Barclays

Mario Draghi, perhaps blinded by confetti, doesn't see a scarcity of collateral while HSBC thinks that's a bit "strange," and Morgan Stanley doesn't really see what the problem is even as their own analysis shows that it is now "impossible" for Germany to fully implement their portion of the program under the capital key. Meanwhile, FT thinks it's possibly important that thanks to the absurd consequences of NIRP-dom, the ECB may soon take the plunge into euro corporate credit sending yields on corporate bonds negative.

"[GE] said it doesn’t expect its GE Capital unit to sell new long-term debt for at least five years, effectively eliminating one of the biggest corporate issuers at a time when firms around the globe are tapping the market at a record clip…"

"In some instances, malfunctioning algorithms have interfered with market functioning, inundating trading venues with message traffic or creating sharp, short-lived spikes in prices as a result of other algorithms responding to the initial erroneous order flow."... "If liquidity is as bad as it is now, what’s going to happen when things really get adverse?” said Richard Schlanger, who co-manages about $30 billion in bonds as vice president at Pioneer Investments in Boston.

Think the market is overvalued? Believe US equities are artificially propped up by corporate buyback plunge protection? Wonder if a complete disconnect between stocks and economic fundamentals portends troubled waters ahead? Well, it will cost you to express your opinion via long puts, because as Bloomberg reports, S&P index downside protection is now the most expensive it's ever been relative to long calls.

"A slow start to the week has become customary, as Monday appears to have become the new Friday," Barclays says, noting that the humans simply aren't trading in a credit market where opportunities are scarce. Meanwhile, the robots do not rest, and on the Monday they simultaneously decide that some random data point or unduly hawkish/dovish soundbite out of an FOMC voter is cause for all the algos to chase down the same rabbit hole sending ripples through a fixed income market devoid of any real liquidity, the humans will be in for a rude awakening when they get to work on Tuesday morning.

"The fair value of hedges held by 57 U.S. companies in the Bloomberg Intelligence North America Independent Explorers and Producers index rose to $26 billion as of Dec. 31, a fivefold increase from the end of September," Bloomberg writes, noting that the very same Wall Street banks on the hook for the hedges also financed the shale boom.

"We believe such a scenario would have the potential to 'burst the corporate bond bubble' as bond yields would rise with inflation, corporate confidence would run high and a releveraging/deterioration in credit metrics would materialise resulting in bond fund outflows. The lack of liquidity in corporate bond markets would make the process particularly painful," UBS says, reiterating the perilousness of a secondary market lacking ample liquidity amid voracious investor demand for new issuance.

• Samaras Says He’d Join Alliance to Keep Greece in Euro (BBG)
• Tensions with Warren camp could loom over Clinton campaign (Reuters)
• Ackman Report on Herbalife in China Figures in Probe (WSJ)
• Al Shabaab storms Kenyan university, 14 reported killed (Reuters)
• Iraq’s Four-Mile Line of Supertankers Fuels Shipping-Rates Surge (BBG)
• Menendez's fate could sharpen Republicans' edge in Senate (Reuters)
• IRS Chief Chides Ted Cruz Over 'Abolish the IRS' Mantra (BBG)
• Yemen Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden (Reuters)

• Oil holds around $55 as Iran nuclear talks drag on (Reuters)
• Bob Diamond’s African Banking Venture Runs Into Problems (WSJ)
• Iran Nuclear Talks Resume With Lavrov Saying Deal at Hand (BBG)
• Wal-Mart Ratchets Up Pressure on Suppliers to Cut Prices (WSJ)
• Renegades of Junk: The Rise and Fall of the Drexel Empire (BBG)
• Explosion at Yemen factory kills at least 25: residents, medics (Reuters)
• Macerich Rejects Simon Property’s $16.8 Billion Takeover Bid (WSJ)
• Reckoning Arrives for Cash-Strapped Oil Firms Amid Bank Squeeze (BBG)

While we doubt that the ECB will, of its own volition, elect to scale back PSPP out of a highly uncharacteristic respect for sanity and prudence, there are a variety of factors which could lead to a forced taper. Some market participants are already betting that the ECB scales back purchases by the end of the calendar year.

• Iran, powers push for nuclear deal as clock ticks toward deadline (Reuters)
• How DIY Bond Traders Displaced Wall Street’s Hot Shots (BBG)
• MillerCoors Caught in a Downdraft (WSJ)
• Saudi-led strikes again hit Yemen overnight (Reuters)
• Even With Free Money, Merkel Still Reluctant to Spend (BBG)
• Britain Uses Tax Breaks to Lure Digital-Game Developers (WSJ)
• China to Insure Deposits in Move Toward Scrapping Rate Curbs (BBG)
• As China Expands Its Navy, the U.S. Grows Wary (WSJ)

Back in September 2013 we wrote "Coming Soon To A Theater Near You: MBIA's $1 Billion World War Z" in which we explained why MBIA will soon have a substantial problem (amounting to just about around $600 million) with several CLOs which we dubbed "Zombie CLOs" or as they were actually known, Zohar, on which it had written insurance, and which would become evident sooner or later once someone took a long, hard look at the collateral manager of the CLOs, namely Lynn Tilton's Patriarch Partners. Well, finally someone did take a long, hard look and today, our warning comes full circle following a shocker out of the SEC accusing Lynn Tilton of fraud and of "hiding the poor performance of loan assets in three collateralized loan obligation (CLO) funds they manage."

• Setbacks and progress as Iran, six powers meet to end nuclear impasse (Reuters)
• Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Leave Iran Nuclear Talks (WSJ)
• Obama Ramps Up Lobbying on Iran as Deadline Looms (WSJ)
• Greek yields edge up as lenders scrutinise reform pledge (Reuters)
• Oil prices drop on possible Iran deal, dollar (Reuters)
• Yemen’s Houthis Battle for Aden as Saudi Strikes Hit Rebels (BBG)
• Iran nuclear deal to see $20 oil if Tehran floods crude market (Telegraph)
• China’s Zhou Says PBOC Has Room to Act on Growth Slowdown (BBG)

“The new normal for the Chinese economy and banking sector includes sluggish growth and persistent credit deterioration,” one analyst tells Bloomberg. China's largest banks are seeing loans tied to manufacturing and other sectors sour which is cutting into profitability just as rate cuts squeeze NIM margins.