The latest development in the Porsche-Volkswagen saga comes courtesy of German Manager-Magazin, which notes that Daimler is apparently in advanced negotiations to acquire a stake in the troubled luxury carmaker. It was still unclear what happened with the massive VOW options held by Porsche ahead of expiration today: as the company did not have the money to exercise them earlier, one can only hope that Porsche scrambled enough cash to at least roll the options.

The VIX - VXV relationship has dropped to a 2009 low, implying the 3M forward vol is abnormally high (projected volatility) relative to 1M (VIX), and extreme lows coincide with index turning points.

Well, the "for broke" part is hopefully a pun. But based on their most recent holdings, which among others include 104% of the IYR Real Estate ETF, Credit Suisse is certainly ploying something here (one hopes, or else that is one big fat finger). When you have the balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank to back you up, you don't really care much if you overload the boat. Of course, this is excatly what Boaz Weinstein was thinking when the world blew up in his face.

Well, the "for broke" part is hopefully a pun. But based on their most recent holdings, which among others include 104% of the IYR Real Estate ETF, Credit Suisse is certainly ploying something here (one hopes, or else that is one big fat finger). When you have the balance sheet of the Swiss National Bank to back you up, you don't really care much if you overload the boat. Of course, this is excatly what Boaz Weinstein was thinking when the world blew up in his face.

The state unemployment data from the BLS is likely significantly flawed but it makes sense to visualize it nonetheless. The chart below demonstrates both the monthly change in unemployment (April - May 2009) as well as the year-over-year increase in state unemployment (vs. May 2008). Notably, Michigan was in a world of pain even before the bankruprtcy of GM and Chrysler. The green shoot: seems cattle ranchers are in high demand in N/S Dakota and Wyoming.

The state unemployment data from the BLS is likely significantly flawed but it makes sense to visualize it nonetheless. The chart below demonstrates both the monthly change in unemployment (April - May 2009) as well as the year-over-year increase in state unemployment (vs. May 2008). Notably, Michigan was in a world of pain even before the bankruprtcy of GM and Chrysler. The green shoot: seems cattle ranchers are in high demand in N/S Dakota and Wyoming.

Everyone else does, why should David be an exception. Fast fwd to 2:20 - "You want a good laugh, take a look at Dick Bove's latest report." Dick - when CNBC makes fun of you for smoking the "shutes" you know you have reached a new low on the propaganda pole. At least that DC advisory job beckons - better make use of it quick. The next election is in just over 3 years.

Latest NYSE Program Trading data out. Program Trading volume continues to decline, with 3.4 billion shares traded, down 700 million from the week before. Most notable is Goldman's dramatic drop in principal trading, down from on average 1 billion over the past 2 months to a mere 631 million. In the meantime, Credit Suisse is continuing its climb in Principal PT.

Well, maybe Scott Galloway too.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENu_06t9xl4&hl=en&fs=1&]

In yet another splinter approach from the route espoused by Bernanke, the Dallas Fed shares its thoughts on limiting irresponsible lending. The Fed's solution is the imposition of loan-to-value caps which would make a lot of sense, but would substantially curb loan demand - a course of action that the Federal Reserve would fight tooth and nail against in its attempt to deflate debt by a new wave of excess (and even more irresponsible as it would be taxpayer backstopped) lending. The Dallas Fed's justification:

Submitted by John Bougearel of Structural Logic

Bedtime reading for the wonkish insomniac-cum-strange attractor seeker in all of us. Additionally, London readers are lucky - Dr. Paul Wilmott, one of the best known and most respected financial quants, will host on July 8 a free quant and event driven trading forum called 'Evolving Strategies in the New World Order', covering topics such as:

- Transforming your strategies to respond to changing liquidity dynamics
- Generating alpha with differentiated content
- Going global:opportunities and challenges
- Effective strategies for the current market environment

Total Federal Reserve balance sheet assets for the week of June 17 of $2,053 billion consisting of:

Total Federal Reserve balance sheet assets for the week of June 17 of $2,053 billion consisting of: