Ferrari

• South China Sea tension mounts near Filipino shipwreck (Reuters)
• OECD cuts economic forecasts as eurozone drags on growth (FT)
• Switzerland frees banks to settle U.S. tax evasion cases (Reuters)
• U.S. Says Firm Laundered Billions (WSJ)... no, it's not HSBC, also: Free Corzine!
• Ardent conservative Bachmann to not seek re-election to Congress (Reuters)
• Russia faults U.S. over 'odious' Syria rights resolution (Reuters)

Lamborghini sales hit the highest level in 14 years, Ferrari sales jumped 40% for the first quarter, luxury retailers forecast fat profits....

A microcosm of what's wrong with the French economy (while the chopping block is being moved to the center)

In what may be very disturbing news for the AAPL-borg collective and the broader Hotel AAPLfornia, WSJ is reporting that Apple is working on a lower-end iPhone, a move which it dubs "a big shift in strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped." To call this a big shift is a major understatement: no longer will Apple have the premium, ultra-luxury, aspirational product cache, which for a broad selection of its customers was the primary reason to keep buying iteration after iteration of the company's releases and lining up in droves around the block on release day. Especially since anyone seeking a "cheaper" iPhone could just buy a previous generation iteration of a gadget whose new product launch cadence is now jumping to twice a year, soon thereafter three times, and so on. Yet saddest for all those who have watched the progress of this iconic company over the past decade from the sidelines regardless of sentiment, the consumer products "Ferrari" that Steve Jobs built, just announced it is launching its own Yugo.

Things change fast in the technology world. 

A week ago we reported that as part of the surge in the Italian anti-austerity movement, the time had come for none other than that forced exile (courtesy of the ECB's bond yield tactics) whose political career ended prematurely precisely one year ago, Silvio Berlusconi, to announce not only his political ambitions, but his desire for vengeance when he made it clear he is willing and ready to scuttle Mario Monti's cabinet. It appears that in the April elections, Silvio may now be challenged by none other than Ferrari head, Luca de Montezomolo, boss of the Scuderia, who Ansa reports "has hinted he might rethink his recent No to stepping into the political ring after April elections."

Liar, Liar, Fed-Stoked Bubble Assets on Fire!!!!

The yield on MBS has been crushed over the last few weeks (front-running from before QEternity and then afterwards as every manager with a balance sheet warehoused as much as possible to sell back to the Fed). This rally has reduced the spread between 'risky' MBS and supposedly risk-free US Treasuries to practically nothing as the Current Coupon 30Y MBS trades around 1.67%. However, where the real differential has occurred is in the spread between the risky wholesale rate that Main Street is charged on their mortgage and the government-sponsored wholesale rate they finance this debt at. The spread between wholesale and retail mortgage rates has never been higher (in absolute and ratio terms) providing a new ATM for all those banks and mortgage originators trying so hard to scrape by these days. We just assume the Fed's policy transmission-channel had modeled this trickle-down of mortgage banker bonuses (and taxes) into local Ferrari dealerships and Lafite wholesalers.

The markets mood is shifting from certainty to uncertainty. The unpalatable truth about a stable Europe is it takes all its many and diverse participants to be singing off the same hymn sheet. Unfortunately they aren't. The different objectives and aims of each group are becoming increasingly apparent. The Bottom line remains if the Euro can be held together, then Italy and Spain bond yields will tighten. Simple. Unfortunately, the tensions inherent in the system threaten to pull it apart. A brief study of history will show conflict and naked self-interest are the only permanent features inherent to any human system. Name me an alliance, an empire, a union, a nation or any large political unit that has, at some point, not tried to pull itself apart? Meanwhile... the global recession gets deeper. Yesterday the slowing European economy caused Volvo to acknowledge slowing truck demand... Who could have predicted that? And its going to get worse.

