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Gallup Finds February US Unemployment Jumps Most Since 2010, Third Consecutive Monthly IncreaseInitial Claims Miss Expectations, Rise For Third Consecutive Week For First Time Since August 2010D.R. Horton: Bear Expects Stock's Rally To Snap The Wall Street Journal , U.S. Unemployment Up in February

Mar 8th, 2012 , ECB Sees Shrinking Euro Zone Mar 8th, 2012 0 (The Wall Street Journal) — The European Central Bank Thursday admitted that the euro-zone’s economy is likely to contract this year, and that inflation will outstrip the bank’s medium target…,  Mr. Market: Get It Through Your Head, The PSI DOESN’T Matter March 9, 2012 By http://gainspainscapital.com ‘I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I’m saying it again.Greece and the Euro are finished. The math is impossible. There is no way on earth that this Second Bailout accomplishes anything worthy of note. The idea that this country will somehow return to economic growth within two years, based on an additional €130billion in bailouts is outright insane.Remember, Greece already received €110 billion in bailout funds in 2010… and still posted GDP growth of -4.5% in 2010 and -6.8% in 2011. Greece’s economy is only €227 billion, so the country failed to post any economic growth and in fact saw its economic collapse accelerate after receiving a bailout equal to 57% of its GDP!!!And somehow another 130€ billion is going to get this country back to economic growth in two years’ time? Greece hasn’t experienced any growth in five years.Again, this entire deal is just stupid. And all it’s done is alert Spain and Italy to the fact that handing over fiscal sovereignty and implementing austerity measures in exchange for bailouts is a waste of time.As I wrote to clients several weeks ago:Meanwhile, on the other side of EU equation, Spain and Italy must be watching what’s happening in Greece and asking themselves whether they want to go through this whole process of negotiating for bailouts via austerity measures.Both countries have already had a small sampling of the austerity measure medicine. Spain recently implemented a meager 19€ billion in austerity measures while Italy passed 30€ billion in austerity measures in 2011… hardly a drop out of their respective 1.06€ trillion and 1.5€ trillion economies.Yet, even these tiny moves resulted in protests and riots …’, US Budget Deficit Hits All Time High In February , Not So Fast On That Whole Economic Recovery Thing http://albertpeia.com/notsofastonthateconomicrecoverything.htm ‘Not so fast.  Those that are publicly declaring that an economic recovery has arrived are ignoring a whole host of numbers that indicate that the U.S. economy is in absolutely horrendous shape.  The truth is that the health of an economy should not be measured by how well the stock market is doing.  Rather, the truth health of an economy should be evaluated by looking at numbers for things like jobs, housing, poverty and debt.  Some of the latest economic statistics indicate that unemployment is getting a little bit worse, that the housing market continues to deteriorate, that poverty in America continues to soar and that our debt problem is worse than ever.  If we were truly experiencing the kind of economic recovery that the United States has experienced after every other post-World War II recession we would see a sharp improvement across the board in most of our economic statistics.  But that simply is not happening.  Sadly, this is about as much of an "economic recovery" as we are going to get because soon the economy will be getting much worse…’ ,  Dave’s Daily: http://www.etfdigest.com CENTRAL BANKS PUSH MARKETS HIGHER 3-8-12 [ Dave asututely points out: “Jobless Claims Thursday were weaker than expected (362K vs 351K expected and prior revised higher to 354K). Did you know that prior weekly Jobless Claims data has been revised higher 100% of the time over the past two years? How does that happen this consistently?” – Which I refer to as the ‘data ponzi scheme’ wherein new fake data is used to buoy markets as prior reported fake data is reconciled closer to reality.  ] ‘The previous theme over the past 3 years may be repeating as 2012 moves forward: “Bad news is good, good news is better”. Of lying and willfully misleading investors is a path we shouldn’t go down. The truth is the most thoughtful people involved with markets are being steamrolled by central bank liquidity. Whether it’s the ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, People’s Bank of China or the U.S. Fed QE and ZIRP trump all other analysis. If employment or eurozone conditions are weak you must put your mind with “Orwellian” thinking since bad news means more liquidity. Good news means good news and asset prices will inflate even more…’ ,  Why Is Global Shipping Slowing Down So Dramatically?  