LBO

Those who traded credit in the frothy days of 2007 will recall that virtually every piece of new paper, including LBO debt, would come to market with the skimpiest of creditor protections, i.e., "covenant lite" which to many was an indication that money was literally being thrown without any discrimination in the last epic chase for yield, just as many were preparing for the imminent market backlash. Which they got shortly thereafter. Judging by the amount of covenant lite loans issued in 2012 as a percentage of total and compiled by Brandywine Management, which just surpassed the credit bubble frenzy of 2007 at more than 30% of total issuance, the bubble in credit is now well and truly back - a job well done Federal Reserve, just 5 years after the last credit bubble.

Just in case the Friday night insider dump bomb by Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, in which he announced the sale of 42% of his GOOG holdings the day the stock hit its all time high, did not send a clear enough message to the market as to what side of the under-over valued spectrum corporate insiders believe we currently find ourselves in, here come six other companies with announcement of equity follow ons and secondary offerings - mostly by "selling shareholders" who happen to be some of the smartest LBO shops around - after the close on Monday alone. The scramble to sell equity while the selling is good is on.

S&P 500 (henceforth - under the Un-Patriot Act - to be known as the Moodys & Fitch 500 at least until such time as Moodys too downgrades the US) futures scrambled up to fill yesterday's day-session gap-down open and then pressed on to run stops to new highs. The Dow did not make new highs - but managed a third day in a row of greater-than-100 point swings and tested back above the magic 14,000 level. Credit markets were absolutely not buying it. VIX was not playing along either (though did compress). Treasury yields rose but nothing on par with stock's surge. The USD fall very modestly - not supportive of stocks. And sure enough, after running those highs, S&P 500 futures cracked back lower into the close with the Dow losing 14,000. A gain of around 0.8 to 1% on the day for stocks with reasonable volume as early haters like JCP and AAPL surged handily on the day by the close. The S&P 500 ended the day recoupling perfectly with Gold on the week...

With yields compressed to record low levels, thanks to Bernanke's repression, and a consensus expecting margin stability and a huge hockey-stick in earnings going forward, the question is why aren't there more LBOs? Earnings yields relative to high-yield financing is back up at levels seen during the LBO Boom of 2003-7 and Private Equity shops appear full of money on the sidelines, so why aren't there more LBOs? At its simplest level, an LBO is enabled by a relative mis-pricing between debt and equity ‘costs’ that a private equity firm can utilize to fund the deal (cheap credit relative to equity in the WACC). These factors appear defensible but the main fear we have is their sustainability.

• Obama to meet with Goldman's Blankfein, other CEOs Tuesday (Reuters)
• Chinese Firms Shrug at Rising Debt (WSJ)
• McGraw-Hill, S&P Sued by U.S. Over Mortgage-Bond Ratings (BBG)... but not Moody's or Fitch
• Dime a Dozen: Dollar Stores Pinched by Rapid Expansion (WSJ)
• Dell Board Said to Vote Monday Night on $24 Billion LBO (BBG)
• BOJ Governor Shirakawa to step down on March 19 (Reuters)
• Alberta may offer more to smooth way for Keystone (Reuters)
• Facebook Is Said to Create Mobile Location-Tracking App (BBG)
• Barclays takes another $1.6 billion hit for mis-selling (Reuters)
• Apple App Advantage Eroded as Google Narrows IPhone Lead (BBG)
• Texas School-Finance System Unconstitutional, Judge Rules (BBG)
• World Risks ‘Perfect Storm’ on Capital Flows, Carstens Says (BBG)

