Germany

Back in October, when Greece was rewarded with further bond haircuts for progressively missing its economic targets, even after having gotten caught on at least one occasion making its economy appear worse than it was, we said that it is only a matter of time before "Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy will promptly commence sabotaging their economies (just like Greece) simply to get the same debt Blue Light special as Greece." In the aftermath of this statement, we got the Irish and the Portuguese proceeding to slowly but surely do just that. Today, it was Spain's turn to make it 3 out of 4 after as Reuters noted so appropriately, "Spain defies Brussels on deficit target" clarifying that "Spain set itself a softer budget target for 2012 on Friday than originally agreed under the euro zone's austerity drive, putting a question mark over the credibility of the European Union's new fiscal pact. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insisted he was acting within EU guidelines because the plan was still to hit the European Union public deficit goal of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013." That Italy is sure to follow is absolutely guaranteed, however just because the ECB is now indirectly monetizing BTPs the true impact will be delayed far more, and instead of taking prompt steps to remedy the situation, the European complacency will be accentuated by the fact that bond yields are very low, and supposedly indicates the true state of the economy. No. All it indicates is the conversion of future inflation (courtesy of €1 trillion in new money in the past 3 months) for a very temporary respite before all hell ultimately breaks loose as countries pretend everything is ok as bond yields are pushed artificially low. And in doing nothing, the fundamentals in the economy only get worse and worse. Germany knows this very well, and the Economist explains the reaction to Spain's surprising statement today perfectly...

Remember Greece, where everything is supposedly fixed, except that nothing is until Greek bondholders all agree to get nothing for something? Or in other words, where Germany is hoping it can assign blame to hedge funds for not allowing the 75% PSI trigger threshold to be reached so there is a faceless monster that can be accused to achieving Germany's political goals? No? As the following reminder from Germany's Economy Minister Roseler shows, whose report has been acquired by Bloomberg, if not German anger then certainly confusion, is seething: "For the Greek government, the programs “obviously have no priority,” the ministry said. “This is unacceptable from the German standpoint." Wait, you mean a record February collapse in the Greek economy is inadmissable? Sure enough, Greek CDS, contrary to expectations for a no trigger event, just hit an all time high earlier at 76 points up front (i.e., more buyers than sellers), as basis player are loading up on protection and preparing for the March 8 PSI deadline.

• Brazil declares new ‘currency war’ (FT)
• Postal Cuts Are Dead Letter in Congress (WSJ)
• China state banks to boost selected property loans (Reuters)
• ECB Says Overnight Deposits Surge to Record (Bloomberg)
• Van Rompuy confirmed for 2nd term as EU Council president (Reuters) - you mean dictator
• BOJ Shirakawa: Japan consumer prices to gradually rise (Reuters)
• IMF Says Threat of Sharp Global Slowdown Eased (Reuters)
• Eurozone delays half of Greece’s funds (FT)
• BOJ Openings Can Shape Monetary Policy (Bloomberg)

All you need to read.

This situation just can't last. Or can it?

Europe is broke. Completely and totally broke. The whole notion of bailouts and debt swaps is pointless here, you’re talking about systemic failure due to the entire financial system being overleveraged and based on spending patterns that are unsustainable in any way.

Back in September, before the transition from then ECB head J.C. Trichet to current Goldman plant and uber printer Mario Draghi we asked whether "Trichet will disgrace his already discredited central banker career by pushing a rate cut before he is swept out of the corner office by Mario Draghi, or will the former Goldmanite Italian become the most hated man in Germany soon, after he proceeds to ease, even as Germany still experiences Chinese inflationary re-exports. The answer will be all too clear in just a few months." Sure enough, following a whopping €1 trillion in incremental liquidity released by the ECB in the three shorts months since Draghi's ascension on November 1, all under the guise that the ECB is not printing when it most certainly is, albeit "hidden" by the idiotic claim that it accepts collateral for said printing (what collateral - Italian and Spanish bonds, which will become worthless the second even more printing is required in a few short months? This is run time collateral that can be issued "just in time" to convert it to even more cash as UniCredit did again today), the answer is becoming clear. Slowly but surely the realization is dawning on Germany that while it was sleeping, perfectly confused by lies spoken in a soothing Italian accent that the ECB will not print, not only did Draghi reflate the ECB's balance sheet by an unprecedented amount in a very short time, in the process not only sending Brent in Euros to all time highs (wink, wink, inflation, as today's European CPI confirmed coming in at 2.7% or higher than estimated) but also putting the BUBA in jeopardy with nearly half a trillion in Eurosystem"receivables" which it will most likely never collect.

