Global Economy

First we had FRBNY Dove Bill Dudley talking up the Goldman party line that QE3 may, just may, be necessary (recall Goldman initially asked for $2 trillion in QE), and now the dove from the west coast makes news as San Fran Fed (also known as the Captain Obvious academy) president Janet Yellen basically says that rising commodity prices don't warrant policy shift. And by policy shift she means a change to the current easing regime. Some other dovish statements: "it would be difficult to get a sustained increase in inflation as long as growth in nominal wages remains low" which is wrong - how many billions do American consumers "save" by not paying their mortgages; "structural explanations cannot account for bulk of rise in unemployment during the recessions" ... so why do we need economic "explanations"? "structural explanations cannot account for bulk of rise in unemployment during the recessions" - yup: Captain Obvious class 101; "long-term inflation expectations remain well-anchored despite jump in short term expectations" - anchored to what - the Rudy von Havenstein inflation projection wall chart?  "decline in jobless rate reflects in part drop in labor force participation" - advance topics In Captain Obviousness; "real consumer spending slowed around turn of the year after brisk gains in autumn, consumer sentiment weaker in March" - but CNBC just spent all of last week telling us how strong the consumer was in March; and most importantly: "accommodative monetary policy stance still appropriate because unemployment too high, underlying inflation too low" and "inflation effects from higher commodity prices likely to be transitory but must watch inflation expectations" uhh, what happened to well-anchored? To rephrase: the QE lunacy will continue until morale (and hyperinflation) improves.

The Fed now has to choose between two bad options: either keep pushing down the dollar and let oil's inevitable rise trigger a recession, or let the dollar recover and watch stocks crater as the "risk trades" reverse. If the dollar Bears have to cover their short bets, the ensuing rally in the dollar might well be explosive and self-reinforcing. If the Fed lets the dollar depreciate in an uncontrolled fashion, then we may well end up with the hyper-inflation (loss of faith) that many expect. My question remains: what course of action will benefit those issuing the whispered orders to their lackeys and toadies on the Fed and in Congress? Will a disorderly and disruptive collapse of the dollar serve the Financial Power Elites' best interests? I don't see how it would. Rather, I see it wreaking great damage on their holdings. Thus it wouldn't surprise me in the least were the Fed to shock the markets with a "surprise" rate increase within the next few weeks or months. Destroying the real economy to maintain the "risk trades" is a foolhardy way to close down a lose-lose position.

Silver's nearly 3% surge in trading in Asia may indicate that the long expected short squeeze may be underway. Bullion banks with very large concentrated short positions may be being forced to buy back their short positions – propelling silver higher. This could see silver surge over the record nominal high of $50.35/oz in short order. At the same time caution is merited as silver has risen nearly 10% in April so far and over 33% year to date. Speculators need to be very cautious as margin requirements may be increased again and profit taking could lead to sharp falls in price. Leveraged speculation is extremely high risk and should be avoided by investors and savers. Proof of the lack of animal spirits in the silver marker is seen in the data which shows that speculative sentiment on the COMEX (as seen in the Commitment of Traders/ COT data – see chart below) is subdued. While the total silver ETF holdings increased to a record, they are not far above the levels seen in December 2010 (see chart above). Importantly, even at $41.30/oz the dollar value of the total silver ETF holdings remains very small at just over $20.5 billion. To put that number in perspective, today bankers put a prospective value of around $60 billion on Glencore, one of the world’s largest commodity trading companies. BP has set up a fund worth $20 billion to cover legal claims from the oil spill disaster.

The last time Bill Dudley hosted a Q&A on inflation, he made the now legendary phase, noted here, that people should just eat iPads and let their betters worry about such trivial problems as "transitory" inflation. Today Jan Hatzius' predecessor and Goldman's plant at the New York Fed continues his Titans of Taste (substitution) world tour, speaking in Tokyo, Japan, where he is experiencing one after another aftershock while discussing "Regulatory Reform of the Global Financial System." Select highlights from the speech: US economy in better shape than last summer; QE2 is partially responsible for recent rebound although the US economy has lost momentum in past few months due to oil prices; oil prices are negative to economic outlook; big focus for Fed is inflation expectations; expectations have not become anchored; CPI rise in US may be more modest than other countries as US starting at lower base; "it is important to not to overreact to rise in headline inflation as its likely to be temporary", there is more slack in the US economy than in Europe; "there should not be too much enthusiasm about tightening monetary policy too early", and many other such dovish rambling which once again confirm that Hatzius and Dudley are laying the groundwork for additional QEasing.

