Carlyle

• Firms Send Record Cash Back to Investors (WSJ)
• And in totally opposite news, from the same source: Firms Race to Raise Cash (WSJ)
• China warns over fresh currency tensions (FT)
• Hollande faces pressure over jobs pledge (FT)
• Obama efforts renew ‘grand bargain’ hopes (FT)
• Shirakawa BOJ Expansion Gets No Respect as Stocks Cheer Exit (BBG)
• Japan’s Nakao Defends Easing as China’s Chen Expresses Concern (BBG)
• Boeing Had Considered Battery Fire Nearly Impossible, Report Says (WSJ)
• ECB Chief Plays Down Italy Fears (WSJ)
• China moves to make its markets credible (FT)
• Euro Group head says UK at risk of 'sterling crisis' (Telegraph)

It appears that not only we are tracking the phaseout in equity inflows, all of which are simply the reversal of the massive $220 billion surge in bank deposits in the month of December due to fears of Fiscal Cliff dividend and capital gains tax increases (explained previously), and which as today's ICI update indicates have trickled down to just $683 million - the lowest weekly inflow year to date. Among the others who are keeping track of the weekly reduction in inbound capital euphoria, in addition to the six companies which priced equity offerings on Monday as was shown previously, are these fine corporations and existing stakeholders, including Apollo, KKR, Carlyle, Blackstone, Thomas H. Lee, and Bain,  who just can't wait to get out while the getting is good, split once again evenly between secondaries and follow ons.

• The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed (Esquire)
• G7 fires currency warning shot, Japan sanguine (Reuters)
• North Korea Confirms It Conducted 3rd Nuclear Test (NYT)
• Italian Police Arrest Finmeccanica CEO (WSJ)
• Legacy, political calendar frame Obama's State of the Union address (Reuters)
• China joins U.S., Japan, EU in condemning North Korea nuclear test (Reuters)
• Wall Street Fading as Emerging-Market Banks Gain Share (BBG)
• Berlin Conference 2.0: Drugmakers eye Africa's middle classes as next growth market (Reuters)
• Barclays to Cut 3,700 Jobs After Full-Year Loss (BBG)
• US Treasury comment triggers fall in yen (FT)
• ECB Ready to Offset Banks’ Accelerated LTRO Payback (BBG)
• Fed's Yellen Supports Stimulus to Spur Jobs (WSJ)
• Libor Scrutiny Turns to Middlemen (WSJ)
• Samsung Girds for Life After Apple in Disruption Devotion (BBG)

• Tunisian opposition politician shot dead, protests erupt (Reuters)
• China says extremely concerned after latest North Korea threats (Reuters)
• Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs (AP)
• Debt Rise Colors Budget Talks (WSJ)
• Obama proposes short-term budget fix, Republicans swiftly object (Reuters)
• S&P Analyst Joked of Bringing Down the House Before Crash (BBG)
• Dell’s Bigger Challenge Ahead in Turnaround After Buyout (BBG)
• Some of the Mark Carney Gloss Is Coming Off (WSJ)
• Japan Official Says BOJ Tools Sufficient as Shake-Up Looms (BBG)
• S&P Lawsuit Undermined by SEC Rules That Impede Competition (BBG)
• Heavy Clashes Erupt in Syrian Capital (WSJ)

The globalists have stretched the whole of the world thin.  They have removed almost every pillar of support from the edifice around us, and like a giant game of Jenga, are waiting for the final piece to be removed, causing the teetering structure to crumble.  Once this calamity occurs, they will call it a random act of fate, or a mathematical inevitability of an overly complex system.  They will say that they are not to blame.  That we were in the midst of “recovery”.  That they could not have seen it coming. Their solution will be predictable.  They will state that in order to avoid such future destruction, the global framework must be “simplified”, and what better way to simplify the world than to end national sovereignty, dissolve all borders, and centralize nation states under a single economic and political ideal?

You hear it now all across Europe. “We are out of the woods, the crisis has ended, the worst is over” but I take scarce solace from these comments. The numbers have been falsified, the figures have been altered, and that which should have been counted as been ignored as a matter of political expediency. Bills uncounted do not mean that they do not have to be paid and obligations ignored do not erase them. The problems of Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal have been wallpapered over and the “new look” has been sung to the Press and the citizens alike but the wet plaster remains behind the façade and the upcoming peeling will commence in our New Year. More money equates to lower yields in the short run and assurances of health prevail in the world for the moment but the raw data tells another story as capital diminishes and debts build and uncounted liabilities surface once more.   2012 was a year of a vast and complicated charade. 2013 is likely to be a year when the resplendent masks are removed.

