Archive - Apr 2014 - Story

Last night's devastating trade data from China had the bad-news-is-good-news crowd chomping at the bit over the next massive stimulus that 'surely China will unleash...because they've got so much in reserves'. However, as we have explained previously, Chinese premier Li Keqiang destroyed those expectations last night when he ruled out major stimulus to fight short-term dips in growth. Unlike his 'desperate for a short-term fix' colleagues in the west, Li stated more thoughtfully (and perhaps more knowingly given his country's pending credit bubble crash), "we will instead focus more on medium- to long-term healthy development."

The problem is now readily apparent: without any gates to prevent HFT (ab)users from positioning themselves anywhere they wish in the constructiveness/profitabilty spectrum, it goes without saying that everyone will immediately flock to the most profitable, and hence, least constructive and most predatory, HFT strategies.

Yesterday's "best day in a year" was the ultimate Fed cat bounce as Nadaq Biotech stocks are collapsing today - approaching the crucial 20% bear market drop. With a loss of over 5.5%, this is the biggest drop since August 2011 and has the index very close to the critical 200-day moving-average support. The Biotechs are now down 2% year-to-date at new 4-month lows.

With tensions rising ever faster in eastern Ukraine, the anti-government (pro-Russia) movement in Donetsk has taken dramatic steps to bolster itself by creating a "people's army," or National Army of Donetsk. As RT reports, masked men, who are mostly civil volunteers, but also police and army defectors, say they “defend their motherland from the fascist army that’s going to kill them.” They also demand “a referendum to be independent from Kiev” and are in favor of “being with Russia.” The importance of this move is the pro-Russian local forces are now organized to repel any Ukraine (government) attempts to re-take government buildings - and conjures ugly memories of the hell that Kiev suffered for multiple weeks.

Yesterday's 10 Year auction may have been surprisingly weak, perhaps concerned about what the subsequent FOMC minutes would reveal (as it turned out the minutes couldn't have been more dovish - just as everyone knew would be the case - and sent 10Y yields sliding) but today's 30 Year reopening (Cusip: RE0) auction was quite brisk, with the high yield of 2.535% stopping through the When Issued of 2.537% by 0.2 bps. And for those who have been living under a rock and unfamiliar with the epic flattening in the yield curve, today's 30 Year was the tightest pricing since the 3.36% yield last seen in the auction from June 2013.

It appears yesterday's "Fed Cat Bounce" was exactly that. While the momos are making headlines, selling pressure is broad-based now and the S&P has just joined the Russell, Nasdaq, and Dow in the red year-to-date... "Growth" stocks are at the lows of the year relative to "Value"

Correlation is not causation but...

As one well-known trader noted - referring to the current move in the US Treasury complex - "rubber, meet road."With the death cross (50DMA crossing below the 200DMA) for bond yields and a crucial trendline having been tested now numerous times (building up its importance), it seems we are about to find out just how much "growth" stocks really do reflect the reality of 'ungrowth' in bonds and vice versa. A break of 2.64% in 10Y yield could be a critical floodgate the Fed does not want opened. As BofAML's Macneil Curry warns, 10Y Treasury bears beware, a break below this level opens up a drop to 2.399%.

Today it was NATO's turn to retaliate once more to the Russian arms build up aclong the border. only this time both with words and with actions, and by explicitly confirming that Lavrov was absolutely correct when he accused NATO of building up weapons around Russia and thus forcing Russia on the defensive, when US destroyer Donald Cook crossed the Bosphorus overnight and entered the Black Sea. Why? To "show America's commitment to the region."

Well that didn't take long. At yesterday's close, every talking head was proclaiming the growth sell off over and "see" the Fed is as easy as we said... however, this morning (after dismal data out of Japan and China) US equities have been a one-way street lower. If the world is relying on a post-cold-weather rebounding US economy to be the engine of growth... is it any wonder they are selling "growth" and buying bonds... Only the Dow is holding post-FOMC-Minutes gains and Momos and Biotechs are being monkey-hammered...

*RASMUSSEN SAYS RUSSIA NOW HAS 40,000 TROOPS ON UKRAINE BORDERS

It's not quite YouTube clips, but NATO has released satellite image-based proof that confirms the dramatic build up of Russian military forces along its borders. The images showing tanks, attack helicopters, and war planes, according to NATIO general Breedlove provide support for counter-moves by allies to safeguard their partners. Russia, for its part, has denied it has any plans to invade Ukraine and suggests that NATO is "using the crisis in Ukraine to rally its ranks in the face of an imaginary external threat to strengthen demand for the alliance ... in the 21st century."

European partners have left Russia with "no alternative" but to halt supplies of gas to Ukraine and Europe, according to a letter from Russian president Putin to European leaders. The remarks, as Reuters reports, were the strongest sign yet that Russia could curtail supplies of gas to (and through) Ukraine affecting supplies of gas to Europe (as they fear Ukraine will siphon off Russian gas meant for Europe). Russia is getting angry, and an angry Russia can simply turn the gas switch to the "Off" position and hibernate for a bit.

So from MF Global's "vaporized" commingled client assets to Basel's "evaporated" toughened derivatives rules, the banks are indeed "very happy." And now back to perpetuation the illusion that the system is stable.

When one thinks of the bailout-taking, London-Whale-suffering, regulatory-fine-paying, pay-rise-taking CEO of JPMorgan, the first analogy is not the philosophical similarities between Jamie Dimon and Martin Luther King. But, according to Dimon's letter to shareholders below, he feels injustice has been done and quotes MLK on the future ahead. "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" Progress, sometimes painful and slow, has been happening all around us all the time, and the optimist in me believes that it will continue." What a year... he begins.

Another day, another 'failed' IPO. Ally Financial - aka GMAC - that bastion of subprime auto loans and risk management, IPO'd at $25 last night (at the very bottom of the $25 to $28 range) but investors seem to prefer to sell their allocations than pile into this 'bank'. Enabling the Treasury to exit more of its losing proposition (raisng $2.38 billion), ALLY opened well below its IPO price... at $24.25. As a gentle reminder, ALLY filed to go public in March 2011.