Activist Shareholder

Keynesian economists believe, regardless of logic and data, that economies can be managed from the top down. In their world, economies are little different than machines. Change some inputs here, speed them up over there, add some lubrication, etc. and the machine will respond in the fashion desired. Output can be “managed” to whatever level needed purely by adjusting the parts of the machine. Austrian economists on the other hand do not see a machine. They see millions of individuals all making decisions to improve their own lives. The price system provides the coordination among these separate pieces, performing a function no human, supercomputer or government could ever accomplish. For Austrians, economics is a bottom up approach. To effect change, you must change the incentives and disincentives that individual decision makers are afforded. “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana. Ideology is powerful, capable of masking unpleasant facts. Whether we recognize it or not, we are all slaves to ideology.

Over the last few years, and at an increasing pace as of more recently, unions have become more and more confident of their ability to effect change and taken much more aggressive activist positions against the capitalist oppressors. The most recent examples range from California cities to Twinkies-maker Hostess Brands, and each time the stance from the unions appears to have been far more aggressive (and M.A.D. prone) than in the past. The question is why? Perhaps, as we tweeted following Hostess' liquidation:

Will the broke PBGC step in and fund Hostess' 18,000 workers suddenly vaporized pensions?

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 16, 2012

...It is the confidence of an all-powerful government at their back with the US Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, which is the backstop for private sector plans, providing cover. The problem is, as UBS explains, the PBGC has a huge deficit and is cashflow negative. This leads us to the uncomfortable expectation of further USD government support (bailout) or a more direct monetization by the Fed. PBGC could be impacted severely if a few large firms terminate their pensions. In this case, UBS expects PBGC to sell equities and buy long duration fixed income.

Following up on our recent discussion of the worst-is-first rally that we have all been witness to in the last few weeks, we thought it noteworthy that the 'most-shorted' names in the Russell 3000 and the index itself have now recoupled from their epic divergence post-QE3. We have seen five large short squeezes 'engineered' since the lows in March 2009 - and given Citi and BofA's 17% gains in December alone, we suspect (and have heard from more than a few funds) that year-end is bringing some forced buy-ins as SecLend desks become a little more activist.

Back in May, Herbalife stock got monkeyhammered when one of the best performing hedge fund managers of the past few years, David Einhorn expressed a bearish thesis in the company. Today, the stock just got the double tap following no new information, but merely the second part of the Einhorn-Ackman-Loeb activist triangle (who most of the time operate as an informal cartel), as it plunged by over 10% when William Ackman, smarting from the hundreds of millions lost in JCPenney just piggybacked on Einhorn's thesis, as reported by CNBC, said he is short Herbalife, calling it a pyramid scheme, and saying he has done fundamental research for a year (it takes a year to read Einhorn's presentation?). Essentially, nothing new here. All we await now is that 13F chaser Whitney Tilson to finally jump on board what is becoming the world's biggest hedge fund short, and get a catalyst, any catalyst that scrambles the shorts into covering, and sends the stock in the triple digit range.

• Central Banks Ponder Going Beyond Inflation Mandates (BBG)
• Bloomberg Weighs Making Bid for The Financial Times (NYT)
• Hedge Funds Fall Out of Love with Equities (FT)
• Obama and Boehner resume US fiscal cliff talks (FT)
• Italy Front-Runner Vows Steady Hand (WSJ)
• Spanish Bailout Caution Grows as Business Lobbies Back Rajoy (BBG)
• Japan sinks into fresh recession (Reuters)
• China economic recovery intact, but weak exports drag (Reuters)
• Greece extends buyback offer to reach target (Reuters)  ... but on Friday they promised it was done
• Basel Liquidity Rule May Be Watered Down Amid Crisis (BBG) ... just before they are scrapped
• Irish, Greek Workers Seen Suffering Most in 2013 Amid EU Slump (BBG)

Citi's Robert Buckland explains: If policymakers really do want to encourage stronger economic growth (and especially higher employment) then we would suggest that they take a closer look at the equity market's part in driving corporate behaviour. Despite high profitability, strong balance sheets and ultra-low interest rates, any stock market observer can see daily evidence of why the listed sector is unlikely to kick-start a meaningful acceleration in the global economy. A recent Reuters headline says it all: "P&G Plans to Cut More Jobs, Repurchasing More Shares". If anything, low interest rates are increasingly part of the problem rather than the solution. Perversely, they may be turning the world's largest companies into capital distributors rather than investors.

Sixteen years ago today, Alan Greenspan spoke the now infamous words "irrational exuberance" during an annual dinner speech at The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Much has changed in the ensuing years (and oddly, his speech is worth a read as he draws attention time and again to the tension between the central bank and the government). Most critically, Greenspan was not wrong, just early. And the result of the market's delay in appreciating his warning has resulted in an epic shift away from those same asset classes that were most groomed and loved by Greenspan - Stocks, to those most hated and shunned by the Fed - Precious Metals. While those two words were his most famous, perhaps the following sentences are most prescient: "A democratic society requires a stable and effectively functioning economy. I trust that we and our successors at the Federal Reserve will be important contributors to that end."

Warren Buffett’s General Re-New England Asset Management has warned that until central bank monetary policies around the world change “there will be a tendency to higher gold prices.”  General Re-New England Asset Management, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said gold may advance as businesses temper spending and central- bank stimulus measures fall short. Gold’s climb last year to more than $1,900 an ounce was fuelled by the expectation that government spending cuts in Europe would reduce demand for goods and services, GR-NEAM Chief Investment Officer John Gilbert wrote in a newsletter posted on the unit’s website today, as reported by Bloomberg. “There is growing evidence that the rising price of gold is a statement about the discouraging prospects for returns on productive investments,” Gilbert said.  “We hope that this analysis is wrong. We fear that it is not.”