The honey badger ramp continues, once more driven entirely by the USD carry as both the EURUSD and USDJPY hit new highs (14 month and 3 year, respectively). The EUR took another major leg higher following today's second ECB refinancing operation in two days, a 3 month LTRO, in which just €3.71 billion was allotted to some 46 bidders, far less than the €10 billion expected particularly in the context of the €6 billion the matured, leading to further Euribor curve steepening, more non-expansion of the ECB balance sheet, and a surge in the EURUSD to new post-2011 highs of 1.3560. But if it wasn't this it would be something else. Elsewhere we got the final official Spanish GDP number, which as previously reported once again came worse than expected at -0.7%, compared to expectations of -0.6%, and -1.8% Y/Y vs Exp. -1.7%. But once again we are told to ignore current reality and look with optimism to the future as various European confidence indices posted higher than expected prints. This seems logical: when the ugly fundamentals don't matter, one must at least pretend there is hope they will improve in the future to serve as a buying catalyst. Finally, and what the surging EUR and crushed exports are all about, Italy sold some €6.5 billion in 5 and 10 year BTPs at yields of 2.94% and 4.17%, both respectively lower than the prior auctions of 3.26% and 4.48%.

While the main topic of conversation overnight was the Apple implosion after earnings (which was mercifully spared inbound calls from repo desk margin clerks who had all gone home by the time the stock hit $460), there was some macro data to muddle up the picture, which, like everything else in this baffle with BS new normal came in "good/bad cop" pairs. In early trading, all eyes were focused on Japan, whose trade and especially exports imploded when the country posted a record trade gap of 6.93 trillion yen ($78.27 billion) in 2012 and the seventh consecutive monthly drop in exports which showed that improved sentiment has yet to translate into hard economic data. Finance ministry data on Thursday showed that exports fell 5.8 percent in the year to December, more than economists' consensus forecast of a 4.2 percent drop. Trade with China was hit particularly hard following the ongoing island fiasco, which means that all the ongoing Yen destruction has largely been for nothing as organic growth markets simply shut off Japan. This ugly news was marginally offset by a tiny beat in the HSBC China manufacturing PMI which came slighly above consensus at 51.9 vs exp. 51.7, the highest print in 24 months, but as with everything else coming out of China one really shouldn't believe this or any other number in a country that will not allow even one corporate default to prevent the credit-driven illusion from popping.

• Geithner allegations beg Fed reform (Reuters)
• BOJ Adopts Abe’s 2% Target in Commitment to End Deflation (BBG)
• Bundesbank Head Cautions Japan (WSJ)
• In speech, Obama pushes activist government and takes on far right (Reuters)
• Atari’s U.S. Operations File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (BBG)
• Israel goes to polls, set to re-elect Netanyahu (Reuters)
• Apple May Face First Profit Drop in Decade as IPhone Slows (BBG)
• EU states get blessing for financial trading tax (Reuters)
• Indian Jeweler Becomes Billionaire as Gold Price Surges (BBG)
• Europe Stocks Fall; Deutsche Bank Drops on Bafin Request (BBG)
• Algeria vows to fight Qaeda after 38 workers killed (Reuters)
• GS Yuasa Searched After Boeing 787s Are Grounded (BBG)
• Slumping pigment demand eats into DuPont's profit (Reuters)

With the Dell LBO potentially heralding the renaissance of re-leveraging risk transfer from equity-holders to credit-holders, Goldman's screen among investment grade and high-yield companies attempts to uncover the names most likely to engage in shareholder-friendly (or more specifically bond-holder unfriendly) events. From quantitative screens on cashflow, leverage, and cash to stock 'cheapness', industry suitablity, and management reputation, the following 47 names warrant further attention (in both CDS and equity markets).

Just like Friday, there was virtually nothing notable to speak of in today's trading. The one catalyst that pushed stocks higher: all stocks, not just the one that may or may not be in play, was the DELL LBO rumor, that prevented the DJIA from going red on the day and pushed the 30 stock average well above the red, even if the S&P500 was not quite so lucky. As for what really mattered today, it is summarized in two words: "AAPL" and "$500." After breaching $500 briefly in the early trading session, the end of trading saw a concerted selling effort in the one stock most heavily owned by the hedge fund community, yet no matter how close it got to breaching $500, and sending the company into who knows what stop loss tailspin, someone kept buying just above $500  thereby preventing the uber levered hedge funds from having to start liquidating holdings to meet margin calls.

