Global Risk Appetite At 2006 Levels - Nears 'Euphoria'
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 09:03
Global risk appetite surged to 4.53 (5 being 'euphoria'), its highest level since the euphoria event of 2006, and up from 1.76 one month ago according to Credit Suisse. Other risk appetite indices, as well as market anecdotes, confirm the “almost euphoric” environment. US credit risk appetite has charged higher and is now at 3.22. Furthermore, as they note, the current risk rally has several unusual features. First, it clearly lacks the usual support of strong global growth momentum. Global IP momentum (as we noted here) is almost always above its long-term average when risk appetite hits euphoria, but currently is below 5%, which is somewhat sluggish. Second, the current near-euphoria is strongly driven by one asset class: Japanese equities. The bottom-line, they conclude, is that the current risk-loving environment is related much more to recent policy innovations than growth data. And confirming this 'euphoria' Investors Intelligence notes that newsletter writers classified as bulls rose to 55.2% from 54.2% with readings of ~55% "suggestive of a trading top," last seen in Oct. 2007. No surprise there but with markets statistically 'euphoric' caution seems warranted at least...
- Comments: 29
- Reads: 7,437
Target Misses, Good Weather Blamed
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 08:48A week ago it was the better than expected weather's fault for the big Wal-Mart miss. Today, it is the turn of that other retail bellwether, Target, to blame sunny days. From the release: "Target’s first quarter earnings were below expectations as a result of softer-than-expected sales, particularly in apparel and other seasonal and weather-sensitive categories,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. “While we are disappointed in our first quarter performance, we remain confident in our strategy, and we continue to invest in initiatives, including Canada, our digital channels and CityTarget, that will drive Target’s long-term growth."
- Comments: 56
- Reads: 3,808
Ben Bernanke Crushes Hedge Funds: Average Hedgie Underperforming S&P by 65% In 2013
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 08:10
For all those curious why all real money managers (and not those who spend 18 hours a day on the modern day Yahoo Finance known as Twitter, "trading" with monopoly money while selling $29.95 newsletters) are furious at what Bernanke and company are doing as shown in the most recent Ira Sohn conference, we present the chart below from Goldman which confirms what most have already known: the Federal Reserve has made hedge funds a thing of the past, whose investors are sure to keep underperforming the S&P until the moment when it all goes tumbling down.
- Comments: 42
- Reads: 10,613
Only In America: Anthony Weiner Announces NYC Mayor Candidacy On YouTube
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 07:39
We would have been perfectly happy to report this as Humpday Humor, but unfortunately, and only in America, can a disgraced former Congressman, the very appropriately named Anothony Weiner, announce his candidacy for NYC Mayor via YouTube in all too serious news.
- Comments: 171
- Reads: 6,900
Frontrunning: May 22
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 07:29- Apple Bonds Stick Buyers With $280.6 Million Loss as Rates Climb (BBG)
- Iceland Freezes EU Plans as New Government Shuns Euro Crisis (BBG)
- "Transparent Fed" - Ben Bernanke meets privately with Darrell Issa (Politico)
- Bank of Japan vows market steps to curb bond turbulence (Reuters) holds policy (FT)
- Stockholm riots spread in third night of unrest (FT)
- Dudley Says Decision on Taper Will Require 3-4 Months (BBG)
- Senate panel passes immigration bill; Obama praises move (Reuters)
- Italy to outline youth jobs plan as government struggles (Reuters)
- Apple CEO Tim Cook, Lawmakers Square Off Over Taxes (WSJ)
- Google Joins Apple Avoiding Taxes With Stateless Income (BBG)
- Sony Board Discussing Loeb’s Entertainment IPO Proposal (BBG)
- Vote Strengthens Dimon's Grip (WSJ), Dimon performance well choreographed (FT)
- Comments: 9
- Reads: 2,174
It's Central Banker Appreciation Day
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2013 - 06:56Today is one on those rare days in which everyone stops pretending fundamentals matter, and admits every market uptick is purely a function of what side of the bed Bernanke wakes up on, how loudly Kuroda sneezes, or how much coffee Mark Carney has had before lunch, but more importantly: that all "risk" is in the hands of a few good central-planners. Following last night's uneventful Bank of Japan meeting, in which Kuroda announced no changes to the "full speed ahead" policy of inflation or bust(ed bank sector following soaring JGB yields) and which pushed the Nikkei225 to surge above the DJIA closing at 15,627, today it is Bernanke's turn not once but twice, when he first takes the chair in the Joint Economic Committee's "Economic Outlook" hearing at 10 am, followed by the May 1 minutes release at 2pm (which may or may not have been previously leaked like last month). As a reminder, Politico reported last night that Ben Bernanke had previously met in secret with Darrell Issa and other lawmakers "to discuss the central bank’s efforts to stimulate the economy and how it could exit this strategy in the future, according to people who attended the meeting." And since we know how important transparency is to Bernanke and the Congress, "Participants in the meeting declined to disclose specifically what Bernanke told lawmakers beyond saying there was discussion about the Fed’s bond buying programs and other issues." But as long as Mr. Issa, the wealthiest man in the House, has his advance marching orders, all is well.
- Comments: 30
- Reads: 3,750
BoJ Ignores Worst April Trade Deficit Ever - Suggests "Economy Has Started Picking Up"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 23:43
Surging nominal imports and a miss for exports just about sums up perfectly just how the reality of Abenomics is crushing the real economy as the market goes from strength to strength on the hope that recovery is just around the corner. For the 28th month in a row Japan trade deficit has dropped YoY and its 12-month average is now at its worst ever. Energy costs are driving up imports (and adjusted for the devaluation in the JPY, the data is simply horrendous. Of course, there are green shoots - CPI is not deflating as fast as it was... and 'some' inflation expectations are rising (though as we noted here that is simply due to the tax expectations). Contrary to expectations held by some in the bond market, the BOJ did not comment on the sharp fluctuation in JGB yields since April as a result of monetary relaxation - on the basis, we assume, that if they don't mention it, it never happened. The result post a nothing-burger of 'more uncertainty' from the BoJ, the Nikkei keeps screaming higher, JPY rallied then fell back, and JGBs are sliding higher in yield.
