Portugal

While all eyes are focused on Greece (and contagiously Spain), they have forgotten that two far weaker countries still exits - and combined have the power to do as much (if not more) damage than Spain. Portugal and Ireland have moved back into the Red-Zone of risk in Europe's credit markets. Ireland back over 700bps and Portugal back over 1200bps reflects both their idiosyncratic issues (that we have discussed at length) or the systemic issues (which we discussed most recently this morning here). In the case of Portugal, it appears the Dan Loeb trade (we said to fade it) is now being unwound en masse as the reality of the fundamental risks we discussed here seem to be realized. In the case of Ireland, not only is there a rising chance of a 'no' vote at the forthcoming referendum (discussed here) but as Deutsche Bank notes today, via Bloomberg, that Irish banks may face a further $5.1 billion capital call to cover loan losses as "A new, even modest, increase in capital requirements could deter sovereign investor participation and tip the balance in favor of the sovereign requiring a second loan program." Of course the CDS reflect not just the chance of these nations restructuring but also the probability of a EUR devaluation (since the instruments are denominated in USD) but still - we thought Ireland was the template for the success of austerity?

There's a big, fat "I told you so" coming down the pike. 

We may already be in Fimbulvetr, the winter of winters, and it is a cold wind that whips across the European plains blown in from the Southern climes high up into the Alps and then down into the cities of man. In Norse mythology this was a three year event and the creaking of the ice can be distinctly heard if only you listen. Many will not listen, this one can predict, and the clothes that will be worn will not protect the unhearing from the freeze which will surely come. But you and me, we have gazed long for the riders of the North and seeing them; we are prepared.

• Inside J.P. Morgan's Blunder (WSJ) - Where we learn that Jamie Dimon did not inform his regulator, the Fed, where he is a board member of the massive JPM loss even as he was fully aware of the possible unlimited downside
• Euro Attempted Recovery Countered By Asian Sovereigns (MNI)
• Santander, BBVA Among Spanish Banks Downgraded by Moody’s (Bloomberg)
• Defiant Message From Greece (WSJ)
• G-8 Leaders to Discuss Oil Market as Iran Embargo Nears (Bloomberg)
• Spain hires Goldman Sachs to value Bankia (Reuters)
• China to exclude foreign firms in shale gas tender (Reuters)
• Fed Board Nominees Powell, Stein Win Senate Confirmation (Bloomberg)
• Defiant Message From Greece (WSJ)
• Fitch Cuts Greece as Leaders Spar Over Euro Membership (Bloomberg)
• Madrid Hails Moves by Regions to Cut Spending (WSJ)

As was leaked earlier today, so it would be:

• MOODY'S CUTS 16 SPANISH BANKS AND SANTANDER UK PLC
• MOODY'S CUTS 1 TO 3 LEVELS L-T RATINGS OF 16 SPANISH BANKS
• MOODY'S DOWNGRADES SPANISH BANKS; RATINGS CARRY NEGATIVE

In summary, the highest Moodys rating for any Spanish bank as of this point is A3. But luckily the other "rumor" of a bank run at Bankia was completely untrue, at least according to Spanish economic ministry officials, so there is no need to worry: it is all under control. The Banko de Espana said so.

Face on or face off?

European financials dropped for the 12th day in a row today on heavy volume with its biggest 5-day drop in six months and plunging back to their worst levels in over five months (just 5% off last November's swing lows which would take us back to March 2009 lows). European equity and credit markets are all negative now YTD having given up all their gains and heading back to pre-LTRO levels. Sovereigns continue to bleed wider - especially Spain and Italy, with the former getting closer to the 450bps LCH Margin Hike level by the day. Spanish bond spreads are 165bps wider year-to-date - well done Draghi - and while Italy and Portugal are still tighter on the year, they have decompressed significantly in the last few weeks as we also note the all-saving EFSF is also a dramatic 14bps wider on the year. Europe's VIX jumped even higher near 35% - remaining very high relative to US VIX.

Well, my hat is off to the global central planners for averting the next stage of the unfolding financial crisis for as long as they have. I guess there’s some solace in having had a nice break between the events of 2008/09 and today, which afforded us all the opportunity to attend to our various preparations and enjoy our lives.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and a crisis rooted in ‘too much debt’ with a nice undercurrent of ‘persistently high and rising energy costs’ was never going to be solved by providing cheap liquidity to the largest and most reckless financial institutions. And it has not.

At various stages in the last two years everyone from China, to Germany, to the Fed to the IMF, to Martians, to the Imperial Death Star has been fingered as the latest saviour of the status quo. And so far — in spite of a few multi-billion-dollar half-hearted efforts like the €440 billion EFSF —  nobody has really shown up. Perhaps that’s because nobody thus far fancies funnelling the money down a black hole. After Greece comes Portugal, and Spain and Ireland and Italy, all of whom together have on the face of things at least €780 billion outstanding (which of course has been securitised and hypothecated up throughout the European financial system into a far larger amount of shadow liabilities, for a critical figure of at least €3 trillion) and no real viable route (other than perhaps fire sales of state property? Sell the Parthenon to Goldman Sachs?) to paying this back (austerity has just led to falling tax revenues, meaning even more money has had to be borrowed), not to mention the trillions owed by the now-jobless citizens of these countries, which is now also imperilled. What’s the incentive in throwing more time, effort, energy and resources into a solution that will likely ultimately prove as futile as the EFSF?

