For a second time in the past three weeks, stocks suffered another round of losses which accelerated as the week progressed. Of the major indices, taking the biggest hit were the Dow Industrials, followed by the NYSE Composite, S&P 500, and NASDAQ, in percentage terms.
The Dow's 3.31% fall was made possible by a Friday selloff which saw the blue chips decline by 730 points, the largest selloff since June 11, when stocks suffered a major blow preceded by an ominous island reversal of June 5, 8, 9, and 10. (see video below for more)
Friday's action may be presaging an oncoming decline of a magnitude rivaling the initial slide in March. The second quarter comes to a close on Tuesday and everybody on wall Street knows that it's difficult to "price in" a GDP decline which may be on the order of 35-50% when the first figure is announced on July 30.
Prior to that momentous milestone, corporate earnings reports will begin to flow to the street following next week's July 4 Independence Day holiday. The coming week will be shortened by a day, as Friday is a national holiday, giving most Americans a three-day weekend. Stock markets, banks, the postal service and most city and county offices will be closed. Hopefully, most of them will reopen on July 6.
For the week just concluded, treasury yields were clobbered, the 10-year note falling from 0.71 to 0.64%, the lowest since May 14 and approaching the record low of 0.58% from April 21st. As the 30-year bond yield fell from 1.47 to 1.37 over the course of the week, the curve flattened significantly, 125 basis points covering the entire complex. If this is what the Fed considers success in "curve control," they can have it, with the short end - one-month to two-years - covered by just five basis points (0.12 to 0.17%).
These low rates at the front end aren't by accident. They are policy and they are indicative of a recession if not outright depression. Adamant that they will not go to negative rates as has been the case in the Eurozone and Japan for years, the Fed's real rates have been in the red pretty much since the previous crisis in '08-'09, i.e., they were lower than the inflation rate. The one year note only crested above one percent in 2017. A year ago, it was yielding 1.92%, a stark comparison to Friday's close at 0.17%.
The Fed promised cheap credit and they are delivering.
Oil prices were slapped down after WTI crude tested $40/barrel, peaking at $40.73 on Monday, only to close out at $38.49 on Friday. Expect oil to continue trading sideways to lower if stock prices begin to falter, or, vice versa. Oil declines could help trigger or exacerbate a rundown on equities.
Precious metals were by far the big winners for the week. Both gold and silver advanced smartly despite a desperate attempt to crater their prices Friday on the NYMEX failed miserably. The morning rout sent gold reeling $20 to the downside, bottoming just below $1745 per ounce. So enamored with "V"-shaped recoveries, Wall Street got an unexpected one when gold prices recovered all of the losses within an hour and proceeded to close near the high for the day at $1771.50. Laughably, Friday's recorded London PM fix was set at $1747.60, setting up a $24 weekend arbitrage gap. Maybe, considering the problems the paper COMEX markets have had in recent months, it's not so funny for gold shorts, which are burning.
Silver savers should be delighted with the price action this week. Not only was a raid similar to the gold price suppression thwarted on both Thursday and Friday, but spot edged three cents higher than the closeout future price, at $17.83 the ounce, the highest Friday price since February 21, just prior to the epic COVID collapse.
Current physical prices continue to demand high premiums. This week saw prices for silver art bars absolutely explode higher, some one ounce bars selling above $40. Average and median prices for one ounce gold coins and bars were captured at prices $33 to $45 higher than a week ago.
Here's a glimpse at current selected prices on eBay (shipping included):
Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 25.95 / 40.95 / 30.92 / 29.47
1 oz silver bar: 27.00 / 45.44 / 34.62 / 32.93
1 oz gold coin: 1,827.85 / 2,109.95 / 1,919.39 / 1,901.60
1 oz gold bar: 1,861.66 / 1,920.65 / 1,879.77 / 1,873.92
Argentina's Debt Crisis Far From Resolution
Argentina's government continues to play cat and mouse with international creditors, extending the deadline for negotiations concerning $65 billion worth of bonds to July 24.
Having already defaulted on a $500 million interest payment on May 22, the government is doubling down, indicating that it will miss another similar payment in June, which has a 30-day grace period. The chances of a settlement agreeable to the government and its creditors continue to deteriorate as interest payments are missed and the value of the bonds plummets, some selling off to as low as 37 cents on the dollar.
Talks stalled over the past two weeks as investors including BlackRock, Fidelity, AllianceBernstein, and Ashmore Group PLC, rejected a government proposal tied to agricultural exports while seeking recovery of between 49 and 57 cents on the dollar.