At precisely 14:04:08 a flashing red Bloomberg headline hit that "DELL IS SAID TO BE IN TALKS TO GO PRIVATE." Moments later the stock slammed higher by 10% triggering a circuit breaker. Whether or not there is an actual deal behind this is unknown: considering the "two sources" used by Bloomberg gave virtually no details on who the buyers are, or what the vision for the pro forma private company will be, we are inclined to assume this is nothing but a big, and successful, fishing expedition by a party that sought to make a quick buck. What we do know, is something completely unrelated. Courtesy of Nanex, who have broken down the trades from the pre-headline prices of $10.90 to the halt price of just under $12.00, it appears that today's robotic algo brains take no more and no less than 4 seconds to fully process flashing red headlines. This is how long it took to send the stock in a straight line from the bottom of the range to the top, because all along the ride there were offers, until finally the offer stack was exhausted at the circuit breaker price. To anyone who blinked and missed the move: condolences - just get a collocated algo and any future LBO announcements - real or fake - will be far more lucrative courtesy of an electronic trigger finger located right on the exchange.

Moments ago Bloomberg broke news that $19 billion market cap Dell may be in talks to go public. The result was a 10% surge in the stock that halted the stock as a circuit was triggered. Of course, there was a headline caveat that "LBO TALKS MAY NOT LEAD TO A DEAL." Which is not improbable: at $19 billion market cap, the equity check would be substantial for any consortium of buyers, not to mention the debt. Then again this must be the New Normal LBO announcement, where PE firms "leak" news of a going private deal just so they get to pay an even higher 20% premium to a closing stock price.  But the truly hilarious part is that the entire multi-trillion market jumped as if stung following the news. And that is what passes for efficient markets these days. Unless, of course, the "here come the LBOs" thesis is now in play.

• Greece Faces Need for Additional Assistance: €30 billion (WSJ)
• Greeks fail to agree on bailout terms (FT)
• The report that got the NYT banned on the Chinese interweb: Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader (NYT)
• Bo Xilai: China parliament expels disgraced politician (BBC)
• Japan Adds Stimulus Amid Threat of Bond-Sale Disruption... $9.4 billion (Bloomberg)
• Hubbard Said to Prefer Treasury Chief to Fed If Romney Wins (Bloomberg)
• 9 More Banks Subpoenaed Over Libor (WSJ)
• Romney raises $112m in 17 days (FT)
• Amid Cutbacks, Greek Doctors Offer Message to Poor: You Are Not Alone (NYT)... no, we are all broke
• Muni Downgrades Top 2011 Total on Weak Economy: Moody’s (Bloomberg)
• Ireland urges ECB to commit to bond-buying (FT)
• Cameron and Clegg unite in EU demands (FT)

We'll fare better than you...

It's been a while since the ridiculous "China bails out Europe" rumor made the scene: in fact, the last time we can find with definitive confirmation was back in September of 2011, just before the bottom fell out of Europe, and when the FT, based on "anonymous sources" tripped over itself to report that "[insert European country] is in talks with China to buy bonds, assets." Sure enough, now that Merkel came, and saw, but hardly conquered Beijing, it is the turn of China's Wen Jiabao to add his 10 pips to the EURUSD rumormill: Reuters reports: "China is prepared to buy more EU government bonds amid a worsening European debt crisis that is dragging on the world economy, Premier Wen Jiabao said, in the strongest sign of support for its biggest trading partner in months." Naturally, considering how often this rumor (re)appeared in the past it will be excusable if nobody but the dumbest vacuum tubes fall for it this time, especially considering that the Chinese economy itself is going down in flames faster than the October Iron Ore contract. And lest there be any confusion, China's commitment is about as definitive as a Best Buy LBO "preunderwritten" with a Jefferies highly confident letter: "China is willing, on condition of fully evaluating the risks, to continue to invest in the euro zone sovereign debt market, and strengthen communication and discussion with the European Union, the European Central Bank the IMF and other key countries to support the indebted euro zone countries in overcoming hardships," [Wen] said after meeting Merkel." Ah, conditional aid. The kind that gets Mario Monti to break out the petulant ex-Goldman child act and refuse to leave the Belgian catered dining room until the beggees succumb to his technocratic platitudes. Needless to say, we'll believe China's "continued" investment in Europe when we see it.