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The Vampire Squid vs. the Sperm Whale

RobotTrader's picture




 

Now that Goldman controls the bulk of NYSE trading, its basically down to the major wire house Robots doing mortal combat with each other, trying to push the tape one way or another.  Meanwhile, individual funds with outsized concentrations are getting killed with maniacal squeezes and huge shank jobs exacerbated by Option Expiration Racketeering.

Of particular note is vulnerable position of GS and JPM, both locked in a pitched battle of survival:

Note the photo of Goldman Sachs (aka Vampire Squid) vs. the 90,000 lb. JPM Deriviatives Colossus, otherwise known as the giant Sperm Whale.

 

Poor Goldman's fortunes are tied directly to its fixed income desk.  Poor JPM is saddled with a colossal mountain of interest rate derivatives, bound to blow up if the fixed income desk catches fire.

Who is going to win the battle?  Who knows?

For now, the Plutocrats were successfully able to engineer another yield slapdown, just in time for next week's huge debt offering.  I mean really, look at these interest rates:

  COUPON MATURITY
DATE
CURRENT
PRICE/YIELD
PRICE/YIELD
CHANGE
TIME
3-Month 0.000 02/18/2010 0
/
.01
0 / .000 15:00
6-Month 0.000 05/20/2010 0.12
/
.12
0.003 / .003 15:00
12-Month 0.000 11/18/2010 0.26
/
.26
0.002 / .002 15:22
2-Year 1.000 10/31/2011 100-17½
/
.72
-0-01 / .015 15:00
3-Year 1.375 11/15/2012 100-12½
/
1.24
-0-01½ / .016 15:02
5-Year 2.375 10/31/2014 100-30+
/
2.17
-0-03½ / .023 15:23
7-Year 3.125 10/31/2016 101-14+
/
2.89
-0-06 / .029 15:23
10-Year 3.375 11/15/2019 100-04½
/
3.36
-0-06 / .022 15:23
30-Year 4.375 11/15/2039 101-10+
/
4.30
-0-10 / .018 15:23

 

Who would have thought we could borrow to infinity at such cheap rates?  And foreigners willing and able to scarf down every single scrap of new debt we shovel out into the marketplace?  Quite amazing...

Just look at them pile 'em up:

 

Here comes Peter Navarro on CNBC telling everyone to short equities using the 3x leveraged TZA.  And with a half hour to go, the market is now exploding higher.

I swear that these options market makers use every trick in the book, including watching who is recommending what on Bloomberg and CNBC.

And how many times do we have to listen to 35 guys on the tube every day touting the upcoming U.S. Dollar short squeeze and claiming monstrous short positions?

Heh, I remember during the Internet Bubble and the Oil Bubble, everyone was saying nothing but up, up, up, etc.......

"Hey would you stop trying to short stocks?"

Rather than strain my brain with how the markets are reacting to Options Expiration, I'd rather peruse the recent Victoria's Secret show....

Anyone catch the party last night?

 

 

 

 

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Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:04 | 137798 curbyourrisk
curbyourrisk's picture

Sorry.  I did not get my invite.  Must have been lost in the mail...That damn Post Office.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:09 | 137805 Gimp
Gimp's picture

I was reading along enjoying the article and up pops "spankervision" material.

My couch cushions are getting a serious work-out. :)

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:12 | 137806 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Silver and Gold Futures expire next week. What sort of Robot games can we expect at this point?

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:13 | 137886 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Can't find the exact dates for expiry of silver and gold futures next week. GS & JPM are massively shorted gold and it looks like the Lilliputians (yes, you Gordon Gecko) are whipping their asses right now taking gold higher. Somebody is going to have a very tough Turkey day trying to deliver gold contracts (physical) they do not actually (really) own.

Anyone have a handle on those Silver/Gold expiry dates especially in context of the massive Treasury bill (2,5,7 year) auctions set for Mon-Wednesday. Can you say: Two trains heading toward each other on the same track? With the dollar in between. Could get real interesting...

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 12:09 | 138186 Gordon_Gekko
Gordon_Gekko's picture

Man! I didn't know I was this popular - lol! Gold longs have the shorts over a barrel right now. Oh! the power of pyramiding. If they do too may shenanigans at the Crimex and/or fail to deliver physical, I'm looking for the gold price on foreign commodity exchanges [at least those that require physical delivery) to decouple from it as arbitrage between them and Crimex will be toast. Let the games begin!

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:22 | 137817 HankPaulson
HankPaulson's picture

Your posts are great, but i mainly read them for your breasts.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 19:12 | 137822 AN0NYM0US
AN0NYM0US's picture

Robo - your posts are the best but it seems the alleged manipulation is not only on Wall Street

Hackers target leading climate research unit

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8370282.stm

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/

it is amazing how fast this is spreading with thousands of emails supposedly from the who's who of The Global Warming academic community.

http://www.examiner.com/x-25061-Climate-Change-Examiner~y2009m11d20-Clim...

( they should have learned from Hank - NO emails)

Of course this could  be a gigantic and elaborate hoax in advance of Copenhagen intended to discredit climate change deniers. Here is a rebuttal of sorts from one of the larger Climate Change sites: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/11/the-cru-hack/

 

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:38 | 137834 Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper's picture

missed that fun partay but i was able to catch the grand opening of hollister in soho (that's on houston street in manhattan for you out of towners) and it was hot and sexy.

http://twitpic.com/d3o52

 

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:44 | 137842 Leo Kolivakis
Leo Kolivakis's picture

Any chance those supermodels would join me for some wine, grilled calamari and Greek salad tonight? All that talk of derivatives, bonds, equities and option expiration got me hungry. Enjoy the weekend RT and thanks for posting another beauty.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:56 | 137860 Gunther
Gunther's picture

Leo,

if a 'super'model joins you she won't eat anything. Look for someone without eating disorder.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:11 | 137885 D.O.D.
D.O.D.'s picture

Leo, leo, leo... never been to the Wood?  If you want a date, ya gotta offer coke and champagne... (and lot's of it...these girlz ain't cheap)

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:28 | 137903 Rainman
Rainman's picture

Damn.....just when I wuz thinkin' hot, cheap and sleazy might be making a comeback.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 16:28 | 138291 D.O.D.
D.O.D.'s picture

Yeah, you have your pick, 2 out of 3 that's all you get..

