Archive - Oct 2014 - Story

Earlier this week some of the biggest financial news of the year made huge waves all over Asia. Yet in the Western press, this hugely important information has barely even been mentioned. So what’s the news? The Chinese government announced that the renminbi will become directly convertible with the Singapore dollar... effective immediately.

In a sad reflection of the hope-and-change expectations, a new national poll shows likely voters in the so-called millennial generation prefer a Republican-led Congress after next week's elections, and young Hispanics are turning sharply against President Obama. As National Journal reports, the poll of 18-to-29-year-olds by Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) shows that young Americans are leaving the new Democratic coalition that twice elected Obama as the president's approval rating among Millennial tumbles from 47% in April to just 43% now (and nearly 60% of young Americans disapprove of Obamacare). However, the news is not all good as the future of the American electorate, generally hold Republicans in the lowest regard.

The idea that Hillary Clinton, or any of these politicians (like Bush, Romney and Obama) can create jobs is lunacy. It’s scary to realize just how demented our political leaders truly are. Hillary’s wrong on the idea that government creates jobs – the government destroys jobs. Here are seven reasons why...

The US midterm elections taking place on November 4 may very well lead to a shift in Senate control to Republicans from Democrats, according to Goldman Sachs. They argue that a Republican-controlled Congress could renew legislative activity – at least on small issues – but also increase (unwanted) uncertainty on some larger ones creating risk around fiscal deadlines.

Don't worry the pain will stop soon... (one way or another)

Good news for the cold-showering, snow-covered Ukrainians... Russia has reached an interim agreement to supply natural gas to Ukraine through March according to Bloomberg. Of course, this will be paid for by more IMF loans (thank you US Taxpayer), pushing Ukraine further into debt and more dependent upon the West.

Central banks are printing rules almost as fast as they’re printing money. The consequences of these fast-multiplying directives — complicated, long-winded, and sometimes self-contradictory — is one topic at hand. Manipulated interest rates is a second. Distortion and mispricing of stocks, bonds, and currencies is a third. Skipping to the conclusion of this essay, Jim Grant is worried: "The more they tried, the less they succeeded. The less they succeeded, the more they tried. There is no 'exit.'"

Two weeks ago, Sweden was gripped by a ludicrous panic when it dispatched virtually its entire army, navy and airforce to hunt down what according to eyewitness reports (subsequently proven to be false) was a Russian sub that had broken down somewhere close to Stockholm. There was no sub. However, one angle that made the story plausible were rumors of a recent surge to Russian military transports and support units to the Artcic, in a scramble to defend its vast natural resource deposits located close to the North Pole. And not surprisingly, this weaponization of the Artic was confirmed two days ago when a senior military commander said that Russia will build at least 13 airfields and 10 radar stations in the Arctic to safeguard the nation's military security in the region.

A new study has cast serious doubt on whether the much-ballyhooed U.S. shale oil and gas revolution has long-term staying power.

Nothing to see here move along:

*CITIGROUP ADJUSTS 3Q DOWN ON $600M INCREASE IN LEGAL ACCRUAL, LOWERS CITI’S 3Q '14 NET  TO $2.8B FROM $3.45B
*CITIGROUP SAYS DOJ, CFTC, OTHERS PROBING CITI'S FOREX BUSINESS

When did company earnings become like GDP: first release is highest, second is lower, third lowest? Aren't you glad you bailed this trustful people out?

If a broken window is good for the Keynesian economy, then today's broken market (worse than the 2013 Nasdaq blackout) was certainly good for stocks as exchanges broke left and right, futures volume exploded and S&P almost hit 2,000 all on the back of a 2-week old headline from Japan. Today's market was volatile... everywhere. Silver and gold were smashed lower (-2.2% & -4.1% on week); US Dollar was pumped higher (+0.5% on the week) but weakened after GDP; Treasury yields unch today, notably flatter on week (30Y unch - almost broke 3.00% today, 5Y +9bps); HY Credit wider in whippy range (+10bps on week). VIX tested to 14 but closed near 15. Stocks end mixed: Trannies -1.2% (worst in a week), Nasdaq unch, Dow +1.1% (V +145 of Dow's 220pts). Post-FOMC - Energy is down 1%, Utes/Healthcare +1.6%.

The question that remains to be answered is whether the economy and the financial markets are strong enough to stand on their own this time? The last two times that QE has ended the economy slid towards negative growth and the markets suffered rather severe correction...

We are not exactly sure which is scarier: that total financial assets amount to about 500% of world GDP or that about $75 trillion in financial leverage is just sitting there, completely unregulated and designed with one purpose in mind: to make billionaires into trillionaires (with taxpayers footing the bill of their failure).

Presented with no comment...

When the next crisis comes there will no doubt be economists and commentators who blame it on some proximal event, like the failure of a large important financial institution. Don’t be fooled. The seeds of the next crisis are already sown. Fed policy under Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen has distorted the economy in a way that makes it precariously fragile, and susceptible to collapse.