Wells Fargo

• Investors Shift Money Out of China (WSJ)
• Rajoy Risks Riling ECB in Bid to Avoid Union Ire (Bloomberg)
• Romney-Ryan See Fed QE as Inflation Risk Amid Subdued Prices (Bloomberg)
• Spanish savers offered haircut then money back (FT)
• Must wipe all traces of illegality and settle for $25,000: Standard Chartered Faces Fed Probes After N.Y. Deal (BBG)
• Greece debt report backs cuts plan (FT)
• Greece seeks two-year austerity extension (FT)
• Brevan Howard Looks To U.S. To Raise Money For Currency Fund (Bloomberg)
• Can he please stop buying gold? Paulson, Soros Add Gold as Price Declines Most Since 2008 (Bloomberg)
• BOE Drops Reference to Rate Cut as It Considers Policy Options (Bloomberg)
• EU Banking Plans Asks ECB to Share Power, Documents Show (Bloomberg)

In Q2 Dan Loeb went to town to his holdings as of March 31. Of his roughly 38 different positions, Loeb cut 24 names to zero among which Cisco, Marvell Technology, Sara Lee, Google, Wells Fargo (with the Octogenarian of Omaha likely buying every share), El Paso, Abercrobmie, Goldman and many others. Of course, he kept his stake in Yahoo and added to Apple, while cutting his Delphi stake from 13.34 million shares to 11.5 million. He used the proceeds from these sales to add to new positions (latest 13F here) in new names such aws AIG, Aetna, Chesapeake, Cigna, Coca Cola, Enphase, Humana, News Corp, and Unitedhealth Group. Also, Loeb went quite optically against Bill Ackman and bought a $6.5 million share equivalent put in JCPenney. He is significantly in the money in this.  Altogether, his disclosed equity stake was at $3.3 billion as of June 30, down from $4.1 billion at March 31. Dry powder? Or more likely getting more into bonds (which he doesn't have to disclose on any filing).

ECB to EU governments: “Guys, we won’t fly solo…”

Bond Market to ECB “Show me the money!”

Equity market “Someone said Money? Buy!”

HARP, The Home Affordable Refinance Program, is a streamline refinance program developed to help borrowers who have continued to make their mortgage payments, but have be unable to refinance due to a decline in their home value. While it is encouraging that more and more underwater homeowners are gaining the benefits of today’s low interest rates, tremendous profits are being made at their expense. Lack of competition is the primary catalyst, but the underlying economics of the large “too big to fail” banks will do nothing but stoke additional anger in the general public.  Expect this trend to continue until the dynamics of the program is changed once again, possibly in HARP 3.0.  Until then, the cash cow will continue for the TBTF banks.

In today's episode of blast from the past, Bloomberg's Jonathan Weil takes us on a time journey, which presents the Too Big To Fail bank problem from a different perspective: that of the Cocaine Cowboy roaming the streets of Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Just like today's big banks they were untouchable; just like today's banks they were collaborating and existing in perfect symbiosis with the Federal Reserve; just like today the Cocaine Cowboys existed in an untouchable vacuum courtesy of endless bribes to the local law enforcement and judicial officials, and just like today, the TBTF institution du jour isn't "merely an economic problem. It is a great moral failing of our society that poisons our democracy." Back then, Ronald Reagan stepped in just when Miami (whose real estate market had soared in 1979-1981 courtesy of rampant crime and money laundering: hint hint NAR anti money-laundering exemptions) was about to be overrun, forming a task force that in the nick of time restored law and order. Today we are not that lucky, as there is not a single politican willing to risk it all just to eradicate the modern version of a classic scourge: only this time they don't hand out 8 balls; they give away 0% introductory APR cards and 3 Year NINJA Adjustable Rate Mortgages. Both however get you hooked for life: either on drugs or on debt. Will someone step up this time and form a task force to eliminate the second coming of the Cocaine Cowboy? Sadly, we don't think so. At least not until the next great crash happens.

TAG ought to be allowed to expire at the end of 2012, but people like Barney Frank and Tim Johnson will be working to preserve this corporate subsidy for their clients among the large banks regardless of the deleterious effect on the US economy.  

Facebook investors are about to get unliked...

Far be it from us to reflect Schadenfreude here but at the time of the squeezefest leading up to and after the announcement of the lipstick-on-a-pig US Stress Tests in mid-March, when CDS were remaining wide and hardly budged, we questioned the reality of the assumptions and the lack of contagion comprehension. Most critically, in the 4 months since that wondrous day when all was proved great in the world of US banking, the major financials are down a stupendous 25% on average with Wells Fargo taking over the mantle of least used bed-pan in the E-Coli ward - at an unimpressive unchanged since 3/13.

PEI is at risk of "JingleMailing" properties. Even if foreclosure doesn't occur, here's more evidence of imminent distress as Value Line says buy, I say #crash & management takes down more than shareholders in compensation!

So when you see Citi’s Q2 2012 earnings, remember that about ¼ of the number will come from non-interest bearing deposits covered by FDIC's TAG program.

• Finland (which with Holland account for 50% of the Eurozone's AAA rated countries), just says "Ei" to stripping ESM subordination (Bloomberg)
• Libor Rate Scandal Set to Spread (WSJ)
• #ByeBarclays flashmob descends on bank (FinExtra)
• What is financial reform in China? (Pettis)
• Cities Consider Seizing Mortgages (WSJ)
• China Beige Book Shows Pickup Unseen in Official Data (BBG)
• China’s New Rules May Curb Credit Growth, CBRC Official Says (BBG)
• India Said to Pay in Euros for Iranian Oil Due to Rupee Hurdles (BBG)
• Wealthy Hit Hardest as France Raises Taxes (FT)
• Euro Bank Supervisor Faces Hurdles (WSJ)

Local Governments Which Entered Into Interest Rate Swaps Got Scalped

Another attempt by the Fraudclosure industry to steal a home in the name of the wrong "bank"

Sell side Wall Street vs Reggie Middleton on FB - 6 buys, 3 neutrals, avg price target $39. NOBODY came out with a short @ IPO besides moi. Guess where I stand now...

The no frills summary of the past week's key bullish and bearish macro events.