Business Summary Links By Day

3 Charts On The US Consumption Crash Dead-Ahead Durden 3-5-12 , Apple Encounters Gravity As 3rd Biggest Drop In 3 Months Drags Market Down Durden 3-5-12 , IIF Steering Committee Holds Only 20% Of Greek Bonds Subject To PSI Durden 3-5-12 , Biggest 3-Day Slump in 3 Months for High-Yield Bond ETF Durden 3-5-12 , McCain Calls For US To Lead Effort To Begin Syrian Air Strikes Durden 3-5-12 Sen. McCain calls for US to lead 'international effort' to begin air strikes on Syria. Looks like operation "Enduring Brent Crude Freedom" is about to commence. , Dallas Fed's Fisher "Perplexed" By Wall Street "Fetish" With QE3 And Disgusted With The Addiction To "Monetary Morphine... Durden 3-5-12 , Chris Martenson: Japan Is Now Another Spinning Plate In The Global Economy Circus Durden 3-5-12 For those who are in a hurry today, the bottom line is that Japan is in serious trouble right now and is a top candidate to be the next black swan. *The total shutdown of all 54 nuclear plants, leading to an energy insufficiency *Japan's trade deficit in negative territory for the first time in decades, driven largely by energy imports *A budget deficit that is now 56% larger than revenues (!!) *Total debt standing at a whopping 235% of GDP *A recession shrinking Japan's economy at an annual rate of 2.3% *Renewed efforts underway to debase the yen , De-Investifying China Durden 3-5-12 The overnight news that China's economic growth forecast was cut is notable in that it brings to mind the complexities (and realities) of the shift from an investment-led economy to consumption-led sustainability… , Guest Post: Enjoy The Central Bank Party While It Lasts Durden 3-5-12 Central banks are printing money all over the world. New names have been given to what is really an age old phenomenon. Desperate governments have traditionally debased their currencies when they have no other way of financing their deficits. , Now THAT Is Cold - 19 Signs That America Is Becoming A Very Heartless Place http://albertpeia.com/19signsamericaheartless.htm , How Long Until The Bank Of Israel Has To Be Bailed Out On Its Apple Investment? Durden 3-5-12 , European Credit Signals LTRO Ineffectiveness Durden 3-5-12 , Hopium Tank On Empty Durden 3-5-12 , Greek 1 Year Bond = 1006% Durden 3-5-12 , Art Cashin On Technical Indicators Turning Red Durden 3-5-12 , IIF's Doomsday Memorandum Revealed: Disorderly Greek Default To Cost Over €1 Trillion Durden 3-5-12 , Ron Paul: "I Think Sanctions Give Iran Motivation To Want A Nuclear Weapon" Durden 3-4-12 , David Rosenberg: "The Best Currency May Be Physical Gold" Durden 3-3-12 , Fed’s Fisher: Wall Street May Be Addicted to Cheap Money By Michael S. Derby ‘A key Federal Reserve official argued forcefully Monday against providing more monetary-policy stimulus to the economy, and accused Wall Street of getting addicted to cheap money from the Fed.“I am personally perplexed by the continued preoccupation, bordering upon fetish, that Wall Street exhibits regarding the potential for further monetary accommodation,” Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said.’Bert Dohmen: China - Already in a Recession

KuciloOro on January 22, 2012 Bert Dohmen: China - Already in a Recession David:  I’m glad he’s the man for the job, and that’s why we want to entertain the conversation today.  What are the numbers telling us about hyperinflation and our current economic malaise? US Is ‘Right Now in a Recession’: Dohmen Capital ( Financial Crisis Phase II Is Ahead at Forbes Bert Dohmen ‘ In late 2007, I wrote the book Prelude To Meltdown, predicting the global crisis that occurred the following year.  I now see a similar confluence of events .. “the new recession has started.”… Over the past 33 years, we have called the start of every recession..Currently, the GDP deflator is 1.8%, which hardly reflects the true rise in prices. Therefore, what is counted as “growth,” is actually price increases. Actual inflation..is now more than 11%. Using that to adjust GDP for inflation, would show that the economy is now in a very sharp contraction…’, Spain’s sovereign thunderclap and the end of Merkel’s Europe Mar 5th, 2012 By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard(The Telegraph) — The Spanish rebellion has begun, sooner and more dramatically than I expected.As many readers will already have seen, Premier Mariano Rajoy has refused point blank to comply with the austerity demands of the European Commission and the European Council (hijacked by Merkozy).Taking what he called a “sovereign decision”, he simply announced that he intends to ignore the EU deficit target of 4.4pc of GDP for this year, setting his own target of 5.8pc instead (down from 8.5pc in 2011).In the twenty years or so that I have been following EU affairs closely, I cannot remember such a bold and open act of defiance by any state. Usually such matters are fudged. Countries stretch the line, but do not actually cross it.