Wells Fargo

• Ukraine's leaders say have U.S. backing to take on 'aggressors' (Reuters)
• Goldman Sachs Stands Firm as Banks Exit Commodity Trading (BBG)
• Obama reassures Japan, other allies on China as Asia trip begins (Reuters)
• China Challenges Obama’s Asia Pivot With Rapid Military Buildup (BBG)
• Google’s Stake in $2 Billion Apple-Samsung Trial Revealed (BBG)
• No bubble here: Numericable Set to Issue Record Junk Bond (WSJ)
• 'Bridgegate' scandal threatens next World Trade Center tower (Reuters)
• Supreme Court Conflicted on Legality of Aereo Online Video Service (WSJ)
• Barclays May Cut 7,500 at Investment Bank, Bernstein Says (BBG)

In February, we highlighted the fact that subprime loans were about to make a return: Subprime Mortgages are Back…This Time Marketed as “Second Chance Purchase Programs.” In that article, we posited that with the “all cash” private equity shops and hedge funds no longer able to make good returns through buying new homes to rent, these investors would need some sucker to sell to in order to realize a return (Blackstone’s purchases have plunged 70% recently). That sucker, as always, will be the retail muppets, and those muppets will be lured in through subprime. This is now starting to happen in earnest. "We're sorry, but on what sort of bizarro crackhead planet is putting 3% down toward an asset mean you are “buying it.” ... The Truman Show rolls on..."

An explanation of how fractional reserve banking infringes on everyone’s freedom.

The Fed’s 5-year campaign to drive the 30-year mortgage rate from 6.5% to 3.3% has accomplished nothing except to touch off another of those pointless “refi” booms which enable homeowners to swap an existing mortgage for a new one carrying a significantly lower interest rate and monthly service cost. Such debt churning exercises have been sponsored repeatedly by the Fed since the S&L debacle of the late 1980s. The overwhelming evidence, however, is that America’s shop-till-they-drop consumers have finally dropped. But while peak debt means that the Fed’s entire 5-year money printing spree was destined to fail, it nevertheless has produced massive impacts - all of them bad or stupid. One of the most crucial is that it generated an artificial refi windfall to the Big Banks which now dominate the home mortgage business. And the profit windfall was a doozy. Now that financial results for Q1 2014 have been posted, the impact on Big Four financial results can actually be quantified. The four charts below on mortgage originations per quarter during the course of the Fed’s balance sheet expansion binge are the smoking gun.

It wouldn't be the first time the Fed has "stretched" the truth...

Not much to add here that we haven't already said before about the state of demand for housing by the ordinary American.

• Ukraine Says Russia Exporting ‘Terror’ Amid Eastern Push (BBG)
• Civil War Threat in Ukraine (Reuters)
• China Shoe Plant Strike Disrupts Output at Nike, Adidas Supplier (BBG)
• Mt Gox to liquidate (WSJ)
• Ex-Co-Op Bank Chairman Charged With Cocaine Possession (BBG)
• Goldman Sachs plans to jump-start stock-trading business (WSJ)
• Credit Suisse first-quarter profit falls as trading tumbles (Reuters)
• U.K. Unemployment Rate Falls to Five-Year Low (BBG)
• Lawmakers Back High-Frequency Trade Curbs in EU Markets Law (BBG)
• Yahoo's growth anemic as turnaround chugs along (Reuters)
• Spain ETF Grows as Rajoy Attracts Record U.S. Investments (BBG)

Futures are treading water once more now that Ukraine has stormed to center stage from the backburner after everyone was convinced Putin would let the situation cool off after annexing Crimea. Guess not. Adding the renewed geopolitical jitters to what has already been a beta stock bloodbath into a holiday shortened week assures some high volatility fireworks. Cautious sentiment was observed over in Asia (Nikkei 225 -0.36%) amid renewed fears that geopolitical tensions in Ukraine will flare up again following reports of exchange gunfire with pro-Russian militants. This sentiment carried over into the European session with stocks lower across the board (Eurostoxx50 -0.71%). EUR is lower after ECB’s Draghi said any further strengthening of the EUR would warrant further action by the ECB, including non-standard measures such as quantitative easing - it is amazing how frequently and often the Virtu algos still fall for Draghi's jawboning trick which has now become all too clear will never be implemented and certainly not if he keeps talking about it daily, as he does.

After tens of millions in legal fees, a river of negative press, and ripple effects to other local municipalities, we have U-turned and are back to where we started.

We asked this question a quarter ago following the quarterly results by Wells Fargo - America's biggest mortgage lender - but we never got an appropriate answer. So now that the data has been updated for the latest Wells mortgage origination and application numbers, we ask the question again: considering both mortgage originations and applications are crashing to levels not seen since the Lehman crisis, just what is wrong with this "housing recovery" picture?

After a selloff as violent as that of last night, usually the overnight liftathon crew does a great job of recovering a substantial portion of the losses. Not this time, which coupled with the sudden and quite furious breakdown on market structure, leads us to believe that something has changed rather dramatically if preserving investor confidence is not the paramount issue on the mind of the NY Fed trading desk. Nikkei 225 (-2.38%) suffered its worst week since March'11 amid broad based risk off sentiment following on from a lower close on Wall St. where the Nasdaq Biotech index suffered its largest intra-day decline since August 2011. Negative sentiment carried over into European session, with stocks lower across the board (Eurostoxx50 -1.17%) and tech under performing in a continuation of the recent sector weakness seen in the US. JP Morgan (JPM) due to report earnings at 7:00AM EDT and Wells Fargo (WFC) at 8:00Am EDT.

• Top Medicare Doctor Paid $21 Million in 2012, Data Shows (BBG)
• Separatists build barricades in east Ukraine, Kiev warns of force (Reuters)
• Greece launches sale of five-year bond (FT)
• High-Frequency Trader Malyshev Mulls Accepting Outside Investors (BBG)
• U.S. defense chief gets earful as China visit exposes tensions (Reuters)
• GM Workers Who Built Defective Cars Fret About Recall (BBG)
• Kerry, Congress Agree: Superpower Status Not What It Was (BBG)
• Crimeans Homeless in Ukraine Seek Solace in Kiev Asylums (BBG)
• JPMorgan's Dimon says U.S. banks healthy, Europe lagging (Reuters)

Most Buy Side managers have no idea about the disparate business models of the four largest US banks by assets. 

• Russia's Gazprom says Ukraine did not pay for gas on time (Reuters)
• Ukraine Moves to Keep Control in East (BBG)
• Banks Set to Report Lower Earnings as Debt Trading Slumps (BBG)
• More DeGeners and Obama selfies needed: Samsung's lower first-quarter estimate highlights smartphone challenges (Reuters)
• Citi Is Bracing to Miss a Profit Target (WSJ)
• Another slam from GM? Safety group calls for U.S. probe of Chevy Impala air bags (Reuters)
• Japan drugmaker Takeda to fight $6 billion damages imposed by U.S. jury (Reuters)
• EU court rules against requirement to keep data of telecom users (Reuters)
• White House may ban selfies with president after Ortiz-Obama photo promotes Samsung (Syracuse)

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.