Hot & Sleazy, but not cheap

Hot & Cheap, but not sleazy

Cheap & Sleazy, but not hot.

I was devastated when I found this correlation to be factual...

=]

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 20:46 | 138006 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Leo,

For that dinner I'll wear anything out of the Victoria's Secret catalog. Just name the page and I'll come a'flauntin. But I refuse to spoon!

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 17:59 | 137872 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

They look like they were all cloned in the same test tube to perform teeth commercials.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:34 | 137907 knukles
knukles's picture

WTF use are anti-trust laws if not applied to the apparent concentration of trading activity?

Mon, 11/23/2009 - 13:06 | 139479 _Biggs_
_Biggs_'s picture

lol...anti-trust.  That's funny.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:43 | 137915 Comrade de Chaos
Comrade de Chaos's picture

or just imagine the risk someone takes by placing the below into their cash reserves for retirement account:

(WTF happened to sophisticated investor clause? )

 

Principal Protected Certificates of Deposit linked to Basket of
Foreign Currencies
**Offering Period Ends ...** 

 

- has got to match columns

 

Issuer:
Maturity:
Underlying Basket:
Reference Currency:
Protection:
FDIC Insurance:
Participation Rate:
Payoff at Maturity:

 

data:

 

"guess who".
3 Years
Basket of BRIC Currencies:
25% Brazilian Real
25% Russian Ruble
25% Indian Rupee
25% Chinese Renminbi
U.S. Dollar
100% Principal Protected at maturity, subject to the credit
of the Issuer
Insured by the FDIC subject to applicable insurance limits
[115% - 135%] TBD on Trade Date
This trade expresses a bearish US Dollar viewpoint. Clients
will receive [115% - 135%] of the appreciation of the
BRIC
currency basket relative to the U.S. Dollar at maturity,
uncapped. If the BRIC basket has weakened relative to the
U.S. Dollar at maturity, clients will get their full
principal back.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 19:31 | 137953 Sqworl
Sqworl's picture

The party was last night in nyc.. to view the party pictures..go to patrick mcmullan dot com...enjoy!

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 08:51 | 138152 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

with that avatar, i dont think i wanna see your party pics

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 19:36 | 137958 blackebitda
blackebitda's picture

yes the models are pretty, but that foreign reserve graph looks very lucrative. the problem here boys and girls is that we are being placed into the gladiator pit expected to die. why because we operate fragmented. see if small hedge funds work together they become a systemic risk against the squid and sperm whale and must be stopped. this is why the better funds are trying to bring the good traders inhouse before the polity kills em. there are trillions in loot out there for the taking. 

while the squid and whale are fighting one another the foreign reserve gold account lies unprotected. 

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 20:26 | 137995 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

the big boys know a total of their option positions without knowing that everything is a guess

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 20:43 | 138000 rapier
rapier's picture

My GS story is that they are keeping the stock down and thus under the radar. I mean who better to screw but your own stock holders?  The 'smart money' that bet on a sure thing, and got maybe 50% out of the deal this year when any number of crap made a quick 400%.The GS boys don't play that stock options game now.  No, its half the cash straight off the top. One of the few companies in the entire world that doesn't care what it's stock price is. Hell, if it was trading like GOOG it would be at 2000 by now.

If I were Blankfin I would be dreaming of a 2 or 3 trillion bond offering about the time Treasury rates head north for good.  They should trade comfortably under T paper and the new money for the 21st century will be born.

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 22:07 | 138055 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

In this domain of idiots you are king.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 02:59 | 138119 Keyser Soze
Keyser Soze's picture

Somebody reassure me that there is no testicle on the left-hand model.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 10:49 | 138168 Marley
Marley's picture

Naw, she just came from the tea bag party next door.  Budda bing.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 04:38 | 138131 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

RT - You've truly outdone yourself here for entertainment value! That slap-o-rama is dead on. Right up there with your GS crocs feasting on the wildebeest (trader) herd a while back. The insightful information is a bonus.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 05:57 | 138141 Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

Are stock markets rediculously overpriced. Yes. Should you short them. No.

It's a trap!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNLuq0lW50k

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 17:49 | 138143 agrotera
agrotera's picture

...

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 10:38 | 138166 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

Captain Ahab

"Aye, Mr. Starbuck. Aye, my hearties all. It was Moby-Dick that dismantled me, that reaped off my leg like a mower a blade of grass and left me with this dead stump I stand on. For forever and a day I shall chase that white whale."

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 11:51 | 138177 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

All you have to know is who really owns the Fed and Treasury to know who wins in the near term. My guess is the vampire, not the vamps or the sperm. The empire crashes in the end.

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 11:58 | 138181 Gordon_Gekko
Gordon_Gekko's picture

"Hey would you stop trying to short stocks?"

Hahahaha...love it! BTW, is that Prechter's kid being slapped?

Sun, 11/22/2009 - 21:16 | 138892 crzyhun
crzyhun's picture

I have not been short since early this year....did I want to. Absolutemente! Did I give in negativo. And, I stay alert and wait until....

The secret pics at mcmullan are great. thanks.

Bunch of nitwits, if you ask me- but still the cat's meow.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!