Archive - Jun 20, 2014 - Story

Here are all the latest news and updates from the rapidly-changing situation in Iraq.

• Must be an early winter: Housing Falters as Forecasters See U.S. Sales Dropping  (BBG)
• China Property Failures Seen as $33 Billion in Trusts Due (BBG)
• Polish Prime Minister Says Recording Scandal May Trigger Early Election (WSJ)
• Iraqi forces ready push after Obama offers advisers (Reuters)
• Priorities: U.S. cuts aid to Uganda, cancels military exercise over anti-gay law (Reuters)
• Kurds' Takeover of Iraqi City of Kirkuk Strengthens Their Hand (WSJ)
• U.S. says government lab workers possibly exposed to anthrax (Reuters)
• Netflix Up 21% With Tesla: The best U.S. stocks this month are ones that just a few months ago were the biggest losers (BBG)
• Architects of Iraq Invasion Return to Blame Obama (BBG)
• Nato claims Moscow funding anti-fracking groups (FT)
• Lawmakers Skeptical GM Bosses Were Unaware of Defect (WSJ)
• Corinthian Colleges Warns of Possible Shutdown (WSJ)
• Taiwan's Quanta to start mass production of Apple's smartwatch in July (Reuters)

As of this moment, US equity futures are perfectly unchanged despite what has been an almost comical reactivation of the 102.000 USDJPY tractor beam. Considering the pair has been trading within a 75 pips of the 102.000 level for the past month, one has to wonder when and what the next BOJ Yen equilibrium level will be reset to. Oddly enough, even as the USDJPY is very much unchanged, the Nikkei continues to rise suggesting that, as Nikkei reported, the GPIF is already investing Japanese pension funds in stocks. Which is great for the Nikkei catching up with the global bond bubble, what is not so great is what happens when the market realizes that the largest holder (excluding the BOJ) of JGBs is dumping, and the world's most illiquid major sovereign bond market rushes for the exits. Just recall the daily halts of Japanese bond trading from the summer of 2013 - we give it 3-6 months before it returns with a vengeance.