• Draghi Credibility At Stake As ECB Tries To Save The Euro (Bloomberg)
• Clinton Returns to Back Obama (WSJ)
• Taxi fares up 17% in New York City (Toronto Sun)
• High Speed Scandal: Ferrari Incident Rocks China (Daily Beast)
• China’s Richest Man Benefits From Thirst For Soft Drinks (Bloomberg)
• China August export growth seen weak, imports slow (Reuters)
• Death to PowerPoint! (BusinessWeek)
• Sweden surprises with interest rate cut (WSJ)
• IMF demands greater clarity on Irish austerity plans (Reuters)
• At Abercrombie & Fitch, Sex No Longer Sells (Bloomberg)
• And the best for last: California Treasurer Backs Law to Ban Costly Long-Term Bonds (Bloomberg) -> legislating low, low yields

India’s recent series of power blackouts, in which 600 million people lost electricity for several days, reminds us of the torrid pace at which populations in the developing world have moved onto the powergrid. Unfortunately, this great transition has been so rapid that infrastructure has mostly been unable to meet demand. India itself has failed to meets its own power capacity addition targets every year since 1951. This has left roughly one quarter of the country’s population without any (legal) access to electricity. That’s 300 million people out of a population of 1.2 billion. Indeed, it is the daily attempt of the underserved to access power that may have led to India’s recent grid crash. But the story of India’s inadequate infrastructure is only one part of the difficult, global transition away from liquid fossil fuels. Over the past decade, the majority of new energy demand has been met not through global oil, but through growth in electrical power. Frankly, this should be no surprise. After all, global production of oil started to flatten more than seven years ago, in 2005. And the developing world, which garners headlines for its increased demand for oil, is running mainly on coal-fired electrical power. There is no question that the non-OECD countries are leading the way as liquid-based transport – automobiles and airlines – have entered longterm decline. Why, therefore, do policy makers in both the developing and developed world continue to invest in automobile infrastructure?

Think the US has it bad with its "soaring" gas price, which is now back to $3.75 per gallon? Think again. Here, courtesy of Bloomberg, is a list of the countries whose gasoline cost puts what Americans pay at the pump to shame. In order of descending gas prices, below are the 20 places in the world where one does not want to "fill 'er up."

Rumors are circulating that reports of the demise of the Chinese auto market may be exaggerated now that even David Einhorn is forced to defend his GM long (because it "has a strong cash position" - sure, and stuffs channels like no other) however stripped of stereotypes and hype, the reality is that even the one time impregnable ultra luxury car market in China is now faltering at an ever faster pace. BusinessWeek reports: "Waiting lists for ultra-luxury cars in Hong Kong are getting shorter and used-car lots are cutting prices on Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys in the latest sign of China’s slowdown. At first glance, the numbers are deceiving: Sales of very expensive new autos surged 47 percent in the first six months, according to industry analyst IHS Automotive. Look more deeply, however, and another picture emerges, especially in the city’s used-car lots." The picture is ugly: "“The more expensive the car, the more dry the business,” said Tommy Siu at the Causeway Bay showroom of Vin’s Motors Co., the used-car dealership he founded two decades ago. Sales of ultra-luxury cars have halved in the past two or three months, he said. “A lot of bankers don’t want to spend too much money for a car now. At this moment, they don’t know if they’ll have a big bonus.”" Sad: they should all just go to Singapore and manipulate Libor. Oh wait, too soon?

Mark Grant has been on Wall Street for thirty-eight years now. You may claim brains and brilliance and the best investment committee this side of Alpha Centauri but he can smell the napalm in the morning and his nostrils are jumping as if infused by pepper gas. It was in the spring of 2010 that he concluded that Spain was going to get put in “time out” and put it in black and white. Yesterday as Moodys downgraded Spain by three notches to just above junk and likely today the Spanish banks will feel the pain and as the yield on the Spanish ten year is just under 7.00% the heat is on and the stove has been turned up to high. The Italian 10 year yield is 6.25% now and financial markets operate as a matter of faith and it is obvious that the parishioners are leaving the church. There should be no surprise that Greece and Spain and Portugal and Ireland keep asking for money and it should not shock anyone that many clever schemes have been postulated to try to get Germany’s money and it should also not surprise anyone that Germany mouths all kinds of nice and polite phrases to object but in the end Germany will keep rejecting any plot that will lessen their lifestyle.

All you need to read and some more.