Wells Fargo

The 30 Year U.S. Treasury bond yield hit 2.35% yesterday. Long term interest rates are not controlled by Yellen. They reflect the economic prospects of the country. When they are rising it means the economy is doing well. When they are plummeting to all time lows, the economy is either in recession or headed into recession. Take your pick. No amount of government data manipulation, feel good propaganda spewed by the captured mainstream media, or Ivy League educated Wall Street economist doublespeak, can change the fact this economy is in the dumper and headed much lower. The Greater Depression is resuming its downward march toward inevitable war.

Canary... meet coalmine. While the divergence between US financial stock prices and their credit risk has been significant since Fed's Bullard saved the world in mid October. In fact the divergence really began when oil prices peaked and began to accelerate lower but really picked up this week after the Swiss National Bank news. Between energy-sector-based structured notes, massive short Treasury positions, and the potential for contagion from Swissy's massive moves, it would appear - judging by the major decompression in US bank credit risk this week to its worst since Feb 2014 - that counterparty risk is on the rise again.

Following disappointing results from JPM and Wells Fargo yesterday, it was Bank of America's turn to "surprise" investors with its disclosure just how bad its quarter was. And with the bank reporting a 50% collapse in its sales and trading from Q3, down $600 million from a year ago to just $1.7 billion in Q4, it should come as no surprise that the bank just reported Net Income, before the usual spate of amusing addbacks, of $0.25 well below the $0.31 expected. And while one may argue whether ot not BofA's EPS deserve non-GAAP adbacks, it was the Revenue of $18.96 billion, which missed expectations of $21.03 billion by over $2 billion (!) and down $2.7 billion from a year ago, that was truly a showstropper and shows that without the Fed's visible hand manipulating markets every day, banks are a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow.

While earlier today the MBA came out with some absolutely ridiculous numbers namely that there was a 49.1% surge in mortgage applications in the week ended January 9, this was, as Stone McCarthy reported, due largely to seasonals. To wit: "The MBA's broad mortgage application index soared 49.1% last week. While we think much of the increase is a response to lower mortgage rates, we also think the application data are still subject to some holiday-related noise." So what is really going on with that all important metric for the US housing market: mortgage originations? For the answer we go to the biggest mortgage originating bank in the US itself, Wells Fargo. Here is the answer:

• U.S. Index Futures Decline on Commodities Slump, Growth Concerns (BBG)
• Al Qaeda claims French attack, derides Paris rally (Reuters)
• Charlie Hebdo With Muhammad Cover on Sale With Heavy Security Precautions (BBG)
• How an Obscure Tax Loophole Brought Down Obama's Treasury Nominee  (BBG)
• ECB’s bond plan is legal ‘in principle’ (FT)
• Charlie Hebdo fallout: Specter of fascist past haunts European nationalism (Reuters)
• DRW to acquire smaller rival Chopper Trading (FT)
• Oil fall could lead to capex collapse: DoubleLine's Gundlach (Reuters)

We see far too much complacency out there when it comes to interest rates, in the same manner that we’ve seen it concerning oil prices. We live in a new world, not a continuation of the old one. That old world died with Fed QE. Just check the price of oil. There have been tectonic shifts since over, let’s say, the holidays, and we wouldn’t wait for the ‘experts’ to catch up with live events. Being 7 weeks or two months late is a lot of time. And they will be late, again. It’s inherent in what they do. And what they represent.

• Oil Drops Below $45; U.S. Stockpiles May Speed Collapse (BBG)
• Pound Drops as Traders Write Off Higher Rates on Inflation Slump (BBG)
• Oil prices down again as UAE defends holding production (Reuters)
• The Politics Behind the ECB's Threat to Cut Greece Funding (BBG)
• France dispatched thousands of police and military personnel to protect synagogues and Jewish schools, as the government warned of continued terror threats after three days of deadly violence (WSJ)
• Chinese Car Dealers Find Days of ‘Printing Money’ Ending (BBG)
• Gold Rises to Highest Since October as U.S. Rate Outlook Weighed (BBG)
• Divers retrieve crashed AirAsia jet's cockpit voice recorder (Reuters)

