New Orleans

Reports of individuals snapping up near-record numbers of gold and silver coins are coming in from around the world. While individual buyers aren't the dominant players in precious metals, they do make a difference; and their renewed enthusiasm is matched by some recent national trends. There's no guarantee that this buying, encouraging as it seems, is anything more than a blip; but in the aggregate it does seem like a lot of buyers, old and new, are finding current prices to be attractive. That's how bottoms form and new bull markets begin.

• Apple CEO Cook Goes From Record Sales to IPhone Stumbles (BBG)
• Deal With Saudis Paved Way for Syrian Airstrikes (WSJ)
• Drone delivery: DHL 'parcelcopter' flies to German isle (Reuters)
• Tory Burch Hires Ralph Lauren Veteran as Co-CEO (WSJ)
• Apple releases iOS 8 workaround to fix dropped cell service (Reuters)
• Ukraine Probes Ex-Minister Over $3 Billion Russian Bond (BBG)
• Goldman Sachs-Led Group Near Deal to Buy Messaging Startup Perzo (WSJ)
• U.K. Seeks to Criminalize Manipulation of 7 Benchmarks (BBG)

• Scotland split jitters send sterling to 10-month low (Reuters)
• S&P 500 Beating World Most Since 1969 Doesn’t Spark Flows (BBG)
• Happy ending guaranteed: Vietnam building deterrent against China in disputed seas with submarines (Reuters)
• China Posts Record Surplus as Exports-Imports Diverge (Bloomberg)
• Russia, U.S. to hold talks on 1987 arms accord (Reuters)
• Halcon’s Wilson Drills More Debt Than Oil in Shale Bet (BBG)
• Deadly Disappointment Awaits at Ebola Clinics Due to Lack of Space (WSJ)
• Latinos furious at Obama on immigration delay, vow more pressure (Reuters)
• Japan GDP Shrinks at Fastest Pace in More Than Five Years (WSJ)

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans ruled today that BP was "grossly negligent" in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and may face up to $18 billion in civil penalties, according to The WSJ. In addition, Transocean and Halliburton were found 'negligent' - a lessor offense - (fines up to $1,100 per barrel for 'negligence', $4,300 for 'gross negligence'). This result comes 2 years after BP agreed to accept criminal responsibility for the disaster and to pay $4.5 billion in fines and restitution. BP quickly issued a statement that it will appeal the decision and believes the findings "are not supported by evidence at trial."

As reported earlier, the governor of Missouri announced earlier his afternoon that starting midnight, a curfew will be imposed on Ferguson until 5 am as part of the state of emergency unviled by the governor. The only problem is that with about an hour to go, the protesters have filled the streets and are refusing to disperse, even as police in riot gear is present and roadblocks have been setup. So will this be another violent night, this time with mass arrests, as the Ferguson population violates the governor's curfew, or will everyone manage to get along? Track the events in real time as they are about to unfold with these three live feeds.

The gold price manipulation scheme will go down as the biggest financial market scandal in US history for numerous reasons. They include the destruction of the free market system in the United States.

For an administration in its sixth year, juggling presidential optics is nothing new. And with some rare exceptions, the public relations team around the president has remained consistently stubborn about refusing to let the never-ending stream of political, economic or international crises affect Mr. Obama’s daily schedule. The current myriad incidents are no exceptions: Moments after making a grim statement about Ukraine on Friday, the president popped into the East Room, where the first lady, Michelle Obama, was holding a mock state dinner for children to promote her Let’s Move nutrition initiative. “My big thing,” he confessed to the kids, “chips and guacamole!” There was plenty of laughter all around.

• Ukraine Says Malaysian Airliner Shot Down Near Russian Border (BBG)
• Downing of airliner seen as pivotal moment in Ukraine crisis (Reuters)
• Malaysian Air Flight Took Route Avoided by Qantas, Asiana (BBG)
• Russian-Made Missile Hit Malaysia Jet, U.S. Officials Say (BBG)
• Netanyahu Orders Military to Ready Wider Gaza Incursion (BBG)
• Silvio Berlusconi Underage Sex Conviction Overturned (WSJ)
• But... but... "economic patriotism" - AbbVie to Buy Shire for $54.8 Billion as Drug Deals Surge (BBG)
• SEC targets 10 firms in high frequency trading probe - SEC document (Reuters)
• Art bubble pop: Sotheby's to Lay Off 'Modest' Number of Employees (WSJ)
• Moar Abenomics: Hermes Sales Trail Estimates as Japanese Revenue Declines (BBG)

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering and other corruption that spanned his two terms as mayor--including the chaotic years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Mr. Nagin was convicted Feb. 12 of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen who wanted work from the city or Mr. Nagin's support for various projects. The bribes came in the form of money, free vacations and truckloads of free granite for his family business. The 58-year-old Democrat had defiantly denied any wrongdoing after his 2013 indictment and during his February trial.

