Wells Fargo

There is a reasonably quiet start to the week before we head into the highlights of the week including the start of US reporting season tomorrow, FOMC minutes on Wednesday and IMF meetings in Washington on Friday. On the schedule for today central bank officials from the ECB including Mersch, Weidmann and Constancio will be speaking. The Fed’s Bullard speaks today, and no doubt there will be interest in his comments from last week suggesting that the Fed will hike rates in early 2015.

• The counter-HFT-attack begins with first target - dark pools: Dark markets may be more harmful than high-frequency trading (Reuters)
• Malaysia Jet Team Hears Pings Consistent With Black Box (BBG)
• At Toyota as Humans Steal Jobs From Robots (BBG)
• ‘Reverse Auctions’ Draw Scrutiny (NYT)
• Death knell sounds for Brazil’s economic strategy (FT)
• Technology Traders Head for the Exit as Put Trades Surge (BBG)
• NSA Uses Corporate News to Spread Propaganda and Silence Dissent (TruthDig)
• Holcim, Lafarge agree to merger to create cement giant (Reuters)
• Any minute now: Investment Jump Seen From Macy’s to Berkshire After 2013 Fizzle (BBG)
• India kicks off world's biggest election in remote northeast (Reuters)

While we have covered the various ways in which Americans are scraping by in the current feudal economy, from food stamps and disability fraud, to student loans and living in mom and pop’s basement, this reverse mortgage thing is a piece of the puzzle we have been missing. These mortgages are not insignificant either. According to Inside Mortgage Finance, originations were up 20% in 2013, hitting $15.3 billion. So when you see that older guy working the cashier at Wal-Mart and wonder to yourself how he is surviving, the answer may increasingly be a reverse mortgage. Oh, and since the FHA is originating many of these loans, you the taxpayer will be on the hook!

• Why did Yellen use criminals in her employment case studies? Hilsenrath explainz (Hilsenrath)
• GM avoided defective switch redesign in 2005 to save a dollar each (Reuters)
• Xuzhou Zhongsen Said to Avert Bond Default on Guarantor Aid  (BBG)
• France's New Finance Minister Faces Fiscal Challenge (WSJ)
• The magic is gone: Draghi’s Attempt to Talk Down Euro Lost on Traders (BBG)
• Another John Kerry smashing success: U.S. Gambit on Mideast Peace Talks Falters (WSJ)
• Combat-Ready China Military Seen as Xi’s Goal in Graft Battle (BBG)
• Huge earthquake off Chile's north coast triggers tsunami (Reuters)
• Pressure rises on Gross as investors pull $3.1 billion from Pimco's flagship fund (Reuters)

• US, Russia talks fail to end Ukraine deadlock (AP)
• Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine border (AFP)
• Turkish PM Erdogan tells enemies they will pay price after poll (Reuters)
• And Goldman arrives: Credit markets open to Argentina for first time in years (Reuters)
• Regulators Twice Failed to Open GM Probes (WSJ)
• Bad loan writedowns soar at China banks (FT)
• Investors Breathe Life Into European Banks' Bad Loans (WSJ)
• Euro zone inflation drops to lowest since 2009 (Reuters)
• Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)

• Crimea Resolution Backed by U.S. Barely Gets UN Majority (BBG)
• Russian Buildup Stokes Worries (WSJ)
• As reported here first: China’s Developers Face Shakeout as Easy Money Ends (BBG)
• U.S. House Poised to Clear Sanctions Called Putin Warning (BBG)
• Bitcoin Prices Plunge on Report PBOC Orders Accounts Shut (BBG)
• Search for lost Malaysian jet shifts significantly after new lead (Reuters)
• Russian fund taps China and Middle East (FT)
• Long battle looms between U.S. college, athletes seeking to unionize (Reuters)
• Official warns EU-US trade deal at risk over investor cases (FT)
• New iPhone likely out in September, Nikkei daily says (AFP)

Why is Citigroup not like any of the top four banks, including JPM, WFC, USB or BAC?   

After tumbling overnight to just around 101.80, the USDJPY managed to stage a remarkable levitating comeback, rising all the way to 102.3, which in turn succeeded in closing the Nikkei 225 at the highs, up 1% after tumbling in early trade. The Shanghai Composite was not quite as lucky and as fear continue to weigh about a collapse in China's credit pipeline, the SHCOMP was down more than 0.8% while the PBOC withdreww even more net liquidity via repos than it did last week, at CNY 98 billion vs CNY 48 billion. That said, this morning will be the fifth consecutive overnight levitation in futures, which likely will once more surge right into the US market open to intraday highs, at which point slowy at first, then rapidly, fade again as the pattern has seemingly been set into algo random access memory. Which in a market devoid of human traders is all that matters.