• Japan PM Abe wants to replace landmark war apology (Reuters) - to summarize Abe's strategy: crush the JPY even as China is alienated so much not a single Japanese export goes to Beijing. Brilliant
• Unthinkable Cuts Almost a Reality (WSJ)
• Signs of Negative Economic Impact Growing (WSJ)
• Carlyle Agrees to Buy Duff & Phelps for $665.5 Million (BBG)
• Greek retail sales slump deepens in October, recession bites (Reuters)
• Congress Dysfunction as Deadline Arrives Poses 2013 Risks (BBG)
• For Euro, All Eyes Are on Central Bank's Actions (WSJ)
• France Seeks New Path to High Tax (WSJ)
• Japan Rebuke to G-20 Nations May Signal Moves to Weaken Yen (BBG)
• Portugal braced for ‘fiscal earthquake’ (FT)
• Monti's reform path faces test beyond Italy elections (Reuters)
• South Korea’s Inflation Slows Even as Economy Gaining Momentum (WSJ)
• China factory sector strongest since May 2011 (Reuters)

• Grand Bargain Shrinks as Congress Nearing U.S. Budget Deadline (BBG)
• Budget Talks Cloud Outlook (WSJ)
• Obama to cut vacation short to deal with fiscal crisis (Reuters)
• Stop-gap fix most likely outcome of "fiscal cliff" talks (Reuters)
• Aso Named Japan’s Next Finance Chief as Abe Primes Fiscal Pump (BBG)
• Aluminum Glut No Bar to Gains as Barclays Says Sell (BBG)
• Morsi signs controversial charter into law  (FT)
• Children, many ill, would be victims of Russia ban on U.S. adoption (Reuters)
• Turkey Central Bank Unveils New Tool to Limit Bank Debt Risk (BBG)
• Refi Program Expansion Eyed (WSJ)
• India Joins Indonesia Facing Heightened Policy Dilemma (BBG)

It’s cold out, I’m just trying to turn up the heat......

• Union solidarity rubs up against slow economy in LA port strike (Reuters)
• Geithner predicts Republicans will allow higher tax rates (Reuters). And "no risk" of a US downgrade, "no risk"
• Geithner takes hard line on fiscal cliff (FT)
• Narrowing LDP lead points to Japan post-election confusion (Reuters) - not to mention, USDJPY plunges if LDP loses
• Vietnam Says China Must Avoid Trade Weapon in Maritime Spat (Bloomberg)...  and real one, one hopes
• Greece unveils bond buyback plan (FT)
• ECB Can’t Deliver Spain Spread Rajoy Wants, Wellink Says (Bloomberg)
• UK’s euro trade supremacy under attack (FT)
• Merkel Signals Debt Write-Off Possible as Buyback Begins (Bloomberg)
• ECB's Noyer Says Bond-Buying Plan 'Is Bearing Fruit' (WSJ) - as long as just plan, and not execution.

• 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)

• U.S. Super Storm’s Record Flooding Lands Blackout Blow (Bloomberg)
• Sandy Carves a Path of Destruction Across the U.S. East Coast (WSJ)
• Losses May Exceed Those of 2011 Storm (WSJ)
• Hurricane Sandy Threatens $20 Billion in Economic Damage (Bloomberg)
• Huge fire in Sandy's wake destroys dozens of NYC homes (Reuters)
• Possible levee break in New Jersey floods three towns (Reuters)
• Apple Mobile Software Head Forstall Refused to Sign Apology (WSJ)
• Stagflation in Spain (Bloomberg)
• German Oct. Unemployment Rose Twice as Much as Forecast (Bloomberg)
• A declining Japan loses its once-hopeful champions (WaPo)
• Unable to copy it, China tries building own jet engine (Reuters)
• Obama Signs Disaster Declarations for NY, NJ (YNN)

• OECD: Japan Public Debt in 'Uncharted Territory' (WSJ)
• Germany holds firm on Greece as IMF pressure mounts (Reuters)
• Schäuble and Lagarde clash over austerity (FT) - it would be great if someone actually implemented austerity...
• Merkel hints at tax cuts for growth boost (FT)
• Hollande Robbed of Growth Engine as Companies Cut Investment (BBG)
• Romney Narrows Gap With Obama in Swing State Polling (BBG)
• Sluggish Growth Seen Into Next Year (WSJ)
• Softbank Founder Has 300-Year Plan in Wooing Sprint Nextel (BBG)
• Singapore Forgoes Currency Stimulus on Inflation Risk (Bloomberg) - as does China day after day
• Sharp Jabs Dominate Combative Vice-Presidential Debate (WSJ)
• Japan and China Agree to Hold Talks on Rift After Noda Call (Bloomberg)

With 'private equity' discussions sliding for one moment off the front pages, NYTimes' DealBook notes that it appears these 'honorable' job-creating entities were allegedly colluding to drive down the prices of more than two dozen takeovers. During the last decade's buyout boom, according to newly released e-mails in a civil lawsuit accusing them of collusion, the two firms appeared to be on much cozier terms.

"Henry Kravis just called to say congratulations and that they were standing down because he had told me before they would not jump a signed deal of ours,"

 

"We would much rather work with you guys than against you, together we can be unstoppable but in opposition we can cost each other a lot of money."... "Agreed."