Whether you believe he is a one-hit-wonder or an investing wunder-kind, the following 44 minute clip from the activist investor (who is early, not wrong, on JCP, right?) provides investors with some indepth insights into what it takes to finance and grow a successful business and 'how to make sound investments that will lead to a cash-comfy retirement.' Of course, there are those who can and "do" grow a business, and those who "invest"... often times with less than stellar (ahem PSIV) results.

Shoe-throwing has escalated to building burning as demonstrators clash in Egpyt over Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mursi's 'coup-like' decision to make his decisions above judicial review. The self-annointed omnipotence comes after the judiciary were about to undo the Islamist-dominated panel drawing up the country's new constitution. This so-called "coup against legitimacy" has brought back painful memories as opposition leaders (ElBaradei) calls the 'temporary dictator' a "new pharaoh" - the same term of derision used against Mubarak when he was in power. The Muslim Brotherhood offices have been set ablaze as a consequence of this 'decree' and the US (a generous benefactor to Egypt's military) is "very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt." But protest leaders perhaps summarize the situation best: "The decree is basically a coup on state institutions and the rule of law that is likely to undermine the revolution and the transition to democracy, I worry Mursi will be another dictator like the one before him."

A mass exodus from ignorance and organized opposition to tyranny is the dream of every freedom loving person within the Liberty Movement today.  We would like nothing better than to put an end to the expanding establishment police state in the most peaceful manner possible. The reason why peaceful and popular activism almost never occurs successfully falls not only to the establishment elites who seek out and abuse power; there are others who share in the blame.  Regardless of the age, the culture, or the social conditions, there is ALWAYS a percentage of the general populace that embraces the totalitarian dynamic. They are not only useful idiots; they are conscious participants in the process of pacification and enslavement of their own society. During the blackest moments of mankind, they are the willing tools of oppression.  As America faces down wave after wave of fiscal difficulties, a government gone rogue with false left/right politics, and policies that disregard civil liberties for the sake of centralized authority, so the statist thugs of our time will soon flow out of the dark recesses of our society. We all know them when we see them, but do we really understand what makes them tick?  Here are some common psychological attributes of the overzealous statist; the failings and inadequacies that make him what he is...

• Don't jump to conclusions over general, Pentagon chief says (Reuters)
• Bad times for generals: Pentagon demotes 4-star General Ward (Reuters)
• Investors Pay to Lend Germany Money (WSJ)
• Noda will no longer be watching... watching: Japan PM honors pledge with December 16 vote date, to lose job (Reuters)
• New China leadership takes shape (FT)
• Hispanic Workers Lack Education as Numbers Grow in U.S. (Bloomberg)
• Quest for EU single bank supervisor stumbles (FT)
• Anti-austerity strikes sweep Europe (Reuters)
• Amazon faces new obstacles in fight for holiday dollars (Reuters)
• SEC Expands Knight Probe (WSJ)
• Singapore’s Casinos Lose Luster as Gaming Revenue Decline (Bloomberg)
• Amid Petraeus sex scandal, Air Force to release abuse report (Reuters)
• Geithner’s Money Fund Overhaul Push Sparks New Opposition (Bloomberg)

• Obama Wins Re-election With Romney Defeated in Key States (Bloomberg, Reuters)
• Romney's last, greatest 'turnaround' falls short (Reuters)
• Control of Congress set to remain split (FT)
• Republicans to Hold Most Governor Offices Since 2000 (Bloomberg)
• Economic Unease Looms After Win (WSJ)
• Storm-lashed New York, New Jersey scramble as weather threatens (Reuters)
• Democrats Assured of Keeping U.S. Senate Majority (Bloomberg)
• Greece to vote on austerity, protests intensify (Reuters)
• France offers businesses €20bn tax break (FT) ... Wait, what?
• Putin Fires Defense Chief in Rare Move (WSJ)
• China premier Wen calls for deeper cooperation on disasters (China Daily)
• China wrestles over democratic reform (FT)
• Top-Performing Won Threatens to Hurt Korea Export Rebound (Bloomberg)

• Obama-Romney: Breaking the Tie (BBG)
• Fiscal cliff looms over campaign climax (FT)
• Tough Calls on Deficit Await the Winner (WSJ)
• Election Likely to Leave Housing Unmoved (WSJ)
• Regulator Investigating Rochdale Trading (WSJ)
• Greeks Plan Strikes On Eve of Votes (WSJ)
• China Communists consider internal democratic reform (Reuters)
• Wen urges Asia-Europe co-op to promote world economy (China Daily)
• Italy Said to Reject Bad Bank That May Boost Ties to Sovereign (BBG)
• IMF warning adds to French economy fears (FT)
• Europe, Central Bank Spar Over Athens Aid (WSJ)
• Unlimited Lending May Help Weaken the Yen, BOJ Official Says (BBG)
• PBOC Official Says U.S. Election Won’t Impact Yuan Level (BBG) - Just the USD level to which it is pegged

"Around the year 2005, a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire." Strauss & Howe wrote these words in 1997. They understood the dynamics of how generations interact and how the mood of the country shifts every twenty or so years based upon the generational alignment that occurs as predictably as the turning of the seasons. The last generation that lived through the entire previous Crisis from 1929 through 1946 has virtually died off. For those who doubt generational theory and believe history is a linear path of human progress, I would point to the last week of chaos, disarray, government dysfunction, and misery of those who didn’t prepare for Superstorm Sandy, as a prelude to the worst of this Crisis. The lack of preparation by government officials and citizens, death, destruction, panic, anger, helplessness and realization of how fragile our system has become is a perfect analogy to our preparation for this Fourth Turning. The regeneracy of the nation will occur during the next presidential term. The mathematical impossibility of sustaining our economic system is absolute.