- Comments: 30
- Reads: 9,953
Diablo 3: A Case Of Virtual Hyperinflation
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 22:34
As virtual fantasy worlds go, Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo 3 is particularly foreboding. Within this fairly straightforward gaming framework, virtual “gold” is used as currency for purchasing weapons and repairing battle damage. Over time, virtual gold can be used to purchase ever-more resources for confronting ever-more dangerous foes. But in the last few months, various outposts in that world have borne more in common with real world places like Harare, Zimbabwe in 2007 or Berlin in 1923 than with Dante’s Inferno. A culmination of a series of unanticipated circumstances has over the last few weeks produced a new and unforeseen dimension of hellishness within Diablo 3: hyperinflation. Considering the level of planning that goes into designing and maintaining virtual gaming environments, if a small, straightforward economy generating detailed, timely economic data for its managers can careen so completely aslant in a matter of months, should anyone be surprised when the performance of central banks consistently breeds results which are either ineffective or destabilizing? The Austrian School has long warned of the arrogance and naïveté intrinsic to applying rigid, quantitative measures to the deductive study of human actions and the events of the last week provide a stark reminder of the power and inescapability of the laws of economics.
- Comments: 94
- Reads: 21,204
Visualizing The Cost Of Mining Gold
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 21:59
There are over 3 billion ounces of gold in the world's deposits. The Top 50 of these mines alone contain over one-third of the total gold. North America is the 'cheapest' place to produce gold and Africa the most expensive. Gold producer profits are getting squeezed from both directions: lower gold prices and rapidly inflating costs...
- Comments: 135
- Reads: 26,096
The Pentagon Admits: The "War On Terror" Will Never End
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 21:26
Last Thursday at a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee, we found out what many of us already knew. That the “war on terror” is never going to end. Indeed, it was never supposed to end. This never-ending “war” on a fantastical enemy provides the American oligarch class with too much money and too much power to ever make it worthwhile for the establishment to shut down. "Nobody really even knows with whom the US is at war, or where. Everyone just knows that it is vital that it continue in unlimited form indefinitely." 1984 really was an instruction manual for the people in power.
- Comments: 261
- Reads: 17,321
So You Want To Work In JPMorgan's Legendary Gold Vault? This Is Your Chance
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 20:51
For all those whose lifelong ambition has been to work with the recently reappointed joint Chairman/CEO of JPMorgan in the firm's legendary and infamous gold 'clearing' operation (whose formerly classified New York, the largest in the world, and London vault locations were exposed here and here), today is your lucky day...
- Comments: 59
- Reads: 17,310
"The Math Is Stacked Against Japan - It's Not 'If', It's When"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 19:40
As the BoJ prepares to thrill us with even moar in its latest policy meeting (or not as we discussed earlier) and with Amari et al. now jawboning JPY to some extent to control the out-of-control chaos in JGBs, it is perhaps worth taking 20 minutes to comprehend just what all this extreme policy action means. The following brief presentation covers it all in a Kyle-Bass-ian facts-and-fallacies manner, Christine Hughes sums it all up perfectly, for Japan, "The Math Is Stacked Against Japan - It's Not 'If', It's When."
- Comments: 76
- Reads: 24,986
Global Assured Destruction, Or How Bernanke Now Holds The Entire World Hostage
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 18:49The one headline we have been waiting for for over four years has just hit:
- BOK KIM SAYS WORLD MAY FACE RATE RISK IF U.S. EXITS FROM QE
Not when, if. And there you have it: if the Fed exits, the world (and most certainly Japan) gets it. Thus, for the sake of the children (who will have inhert about $100 trillion in debt but don't worry: debt is an asset as some "analysts" will promise) Bernanke can never exit. QE...D
- Comments: 339
- Reads: 38,607
How To Arbitrage The People's Bank Of China
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 18:39
Since there are now numerous hard proofs that China’s export data (and to some extent import data as well) were significantly distorted recently, we naturally wonder the incentives behind the distortion and the detailed mechanism of these manipulations. As BofAML notes, there are four reasons why the distortions have risen so sharply since Q4 2012 but the various arbitrages (described in actionable detail below) between onshore and offshore currencies and interest rate differentials (and the role of gold in this) remain in place to make judging China's real trade growth as much art as science.
- Comments: 17
- Reads: 7,636
Bank of Japan Policy Meeting Preview - Chance Of A Bond Crash?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/21/2013 - 17:58
The current Bank of Japan policy meeting is possibly the most important thing going on this week (even more so than Bernanke's comments perhaps). If, as is distinctly possible, they don’t do anything to reinforce the immediacy of the Kuroda QQE package, we could be looking at bond markets reacting in a most "unfavorable manner". The effect would be to reinforce the latest round of 'fear-on' bond selling – certainly over the short-term, and the damaged sentiment could impact stocks also. In fact, there is probably not much the BoJ can say at this meeting – it’s got to give the policy (of massive QE) time to work. That leaves markets highly vulnerable to a sense of disappointment tomorrow. 'Back in the bond market, over the last few days the search for yield does seem capped. There have been some stumbles in new issues... That all tells me the bond market is nervous.'
- Comments: 25
- Reads: 7,854
