8.5%

US companies are warning about Q3 earnings at the second highest level since 2001, with estimates well below what they were just three short months ago. Of course, the US equity markets don't care - having rallied aggressively in the face of this collapse; lubricated by multiple-expanding QE and rev. repo. As Reuters reports, companies issuing negative outlooks outnumber positive ones by 5.2-to-1, the most negative since the 6.3-to-1 ratio in the second quarter, when however the "second half recovery" (which has been once again indefinitely delayed, perhaps to the third half?) was said would take place momentarily and lead to another mythical rebound. Industrials, Materials, and Tech top the list for negative pre-announcements.

Men have had their stab at making the world into what they wanted and they made a pretty poor show of it all we might say when we look at the economy.

There are very few people that actually give even one hoot and even fewer that could give two of them when it comes to poverty of people that are living in society alongside us.

Earlier we noted the European economic 'recovery' is rolling over rapidly, and now - confirmed by Adidas - it seems the impact of weakening JPY and weakenig USD are starting to weigh on European companies:

• *ADIDAS CUTS 2013 NET INCOME FORECAST TO EU820M-850M RANGE (from EU890-920m)
• *ADIDAS CITES FURTHER WEAKENING OF SEVERAL CURRENCIES VS EURO

With EURJPY at four-year highs and EURUSD back at 2013 highs, it seems the reality of currency wars are coming home to Draghi - when's the next ECB meeting?

There was good and bad news for Angela Merkel as today's exit polls from the Bavaria (GDP of $619 billion, bigger than the output of Poland or Austria) state elections - the bellwether vote ahead of next weekend's federal elections (previewed here) - were released. On one hand, the CDU's sister party, the Christian Social Union or CSU, was set to win a majority in Bavarian state elections (where the CDU does not contest the ballot), giving the incumbent a boost as she heads into the final week of her campaign before a national vote Bloomberg reports.  But the surprise of the day was the strong showing of the The Free Voters, who want Greece to exit the euro, oppose euro-area bailouts and want to trim the power of the European Union, won 8.5 percent, the ZDF projection showed. It is precisely the ascent of anti-Euro powers that could upset the final election "arithmetic" in jeopardy. As Reuters reports, "a new anti-euro party could enter Germany's national parliament after an election next week, pollsters said on Sunday, potentially upsetting Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopes of returning to power with her current coalition partner."

Pouring forth from all of the nations on the Continent, like a Preacher with the "Good News," is the notion that Europe is over the recession, that every country is doing just fine and that all problems have been solved. This, in our opinion, could not be further from the truth. It is the spiel of the day and reality will be found in the footnotes of tomorrow as long as tomorrow is after September 22... Even Draghi was forced to admit that thing smay have got a little ahead of themselves...

*DRAGHI SAYS CAN'T SHARE ENTHUSIASM ABOUT RECOVERY

As a reminder, September 22 is the date for the German Elections. All of Europe and the IMF are keeping their heads down, playing nice and saying very little until this date comes and goes.

Today we present the Target2-system and the fiscal bail-out facilities in our series on European efforts to bail out itself. For new readers, check out part 1 here http://bawerk.net/?p=123

When last week the revised Q2 GDP print was announced, which beat expectations solidly driven entirely by a surge in net exports, we said that "with China on the rocks and tightening, the Emerging Markets in free fall, and Europe still a net exporter (so not benefiting the US), anyone hoping this trade led-recovery will be sustainable, will be disappointed." Sure enough, the first trade data update for the third quarter as of July, confirmed just this, as the trade deficit widenedfrom a revised $34.5 billion deficit, to a substantially larger monthly deficit, amounting to $39.1 billion. This was $500MM more than consensus expected, or $38.6 billion, and it means that as we predicted, the downward revisions to Q3 tracking estimates are about to start rolling in, trimming ~0.1%-0.2% from US GDP for this current quarter. Specifically, imports for the month rose from $225.1 billion to $228.6 billion while exports fell from $190.5 billion to $189.5 billion. But perhaps most notable is that in July, the US trade deficit with China and the EU rose to a record of $30.1 billion (from $26.6bn last month) and $13.9 billion (from $7.1bn) respectively.

