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A statistic that may surprise some, is that January 2009 has seen a record amount of new Investment Grade issues: $104 billion so far. This easily surpasses the 2008 total of $83 billion. Granted, of this tally $61 billion is FDIC-guaranteed paper, but the $43 billion non-financial balance is still much higher than the $28 billion comparable in 2008 and $11 billion in 2007. Even more surprising is that 56% of new issues were BBB rated, up from 25% in December. This is summarized below:

A statistic that may surprise some, is that January 2009 has seen a record amount of new Investment Grade issues: $104 billion so far. This easily surpasses the 2008 total of $83 billion. Granted, of this tally $61 billion is FDIC-guaranteed paper, but the $43 billion non-financial balance is still much higher than the $28 billion comparable in 2008 and $11 billion in 2007. Even more surprising is that 56% of new issues were BBB rated, up from 25% in December. This is summarized below:

• Economy on the brink: durable goods orders plummet, unemployment benefits hit record high (Bloomberg here and here)
• Citi follows in Merrill footsteps, cancels boondoggles, cuts down on trips (NY Post)
• Ford burns $5.5 billion in cash, changes tune, might need bail ou
  

Tim Geithner is moving fast. In this addition to the US Treasury's website made available literally hours ago, he discloses a variety of TARP-related documents that had not been publicly available previously, most notable among them being this disclosure about the Targeted investment program that the Treasury has established w/r/t keeping Citi alive.

• Ruble rubble - currency crashes Wednesday by record 2.5% (Moscow Times)
• Latest "reflexivity" ruminations by George Soros (FT)
• House passes stimulus bill; not one republican votes for (Brutally Honest)
• Doom and gloom: economic pain to be "worst for 60 years" (

New DTCC weekly change numbers released for week ended January 23. Most notable is the huge gross notional and contractual amount of full terminations of consumer services CDS. Looks like funds are fully covering overhanging shorts. As this has been the most profitable position over the past 3 months it is not too surprising. Based on this technical data, we would recommend establishing short positions in the space due to the diminishing risk of a mass squeeze.

New DTCC weekly change numbers released for week ended January 23. Most notable is the huge gross notional and contractual amount of full terminations of consumer services CDS. Looks like funds are fully covering overhanging shorts. As this has been the most profitable position over the past 3 months it is not too surprising. Based on this technical data, we would recommend establishing short positions in the space due to the diminishing risk of a mass squeeze.

It seems there are two sorts of people out there right now: those who say that no matter how much money the government throws at every problem it will never result in hyperinflation, and those that say that hyperinflation is now an inevitability regardless of what actions are taken fr

It seems there are two sorts of people out there right now: those who say that no matter how much money the government throws at every problem it will never result in hyperinflation, and those that say that hyperinflation is now an inevitability regardless of what actions are taken fr

The real first black president (David Palmer) couldn't save this one.

*ALLSTATE SUSPENDED SHARE BUYBACK
*ALLSTATE INSURANCE HAS CAPACITY TO PAY DIVIDENDS $1.3B
*ALLSTATE SUSPENDED SHR BUYBACK PLAN
*ALLSTATE HAS $12.6B CAPITAL AT YEAR END 2008
*ALLSTATE 4Q OPER INCOME PER SHARE 97C; ANALYST EST. $1.
*ALLSTATE REMAINS WELL CAPITALIZED
*ALLSTATE 4Q PROPERTY-LIABILITY COMBINED RATIO 91.5
*ALLSTATE 4Q OPER EPS $0.97

With almost half the S&P having reported their earnings, we know all too well how bleak the employment picture is with a daily barrage of "streamlining" bullet points in each company's earnings press release. Another interesting factoid is to compare the estimated earnings growth rates of different companies by sector, whether based on company guidance or consensus estimates. What is surprising is the nearly 80% drop in the estimated growth rate for the S&P500 from only 3 months ago.

With almost half the S&P having reported their earnings, we know all too well how bleak the employment picture is with a daily barrage of "streamlining" bullet points in each company's earnings press release. Another interesting factoid is to compare the estimated earnings growth rates of different companies by sector, whether based on company guidance or consensus estimates. What is surprising is the nearly 80% drop in the estimated growth rate for the S&P500 from only 3 months ago.

Breaking on CNBC: Republicans to present alternative stimulus plan which will "create double the amount of jobs in the currently proposed plan." Enter stage left: partisan wrangling.

And just when you thought the market has enough on its mind to worry about politics.

I assume I am not the only one watching the big game of roulette on CNBC right now (i.e. the market). For all those clicking the buy button on E-Trade with the reckless abandon of Gary Busey doing... well, anything he does, we want to point out this interesting analysis on FT Alphaville.

I assume I am not the only one watching the big game of roulette on CNBC right now (i.e. the market). For all those clicking the buy button on E-Trade with the reckless abandon of Gary Busey doing... well, anything he does, we want to point out this interesting analysis on FT Alphaville.