Unlike the last time a bunch of men gathered at Bretton Woods to determine the monetary fate of the world and set the stage for globalization, this time around the prevailing activity was a casting call for the role of the new Emperor Palpatine. Yet despite that (or maybe because of) George Soros appeared in full Open Society regalia and spoke to Bloomberg TV about how importing foreign asset collateral (also known as exporting debt) through "globalization" is still the name of the game. And obviously while the Hungarian billionaire would not disuss the true purpose for his presence in Bretton Woods, he did have some words of caution for China bulls: "while the big banks under direct central control are in fact refusing to
lend, there is a shadow banking system that is growing out of control.
There is a real danger there of wage price inflation because prices have
gone up, particularly real estate prices have gone up because there was
a real estate boom." But to those concerned about the key issue at play, namely the future of the reserve monetary system, some could interpret the following statement by Soros, as a tacit agreement that the end of the dollar is fast approaching: "cautionary words for the dollar: "There's a big question whether the U.S. dollar should be the main
reserve currency and in fact it no longer is because it maybe accounts
for two-thirds of the monetary reserves. The euro is an alternative and
there's a lot of diversification into other currencies and even more
into commodities. Not only gold, but actually oil is now an asset class
for investors. That has put some upward pressure on the commodities." Of course what actually is decided in B-W will be made clear over the next year or so, once the decision makers have already placed their bets accordingly and pull the rug from under the market.

With the market now only capable of kneejerk headline reactions which end up being immediately priced in, in the pursuit of the mythical Russell 36,000, it completely ignores the actually important news (whose interpretation has not been programmed into the algos trading the S&P) such as input costs and their derivatives, which will inevitably crush margins and lead to the same market reaction as that seen in the summer-fall 2008 transition. And since leverage on all cash flow producing assets will be at the same level as US banks circa 2008, the result will be an even worse wipe out. It has gotten so bad that US Energy Secretary Steven Chu was dragged out of his office to present his version of the "irrational exuberance" speech so pervasively ignored by the stock market until it was proven to be the only sensible thing ever uttered by the maestro. At a news conference on clean energy, Steven Chu said on Thursday high oil prices posed a threat to the global economy. "The oil producer countries and the oil consuming countries are concerned because it does have an impact on a very fragile economic recovery. There is great concern," Chu told a news conference while attending a clean energy conference. "There's ongoing discussions ... I'm not going to go into any of the details of the discussions. There is a concern about trying to stabilize prices. There is a concern about rising prices," he said." There may be a concern, but according to the president there isn't really much that can be done about said prices. The best people can do is learn to cope. Especially since there is no chance that the commodity complex will be declining any time soon: to many today's ECB decision was a potential catalyst. And instead the market took one look at the number, listen for 2 minutes to Trichet's rambling remarks and bid everything up.

Time is running out for a decision on Q/E but there is simply not enough evidence to make an informed judgement on the state of the economy and how it would react to a withdrawal of liquidity. Most analysts just look at the ISM and other supply data but Bernanke has got to make sure the economy can survive without his daily liquidity gift. In addition, if as some suggest, Q/E2 has done its job by ramping up equity markets, it still falls far short of his mandates. Unemployment is still massive (the real level is nearer 12-13%) and the participation rate continues to fall. Today there are 44.2 million Americans on food stamps, or 14.3% of the US population! Analysts also seem to forget the massive mountain of issuance coming from the Treasury this year and next. Consumer debt and confidence also matter more to Bernanke than it does to main stream analysts and housing is not helping at all and looks set fall further causing havoc at the banks again.

In other market-shaking news, The Bernank says the Fed WILL act if inflation is "more than transitory." Apparently, he finally had to pick up the check at a restaurant this week or perhaps he pumped his own gas over the weekend.

The Oil market right now looks more like a Vegas style casino, but this April WTI rollover cycle would test the long standing argument that markets are never run-over by speculators.