Gallup, which every week polls thousands of adults to get an unadjusted, snapshot picture of who has a job, who has a part-time job and who has no job has released its latest weekly results which have some good and some bad news. Good for those who fear that the NFP print on Friday will be so bad Bernanke will have no choice to delay (or reduce) the taper; bad for the economy. Because at 8.5%, unemployment for the week ended September 1 is now near the highest levels it has been in one year, following a spike in mid-August that sent it all the way to 8.8%.

Fingers have two things which are common to them all over the world, wherever we come from. They are all different, which at least is one thing in common. Then they are prone to being fat and clumsy whether that be from New York to Hong Kong; especially in the financial world.

As it turns out, just as we had suspected, the 6% move in the Chinese A-shares index, was nothing more than a CNY7 billion (just over $1 billion) fat finger in the "arbitrage system" of Everbright securities. And just what system is that - if the market is about to sell off do a smash-the-open to kill all downward momentum, and as for the losses from the trade, well there is a PBOC to foot the costs? Also, if all it takes to move a multi-trillion stock market is just a $1 billion "fat finger", imagine what $85 billion per month would do...

The Russian Bear is stronger and more powerful than it has ever been before.  Sadly, most Americans don't understand this.  They still think of Russia as an "ex-superpower" that was rendered almost irrelevant when the Cold War ended.  And yes, when the Cold War ended Russia was in rough shape. Today, Russia is an economic powerhouse that is blessed with an abundance of natural resources.  Their debt to GDP ratio is extremely small, they actually run a trade surplus every year, and they have the second most powerful military on the entire planet.  Anyone that underestimates Russia at this point is making a huge mistake.  The Russian Bear is back, and today it is a more formidable adversary than it ever was at any point during the Cold War. Just check out the following statistics...

If there was any doubt that the taper would take place shortly, it can be wiped out following the just released June international trade data, which showed a surge in exports to a record high $191.2 billion, an increase of $4.1 billion compared to May, even as imports declined by $5.8 billion to $225.4 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of just $34.2 billion, or 22.5% lower compared to the $44.1 billion in May, which is the lowest trade deficit since October 2009.  It is also the biggest beat to expectations of -$43.5 billion since March 2005. Whether this plunge in the deficit was the result of the new GDP methodology is unknown, however the resulting surge in revised Q2 GDP following this bean-counting addition to the last month of Q2, means that the economy grew even more than expected and that the Fed's tapering course is now assured. It also means Q3 GDP based on July trade data will be dragged down as there is no way this surge in the collapsing deficit can be sustained.

The past few weeks have seen the tech and business media abuzz about a not-so-little warehouse in Tennessee. That's because this distribution center, opening its doors with a burst of fanfare and even a few visits from nearby politicians, isn't a jumping-off point for Macy's or Target. Instead, the warehouse is the latest in a series of new locations being opened by retail technology giant Amazon.com. The jobs this new mega-warehouse is purported to create: 5,000. However, as we discuss below, for every job Amazon "creates," four other jobs go away at a company like TJX.

There was a time when Jamie Dimon liked everyone to believe that his JPMorgan had a "fortress balance sheet", that he was disgusted when the US government "forced" a bailout on it, and that no matter what the market threw its way it would be just fine, thanks. Then the London Whale came, saw, and promptly blew up the "fortress" lie. But while JPM's precarious balance sheet was no surprise to anyone (holding over $50 trillion in gross notional derivatives will make fragile fools of the best of us), what has become a bigger problem for Dimon is that slowly but surely JPM has not only become a bigger litigation magnet than Bank of America, but questions are now emerging if all of the firm's recent success wasn't merely due to crime. Crime of the kind that "nobody accept or denies guilt" of course - i.e., completely victimless. Except for all the fines and settlements. Here is a summary of JPM's recent exorbitant and seemingly endless fines.