Archive - Jan 30, 2015 - Story

Having tumbled (and missed) for two straight months, hope triumped in January and pushed Chicago PMI above expectations printing 59.4 (against 57.4 consensus). This is still the 2nd worst print since July so let's not get all excited quite yet as only 4 components rose. This is the 4th month in a row of negative YoY prints. So just to clarify - US GDP misses notably and stocks say "meh" but Chicago PMI beats and stocks smash higher on a JPY lifeboat...

Back over 15 / USD for the first time since March 2009, the Mexican Peso is tumbling hard this morning... and the Brazilian Real is also tanking (back near 10-year lows) - no clear catalyst aside from further weakness in oil producer and EM FX sentiment.

Having explained last month why he would not bail out the stock market again, (non-voting) Fed member Jim Bullard trotted out the usual vicissitudes this morning on Bloomberg TV trying to sound as upbeat and positive as possible: ECB QE is good for the US economy, low oil prices "unambiguously positive" for US, and ses unemployment below 5% in Q3. But then he unleashed the awful truth:

*BULLARD SAYS HE'D LIKE TO GET OFF ZERO RATE SOONER, REASONABLE TO EXPECT RATE RISE JUNE OR JULY

Warning that "waiting to raise rates, risks falling behind the curve," which sent Treasury yields lower and stocks into a confused frenzy of "what did he say?" as they realize that the upbeat talk is just talk and The Fed will raise rates no matter - as we noted yesterday - it's the lesser of two evils.

UPDATE: "CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS" are over: VAROUFAKIS SAYS WILL NOT ACCEPT SELF-PERPETUATING CRISIS

As Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem (of "template" foot in mouth infamy) heads to Athens for talks today, Bloomberg reports the new Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has a clear message for his European overlords of the past: “We don’t want the 7 billion euros...We want to sit down and rethink the whole program." While this exposes the nation's banking system to further runs, yesterday's revelation that Russia could step in with financing should they need it, leaves Dijsselbloem and Shulz with less and less leverage even as Spain's chief economic advisor warns, if Greece doesn't play along, "there will be problems on all fronts."

Following last quarter's upward revised 5.0% GDP, driven higher mostly as a result of even more mandatory Obamacare taxation, Q4 GDP had nowhere else to go but down, the only question was how much. Wall Street estimated 3.0%. Moments ago we got the first estimate for Q4 GDP and it was a miss, printing at 2.6%, and nearly 50% below the Q3 annualized number. This also means that the final 2014 GDP is 2.4%, higher than the 2.2% in 2013 as well as the 2.3% in 2012.

The Employment Cost Index (ECI) has become the new black on economic fashion circles and this morning's data will likely disappoint some. While meeting expectations with a 0.6% QoQ rise, this is slower than the 0.7% QoQ growth in Q3 and what is more problematic is much of the rise was driven by  2.5% YoY rise in Natural Resources industries (which we suspect will absolutely not be there going forward given the layoffs and collapse of the Shale industry). Furthermore, the total cost of employment index was pushed higher YoY by the biggest YoY surge in "benefits" costs since March 2012.

"...but it can't go any lower, right?" On the heels of yesterday's German deflation and today's near-record EU wide deflation prints... and the ongoing tumble in inflation expectations post-Q€ - the rush for the safety of Bunds continues (and with it the arb-drag on US yields) as for the first time ever, 30Y German Bunds yield below 1%...

The sales of iPhone, which are captured in other consumer durable sales, grew on average 60%y/y since September, propelled predominately by the launch of new product. Excluding iPhones, retail sales value would have contracted almost 1%y/y in October, at the peak of the 'Occupy' movement, and expanded a more subdued 1.3%y/y during Sep-Nov 14 (see figure 1). In other words, over 60% of retail sales growth was attributable to iPhone in late 2014.

No matter how hard one tries to suppress one's feelings... sometimes they burst out at the most inopportune moments... John McCain is at it again.

With every central bank scrambling to export deflation, and with the Saudis doing everything in their power to definancialize crude as an investment asset and destroy the US shale patch, it is probably no surprise that the ECB is utterly hopeless to prevent Europe from sliding into an all out deflationary contraction, which this morning Eurostat confirmed when it reported that in January, Euro Area deflation was "worse" (assuming it is worse when consumers pay less for goods and services, which it only is if they are sinking in debt) than the -0.5% expected reading, instead sliding from -0.2% in December to -0.6% in January, which also happens to be tied for the worst deflationary print in the Euroarea history, matching the number from July 2009 when the world was reeling in the global Great Financial Crisis depression.

• Falling Prices Spread Pain Far Across The Oil Patch (WSJ)
• ISIS Group Claims Responsibility for Attacks That Killed 27 in Egypt (NBC)
• Russia Unexpectedly Cuts Key Rate as Economy Eclipses Ruble (BBG)
• Greece’s Feisty Finance Minister Tries a More Moderate Message (NYT)
• U.S. homeownership hits 20-year low, but new households growing (Reuters)
• Indian Banks’ Shares Plunge as Bad-Loan Provisions Surge (BBG)
• Underground Terror Network Said to Benefit Would-Be Jihadists in Europe (WSJ)
• Russia warns West support for Kiev could lead to 'catastrophe' (Reuters)

While the US daytime trading session has lately become a desperate attempt to expand multiples on the declining earnings of the S&P500, thanks to recurring BOJ intervention in the USDJPY, to keep the S&P above the 100 SMA at all costs including generous central banker verbal intervention then it is during the US overnight session when global deflationary reality reasserts itself with a vengeance, and sure enough at last check, the 10 Year has rallied with 10Y yield hitting 1.71% before this morning’s 4Q GDP release, as well as following the latest deflation number of -0.6% out of Europe (worse than the -0.5% expected) which was the biggest price decline on the continent since 2009.  "Treasuries remained well bid overnight due to month-end index adjustments. Some talk of a  reallocation from equities to bonds trade going through in both Asia and continuing in Europe," ED&F Man head of rates and credit trading Tom di Galoma wrote in a note to explain the latest Great Unrotation, if only until the Virtu HFT algos get the full blessing of the Fed to ramp the USDJPY, and thus the stock market.

Yesterday we reported that in less than 1 month in 2015, so far a whopping 13 countries have proceeded with "surprising" rate cuts: Singapore, Europe, Switzerland, Denmark, Canada, India, Turkey, Egypt, Romania, Peru, Albania, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. As of this morning, make that total 14, because in one of the more "surprising surprises" so far, it was none other than the Bank of Russia which cut its main interest rate from the 17% shocker it instituted at an emergency session on December 17 to halt the Ruble collapse (as a result of the crude price plunge) to 15% less than an hour ago. At the same time it cut the deposit rate to 14% and the repo rate to 16%.