Bank of America

• Espirito Santo Financial Suspends Shares, Bonds on ESI Exposure (BBG)
• Europe Stocks Drop for Fifth Day as Espirito Santo Sinks (BBG)
• Espirito Santo Creditors Doubt Containment on Missed Payment (BBG)
• French Stocks Seen Extending Losses on Economy Concern (BBG)
• Stocks Slide With Portugal Bonds as Yen Gains; Oil Drops (BBG)
• U.S. Probes Hacking of Government Computers at Personnel Agency (WSJ)... finds terabytes of porn 
• It's Congress' fault: Obama rejects criticism over border crisis (Reuters)
• Israel Mobilizes 20,000 Troops for Possible Gaza Invasion (BBG)
• Chinese hackers pursue key data on U.S. workers (NYT)
• Donetsk Primed for Siege as Ukraine Army Hems In Rebels (BBG)

The trouble with capitalism’s guardians is that they have no respect for it. Markets have been around for at least 2,000 years. Since then they have evolved in many directions, with fancy and sophisticated techniques… and elaborate systems and complicated instruments that take a PhD to understand. But despite all the brain power put into trying to figure them out, markets still surprise, confound and puzzle everyone. You’d think Janet Yellen and other central bankers would take a step back and stand in awe. Heaven and hell are full of people who thought they could take the risk out of markets. Some went broke. Some blew their brains out... others both.

"US lending to businesses is reaching record levels but banks are privately warning that the activity should not be seen as evidence of an economic recovery." And the stunner: "Much of the corporate lending is going to fund payouts to shareholders, finance acquisitions and fuel the domestic energy boom, bankers say, rather than to support companies’ organic growth."

"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past" - From George Orwell’s 1984. The reason Big Brother and his band of technocrat authoritarians spend so much time and effort erasing history in the classic novel 1984, is because they are a bunch of total criminals and they know it. Their grip on power is made so much easier if the proles are kept ignorant, confused and in the dark. This strategy is not just fiction, it is the philosophy of tyrants and authoritarians throughout history. While the internet is an amazing tool for communication and free speech, we must also be aware of how it can be abused by those in power who wish to whitewash history.

• France's Sarkozy faces corruption probe in blow to comeback hopes (Reuters)
• Ukraine Says Military Offensive Against Rebels Yielding Results (WSJ)
• JPMorgan Investors Show Support for Dimon in Cancer Fight (BBG)
• World’s ATM Moves to Frankfurt as Yellen’s Fed Slows Cash (BBG)
• Argentina Seen Backtracking on Fernandez Vows as Legacy at Risk (BBG)
• Palestinian teen killed in possible revenge attack (Reuters)
• The Bill and Hillary Clinton Money Machine Taps Corporate Cash (WSJ)
• London House Prices Surge the Most Since 1987, Nationwide Says (BBG)
• Last Jew in Afghanistan faces ruin as kebabs fail to sell (Reuters)

There has been a growing number of defaults since China first broke its non-payment cherry earlier this year. Names like Chaori Solar have "promised" to pay back the money they owe, only to falter on that promise mere months after a temporary reprieve. Wide-scale panic has for now been avoided by liquidity provision to banks (not shadow-banks) and mini-stimulus which many assumed was targeted at keeping the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) alive no matter what. That 'hope' all changed this weekend... As Bloomberg reports, Qilu Bank's annual report shows that Licheng district urban construction development company has not paid its loan interest..."To the best of our knowledge, this is the first official disclosure of a LGFV default on a bank loan."

BTFATH! That was the motto overnight, when despite a plethora of mixed final manufacturing data across the globe (weaker Japan, Europe; stronger China, UK) the USDJPY carry-trade has been a one-way street up and to the right, and saw its first overnight buying scramble in weeks (as opposed to the US daytime trading session, when the JPY is sold off to push carry-driven stocks higher). Low volumes have only facilitated the now usual buying at the all time highs: The last trading day of 1H14 failed to bring with it any volatility associated with month-end and half-end portfolio rebalancing - yesterday’s S&P 500 volumes were about half that compared to the last trading day of 1H13.