Zero Hedge friend Chris Martenson has procured and analyzed the latest set of Fukushima overflight photos from DigitalGlobe. His key takeaways: (i) The situation on the ground is still not stabilized. (ii) At current scope and resources of the response effort, it will take weeks to months before TEPCO is in real control of the situation.(iii) The aftereffects will occupy TEPCO and the Japanese government for years. Read the full analysis inside.

The phrase “Black Swan” is really making the rounds these last few months. Uttering the term a year ago would have earned you a collection of confused looks and a general attitude of disinterest. Now, people behave as if they had learned about economic shockwave events and the global domino effect when they were in kindergarten. The problem is that when this kind of terminology hits the mainstream, in most cases it comes prepackaged with dumbed down and diluted definitions which promote an inadequate, cartoonish understanding of the circumstances. To be sure, most Americans are well aware that the world’s political and economic foundations are about as stable as fresh pudding under a heat lamp. The problem is that they are now being conditioned by the mainstream media to view the idea of collapse as “cinematic”; a kind of live action fantasy in which we all get to play the part of the audience, watching safely from the dark in our cushy theater seats with a bag of overpriced popcorn, Dolby surround sound, and a hot date to keep us company during the boring parts. Three years ago, even mentioning the idea of a breakdown in society or a financial catastrophe beyond a minor recession earned you the label of “doom monger”; a rather inept and naïve attempt on the part of the MSM to silence any economic analysis that stepped outside the establishment Keynesian framework. Today, I turn around to look at a magazine stand at the airport and right in front of me is Newsweek openly declaring “Apocalypse Now”!

The backdrop is pretty simple but is too terrifying for the brainwashed amongst us to admit. The old order, of corporatist/fascism is on its last legs and it clutching onto its power desperately. This includes the Central Banking system itself and by extension pretty much all governments around the world. When rats are cornered they attack and that is what is happening now. In their attempts to save a dead system they will do everything they need to try to survive. The well being of the citizenry is largely irrelevant. Keeping them quiet and subservient is much more important. Well, the problem here is that in order to do this various countries need to achieve conflicting goals. In the West, the governments are merely attempting to keep standards of living flat or masking the deterioration (inflation) and in the emerging economies they must continue to raise living standards rapidly. Both of these things cannot happen in a centrally controlled global economy where money is being spewed from spigots and no one is investing. Let’s get real, everyone I know with half a brain and a lot of money is hedging themselves. Whether this means precious metals, a second passport, growing their own food, buying land overseas or all of the above, one thing they are not doing is investing in this economy. So instead of trying to deal with the root of the problem (monopoly money, rampant corruption in D..C and no rule of law) they just print money. If the root problems were dealt with, the TBTF banks shut down and executives jailed, the Federal Reserve shutdown gradually and replaced with hard money I promise you after a very challenging recession the smartest Americans would put their money to work and this economy would boom. Of course this won’t happen because the rats are in charge so an uncontrollable collapse is more likely the outcome. They would rather bring us all down into the depth of Hades rather than lose their grip on power. - Mike Krieger

Asian demand is especially strong in the increasingly important China. The Chinese strong cultural affinity and love affair with gold (primarily due to a distrust of Chinese paper money) shows no signs of abating. Indeed, it may be accelerating as was seen in the recent figures from the Shanghai Gold Exchange and customs in China and now reports (including from CNTV – the national TV station of the People's Republic of China) of shortages of raw gold or unrefined gold. China, now the largest producer of gold in the world is seeing its gold mines struggle to cater for surging Chinese demand. The raw gold trade has been growing by up to 30% per annum and demand has leapt in recent months leading to a developing raw gold shortage in China. The industry in China expects only 27,000 tonnes of raw gold can be delivered this year. That is way below the estimated demand of 50,000 tonnes. A potential supply shortage of 23,000 tonnes of gold is a large amount of gold in the small gold bullion market which is tiny versus equity, bond and derivative markets. It is infinitesimal when compared to the $4,000 billion a day traded in currency markets.

Alright all you Zero Hedge bears, time to weigh in on my latest comment (sarcasm ON)...

I think that we’re experiencing a sort of stock market survivor’s high, where investors are so relieved we didn’t crash that they’re ignoring the fact that there’s another cliff just ahead.