AIG

For millions of common people in New York and New Jersey, Sandy has been a historic disaster, with leaving ruined, homeless or forced to live in the dark and cold indefinitely. Sandy was a historic event for the Wall Streeters (a term used loosely as many of them reside in midtown or in Connecticut) among us too. And now, courtesy of Bloomberg's Max Abelson, we see how some of them managed to (just barely) scrape through...

Weak earnings over the last few days, notable weakness in Canadian GDP this morning and two dismal prints for Chicago PMI (early) and NAPM-Milwaukee all dragged on S&P 500 futures into the open. From strong overnight gains, ES was exactly at Friday's highs when the day-session opened. AAPL immediately dropped further from pre-open - down more than 2.5% at $586 (<200DMA) - note average trade size so far this morning is extremely high for AAPL. Insurers are being hit hard with TRV down 1.9%, CB down 0.9%, ALL down 0.7%, and AIG down 1.2%. Some of the most stunning moves are in: UBS +14% (they should fire more people we guess), bankrupt A123 +13%, and Western Union -25% (miss).

So with world central banks printing paper money day and night it is no surprise that Gold is now emerging as the ultimate currency: one that cannot be printed. Indeed, Gold has broken out against ALL major world currencies in the last ten years. The below chart prices Gold in Dollars (Gold), Euros (Blue), Japanese Yen (Red) and Swiss Francs (Purple):

Cautiously optimistic. Yes, really. 

Of the current stack of 30 'Blue-Chip' stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Alcoa has managed to do the worst over the past 25 years - gaining a cumulative 63% in the last 25 years (or 2.2% annually). The Dow itself, based on Bloomberg's Chart of the Day, has risen 627% since the crash in 1987 (or 8.6% annually) - almost 10x that of Alcoa; while McDonald's (perhaps perfectly summarizing what America is all about) has risen on average 12.8% per year for a 1620% gain since Black Monday. But who has impacted the Dow the most since its highs in October of 2007? (Hint: they disappointed this week!)

Just before Lehman, these people had exactly zero predictive capabilities.

A mere three weeks ago we noted that Tim Geithner is preparing to transition to a Blackrock cubicle...

Geithner Reiterates Refusal to Talk About Monetary Policy. Or which floor of Blackrock his cubicle will be on

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 25, 2012

Today, it seems, the FT has finally got the memo as they note that Mr. Fink (Geithner's new boss?) trumped Mr. Rubin (Geithner's old boss?) as the most frequent 'can-I-phone-a-friend' call - speaking 49 times over 18 months (once every 11 days). We wonder if this is simply a 'rotation' discussion/interview process as Fink transitions to Geithner's little seat at Treasury and Geithner slides into his capacity as official guard of the Blackrock Stapler in the 3rd sub-basement.

“Our new logo reflects a rebuilt and forward looking AIG – contemporary, dynamic, Too Big To Fail and revitalized," said CEO Robert H. Benmosche

Evoking the dark days of 2009 - after a steep and bumpy slide

Indeed, it is now clear, via QE 3, that the Fed has gone “all in” in its commitment to money printing. QE 2 put food prices to record highs… what do you think QE 3 (which is unlimited) will do to the cost of living?

So, the Fed has failed to improve the economy… but it has unleashed inflation. This is called STAGFLATION folks. And the fact the Fed thinks the answer to it is printing more money tells us point blank: things are going to be getting a lot worse in the coming months.

• Italy Says It Won't Seek Aid (WSJ)... and neither will Spain, so no OMT activation, ever. So why buy bonds again?
• European Lenders Keep Ties to Iran (WSJ)
• Fink Belies Being Boring Telling Customers to Buy Stocks (Bloomberg)
• Dutch Voters Buck Euro Debt Crisis to Re-Elect Rutte as Premier (Bloomberg)
• China's Xi cited in state media as health rumors fly (Reuters)
• China vs Japan: Tokyo must come back 'from the brink' (China Daily)
• Manhattan Apartment Vacancy Rate Climbs After Rents Reach Record (Bloomberg)
• Well-to-do get mortgage help from Uncle Sam (Reuters)
• Princeton Endowment Expected to Rise Less Than 5% in Year (Bloomberg)
• Protesters Encircle U.S. Embassy in Yemen (WSJ)
• US groups step up sales of non-core units (FT)

• Germany says U.S. debt levels "much too high" (Reuters)
• Netanyahu ramps up Iran attack threat (Reuters)
• Burberry plummets by most ever, slashes guidance, rattles Luxury-Goods Industry as Revenue Growth (Bloomberg)
• FoxConn Again Faces Labor Issue on iPhones (NYT)
• Southern whites troubled by Romney's wealth, religion (Reuters)
• China's Xi not seen in public because of ailment (Reuters)
• Another California muni default: Oakdale, Calif., Restructuring Debt, Planning Rate Raise After Default (Bond Buyer)
• Spain's PM expects "reasonable" terms for any new aid (Reuters)
• Bernanke Proves Like No Other Fed Chairman on Joblessness (Bloomberg) - Ineffective like no other?
• John Lennon’s Island Goes on Sale as Irish Unpick Property Boom (Bloomberg)

SocGen’s Sebastian Galy:

The market decided rose tinted glasses were not enough, put on its dark shades and hit the nightlife.

And the uber-bullishness is based on what? Hopium. Hope that the Fed will unleash QE3, or nominal GDP level targeting and buy, buy, buy — because what the market really needs right now is more bond flippers, right? Hope that Europeans have finally gotten their act together in respect to buying up periphery debt to create a ceiling on borrowing costs. Hope that this time is different in China, and that throwing a huge splash of stimulus cash at infrastructure will soften the landing.

• China Output Growth Slows as Leadership Handover Looms (Bloomberg); Weak China trade data raises Beijing spending stakes (Reuters)
• Italy Q2 GDP revised down to -0.8% year-on-year on weak domestic demand (Economic Times)
• Troika disagreed with €2 billion in Greek "cuts" (Reuters)
• No Greek bottom in sight yet: Greek IP, Manufacturing Output plunge compared to year earlier (WSJ)
• France's Hollande sees 2013 growth forecast about 0.8 pct (Reuters), France plots tax hikes of up to 20 bln euros (Reuters)
• Euro Crisis Faces Tests in German Court, Greek Infighting (Bloomberg)
• Geithner sells more AIG stock (FT)
• Japan infuriates China by agreeing to buy disputed isles (Reuters)
• Euro crisis to worsen, Greece could exit euro: Swedish FinMin Anders Borg (Economic Times)
• ‘Lead or leave euro’, Soros tells Germany (FT)
• German MP makes new court complaint against euro plans (Reuters)
• Obama super-Pac in push to raise $150m (FT)