At the same time, the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s largest province, is negotiating with bondholders on the restructuring of $7.148 billion in debt and extended its deadline for a negotiated settlement to July 31.
Per previous proposals, payments would not begin being made on the currently-defaulted bonds until 2025. This article, published by the Council on Foreign Relations, offers the most comprehensive details, including charts that break down Argentina's $323 billion of debt, all of which is at dangerous risk levels.
At a time when the country's GDP is predicted to decline by 10 percent, the severity of the financial crisis cannot be understated, though mainstream television media in America has nearly completely neglected to report on the issue. Argentina has suffered through decades of boom and bust over the past 45 years, 20 of which showed GDP in decline.
It's not a question of when Argentina defaults on its debts, it's a question of how severe the defaults will be, how they will affect government pensions, and the ability of the government to maintain its status as a going concern. With a population estimated at 45 million, Argentina's problems are quickly becoming everybody's, as tens and perhaps hundreds of billions are in the process of being eviscerated.
With the government of President Alberto Fernandez content to play kick the can by extending the negotiation deadline for a fifth time, the dithering is taking its toll on investors. While a formal default has only been declared on portions of Argentina's debt, triggering the awarding of a credit default swap (CDS) recently, these things have a nasty way of snowballing into global crises, as was the case with Mexico in 1982, the Asian Crisis in 1997, and when Russia devalued the ruble in 1998.
Having to deal with some of the most severe lockdowns in the world due to the COVID-19 panic, Argentina is ill-prepared to deal with a financial hardship of this magnitude. The situation could spiral out of control at any time, when one side or the other finally throws in the towel and walks away. Consider Argentina's plight a fluid situation with more headlines and fireworks likely over coming months.
At the Close, Friday, June 26, 2020:
Dow: 25,015.55, -730.05 (-2.84%)
NASDAQ: 9,757.22, -259.78 (-2.59%)
S&P 500: 3,009.05, -74.71 (-2.42%)
NYSE: 11,604.43, -260.68 (-2.20%)
For the Week:
Dow: -855.91 (-3.31%)
NASDAQ: -188.90 (-1.90%)
S&P 500: -88.69 (-2.86%)
NYSE: -375.19 (-3.14%)
Peak Prosperity's Adam Taggert and friends discuss threats to the stock market, highlighted by their charting of the recent Island Reversal:
Showing posts with label default. Show all posts
Showing posts with label default. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Friday, December 18, 2015
The Big Reset Has Begun; Prepare Accordingly; Stocks Skid to 2-Month Lows
Coincidence?
Try these events from the past three days:
Kerry meets with Putin, says Assad can stay as ruler of Syria. US policy neutered.
Biden calls off Turkey, tells them to stop violating Iraq's borders. US policy neutered.
Fed raised Fed funds rate, banks raise prime rate.
Putin publicly backs Trump.
Ukraine defaults on Russian debt. While this may appear bad for Russia, it's worse for Ukraine, and even worse for US policy.
Today, the plug will be pulled on over a trillion$ in SPY options. Winners and losers, lots of both.
The world has changed radically in the past week. Trump is now the de facto US President. Obama can go to Hawaii and stay there for all the world leaders care. Kerry had no power; now he has even less, if that's possible.
Just watch: terrorism will be a non-starter for 2016. US intel has been found out (by Putin) and he's putting an end to it all.
Will truth and justice return to America? Just like bankruptcy, gradually, then all of a sudden.
h/t to Ernest Hemingway
Then, there's this cryptic note - citing Jim Willie's Hat Trick Letter - found in the comments section on a Zero Hedge article.
At 11:00 am ET, the S&P already dumped 2030 and 2020. Getting closer to the magic mark of 2000.
Don't actually think it matters if it happens today, tomorrow, next week or next year. The crash has been underway since late May, the last time the NAZ, S&P and Dow all set new all time highs.
The trash is being taken to the dumpster. Watch terrorism disappear as a major story. The meme for 2016 will be economic security, and Trump will win easily.
In fact, since Putin's endorsement yesterday, some would wager that in the minds of most world leaders, Trump is already the US de facto president. Obummer is so over. Hillary is a non-starter. Change is good; best to be out in front of it. The elections will be all for show, since Trump is self-financed. The money machine(s) is/are grinding to a halt.
Americans are going to see the fruits of what the Fed and the federal government, state governments, and local governments have sewn: TRASH. Loads of TRASH, piled high, heaped upon more loads of TRASH.
Bankruptcies should absolutely soar in 2016. Corporate failures and bond defaults will accelerate. Pensions will default on payments. The US will slowly, painfully, resort to honest money. GOLD AND SILVER WILL SOAR.
