Archive - Apr 2015 - Story

"Greece is to allow money held abroad by its taxpayers to be declared without penalty and taxed at a discount rate, a move to help overcome a cash crunch threatening the country with bankruptcy," Reuters reports. This may sound like a good idea in principle, but we’re not entirely sure why this represents a compelling value proposition for those who are storing their euros in the safe confines of Swiss bank accounts.

The reason this is a politically explosive revelation is because the Clinton Foundation promised to disclose its donors as a condition of Hillary Clinton becoming secretary of state. Shortly after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, the Clinton Foundation signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the Obama White House agreeing to reveal its contributors every year.

It hasn’t.

Apple fan-boys have proclaimed the Apple Watch a screaming success as Tim Cook explained he was "generally happy" with the launch. The big driver of the impression of awesomeness was how hard it was to get one... i.e. so much demand that supply copuld not keep up. However, as The Wall Street Journal reports, it was not demand, it was instead defects that forced the company to limit supply.

The Baltimore riots may have calmed down but their aftermath remains, and nowhere is it more tangible than what is taking place in Orioles Park right now.

Why have Apple shares languished in the wake of Monday's top and bottom line beat? We may now have the answer...

There is a financial crisis on the horizon. It is a crisis that all the Central Bank interventions in the world cannot cure. It is a financial crisis that will continue to change the economic landscape of America for decades to come. No, we are not talking about the next Lehman event or the next financial market meltdown. Although something akin to both will happen in the not-so-distant future. It is the lack of financial stability of the current, and next, generation that will shape the American landscape in the future.

Sad... but true...

No one earned it. No one saved it. But here’s our prediction: Someone will miss it when it is gone! If the US money supply were a deck of cards, Uncle Sam has been slipping in extra aces for the last 44 years. In the third quarter, net liquidity is likely to turn negative. And the stock market is likely to correct. What then? The Fed will panic and announce QE4… and other measures.

Bonds & stocks seem confused by the somewhat hawkish Fed statement with modest gains for both amid a lot of oscilation around unchanged. The Dollar, however, is quite sure and is surging (EURUSD -100pips) with crude and precious metals sliding.

At a stunning pace of 608 words in just 4 minutes, The Wall Street Journal's Fed-Whisperer, Jon Hilsenrath, has proclaimed his "common knowledge" meme for today's FOMC statement. Confirming that officials "aren’t at this point alarmed about the first quarter slowdown," and in fact stating they are confident of spending picking up due to consumer sentiment (which just fell)... which leaves them signalling no shift in policy stance - i.e. rate hikes are coming whether the economy can handle it or not...

At 560 words, this was not only the lowest wordcount of any FOMC statement since October 2012, just before QE3 was launched in December of 2012, but actually had fewer words than Hilsenrath's 608 words "explainer" of what the Fed just said.

With everyone hoping that The Fed says something dovish (because after all stocks are 1% off their highs) there was some disappointment as the weakness was shrugged off as transitory:

• *FED SAYS WINTER SLOWDOWN PARTLY REFLECTS `TRANSITORY FACTORS'
• *FED SEES MODERATE GROWTH, JOB GAINS EVEN AFTER 1Q SLOWDOWN

In the end, once again, the dovish Fed provides just enough wealth-creating hope to keep stock dreams alive but knows it has to move sooner rather than later (keeping the "but we think the economy will strengthen" meme alive).

Pre-FOMC: S&P Futs 2099.50, 10Y 2.04%, EUR 1.1175, Gold $1210, Oil $58.85

Greek deposits fall €2.5 billion in March to the lowest level since 2005 as the cash crunch intensifies ahead of looming payments to government employees and the IMF. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank sees a referendum on a "reluctant" reform agreement as the most likely "solution" (although most Greeks reportedly oppose such a step) but says the chances of a less favorable outcome are still at least 30%.

The news of Navinder Sarao's arrest, the scapegoat for all that is broken with the world's equity markets, may have come, gone and be largely forgotten, but while the CFTC is happy to have washed the corruption and incompetence off its hands by destroying the career of one insignificant trader (whatever happens, redirect public attention from the HFT firm that just came public and boasted of one trading loss day in 6 years) Sarao is facing decades in prison. And, what is worse for the alleged mastermind of the May 2010 flash crash, he won't even be able to enjoy a few weeks in quasi-freedom. Why? Because this lonely 36 year old, who "crashed" the entire market 5 years ago from his parents' basement (literally), can't even afford bail.