It appears the same 'contagion' that is driving copper prices higher is also impacting gold and silver this morning. As we have noted previously, the CCFD unwind drives synthetic short (hedge) covering and inevitably rolls down the curve to drive spot strength (as the paper gold market tail wags the 'physical' market's dog). Gold is at 3 month highs and silver getting close...

Banks and other lenders issued 3.7 million credit cards to so-called subprime borrowers during the first quarter, a 39% jump. "Even though [those borrowers] could be considered subprime, they're still creditworthy," is the deja-vu all over again message from the Financial Services Roundtable, who proudly crow, they are "starting to see an environment where issuers are feeling more comfortable to extend credit." How great is that? What could go wrong? One credit union exec notes, "lenders in general have really saturated the higher-credit-quality market, so it is only natural that as they look for growth opportunities, they expand downward," and sure enough, as one new borrower exclaimed, "my credit score is probably terrible," adding "I was surprised they'd give so much." Exceptional America is back...

• Minorities Seen Driving U.S. Household Growth (Reuters)
• GM prepares to recall some Cruze sedans with Takata air bags (Reuters)
• PBOC Halts Repos as China Money Rate Climbs to Seven-Week High (BBG)
• Ukraine Optimism Wavers on Peace as Cease-Fire Winds Down (BBG)
• Economic Rebound Seen Undercut by Weak Pay as Vote Winner (BBG)
• Cracks Open in Dark Pool Defense With Barclays Lawsuit (BBG)
• The Survivor: How Eric Holder outlasted his (many) critics (Politico)
• IBM, Lenovo Tackle Security Worries on Server Deal (WSJ)
• Militants take Iraqi gas field town, president calls parliament session (Reuters)
• Carney Surprises Confounding Markets as BOE Manages Guidance (BBG)

And so the polar bears penguins come out of hibernation, "explaining" today's disastrous GDP print. Randomly selected for your reading pleasure, here is Bank of Frigid America's Ethan Harris spiking the Kool Aid with an above Surgeon General recommended dose of hopium.

"According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's reference scenario, domestic oil production is going to peak at 14.6 million barrels a day in 2019 and then drop to 12.7 million barrels a day in 2040. Given the 2013 consumption level of 18.9 million barrels of crude a day, the U.S. will never be a net oil exporter under this scenario,... The U.S. crude producers need the flexibility of exporting oil or selling it domestically. As for the political dreams of making the U.S. a major oil exporting power, or even of energy independence backed by the shale boom, they are just that -- dreams."

With the cease-fire on shaky ground in Ukraine, and the ongoing proxy war between the US and Russia growing in intensity (once again ignited in Syria); it seems Putin has fired a significant warning shot across the bow of the west. Reuters reports that Russia is considering banning state companies and other strategically important firms from holding accounts at foreign-owned banks. As Liberty Blitzkrieg's Mike Krieger notes if this actually happens, it would be a very big deal with significant negative implications to the global economy, and certainly an escalation in the friction between these two geopolitically crucial nations.

This week brings PMIs (US and Euro area ‘flash’) and inflation (US PCE, CPI in Germany, Spain, and Japan). Among other releases, next week in DMs includes [on Monday] PMIs in US (June P), Euro Area Composite (expect 52.8, a touch below previous) and Japan; [on Tuesday] US home prices (FHFA and S&P/Case Shiller) and Consumer Confidence (expect 83.5, same as consensus), Germany IFO; [on Wednesday] US Durable Goods Orders (expect -0.50%, at touch below consensus) and real GDP 1Q anniversary. 3rd (expect -2.0%) and Personal Consumption 1Q (expect 2.0%), and confidence indicators in Germany, France and Italy; [on Thursday] US PCE price index (expect 0.20%), Personal Income and Spending, and GS Analyst Index; and [on Friday] Reuters/U. Michigan Confidence (expect slight improvement to 82, same as consensus), GDP 1Q in France and UK (expect 0.8% and 0.9% yoy, respectively), and CPI in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan.

Once Central Banks get out of markets, and I know some critics think that once they get in they are here to stay, healthy volatility and actual price discovery should come back to asset classes.