Recession

If the U.S. economy really is in “great shape”, then why do all of the numbers keep telling us that we are in a recession? In 2008, stocks didn’t crash until well after the U.S. economy as a whole started crashing, and the same thing is apparently happening this time around as well.

1. Top Trade #1: Long USD vs short EUR and JPY
2. Top Trade #2: Long US 10-year ‘Breakeven’ Inflation
3. Top Trade #3: Long MXN and RUB versus short ZAR and CLP.
4. Top Trade #4: Long EM ‘External Demand’ vs. Banks stocks
5. Top Trade #5: Tighter Spread between Italy and Germany Long Rates
6. Top Trade #6: Long large-cap US Banks relative to the overall S&P500

While it is still unclear just why the FOMC Minutes which are said to have made a December liftoff "more likely" unleashed a dramatic market rally, one which sent both stocks and TSYs higher, the sentiment continued overnight, with both Asian stocks surging on the US momentum, as well as Europe, where the DAX gapped solidly above the 200 DMA as most European shares advanced, led by resources, travel stocks. U.S. futures continue their ramp higher, and at last check were another 8 points, or 0.4%, in the green.  But if the Fed Minutes were enough to unleash the latest leg in this rally, than the ECB's own minutes due also today, should send futures back over 2100 without much difficult, regardless of their actual content.

Today’s financial world is a tough place for the average person but paradise for rich guys. As easy money raises asset prices, the owners of those assets make effortless profits. Then they buy expensive toys and trophy properties. Hence the recent boom in fine art, high-end real estate, yachts and private jets. But like all financial trends, this one has a limit, and that limit is now in sight. The 1%, it seems, is rolling over...

Well, we got a look at the IBC-Br monthly real GDP indicator on Wednesday and as you can probably imagine given the stagflationary nightmare currently unfolding in Brazil, the picture was not pretty. If fact, we just witnessed the largest Y/Y contraction in series history.

"The equilibrium, for now, is QE infinity – but political risk could be the breaking point"...

"Federal Reserve officials meeting last month anticipated it “could well be” time to raise short-term interest rates at a December policy meeting after keeping them pinned near zero for seven years. Fed officials thus decided to change the wording of their Oct. 28 policy statement to ensure their options were open for a move in December, according to minutes of the October meeting released Wednesday with the regular three-week lag."

Stripped of accounting gimmicks, real GDP growth shows economic collapse. And it will culminate in another stock market crash.

If this weekend's gruesome terrorist attack on Paris ended up being hugely bullish for stocks, then two subsequent events, a stadium-evacuation scare in Hannover (where Angela Merkel was supposed to be present) and a raid in north Paris which left several dead in the ongoing manhunt against the alleged ISIS mastermind, appear to have but some question into if not stocks then algos whether a rising wave of terrorist hatred across Europe is truly what central bankers need to unleash more QE. That said, we expect the current weakness to last only until the traditional USDJPY carry ramp pushes stocks traditionally higher.

Economists have been consistently over-estimating the strength of the economy this year. The magnitude of their misses is not particularly worrisome but volatility measures and the recent record number of consecutive negative readings are suggesting that economists’ models are losing their grasp on the state of the economy.

The current world-system (call it whatever you like--cartel-crony neoliberal-state capitalism, etc.) is as doomed as the Titanic, for the same reasons: the design of the system is the source of its failure.

While there are many that continue to dismiss individual "economic data points" in order to promote a "bullish bias" for the equity markets, it is more important to accumulate the "weight of evidence." The rising inventory levels, weak consumption, and plunging imports all suggest that the domestic consumer is much weaker than currently believed. The last time this combination of data points collided was just prior to the start of the last recession. But then again, this is where "economic theory" collides with "Main Street realities." Place your bets carefully.

Following September's 0.2% MoM drop, October's Industrial Production dropped a further 0.2% (missing expectations of a 0.1% rise by a mile). This is the 9th MoM drop in the 10 months of this year. Utilities (-2.5%) and Mining (-1.5%) were big drivers, as year-over-year, IP rose just 0.34% - the weakest growth since January 2010 - is flashing recessionary signals loud and clear.

Once you examine the finer details, it quickly becomes clear that there are five key reasons that the Fed is unlikely to raise rates anytime soon.