The trouble is that this is playing chicken with an eighteen-wheeler.

In one of the most fascinating psychological shifts, there has been a massive shift in the perspective of the Greek electorate since the election two weeks ago. Almost as if the size of the actual votes for Syriza, the far-left anti-bailout party, gave citizens 'permission' to be angry and vote angry. The latest opinion polls, as per Credit Suisse, show the center-right New Democracy party crashing from 108 seats to only 57 as Tsipras and his Syriza colleagues soar from 52 seats to a hugely dominant 128 seats. Is it any wonder the market is pricing GGBs at record lows and 'expecting' a Greek exit from the Euro as imminent given the rhetoric this party has vociferously discussed. On the bright side, the extreme right Golden Dawn party is seen losing some of its share. As UBS notes, "expressions of frustration in debtor countries have their analogue in creditor countries as well. No one is happy with the status quo." Still, how Europe's political leaders address voters' grievances will go a long way to determining the fate of the Eurozone and, quite possibly, the course of European history in the 21st century. Europe's politicians will undoubtedly prevaricate and deny. The troika will, with minor modifications, probably insist on 'staying the course'. Yet it seems to us that ignoring clear voter demands for change might well be Europe's worst choice.

Two months ago, to much fanfare, Greece and the IIF announced what a smashing success the forced cram down that was the Greek PSI (memories of GM and Chrysler should be flooding back here) was. The thinking went that Greece avoided bankruptcy, co-opted lemming creditors avoided pursuing what is rightfully theirs in exchange for a 75% haircut, hold out hedge funds would be blown out of the water for daring to not go with the herd of 96.6%, but most importantly, Europe was saved! Today, Europe is no longer saved, and all those hedge funds that folded like cheap lawn chairs in agreeing to Europe's extortion are getting annihilated, because as the chart below shows, the NEW Greek bonds have now seen their dollar price cut in half since the PSI. Which means that total looses on original Greek debt, for those who did agree to the PSI's arm-twisisting terms are now about 90%. Just desserts. But what happened to those other few who followed our advice, bought UK-law bonds, and told the group to shove it? Here's what...

• Facebook's selling shareholders can't wait to get out of company, increase offering by 25% (Bloomberg)
• Boehner Draws Line in Sand on Debt (WSJ)
• Romney Attacks Obama Over Recovery Citing U.S. Debt Load (Bloomberg)
• BHP chairman says commodity markets to cool further (Reuters)
• Merkel’s First Hollande Meeting Yields Growth Signal for Greece (Bloomberg)
• Greek President Told Banks Anxious as Deposits Pulled (Bloomberg)
• EU to push for binding investor pay votes (FT)
• Martin Wolf: Era of a diminished superpower (FT)
• China’s Hong Kong Home-Buying Influx Wanes, Midland Says (Bloomberg)
• U.N. and Iran agree to keep talking on nuclear  (Reuters)
• US nears deal to reopen Afghan supply route (FT)

Overnight: just more of the same, as markets collapsed, first in Asia, then in Europe, on ever more concerns what a Greek exit would do to Europe. The most important story of the night was a report in Dutch Dagblad claiming that ECB has turned off the tap for Greek bank liquidity: "At the end of January, Greek banks had received EUR73 billion in liquidity support from the ECB, but this amount has dropped by more than 50% now, according to the newspaper. The ECB is cutting back support because Greece has been holding off on recapitalizing its banking system, despite receiving EUR25 billion in funds for that purpose, the paper says." Whether this move is to force Greece to blink (even more) by making the previously reported bank run even more acute, or just general European stupidity, is unclear but it is certain to make the funding stresses across all of Europe far more acute. The news sent all peripheral bond yields soaring, and the EURUSD tumbling to under 1.27 briefly. 

Just when you thought you'd seen the worst, its gets worsterer. While US equities are oscillating in a broad range trying to ignore the Eurocalypse, European asset markets had one of the worst days of the year today across the board. Spanish and Italian bond spreads are 40bps wider this week alone (adding 15-20bps today) and Portugal (sorry Stevie) are 52bps wider this week as our prediction that a compressed basis would remove any technical support for the bonds has come true. With sovereigns deteriorating rapidly, and given the forced contagion of the LTRO program, it is no surprise that financials are imploding. Senior and Subordinated credit spreads are underperforming dramatically with Subs +90bps and Seniors +55bps in May, while high-yield credit is 100bps wider and broad European equities (Bloomberg's BE500 index) are tracking them lower now practically unchanged for the year (and back below its 200DMA). Of course, while Greek bank runs are accelerating (and are likely beginning in Spain) and ASE is at all-time lows, the hope remains that if things get ugly enough, the ECB will save the day and Draghi will magically re-appear. The hope of another LTRO is meaningless, though likely inevitable, as it will only exacerbate the stigma that we have been so accurate on. With collateral in short-supply, especially in Spain, any further encumbrance will crush LTRO-facing bank debt and equity-holders via subordination and so it may make sense to be even more long the 'stigma' divergence between LTRO and non-LTRO.

All you need to read.