Archive - 2014 - Story

With GREXIT once again knocking on the Euro's door, Mario Draghi has come out swinging (or jawboning). As Reuters reports, the non-political, non-meddling, completely independent central bank chief explains, structural reforms were needed to "ensure that each country is better off permanently belonging to the euro area," adding that Euro zone countries must "complete" their monetary union by integrating economic policies further and working towards a capital markets union. Brussels Uber Alles... (or else "the threat of an exit (from the euro) whose consequences would ultimately hit all members").

Hot on the heels of his Xmas Poem, 50-year NYSE veteran Art Cashin, UBS Director of Floor Operations, has unveiled his New Year's Poem summarizing the year behind and looking at the year ahead. From ISIS to The Ice Bucket Challenge and from Joan Rivers' death to Kim Jung Un's life, Cashin covers it all...

Just 3 short days ago, energy stocks were surging and oil was - according to the mainstream media - "stabilizing." Today, we plumb new cycle lows, with WTI back below $53 as every rally is to be sold for now... While no one can resist the temptation to call the bottom in oil, the recoupling of oil-dependent energy stocks from oil appears to the no-brainer trade of January... Here are 3 potential reasons for today's drop.

It appears the glorious trend of decling initial jobless claims has run its course. For the last 5 months, initial claims have oscillated around the crucial-to-the-narrative 300k level - breaking the constant downtrend of the last 4-5 years. Today's 298k print, up 17k from last week, is the same level seen in the 3rd week of July. This is the highest 6mo. rise in initial claims since the middle of the Polar Vortex.

To all those wondering if everything is rigged, we have a very simple answer: Yes.

• Behind the Scenes at Sony as Hacking Crisis Unfolded (WSJ)
• Oil Set for Biggest Slump Since 2008 as OPEC Battles U.S. Shale (BBG)
• Praet Warning of Oil Effects Signals Higher Chance of ECB QE (BBG)
• U.S. Opening Door to More Oil Exports Seen Foiling OPEC Strategy (BBG)
• Venezuela confirms recession, inflation hits 63.6 percent in Nov (Reuters)
• U.S. to station 150 armored vehicles in Europe (Reuters)
• China Stocks Rise to Finish Off Big Year (WSJ)
• RBS Suspends Bonuses of 18 Traders Amid FX Rigging Fine (BBG)

While the last trading day of 2014 will be important if only to see if Dow 18,000 can be recaptured on what is sure to be the lowest volume in years, don't expect much help from Brent which continues to slide and was down nearly 3% at $56.20 or WTI which is also flirting with the $53 level, down almost 2% overnight both set to cap the worst year for the commodity since 2008. Not much should be expected from Treasuries either, set to return over 6% in 2014 - the best performance since 2011 - crushing the latest hoard of bond shorts all of which got the Treasury move in 2014 epically wrong, which will close early at 2 pm. Which means that the HFT algos will once again be driven off the illiquid USDJPY correlation, where low volume will mean 5-10 pip moves today should be the norm, as well as European stocks, whose Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3% earlier on the latest round of jawboning by an ECB member, this time Dutchman Peter Praet, who said in an interview with German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung that lower oil prices increasingly risk de-anchoring inflation expectations, indicating that quantitative easing is becoming more likely.

After a customer went berserk 2 days ago over 40 cents, it appears the McDonalds Riots are contagious...

As a new year begins, it is easy to consider that the prospects for freedom in America and in many other parts of the world to seem dim. After all, government continues to grow bigger and more intrusive, along with tax burdens that siphon off vast amounts of private wealth. Extrapolating these trends out for the foreseeable future, it would seem that the chances for winning liberty are highly unlikely. There is only one problem with this pessimistic forecast: the future is unpredictable and apparent trends do change.

The fate of countries like Japan is really in the hands of central bankers. However, central planners are not able to manipulate markets infinitely. At a certain point, something has to give. That is when the markets will give up and disbelief will replace trust. In such a bust scenario, people flee down the Golden Pyramid of asset classes to their safe haven, being gold.

First, NYC's cops turned their back on Bill de Blasio, best known for first rushing to side with New York's "oppressed" minorities "threatened" by the local police, and then, when two weeks later 2 NYPD cops were executed in cold blood and in broad daylight in what some hinted was an unintended consequence of the mayor's bashing of the police, scrambling to undo his previous populism and to show his affection for New York's cops. Now, those tasked to protect and to serve the Big Apple, appear to have decided to turn their back on their job entirely, and in what is shaping up to be a long vendetta with the mayor, have succumbed to what the NY Post calls "a virtual work stoppage." This implicit strike by the NYPD is manifesting as follows: "traffic tickets and summonses for minor offenses have dropped off by a staggering 94 percent following the execution of two cops — as officers feel betrayed by the mayor and fear for their safety."

Having taught at The Angelo Patri Middle School - "a mostly black and latino middle school" in the Bronx - for several years, EAG News reports white male 7th grade math and science teacher Paugh William Shadow is suing New York City and the city's Department of Education claiming his race and gender made him a target for unfair treatment. The unlikely named Shadow claims he was denied the bathroom key for several years, was bullied, and "humiliated in front of his peers." The suit does not specify the damages Shadow is seeking.

With Steel output down 3.4% YoY (worst in over 2 years) and Cement output down 4% YoY (worst in 7 years) it should not be entirely surprising that the Final December HSBC Manufacturing PMI for China slumped to a contraction-implied 49.6 (a small blip up from the 49.5 preliminary print) and down from 50.0 in the previous month. This is the first contraction since April 2014 after the credit-impulse of Q2 comes back to bit in the hangover. New orders fell for the first time since April but the employment sub-index contracted again for the 14th months in a row. Market reaction is modest for now, China stocks lower and USDJPY fading.

Prisons employ and exploit the ideal worker. Prisoners do not receive benefits or pensions. They are not paid overtime. They are forbidden to organize and strike. They must show up on time. They are not paid for sick days or granted vacations. They cannot formally complain about working conditions or safety hazards. If they are disobedient, or attempt to protest their pitiful wages, they lose their jobs and can be sent to isolation cells. The roughly 1 million prisoners who work for corporations and government industries in the American prison system are models for what the corporate state expects us all to become. And corporations have no intention of permitting prison reforms that would reduce the size of their bonded workforce. In fact, they are seeking to replicate these conditions throughout the society.

Texans know all too well that relying too heavily on the oil industry can lead to trouble, and so, as Bloomberg reports, as crude prices tumble, landowners across Texas are accelerating production of a different kind of oil -- olive oil. "I can't look, it's depressing," mourns one Eagle Ford rancher over oil's demise, but "I love the trees," he brightens up as about 70 farmers across the state - up from 24 in 2008 - are hoping to cash in on America’s growing appetite for olive oil.