For some inane reason, about a year ago, there was a brief - and painfully boring - academic tussle between one group of clueless economists and another group of clueless economists, debating whether Too Big To Fail banks enjoy an implicit or explicit taxpayer subsidy, courtesy of their systematic importance (because apparently the fact that these banks only exist because they are too big in the first place must have been lost on both sets of clueless economists). Naturally, it goes without saying that the Fed, which as even Fisher now admits, has over the past five years, worked solely for the benefit of its banker owners and a few good billionaires, has done everything in its power to subsidize banks as much as possible, which is why this debate was so ridiculous it merited precisely zero electronic ink from anyone who is not a clueless economist. Today, the debate, for what it's worth, is finally over, when yet another set of clueless economists, those of the NY Fed itself, say clearly and on the record, that TBTF banks indeed do get a subsidy. To wit: " in fact, the very largest (top-five) nonbank firms also enjoy a funding advantage, but for very large banks it’s significantly larger, suggesting there’s a TBTF funding advantage that’s unique to mega-banks."

• U.S. Small-Cap Rally Sends Valuation 26% Above 1990s  (BBG)
• Russian troops seize Ukraine marine base in Crimea (Reuters)
• Apple in Talks With Comcast About Streaming-TV Service (WSJ)
• Top J.P. Morgan Executive in China to Leave Bank (WSJ)
• Treasury's Lew to undergo treatment for enlarged prostate (Reuters)
• Billionaire Sought by U.S. Holds Key to Putin Gas Cash  (BBG)
• Israel closes embassies around the world as diplomats strike (Reuters)
• Herbalife to Nominate Three More Icahn Candidates to Board (BBG)
• Australian ship homes in on possible debris from Malaysia plane (Reuters)
• California DMV Investigating Potential Credit Card Breach (WSJ)

• Australia says nothing spotted in search for plane (AP)
• Putin looks to Asia as West threatens to isolate Russia (Reuters)
• China Billionaire Builds Metals With Dreyfus, Glencore Hires (BBG)
• China Beige Book Says Economy Slowing (BBG)
• Caterpillar Said to Be Focus of Senate Overseas Tax Probe (BBG)
• US Cancels Summit With Divided Group of Gulf Nations (WSJ)
• Cyprus defense minister suffers aneurysm (AP)
• Abe to zero in on economy as tax hike looms (Nikkei)
• Europe strikes deal to complete banking union (Reuters)

• Possible debris off Australia a 'credible lead' for missing Malaysia jet (Reuters)
• Maldives and Afghanistan: Theories Blossom for Airliner (BBG)
• Ukraine Military Concedes on Crimea as Russia Takes Hold (BBG)
• Asia Stocks Drop on Fed; H-Share Index Enters Bear Market (BBG)
• Scientists say destructive solar blasts narrowly missed Earth in 2012 (Reuters)
• GM’s Ignition Victims Need Help From Bankruptcy Judge (BBG)
• U.S. Alleges Inside Traders Used Spycraft, Ate Evidence (WSJ)
• God Meets Profit in Obama Contraceptive Rule Court Case (BBG)

Rather than deal forthrightly with the reality that unrealistic promises made to their employees cannot be honored, local government has pursued a strategy of legalizing looting. The gradual erosion of civil liberties, legal rights and government ethics are connected: our rights don't just vanish into thin air, they are expropriated by government: Federal, state and local. Though much is written about the loss of civil liberties at the Federal level, many of the most blatantly illegal power grabs are occurring in local government. When local government looting is legalized, the entire system is illegal. Here are three recent examples of blatantly illegal looting by local governments.

• How Putin Parried Obama's Overtures on Crimea (WSJ)
• West Readies Tighter Sanctions After Russia Seals Crimea Claim (Bloomberg)
• Putin says U.S. guided by 'the rule of the gun' in foreign policy (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Said to Agree on Commodities Unit Sale to Mercuria (BBG)
• Short Sellers Target Chinese Developers as Rout Deepens (BBG)
• HFT finally under the spotlight: High-Speed Trading Firms Face New U.S. Scrutiny (WSJ)
• Chinese Dollar Bond Investors Demand Higher Yields After Default (BBG)
• According to Joe LaVorgna it's the snow's fault: Deutsche Bank Said to Plan Job Cuts at Investment Bank (BBG)
• Israeli airstrikes kill 1 Syrian soldier, wound 7 (AP)

Computer programs are obsolete before they even get put on the market and it’s been that way for years now. There’s also the added bonus of actually making sure that the buyers keep buying and always want the latest.