• Tea Party struggles to repeat Cantor-style shock in Tennessee (Reuters)
• Iran Deploys Forces to Fight al Qaeda-Inspired Militants in Iraq (WSJ)
• Oil Rallies as Militant Advance in Iraq Threatens Crude (BBG)
• Gold Set for First Back-to-Back Weekly Gain Since April (BBG)
• Hedge Funds Get Stung by Slow Markets (WSJ)
• Sterling nears 5-year high after Carney speech (FT)
• Britain Warns Boom in Real-Estate Prices Threatens Economy (WSJ)
• East Europe Leaders Urge EU Unity to Counter Russia (BBG)
• Formula One Said to Be Valued at $8 Billion as Malone Seeks Stake (BBG)
• Dumb and dumber: Abe Plans Company Tax Cut in 2015 as Kuroda Warns on Budget (BBG)

Yes, U.S. capital markets have officially gone "Full Seinfeld"; As ConvergEX's Nick Colas notes, Tuesday’s selloff over “Nothing” reversed higher Wednesday throuygh Friday for similarly non-specific reasons. So, today we will go a little further afield and talk about words and what they tell us about shifting societal priorities and norms. Wonder what the most commonly searched word might be on the Merriam-Webster website?  It is “Pragmatic”... which seems incredibly ironic given the total lack of pragmatism that appears to be shown in world markets.

Atlanta, Georgia suffers the greate income inequality of any city in the US - closely followed by New Orleans. According to Bloomberg, which ranked 300 U.S. cities with populations of at least 100,000 based on their level of income inequality and identified the 50 with the greatest inequality. What is stunning is that while top-down many are focused on the widening gap overall, in these 2 cities alone, over one-quarter are in poverty (earn less than $4,020), while 60% are in the nation's top quintile for household income. Interestingly, the median income does not correlate well with the inequality.

Revenues are up modestly for the US Postal Service as First-class Mail volumes continue to tumble "extremely" but package volumes are rising; however, USPS records a $1.9 billion loss in the last quarter, despite efforts to streamline efficiency and cut costs. The rise in package volumes appears related to a "Sunday delivery" deal with Amazon.com who "found a great fit with USPS' capability and desire." However, USPS says it needs $10 billion for deferred investments (i.e. Capex) and warns if it does not get its bailout:

• *USPS SEES UNABLE TO MAKE $5.7B RETIREE PAYMENT W/OUT REFORM

Given USPS says no new employees have been hired and flexible scheduling used for Sunday delivery, we wondered who exactly is benefiting from the taxpayer funded desperation of the USPS to do anything for even loss-making revenues?

It was a scene just like out of the Wild West. 18-year-old David Moreyra had stolen a purse. And an angry mob gathered in broad daylight in Rosario, Argentina to lynch him. It’s a rather unfortunate regression for a society. Civilized people don’t form angry mobs to act as judge, jury, and executioner. As I’ve long-written, there are consequences to destructive economic policy. Central bankers cannot conjure infinite quantities of currency out of thin air, nor can politicians borrow more money just to pay interest on what they’ve already borrowed, all without consequence. This is one of those consequences - a complete breakdown of the social contract, giving rise to something so Medieval as lynch gangs and mob justice. Can it happen where you live? Maybe. No nation is immune to the social effects of economic decay (think Detroit, or even New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina...).

Overnight, RealtyTrac released its latest home-flipping report. What it found is that while the latest housing bubble may have indeed popped, manifesting itself not only in a decline in flipping prices but also a tumble in flipping activity across the US as a percentage of all sales from 6.5% a year ago to just 3.7% in Q1, and down from 4.1% last quarter, flipping, where a home is purchased and subsequently sold again within six months, can still be massively profitable, leading to returns that would make the pimpliest 25-year-old, math PhD HFT-firm owner green with envy.  Among the core findings was that the average sales price of single family homes flipped in the first quarter was $55,574 higher than the average original purchase price. That gross profit provided flippers with an unadjusted ROI (return on investment) of 30 percent of the average original purchase price averaged out across the US. The average gross profit per flip a year ago was $51,805 for an unadjusted ROI of 28 percent. However, it is the range that is notable: the flip ROI ranged from -8%, or a loss of $10k on the property, to a gain of 80%, a whopping $144K!