http://albertpeia.com/globalshippingslowingdramatically.htm   , Greece Issues Statement On PSI, Says €172 Billion Of Bonds Tendered In Swap, Will Enact CACs, ISDA To Meet At 1pm To Find If CDS TriggerRisk-Off Initial Reaction To PSI DealBroadly speaking markets are derisking post the PSI deal announcements. Treasuries are 1-2bps lower in yields, EURUSD is down 35pips or so under 1.3230 (and JPY is rallying as carry is unwound), ES has dropped -5pts, Gold and Silver are sliding modestly, and WTI is off its peak but remains over $107. , Has Japan Run Out Of Cans To Kick?Japan's Trade and Current Account imbalances appear to be hitting some kind of terminal velocity and while neither JGBs nor CDS seem to reflect the ensuing chaotic recognition that perhaps the can that has been so faithfully kicked down the "Nishi-no-michi" or the West Road may have plunged over the lip of Mount Fuji (conjuring images of Mordor), FX markets recent and abrupt weakness brought on by yet more printing (a topic we discussed in great detail recently as the chosen heretical method du decade) may well be coming face to face with reality. , The Stranger Beside You - Spouses And ETFs  ETF fund flows have been a uniformly positive source of capital into U.S. risk markets in 2012. Looking a little deeper at the decidedly 'risk-on' flows, Nic Colas (of Convergex Group) notes perhaps their most provocative feature has been their high degree of net concentration.  When you look at the entire “ETF Ecosystem” of listed funds, just 6 funds represent all the net gains in assets over the past month ($5.4 billion in net inflows) – LQD, HYG and JNK in fixed income, VWO in emerging markets, VXX in risk, and GLD in commodities. , Reuters Reports That Hedge Funds Have Found Greek Default Trigger LoopholeWhile the general market mood is one of pre-default euphoria reminiscent of that in the pre-Lehman weekend, clouds may be brewing. As Reuters reports, "Some hedge funds have found a legal loophole they believe will force Greece to repay some of its debt in full, three sources close to the matter said on Thursday, in a move that would intensify the standoff between the country and its debtors.", Obama Denies Trying To Bribe Israel In Exchange For Iran Bombing DelayGuest Post: The Story Behind US Gas Price PainTexas Instruments Cuts Guidance As Usual, Fifth Consecutive CutThe US Deleveraging Is Now Over The credit bubble is now officially back., Fed's Advice On Trading The Sun's MoodinessWhile we have unapologetically highlighted some of the incredible taxpayer-funded research undertaken by the Fed such as "Why water is wet?" and "Why the sky is blue?", this little gem from the Atlanta Fed takes the proverbial biscuit: "Playing the Field: Geomagnetic Storms and the Stock Market… , Greek "Fresh Start" Bonds Face Immediate 80% Loss, 98% Probability Of Redefault Presenting Europe's Schizophrenia Post LTROGuest Post: Our "Let's Pretend" Economy: Let's Pretend Financialization Hasn't Killed the Economy , Art Cashin Deconstructs The Fed's Paradoxical QE ApproachYesterday we were quite amused to note that following the Hilsenrath leak (pre-backpeddaling as a result of some FRBNY spanking) of a sterilized QE that for supposedly tries to avoid "generating" inflation (hence confirming that QE does in fact stimulate inflation instead of being a tool to lower rates and make housing affordable) the market reaction was... inflationary, with stocks rising, but far less than crude and gold. So much for the Fed's trial balloon to see if it can intervene in the market without costing Obama a few million ballots. Today, Art Cashin observes precisely the same paradoxical response in his daily note. , Obama Promises Bunker Busters To Israel If Netanyahu Delays Iran Invasion Until After US ElectionsSome Problem Banks May Never Exit Federal Bailout  WSJ , The Moon Claimed The Titanic; Will The Sun Sink The Stock Market? The Wall Street Journal  [ Well, I don’t know about the Titanic, but the moon surely sunk the slimy newt. As for the stock market, it’s still about the moon as in lune as in lunatics, which they are. This is a great opportunity to sell, take profits since there’s much worse to come. ] , Does China's Forex Policy Beggar Its Neighbors?  The Wall Street Journal  [ Are you sure the author didn’t mean ‘bugger its neighbors’? Sounds like it; but, it’s really all about cost structures which are far less in China which is the primary reason for China’s export success. Manipulation of currencies is an artifice that the west will ultimately prove does not work at all (all that over-printing / creating of fiat Weimar paper currencies is a time-tested loser).] , Consumer Most Upbeat Since Fall 2008, RBC Survey Says The Wall Street Journal [And, we all know what happened then!] , Switzerland Wants Its Gold Back From The New York Fed Zero Hedge | Needless to say the implications of this vote actually succeeding are comparable to the Greeks holding a referendum on whether or not to be in the Eurozone.