Wall Street Journal

For those curious about the timeline of the world's biggest prop-desk blow up, here it is day by day and, pardon the pun, blow by blow.

• JPMorgan Report Piles Pressure on Dimon in Too-Big Debate (BBG)
• Employers Blast Fees From New Health Law (WSJ)
• Obama unveils US energy blueprint (FT)
• Obama to Push Advanced-Vehicle Research (WSJ) - here come Solar-powered cars?
• BRICs Abandoned by Locals as Fund Outflows Reach 1996 High (BBG)
• Obama won't trip over Netanyahu's Iran "red line" (Reuters)
• Samsung puts firepower behind Galaxy (FT)
• Boeing sees 787 airborne in weeks with fortified battery (Reuters)
• Greece Counts on Gas, Gambling to Revive Asset Sales Tied to Aid (BBG)
• Goldman’s O’Neill Says S&P 500 Beyond 1,600 Needs Growth (BBG)
• China’s new president in corruption battle (FT)
• Post-Chavez Venezuela as Chilly for Companies From P&G to Coke (BBG)

The “Fix” Is In?

• Dimon’s ‘Harpooned’ Whale Resurfaces With Senate Findings (BBG)
• Greece and lenders fall out over firings (FT) - as predicted 48 hours ago
• Dallas Fed Cap Seen Shrinking U.S. Banking Units by Half (BBG) - which is why it will never happen
• Xi elected Chinese president (Xinhua)
• Russia Bond Auction Bombs as ING Awaits Central Bank Clarity (BBG)
• U.S. and U.K. in Tussle Over Libor-manipulating Trader (WSJ)
• Chinese firm puts millions into U.S. natural gas stations (Reuters)
• In Rare Move, Apple Goes on the Defensive Against Samsung (WSJ)
• Berlin Airport Fiasco Shows Chinks in German Engineering Armor (BBG)
• Ex-PIMCO executive sues firm, says was fired for reporting misdeeds (Reuters)
• Bank of Italy Tells Banks in the Red Not to Pay Bonuses, Dividends (Reuters)

While chart analogs provide optically pleasing (and often far too shockingly correct) indications of the human herd tendencies towards fear and greed, a glance through the headlines and reporting of prior periods can provide just as much of a concerning 'analog' as any chart. In this case, while a picture can paint a thousand words; a thousand words may also paint the biggest picture of all. It seems, socially and empirically, it is never different this time as these 1936 Wall Street Journal archives read only too well... from devaluations lifting stocks to inflationary side-effects of money flow and from short-covering, money-on-the-sidelines, Jobs, Europe, low-volume ramps, BTFD, and profit-taking, to brokers advising stocks for the long-run before a 40% decline.

The Biggest Welfare Queens of All ...

• More black smoke over Vatican: No decision on pope in second day (NBC)
• PBOC Chief Says China Should Be on ‘High Alert’ on Inflation (BBG) - just as predicted last fall
• California Seizes Guns as Owners Lose Right to Keep Arms (BBG)
• U.S. Tax Cheats Picked Off After Adviser Mails It In (BBG)
• In 2012, Samsung spent $401 million advertising its phones in the U.S. to Apple's $333 million (WSJ)
• Coca-Cola probed over mapping in China (FT) - accused of ‘illegally collecting classified information’
• Italy's Bond Sale Meets Tepid Demand (WSJ)
• U.S. Steps Up Alarm Over Cyberattacks (WSJ)
• Mugabe takes on Zimbabwe's Generation X (Reuters)
• Mars Rover Finds Conditions Once May Have Supported Life (BBG)
• Oil demand hit by China refinery outages (FT)
• Big Sugar Is Set for a Sweet Bailout (WSJ) DOA to buy 400,000 tons of sugar to stave off a wave of defaults by sugar processors
• Spectre of stagflation haunts UK (FT)
• As Republicans seek identity, conclave highlights divisions (Reuters)

A Wall Street Journal analysis of 60 big U.S. companies found that, together, they parked a total of $166 billion offshore last year. That shielded more than 40% of their annual profits from U.S. taxes, though it left the money off-limits for paying dividends, buying back shares or making investments in the U.S. The 60 companies were chosen for the analysis because each of them had held at least $5 billion offshore in 2011. Within the group of 60 companies, WSJ found 10 that parked more earnings offshore last year than they generated for their bottom lines. The trend was most pronounced among the 26 technology and health-care companies. Not all of the earnings parked offshore are in cash. Some of the money is used to build plants and buy equipment overseas. Why? Apple said it held $40.4 billion in untaxed earnings outside the U.S. and estimated that it would owe $13.8 billion in tax if it brought that money back to the U.S. That is a 34% tax rate. Since foreign income taxes are creditable on U.S. taxes, that means Apple has paid less than 5% tax on those earnings to date.

