Recession

Albert Edwards, one of the most prominent uber-bears just got even more bearish: "Our view that this economic and market recovery will collapse like a pack of cards as soon as the steroid-like stimulus is reduced is gaining ground. Most forward-looking leading indicators now signal some sort of second-half slowdown. The only area of debate now seems to be in its magnitude. By the end of this year, I believe we will be back in recession." Albert's vision of a deflationary collapse, following by a reactionary episode in which the Fed (in typical reactive fashion) ends up printing tens trillions in one last attempt to restimulate the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, is well-known, and conforms with our view. As for the turning point, it is still anyone's guess: as today's Freddie record low mortgage rates demonstrates, deflation has now firmly gotten the upper hand. The Fed has can not afford to wait and see how this plays out. Obviously, with ZIRP here at least through 2013, if not much longer, the only true recourse is another failed monetary stimulus. However, with the president's rating in shambles, and any form if stimulus,montary or fiscal, likely guaranteed to bite another 10% at least from his plunging popularity rating (see latest Gallup numbers here), Bernanke likely has his hands tied at least until 2011. Which is why deflationists are likely safe for at least 6 months, assuming of course the forward looking credit market (not stocks, stocks no longer reflect anything except for the latest latency arbitrage available to those rich enough to afford the latest and greatest Routers) does not begin to price in the hyperinflationary episode sooner. With 30 Day Bills near zero, there is little to worry about... for now.

As usual, Pento's TV appearance are about as contained and demure as Alan Greenspan on Ambien: "[Bernanke's statement that the economic recovery is intact] guarantees that we are going to have a double dip recession, because his track record is 100% accurate, but it is 100% accurate in the wrong direction. I look at markets and I look at economics, and since this whole rebound was derived by artifical means, why would I ever believe that we are not going into double dip recession. Should I listen to Ben Bernanke or should I listen to the price of oil which contracted from $85 to $72 a barrell in few weeks, should I listen to the 10 Year that went from 4% to 3.2% in a few weeks, should I listen to Doctor Copper that went from $3.50 a pound to $2.77 a pound: where would I want to put my allegiance with, markets or Ben Bernanke. We need to sell assets, and we need to allow the deleveraging process to consummate. We are going in a wrong direction and that's the double dip recession is virtually assured. 2008 taught us very clearly that decoupling is a dodo bird's philosophy. The US is headed down. You'll see home starts, permits, sales plummet in the next few months, that's going to add more supply to the housing market, that's going to put bank assets under duress, that's going to put their capital under duress, and that's going to help bring us into a double dip recession." Pento's asset allocation advice: high levels of cash, hide in the short-end of the Treasury curve, and own gold, precious metals and high-paying dividend commodity stocks.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, fundamentals used to matter. In this place tonight's news that Japan is slipping back into its +/-20th sequential recession would have resulted in a plunge in the Nikkei, and a lot of overtime work for the Japanese plunge protection team, which unlike its US equivalent, does not hide in the shadows, and is well-known to intervene when equities plummet. Earlier, Japan announced that not only did its jobless rate increase more than the expected 5%, hitting 5.1%, once again openly starting on its one way trek to the record 5.6% achieved at the trough of the crisis, but deflation also picked up, hitting -1.5% in April (and where prices did not fall, they were supported by government subsidies), and completing the trifecta was that household spending came in at -0.7%, after estimates called for a 2.5% increase after the 4.4% prior reading. Instead, in our current galaxy, the Nikkei was up 1.5% because China said that it would not sell its European bonds, an act which would have brought the euro to parity and slashed the value of China's trillions in foreign reserves by about 10% overnight (also, the fact that a dollar-strapped BOJ demanded $200 million in FX swaps from the Fed was certainly also not lost on the market). Gee, it is truly shocking they did not confirm they are selling their German bond holdings. After all, even PIMCO is liquidating its European exposure: we would contend that China is not all that much dumber than Bill Gross.

The NBER said Monday that it's too soon to call the recession over, although many of its members think it is. Is it over? Is there a flaw in their analysis?

At 27 minutes into his show, John McLaughlin predicts that Obama "will enact a new national sales tax in January, February or March of 2011." As we pointed out recently, tax withholdings, contrary to what the budget office or flawed groupthink will have you believe, were down in February and March compared to 2009. Alas, Obama will have no choice but to institute some form of VAT unless he has absolute faith that China will buy US debt into perpetuity. Yet what people in D.C. should remember, is that Japan's hike of the VAT in 1997 and increase in out-of-pocket medical expenses is often credited with prompting their 1997 recession.

Abstract: Many attribute our current recession to the evils of unbridled capitalism. In response, our leaders have embarked on the typical Keynesian recession prescriptions in order to stimulate the economy and lead the nation out of the economic doldrums. Unbeknownst to most Americans however, prior to the Great Depression, policymakers used different tools to help guide the country out of recessions. Herein we examine the causes, responses and insights gleaned from the Recession of 1920-21, the last downturn in which leaders relied on the age-old policy of laissez-faire, combined with massive reduction in government and encouragement of deflation.

Looks like this is going to get done.

SCHUMER: CHINA FX'ONE OF THE CAUSES' OF GLOBAL RECESSION
SCHUMER: CHINA CONTINUES TO 'GAME THE SYS' ON CURRENCY
SCHUMER: CHINA FX'HAMPERING'GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY
SCHUMER: 'GROWING CONSENSUS'ON CAP HILL RE CHINA FX MANIPULATION
SCHUMER: WILL TRY TO ADD CHINA FX BILL TO'MUST PASS' LEG

We are now taking bets what China's re-re-retaliation to this next step will be.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is outstanding in his expose on Europe's increasingly more evident deflationist cul-de-sac, and the ever more obvious L-shaped "recovery" facing Europe. While it has taken fans of the euro currency a mere two short months to not just diametrically change their exposure vis-a-vis the "long" currency of choice, but to allow speculators to build record euro short positions, the question of how America (and China by virtue of its dollar peg) will deal with euro currency that has no choice but to go lower, becomes an increasingly thorny issue. And to further confound deficit worries, recent overtures by the Fed in the form a discount rate hike make it all too obvious that the bond market will likely soon demand a much more substantial "pound of flesh" to fund America's burgeoning deficit. In this context, the threat of increasing rates, coupled with a euro that could reach $1.25 according to Morgan Stanley, and hit a low of $1.10 according to Albert Edwards, makes the policy prospects before the Federal Reserve so much more daunting.

Goldman's distinctly feminine A. Joseph Cohen is out with the latest prognostication. Punxsutawney Abbey must have not seen her shadow yet again, resulting in a call for 6 more decades of Dow at 36,000, or in this case S&P hitting 1,300 by the end of the year. The fact that blind monkey, with a penchant for dart (and/or feces) throwing have had a more successful track record than AJC is irrelevant, yet disturbing . To wit: On a CNBC appearance in March 2008, she predicted S&P 500 at 1550 by end 2008, In an August 10, 2007 appearance on CNBC the Oracle of nothing predicted the S&P 500 would rally to 1,600 by December; In December 2007 A. Joseph predicted the S&P 500 index would reach 1,675 in 2008 (the S&P 500 traded to less than half, or 741.02, in November 2008).

The one index that just refused to correlate to the market, and the UMichigan Index, and the Confidence Board, was released today, and once again hit a 2010 low of -49. The index has been in a -48 to -49 range for the past five weeks. The primary reason for this week's drop was due to a 6 point decline in the personal finance component, from -6 to -12, the lowest reading since December 6, with not much change in the other two readings: National Economy and Buying Conditions. It is somewhat confounding that this index persistently "refuses" to go up with all the other self-reinforcing confidence indices out there.Maybe this is the reason: from the report "Eighty-eight percent think that the economy, despite what economists say to the contrary, is still in a recession."

Goldman is known for changing its estimates within 24 hours of an NFP number. Today, there is no change, and it stays at -25,000, coupled with an estimation of the unemployment rate at 10.1%. Additionally, some bearish observations on the US economy via Goldman uber economist Jan Hatzius, who is now convinced this is a U- and not a V-shaped recession, follow.

The doctor recommended daily Fed reading/hilarity generating allowance presented for your late day pleasure.

No dramatic photos, but the statistics are dramatic ...

Typical of a post-bubble credit collapse, I see the range of outcomes in the financial markets and the economy to be extremely wide. But one conclusion I think we can agree on in this light is the need to maintain defensive strategies and minimize volatility and downside risks as well as to focus on where the secular fundamentals are positive such as in fixed-income and in equity sectors that lever off the commodity sector, under the proviso that the “experts” are correct on this particular forecast — that China and India remain the global growth leaders. - David Rosenberg

They're TALKING a good game, but talk is cheap...