• Earnings Pessimism Jumps as Oil Threatens S&P 500 Growth (BBG)
• It’s Amateur Hour in the Booming Chinese Stock Market (BBG)
• France mobilizes 10,000 troops at home after Paris shootings (Reuters)
• European Stocks Gain With S&P 500 Futures While Oil Drops (BBG)
• Nasdaq Looks to Operate Dark Pools for Banks (WSJ)
• This Guy Called Bonds in ’14. You Listening This Time? (BBG)
• Paris attacks boost support for Dutch anti-Islam populist Wilders (Reuters)
• OPEC price war in Asia intensifies as oil falls below $50 (Reuters)

• Police Surround Paris Terror Suspects Near CDG Airport (BBG)
• ECB Said to Study Bond-Purchase Models Up to 500 Billion Euros (BBG)
• How OPEC Weaponized the Price of Oil Against U.S. Drillers (BBG)
• German Industrial Production Falls Amid Plunge in Energy Output (BBG)
• Car Loans See Rise In Missed Payments (WSJ)
• Jim O'Neill threatens he will replace BRICs with ICs (BBG)
• Oil heads for seventh weekly loss as supply glut drags (Reuters)
• Armed man takes hostage in kosher grocery in Paris (AFP)
• Janus Chairman Didn’t Know Details of Gross’s Investment (WSJ)
• Kaisa Bondholders Dream of White Knight as Default Becomes Real (BBG)

• French policewoman killed in shoot-out, hunt deepens for militant killers (Reuters)
• The Bold Charlie Hebdo Covers the Satirical Magazine Was Not Afraid to Run (BBG)
• Evans Says Fed Shouldn’t Rush Rate Rise as Inflation Undershoots (BBG)
• Oil holds above $51 as traders search for floor (Reuters)
• Gross Helps Fuel New Fund With His Own Cash (WSJ)
• ECB warns Greek funding access hinges on keeping bailout (Reuters)
• Greece Jolts QE Juggernaut as ECB Gauges Deflation Risk (BBG)
• Analysts Say There's No Telling How Low Oil Prices Could Go (BBG)
• Scientists find antibiotic that kills bugs without resistance (Reuters)

But the oil-price crash was supposed to goose consumer spending.

• Average 10-year yield of U.S., Japan and Germany dropped below 1% for the first time ever: Free Money in Bond Markets Shows Global Economy Still Struggling (BBG)
• Brent falls below $52 as oil hits new five and a half year lows (Reuters)
• China Fast-Tracks $1 Trillion in Projects to Spur Growth (BBG)
• Saudi Arabia Raises Price of Main Oil Grade for Asian Buyers (BBG)
• Oilfield Writedowns Loom as Crude Slump Guts Drilling Values (BBG)
• Biggest Oil-Rig Drop Since 2009 Spells Tough Year Ahead (BBG)
• CIA says its inspector general is resigning at end of month (Reuters)
• Pipeline IPOs Climb on Demand for Returns Immune to Oil (BBG)
• Natural Gas No Savior for Investors Seeking Oil Refuge (BBG)
• Euro zone economy ended 2014 in poor shape (Reuters)

• Economists sceptical ECB bond-buying would revive eurozone (FT)
• Indonesia naval captain says may have located missing plane's tail section (Reuters)
• Oil hits five and a half year low under $55 (Reuters)
• Samaras Warns of Euro Exit Risk as Greek Campaign Starts (BBG)
• The death of active investing: Vanguard Sets Record Funds Inflow (WSJ) - thank you Fed
• Oil Downturn Has Many Wondering How Lone Star State Will Weather a Bust (WSJ)
• Hollande Says France Must Exceed 1% Economic Growth to Spur Jobs (BBG)

"most investors take a relatively short-term view and assume that what has happened most recently will continue. They fail to recognize that economic and market forces are always working to press companies (and whole industries) back toward their respective grooves... companies rarely perform way above the industry average or way below it indefinitely. There is a constant tendency to regress toward the mean..."

On July 15th 2014, The Federal Reserve uttered the following warning to exuberant equity investors, "Valuation metrics in some sectors do appear substantially stretched -- particularly those for smaller firms in the social-media and biotechnology industries." 5 months later, Yellen Capital LP is half right...