The American spirit is rooted in the belief of a better tomorrow. Its success has been due to generations of men and women who toiled, through both hardship and boom times, to make that dream a reality. But at some point over the past several decades, that hope for a better tomorrow became an expectation. Or perhaps a perceived entitlement is more accurate. It became assumed that the future would be more prosperous than today, irrespective of the actual steps being taken in the here and now. And for a prolonged time – characterized by plentiful and cheap energy, accelerating globalization, technical innovation, and the financialization of the economy – it seemed like this assumption was a certain bet. But these wonderful tailwinds that America has been enjoying for so many decades are sputtering out. The forces of resource scarcity, debt saturation, price inflation, and physical limits will impact our way of life dramatically more going forward than living generations have experienced to date. And Americans, who had the luxury of abandoning savings and sacrifice for consumerism and credit financing, are on a collision course with that reality.

“We’ve become more concerned recently”

• Cardinals head to conclave to elect pope for troubled Church (Reuters)
• Hyperinflation 'Unthinkable' Even With Bold Easing: Abe (Nikkei)
• Ryan Plan Revives '12 Election Issues (WSJ)
• Italy 1-yr debt costs highest since Dec after downgrade (Reuters)
• Republicans to unveil $4.6tn of cuts (FT) - Obama set to dismiss Ryan plan to balance budget within decade
• CIA Ramps Up Role in Iraq (WSJ)
• Hollande Hostility Fuels Charm Offensive to Show He’s No Sarkozy (BBG)
• SEC testing customized punishments (Reuters)
• Judge Cans Soda Ban  (WSJ)
• Hungary Lawmakers Rebuff EU, U.S. (WSJ)
• Even Berlusconi Can’t Slow Bulls Boosting Euro View (BBG) - luckily the consensus is never wrong
• Funding for Lending ‘put on steroids’ (FT)
• Investigators Narrow Focus in Dreamliner Probe (WSJ)
• With new group, Obama team seeks answer to Karl Rove (Reuters)

“‘Devaluing a currency,’ one senior Federal Reserve official once told me, ‘is like peeing in bed. It feels good at first, but pretty soon it becomes a real mess.’”

—Francesco Guerrera, The Wall Street Journal, 4 Feb 2013.

Speculative long gold positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 107,587 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the CFTC said. Net-long positions fell by 9,012 contracts, or 8%, from a week earlier.  Speculative long silver positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 18,603 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the CFTC reported. Net-long positions fell by 3,134 contracts, or 14%, from a week earlier.  Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 29,183 contracts, down 1,703 contracts, or 6%, from the previous week.

• One in four Germans would back anti-euro party (Reuters)
• EU Chiefs Seeking to Stave Off Euro Crisis Turn to Cyprus (BBG)
• Ryan Says His Budget Would Slow Annual Spending Growth to 3.4% (BBG)
• Goldman leads decline as Wall Street commodity revenues plummet (Reuters)
• South Korea and US begin military drills (FT) and North Korea cuts off hotline with South Korea (Reuters)
• Karzai Inflames U.S. Tensions  (WSJ)
• Algorithms Get a Human Hand in Steering Web (NYT)
• Meeting Is Set to Choose Pope (WSJ)
• More U.S. Profits Parked Abroad, Saving on Taxes (WSJ)
• Banks rush to redraft pay deals (FT)
• Fugitive Fund Manager Stuffed Underwear With Cash, Fled (BBG)
• Post-Newtown Gun Limits Agenda Narrows in U.S. Congress (BBG)
• China Hints at Shift in One-Child Policy (WSJ)

Much virtual ink has been spilled over the decline of the mainstream media, measured by circulation, advertising revenue, or a general sense of irrelevance. Furthermore, news consumers increasingly recognize that the mainstream media outlets are basically public relations services for government agencies, large companies, and other influential organizations. Journalists do very little actual journalism — independent investigation, analysis, reporting. A news outlet that deviates from the Narrative by doing its own investigation or offering its own interpretation risks being cut off from the flow of anonymous briefings which means a loss of prestige and a lower status. In exchange for sticking to the Narrative, they get access to official sources. Give up one, you lose the other. Readers are beginning to recognize this, and they don’t want to pay. Nowhere is this situation more apparent than the mainstream reporting on budget sequestration.