New Normal

Once you funnel everyone into risk assets and then mask the risk to generate complacency, you guarantee a bidless market when risk reappears.

When in a hole, stop digging. But when in a bubble, keep blowing.  Our ruling and wealthy elite are worried that they are stuck in their own ponzi scheme or bubble and are suffering from the general problem of all ponzis and bubbles – how to get out.

“I’ve never seen a customer base or an economy like this..."

Welcome to the new normal... The "if we build it (and offer credit to anyone who can fog a mirror), they will come" economy. While LeBeau and his cronies are cock-a-hoop over auto sales (no matter how those sales are achieved), it seems the carmakers are way ahead as the value of cars on the sidelines (inventories) has never, ever, been greater than now.

"We take issue with the widespread notion that the problem is solely due to regulators having raised the cost of dealer balance sheet, and could be ameliorated if only there were greater investment in e-trading or a rise in non-dealer-to-non dealer activity... illiquidity is a growing concern even in markets like equities and FX, which use barely any balance sheet at all, and where e-trading is the already the norm rather than the exception."

After Bridgewater, and Goldman Sachs, today it is SocGen's turn, which overnight advised clients that with "US set to unwind QE", now is the time to "increase cash" and "reduce risk." This is how SocGen advises its clients to be positioned ahead of the end of QE...

It all started when Scotland Yard arrived in a house in Hounslow, on the western fringes of London, where Nav Sarao was arrested on one late April morning. Wait, this wasn't some dramatic perp walk out of a glass tower in Canary Wharf? No, for one simple reason: Sarao lived his parents. He also didn't know how to drive. And so begins one of the most fascinating profiles of a modern day financial mastermind: instead of tailored Saville Row suits, thundering parties, booming Bugattis and the occasional jaunt to the Riviera, Nav was the antithesis of a Wall Street. He was, in the words of Bloomberg which has created a fascinating profile of the young trading guru, "pathologically frugal" in fact "Sarao was so frugal it was almost an eccentricity."

"...at the end of the day, the "new normal" shouldn't be one where our current best is still worse than our prior worst."

“Volatility and repricing,” euphemism for losses, are the New Normal.

After 2 weeks of increassing (though near cycle low) jobless claims, last week saw a modest drop from a revised 284k to 276k. Texas saw initial claims jump to the highest in 5 weeks - stable at new normal higher-than-before the oil price crash. This leaves the smoother average hovering at or near 42 year lows... which leaves everyone in the world asking why ZIRP and why lower for longer and why moar threats of QE at every negative macro print or 2% drop in stocks. It seems pretty clear that companies have cut as far as they can cut... so any downturn in the economy now flows right through to the bottom line. The big question is - does any of this data extrapolate into the noise-prone payrolls number tomorrow.. and thus the future of the western world's wealth-creation bubble machine.

All too often investors are bombarded with bullshit presented as facts by talking heads in constant denial and forever protecting their commissions - as opposed to protecting their client's interests. One notable case in point is the "it's different this time" meme surrounding IPOs and their apparent 'realness' in the current new normal vs the 199/2000 dotcom boom/bust. As the following chart shows: yes, this time is different - there has never, ever, been a greater perecentage of unprofitable companies IPOing...

It wouldn't be the new normal without a "Greek deal imminent" rumor/headline and so after overnight China-based strength gave way to selling pressure, another twitter-based rumor of "chatter" of a Greek accord (which given yesterday's comments seems extremely unlikely anyway) sparked a malt-up in EURUSD and US Equity futures. However, as is always the case, Virtu's algos as usual forgot to sell when the official denial occurred just a few minutes later.

The American Dream...

"What's mine is yours, for a fee," is the mantra of the new normal "sharing economy," as various segments of our heretofore under-utilized assets are variously 'rented' out for the enjoyment of others. However, as a report by the Rhode Island Department of Health suggests, perhaps we are sharing just a little too much. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the US, with health officials pointing the finger at casual sex arranged through social media as "the perfect storm." With gonorrhea up 30%, HIV infections up by 33%, and syphilis soaring a shocking 79% in the last year alone, perhaps they have a point.