Deutsche Bank

All you need to read and some more.

As we head into the US open, European cash equities are seen in positive territory with strong performance observed earlier in the session from the FTSE MIB. This follows reports from the Italian press regarding commentary from the Chinese President Hu Jintao who promised to encourage Chinese industry to look towards Italy with confidence, in a conversation with the Italian PM Monti on the sidelines of the nuclear safety summit in Seoul. Markets have also been reacting to an article from Der Spiegel, citing economists who have warned that the German central bank could be facing hidden liabilities of up to EUR 500bln should there be a break up in the Eurozone. This has prompted some risk-averse flows into the Bund which has seen fluctuating trade so far in the session but remains in positive territory as North America comes to market. In individual equities news, following overnight reports from Abu Dhabi concerning buying a stake in RBS, company shares were seen up 6%. Source comments from earlier in the session regarding the sale speculated that the stake could be up to a third of RBS. Looking ahead in the session, the market awaits US Consumer Confidence data due at 1500BST.

Gold is targeting $1,700/oz after yesterday’s Bernanke QE hints and today’s urging by the OECD to boost the Eurozone ‘firewall’ by another $1.3 trillion. Gold is consolidating on yesterday’s gains today above the 200 day moving average (simple) at $1,687/oz after yesterday’s biggest daily gain since January. The gains came after Ben Bernanke warned of the risks to the fragile US economic recovery and signalled the Fed would keep interest rates low and further debase the dollar – boosting gold’s inflation hedging appeal. Gold is also likely being supported by the OECD’s warning that the debt crisis is far from over. The OECD said today that the euro zone's public debt crisis is not over despite calmer financial markets this year and warned that Europe's banks remain weak,  fiscal targets are far from assured and debt levels are still rising. The OECD said that the eurozone needs to boost crisis ‘firewalls’ to at least $1.3 trillion. Gold likes the ‘trillion’ word and talk of ‘trillions’ and will be supported by the risk of the creation of trillions of more euros, pounds and dollars in the coming months. Indian jewellers are on strike to protest against a government levy on gold and the strike is entering its 11th day in most parts of India. It has brought gold imports to a near standstill from the world's biggest buyer of bullion in the peak wedding season.  The Indian government for the second time in 2012 doubled the import tax on gold coins and bars to 4% along with an excise duty of 0.3 percent on unbranded jewellery.

As we noted this morning, the hope trade seems to be morphing from 'we don't need no stinking QE' to 'good is good but bad is better' as 14 of the last 16 data points have missed expectations. With a relatively heavy calendar of data this week, we are sure there will be ups and downs and micro-trends to call for the all-in but as Jim Reid if Deutsche Bank notes, this is the start of the point in the year when seasonals have often led to data disappointments over the past decade. The data typically beats expectations between November and January but then disappoints for 8 of the next 9 months with the notable exception of May. Overall its certainly a relationship to have in mind, especially as we travel through a period, theoretically, post maximum liquidity for now. Adding to this concern is the fact that real economic activity has 'improved' less and less with each extreme easing action by the Fed - with 'Operation Twist' barely budging the needle on ECRI's growth index relative to QE1 or 2 - and with economic data missing expectations rather consistently already, history suggests negative returns for the S&P will be evident.

All you need to read and more.

All you need to read.

• Beijing on edge amid coup rumours (FT) - as predicted two days ago, do not expect any official media update on this critical matter, until after the outcome, whatever it is
• Goldman scours emails for use of word "muppets" (Reuters)
• Germany to Balance Budget Early (WSJ)
• Osborne Gives and Takes From Rich in U.K. Budget Balancing Act (Bloomberg)
• Big Spending at Fannie, Freddie Should End, Watchdog Says (Bloomberg)
• Volcker Says U.S. Needs Reforms in Finance, Government (Bloomberg)
• Chinese Firms, Regulators in Talks on Yuan-Fund Program (FT)
• Ireland Said to Ready Bank-Debt Proposal for ECB Review (Bloomberg)

Why are we not surprised at the fact, as reported by the WSJ, that Deutsche Bank AG changed the legal structure of its huge U.S. subsidiary to shield it from new regulations that would have required the German bank to pump new capital into the U.S. arm. The bank on Feb. 1 reorganized its U.S. subsidiary, known as Taunus Corp., so that it is no longer classified as a 'bank-holding company' (BHC). The technical change has important consequences. Taunus—which at the end of last year had about $354 billion of assets and 8,652 employees, making it one of the largest U.S. banking companies—won't have to comply with a provision of the U.S. Dodd-Frank regulatory-overhaul law that essentially forces the local arms of non-U.S. banks to meet the same capital requirements that American banks fact. A provision of the Dodd-Frank Act was going to require Deutsche Bank to infuse Taunus, which for years operated with thin capital cushions, with what executives feared could be as much as $20 billion. Taunus is no longer a bank-holding company and won't have to comply with the tougher capital rules, even though Taunus still houses Deutsche Bank's U.S. investment bank, making it unclear what jurisdiction the Fed will have to intervene in the investment-banking arm if it has concerns about how the unit is being run or whether it has adequate capital buffers. So much for all that systemic risk control and lessons learned as hey-presto - everything is sidestepped as the farce continues.

• BHP Billiton sees China iron ore demand flattening (Reuters)
• Australia Passes 30% Tax on Iron-Ore, Coal Mining Profits (Bloomberg)
• State Capitalism in China Will Fade: Zhang (Bloomberg)
• Venizelos quits to start election campaign (FT)
• Fed’s Dudley Says U.S. Isn’t ‘Out of the Woods’ (Bloomberg)
• China Is Leading Foreign Investor in Germany (WSJ)
• Fed undecided on more easing: Dudley (Reuters)
• Martin Wolf: What is the real rate of interest telling us? (FT)

Deals from last week tell me that we are are again in a credit bubble.

The Fed is not a “dealer” giving “hits” of monetary morphine to an “addict”… the Fed has permitted cancerous beliefs to spread throughout the financial system. And the end result is going to be the same as that of a patient who ignores cancer and simply acts as though everything is fine. That patient is now past the point of no return. There can be no return to health. Instead the system will eventually collapse and then be replaced by a new one.

From Deutsche Bank: "We removed Apple from SOLAR following a ~50% gain since adding it to Solar on October 19th (adding ~$175Bln in market value). Over the same time period, the S&P is +15%."

"Rationalising away the imminent risk of inflation, the Fed leaves the door wide open for a QE3 announcement in April."

So Greece has been saved – is that right? Well according to ISDA (the International Swaps and Derivatives Association) a “Restructuring Credit Event has occurred with respect to the Hellenic Republic” which in the vernacular means the Greeks are bust; tell us something we don’t know! The importance of this statement is that credit default swaps (CDS) on Greek debt are now triggered and holders will have their losses made good. There were any number of scurrilous rumours that ISDA would not declare a credit event to preclude their illustrious members from paying out, but when the net downside of $3 billion needs to be shared out amongst the likes of Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, UBS, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, then a quick whip round in the bar after close of business and the jobs a good’un.