Tax fraud is a national sport in both countries, yet the already reviled Germans are to reform Greece's tax collections—endearing them even more to the Greeks.

European bourses are trading in positive territory ahead of the North American following a relatively quiet morning in Europe. Markets are led by the financials sector, currently trading up around 1.10%. This follows yesterday’s ECB LTRO. As such, the 3-month Euribor fix has fallen to 0.967%, a significant fall in inter-bank lending costs. PMI Manufacturing data released earlier today came in roughly in line with preliminary estimates. The Eurozone unemployment rate for February has also been released, showing the highest jobless rate since October 1997. There has been little in the way of currency moves so far in the session; however there may be fluctuations in USD pairs following the release of ISM Manufacturing data and weekly jobless claims later today.

• China’s Holdings of Treasuries Dropped in ’11 (BusinessWeek)
• Bundesbank at Odds With ECB Over Loans (FT)
• Euro zone puts Greece's efforts under microscope (Reuters)
• Bank of America Considers a Revamp That Would Affect Millions of Customers (WSJ)
• In Days Leading Up to MF Global's Collapse, $165 Million Transfer OK'd in a Flash (WSJ)
• Greece Approves Welfare Cuts for 2nd Bailout (Bloomberg)
• Irish Minister Pushes to Cut Bail-Out Cost (FT)
• China to Support Tech Sectors (China Daily)
• Spanish Bond Yields Fall in Debt Auction After ECB (Reuters)
• China to Expand Cross-Border RMB Businesses (China Daily)

The Blokes across the pond are starting to sound as bad as some of the sell side charlatans stateside. Either that or the weed over there is just that much better!

As the ECB supposedly takes it foot off the gas, and EU Summits and 'events' loom large for the careening wagon of shared sacrifice, unity, and sovereign risk, perhaps it is the nodding donkeys of Greek and Italian technocrats juxtaposed with Ireland's feistier "R" word gambit (and of course Zee German Overlords) that makes Art Cashin reflect somewhat philosophically on recent headlines. Their stereotypical interpretation has him concerned as the potential for ever-increasing culture clashes increases across the pond as sour memories and generational hatreds abound.

Germany is in a great squeeze. On one side the ECB and G20 want Germany to step up with more money to save Europe. On the other hand, German CEOs, voters, and even the courts, are increasingly wanting out of the Euro. This is not a situation that gives one much confidence that Germany will stick around for too much longer. It is my view Germany is going to do all it can to force Greece out of the Euro before March 20^th (the date that the next round of Greek debt is due) or will simply pull out of the Euro (but not the EU) itself.

Dear Santa, I know Christmas is a long way off, but I was hoping that you could get me a European Bank License and another round of LTRO.   I promise to be a good boy, and borrow as much money as the ECB will possibly give me, with minimal equity, and buy as much 3 year in and in paper as I can.  I’m afraid I might not be able to bring myself to buy Spanish or Italian debt, but with the broad range of assets available against the money, I’m sure I can find something I like.  I’m not greedy, I don’t need to make 2% of carry, I would be happy with 1%, after all, I my only qualification is having a bank license, and I have no real equity in the deal (though after 3 years if all goes well, I will be a very rich man, or bank).

• Euro-Area Banks Tap ECB for Record Amount of Three-Year Cash (Bloomberg)
• Papademos Gets Backing for $4.3B of Cuts (Bloomberg)
• China February Bank Lending Remains Weak (Reuters)
• Romney Regains Momentum (WSJ)
• Shanghai Raises Minimum Wage 13% as China Seeks to Boost Demand (Bloomberg)
• Fiscal Stability Key To Economic Competitiveness - SNB's Jordan (WSJ)
• Bank's Tucker Says Cannot Relax Bank Requirements (Reuters)
• Life as a Landlord (NYT)