negative effect of such a drop on the state revenue: "Ninety percent of the 2014 budget is based on it (oil), so to underestimate (these implications) is in itself a disaster which cannot pass unnoticed," he wrote in the letter.

While Greek leaders are proclaiming victory, intending to exit the bailout plan early and fund themselves in the public marketplace - just as they did in April (despite record poverty, unemployment, and suicides); it appears investors are a little less sanguine about the prospect. Greek bond yields have topped 7% for the first time since March and any gains from the 5Y bonds sold to hedge funds in April have now gone (and Greek stocks are at 13-month lows). The driver of recent weakness appears to be fears over whether Draghi's OMT will ever be real enough to monetize Greek debt and a re-rating based on more standalone risk if Greece were to exit the bailout program early.

As if to rub salt into the wounds of Europe's death by a thousand-downgrades, Goldman Sachs followed up Germany's decision to drastically cut its growth outlook for 2014 (+1.2% from +1.8%) and 2015 (+1.3% from +2.0%) by slashing its forecast for Europe in Q3 to a triple-dip recessionary -0.15% GDP growth. This is dramatically below an "over-optimistic" consensus of +0.35% as incoming data is notably weaker than expected. The DAX remains well below the crucial 9,000 level (having plunged early in the European session) and bund yields have collapsed to new record lows.

We have shown this chart before. We will show it again because, to nobody's surprise, nothing has changed.

Just when you think the selloff couldn’t get any scarier, it did. The last hour of trading took over 1% out of the S&P 500 in rapid fashion, reportedly on fears of an Ebola check at a major U.S. airport. Today we offer up a “Top 10” list of specific markets and indicators to watch for signs of a near term market bottom. They include the CBOE VIX Index (key levels at 26 and 32), the action in small cap stocks and crude oil, and the dollar. Less quantifiable issues – but important nonetheless – are headlines related to Ebola (probably getting worse before better), 10-year Treasury bond yields (2.0% and 1.5% possible here), and European policymakers addressing a host of difficult monetary and fiscal policy issues. Bottom line: this is unlikely to be a dramatic “V-bottom” low given the range of issues of concern to investors.  Look for the majority of our “Top 10” to stop going down before calling a bottom.

No one is immune when the tide starts to turn... not even the Canadians.

As oil prices continue to fall, analysts and producers are trying to wrap their heads around the reasons and identify a floor price. Even though crude benchmarks like Brent and WTI keep dropping, the cost of finding oil continues to rise. What are some of the key drivers that have created this paradox?

Not satisfied with fighting pro-Russian separatists, Ukrainians are fighting among themselves in Kiev. As RT reports, Kiev police deployed additional forces around the parliament building after a group of demonstrators started throwing smoke bombs and firecrackers at guards in an apparent reprisal over MPs' failure to honor past nationalists. More than 15 officers have been hurt as far-right protesters clash with riot police at the government buildings on the anniversary of UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army). Perhapa more troubling is, if this is the internal tension now, how bad will it get in the winter when they are freezing as Ukraine says it won't prepay for Russian gas.

According to Wells Q3 Earnings Supplement, while Mortgage Applications declined from a transitory one year high of $72 billion in Q2 to $64 billion, this number is going far lower. The reason: Wells' Morgage Application Pipeline just tumbled back to $25 billion, matching the lowest number since Lehman, and putting an end to any debate about the state of the US housing market.

Just when the talking-heads thought it was safe to proclaim small business is back, the data turns around and smashes them in the face. The headline NFIB Small Business Optimism index slipped to its lowest since June (the 4th month below the 7-year-high peak in May). More problematic was the sub-indices which saw plans-to-hire drop to six-month lows and wage-related series stalling out, capex spending plans plunge to 2-year lows, along with current job openings.

Seemingly catalyzed by opaque black-box bank earnings (and aided by a run for 107 stops in USDJPY), the S&P has jerked 14 points higher in a few minutes as bond yields remain entirely unimpressed in an uncomfortable case of deja deja deja vu from last week. 10Y yields are below 2.20%, 30Y under 3.00%, and 5Y under 1.5%.

Another quarter down and JPM's earnings are more of the same. We don't recall if JPM's legal charges in the past few years are now $20, $30, $40 billion or more, but as of this morning they are X + $1 billion. In the company's ongoing mockery of the term "one-time, non-recurring", JPM added $1.062 billion in recurring, multiple-time pretax legal expenses, a $0.26 EPS impact to Pro Forma EPS, EPS which also declined courtesy of JPM's repurchase of $1.5 billion in shares in the quarter thus reducing the number of "S".  So what were the bottom line numbers: EPS $1.36, a miss to estimate of $1.39;Revenue (non-GAAP revenue that is): $25.16 billion, better than the $24.43 billion; that said GAAP net revenue was $24.246 billion; Non-interest expense rose tom $15.8 billion, well above the $14.52 billion expected, and more than the $15.43 billion Q/Q

The world's candy-makers are worried. As Politico reports, Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cacao, the raw ingredient in all your favorite candy, has shut down its borders with Liberia and Guinea, putting a major crimp on the workforce needed to pick the beans that end up in chocolate bars. While Ivory Coast (which produces around a third of the world's total cacao beans) has yet to see a single case of Ebola yet, the price of Cocoa futures has become extremely volatile in recent weeks breaking notably higher than its normal range between $2000 and $2700 pere ton. Simply put - and not wanting to spread panic and fear - Ebola is threatening much of the world's chocolate supply.

• No Happy Ending for Investors in Central Bank Fairy Tale (BBG)
• Ebola Response Strains Hospitals (WSJ)
• Obama, foreign military chiefs, to thrash out Islamic State plans (Reuters)
• Draghi’s ‘Whatever It Takes’ Plan on Trial at EU Court (BBG)
• Too-Big-to-Fail Banks Face Up to $870 Billion Capital Gap (BBG)
• Iran’s Message to World: You Need Us to Fight Islamists (BBG)
• Facing new oil glut, Saudis avoid 1980s mistakes to halt price slide (Reuters)
• Ukraine Grannies Outprice Banks on Hryvnia Black Market (BBG)
• HK police use sledgehammers, chainsaws to clear protest barriers, open road (Reuters)
• Gazprom Quarterly Net Rises 13%, Misses Estimate on Ukraine Debt (BBG)