[source]PG View: Rajoy will undoubtedly gain popular support within Spain (and perhaps elsewhere in the periphery) for thumbing his nose at EU austerity demands. Nonetheless, things are going to remain crumby in Spain even under Rajoy’s more lenient 5.8% debt/GDP target, although arguably things would be much worse under the EU’s 4.4% target You Cannot Build a Strong Economy or a Bull Market on Fudged Numbers and Lipstick March 5, 2012 By gpc1981 http://gainspainscapital.com ‘Let’s say that you just spent a large sum, to the tune of several trillion Dollars, bailing out various businesses that were literally run into insolvency by shortsighted and greedy business practices.Having spent this money, your next concern becomes avoiding popular outrage as sooner or later folks will find out that this money was practically given away and that everyone else got a raw deal.So, at that point your primary focus must become convincing the world that your policies worked and that you did in fact save the world.How do you do this? 1)The businesses you bailed out need to appear successful and profitable again 2)The economy you “saved” needs to look to be in recovery.This is precisely the blueprint for what the Powers That Be have followed post 2009. Regarding the bailed out businesses, the large banks are posting great profits by writing down bonds they own (and recording this as a profit) and by lowering loss reserves…, Non-Manufacturing ISM Prints At 57.3, Higher Than Expectations Durden 3-5-12 In 2011 it was Europe's turn to baffle everyone with bullshit. it still is, but now it has added China (whose Services ISM printed both below and above 50 depending on which data one uses, whether Markit or HSBC), and the US, as it is now the turn of the Services ISM to beat expectations and print at 57.3, on expectations of 56.0, and higher than the prior 56.8 - this beat comes just as the market was expecting a major drop in the aftermath of the big manufacturing ISM miss (Goldman was well below the consensus on today's number), and appears to have printed where it did just to keep the confusion about the true state of the US economy in place as Bernanke vacillates whether or not to proceed with QE3 and when. Curiously, the most important subindex ahead of this Friday's NFP data, the employment indicator, showed a decline from 57.4 to 55.7, just to make an NFP beat all that much more 'surprising.' That said, as Bloomberg's Joe Brusuelas notes, this data is stale and does not reflect the recent gasoline price shock, which as of today has regular has at a 2012 high of $3.767, compared to $3.503 this time last year. Elsewhere, and in keeping with the Mfg ISM data, US Factory Orders slid 1.0% on expectations of an unchanged print from last month's 1.4% increase. Finally, stocks are completely unmoved on all of this data…, On Contagion: How The Rest Of The World Will Suffer Durden 3-5-12 Insolvency will keep dragging the Euro-Area economy down until sovereign and bank balance sheets are repaired, but as Lombard Street Research  points out: eliminating the Ponzi debt without fracturing the entire credit system is impossible. The Lehman default occurred 13 months after the US TED spread crossed 100 basis points. The European equivalent crossed 100 basis points in September 2011, so its banking crisis would occur this autumn if a year or so is a normal incubation period. A Greek or any other significant default will precipitate a European banking crisis in the foreseeable future. Markets are already speculating on Portuguese negotiations for haircuts and Ireland can’t be far behind and the contagion to US (and global) banking systems is inevitable given counterparty risks, debt loads (and refi needs), and capital requirements (no matter how well hidden by MtM math). , Couple Lives In $1.3 Million, 4,900 Square Foot Home For Five Years Without Making A Single Mortgage Payment Durden 3-5-12 Wonder how Americans can afford to buy millions of iGadgets, a second LCD TV for the shoe closet, and eat at restaurants more than almost any time in the past despite sliding personal income? Simple - increasingly fewer pay the biggest staple bill in a US household: their mortgage. The following story of Keith And Janet Ritter (blacks-don’t forget to include that other black couple in the white house), who have lived in their Fort Washington, MD $1.29MM, 4,900 square foot McMansion for 5 years (which they purchase with no money down) without ever making a single mortgage payment, and who are not even close to being evicted, may explain much about the way US society currently operates, and why other perfectly responsible and hard-working taxpayers (who do have to pay for their mortgage) continue to fund tens of billions in Fannie and Freddie losses who are first on the hook to absorb the implicit losses by allowing families such as the Ritters to live in perpetuity without paying, and the banks to keep said mortgage on the books at par without any impairments.