Archive - Jan 2, 2015 - Story

Having outperformed in the beheading leagues for 2014, US ally Saudi Arabia has begun 2015 with a new policy sure to please its Western 'partners'. As Entertainment.ie reports, after a number of complaints from passengers about "random males" being seated next to their wives, Saudi Arabia's national airline is looking in to segregating their flights.

"most investors take a relatively short-term view and assume that what has happened most recently will continue. They fail to recognize that economic and market forces are always working to press companies (and whole industries) back toward their respective grooves... companies rarely perform way above the industry average or way below it indefinitely. There is a constant tendency to regress toward the mean..."

US foreign policy just jumped the shark: a few days after both the FBI and the US State department were humiliated when it was revealed that it wasn't North Korea but a disgruntled, laid off Sony employee that was responsible for the "hack", and when the best possible course of action would have been to simply let this latest embarrassing incident fade from memory, moments ago Obama - currently not working out next to a rainbow or flashing his support of "Shaka" -  just signed his first executive order of 2015, imposing even more sanctions against North Korea.

As bonds rally and EUR slumps near 1.20 (the figure) following moar Draghi jawboning and suggestions of sovereign QE from the ECB, Germany has come out swinging to remind the world that it won't stand idly by as the nation's taxpayers are thrown under the bailout-the-EU-or-else bus. Michael Fuchs, deputy parliamentary floor leader of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, told Deutschlandfunk radio on Friday: "We shouldn't pump extra money into these states, but rather make sure they continue along the reform path." As Reuters reports, Fuchs further added, "I'd be grateful if (ECB President Mario) Mr Draghi would make statements along these lines."

While Jim Cramer went "all-in on oil stocks" in May 2014 (right before the collapse), it was the fracking sand-providers that were the most-loved stocks on many individual investors buying lists last year... until their worlds caved in. As WSJ reports, for many sand producers, this is their first time on the bucking bronco that is the cyclical energy business—and not all of them are ready for the wild ride. As one CEO exclaimed, "there are a lot of wide-eyed people out there right now in the industry."

Today we update where China stands on its path to a very hard landing. As the charts below show, what has been so far a controlled descent is rapidly sliding out of control.

Less drilling will not only lead to a loss of jobs for oil workers, but the services that pop up around drilling sites – restaurants, bars, construction, and more – are feeling the slowdown as well. States like Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have seen their economies boom over the last few years as oil production surged. But the sector is now deflating, leaving gashes in employment rolls and state budgets. With such extensive dependence on oil for prosperity in these states, the pain will mount if oil prices stay low.

The energy-rich former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan Thursday devalued its currency against the US dollar by 18%, as AFP notes, in the latest sign of contagion among Russia's neighbors from the plunging ruble (following Krgyzstan's 17% plunge in 2014 and Kazakhstan's 14% tumble). However, as Martin Armstrong warns, this is symptomatic of a deflationary contagion that "will contribute to now force the dollar higher... We are in a major economic collapse on a global scale. Most people do not understand that this is the real threat we face."

We will readily admit that one cannot know with certainty whether the bubble in risk assets will become bigger. However, it seems to us that avoiding a big drawdown may actually be more important than gunning for whatever gains remain. We don’t think it is a good idea to simply “take the blue pill” and rely on the idea that the effects of the money illusion will last a lot longer. It is possible, but it becomes less and less likely the higher asset prices go and the more money supply growth slows down. If no-one can say when, then the “blue pill” strategy has a major weakness. It means that things could just as easily go haywire next week as next year.

While we await today's update of the Glorious Leader's Hawaiian vacation, here is an update from Nevada on the outgoing senate majority leader's health condition: " Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid was injured today in an accident while exercising at his home in Henderson, Nevada. According to a statement from the Nevada Senator's office, Reid was hurt after a piece of equipment he was using broke, which caused him to fall. He broke a "number of ribs and bones in his face."

Well this is not supposed to happen. 2015 appears to have started with the "bad news is bad news" meme engaged as the standard USDJPY-driven opening ramp has collapsed on the back of a triple whammy of terrible data (US PMI, Construction Spending, and ISM). The Santa Rally (theoretically due to finish at the close on Monday) is in danger of not being a no-brainer... Treasury yields are plunging (10Y -6.5bps at 2.10%) Stocks only hope now is a 120.00 bounce in USDJPY.

To complete monetary union we will ultimately have to deepen our political union further: to lay down its rights and obligations in a renewed institutional order.

As the ISM data revealed moments ago, we were right to focus on the NSA data, because while the Seasonally Adjusted (and one still wonders why a survey needs seasonal adjustments - after all human psychology automatically adjusts for the seasons) New Orders number tumbled by 8.7, the biggest crash since the 13.1 crash now blamed on the Polar Vortex (can't blame the weather this time), it was the unadjusted New Orders number that was the stunner: at 53.5 this was the lowest number since before even the polar vortex: in fact it was the lowest since July 2013!

Not decoupling-er. Completing this morning's triple whammy of ugliness, US construction spending in December dropped 0.3% (against expectations of a 0.4% rise) - the biggest monthly drop since June. On the back of a crash in new orders from 66.0 to 57.3 (and prices paid plunging to 30 month lows), ISM Manufacturing also tumbled from 58.7 to 55.5 - its lowest since June (missing expectations by the most since January). Unable to find a silver lining, ISM's Holcomb proclaimed "comments are a 'bit mixed'".

So much for that whole "decoupling" meme... Just as China and then Europe saw weakness in their manufacturing PMIs, so the US data just hit, printing 53.9 (missing expectations modestly) and falling for 4 straight months to the lowest since January 2014's Polar Vortex. Production volumes are also the weakest since Jan 2014 and the employment sub-index collapsed. Markit warns, "this suggests a slowdown could become more entrenched."