A BIG THANK YOU TO JANET and THE FOMC. THANKS, YOU NITWITS.
David Stockman really nailed it in his post at Contra Corner Blog.
And, while the economy slowly crumbles, congress (which obviously didn't get the memo that they're fired) conveniently passed a $1.15 trillion omnibus budget bill with the notorious CISA government spying act included.
At the end of the week (the last full week of 2015), the figures for the major averages look pretty stupid.
The Dow was smacked down a whipping 367 points, closing at 17,128.59, the lowest closing price since mid-October. For the week, the DJI was off nearly one percent, down 136.62 points.
The S&P nearly got to the 2000 mark, closing down 36.43, at 2005.46 on the day, but lost just 6.95 for the week. On the NASDAQ, it was a 1.59% loss, down 79.47, at 4973.08. On a weekly basis, it doesn't look bad on the surface, as the NAZ lost a mere 10 points.
However, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all up days for the major indices. Thursday and Friday were down, and down big, erasing all of the early-week gains. From the highs after the FOMC meeting, on Wednesday's close, the losses portend further losses next week. a cleansing of bad assets is well underway, and there are plenty of bad ones in all markets.
Also, the entire treasury curve flattened. The 10-year yield, in particular, dropped 10 basis points from 2:00 pm ET on Wednesday, the moment of the FMOC rate hike announcement, ending the week at 2.20%. If the Fed's master plan was working, shouldn't all bond yields - especially those of shorter durations - have gone up? This is a classic example of the market rejecting the Fed, with more to come, as the Fed thinks it's going to raise rates four more times in 2016, a recipe for economic cataclysm.
Lastly, keep a close eye on the banks (JPM, BAC, C, GS, WFC, MS) as they were all lower by 2-3% on the day.
David Bowie's Changes should suffice as an appropriate song for a truly epic week:
Try these events from the past three days:
Kerry meets with Putin, says Assad can stay as ruler of Syria. US policy neutered.
Biden calls off Turkey, tells them to stop violating Iraq's borders. US policy neutered.
Fed raised Fed funds rate, banks raise prime rate.
Putin publicly backs Trump.
Ukraine defaults on Russian debt. While this may appear bad for Russia, it's worse for Ukraine, and even worse for US policy.
Today, the plug will be pulled on over a trillion$ in SPY options. Winners and losers, lots of both.
The world has changed radically in the past week. Trump is now the de facto US President. Obama can go to Hawaii and stay there for all the world leaders care. Kerry had no power; now he has even less, if that's possible.
Just watch: terrorism will be a non-starter for 2016. US intel has been found out (by Putin) and he's putting an end to it all.
Will truth and justice return to America? Just like bankruptcy, gradually, then all of a sudden.
h/t to Ernest Hemingway
Then, there's this cryptic note - citing Jim Willie's Hat Trick Letter - found in the comments section on a Zero Hedge article.
GLOBAL RESET HAS BEEN TRIGGERED, THE PROCESS BEGUN, THE VOICE FINALLY WARNS... THE EVENTS HAVE BEGUN, AND THE USFED RATE HIKE MIGHT HAVE BEEN PART OF THE GLOBAL DECISION. $$$
The Voice gives an urgent warning that finally the breakdown is accelerating, the damage profound, the effects unmistakable, the plug pulled. The officials have not undertaken any remedy for several years. His message is clear and stark, the first time such a communication has been given to the Jackass and colleagues. It was given just a few days before the USFed rate hike decision was made. "Guys, the plug has been pulled. Let the show begin. Our organization has been alerted accordingly to that effect this morning at 4am, that the deed is done. The battle trigger code has been chosen. It will get incredibly ugly, as real casualties will result. The annihilation of entire groups of people within the corrupt and criminal systems will be unimaginable to normal humanoids. These systems will be totally dismembered and crushed, never to be resurrected. The cabal is being caught in a grand dragnet, with the outcome certain to be their extermination, along with all their agents and collaborators. [1] The effects of this event driven scenario will become visible to the ordinary people in early 2016 and forward. Once the dust settles, it is clear to me that the human population will be noticeably lower, with fewer people roaming this planet." The Voice is referring to the Satanist Bank Cabal groups. We mere mortals hope that reason prevails, that remedy is agreed upon, that transition is orderly, so that a billion people do not needlessly perish. But the Anglo-Americans have their favorite nuclear and virus toys. We have seen ample evidence of their chemical plant explosions as a warm-up to main events.
Our organization has been alerted accordingly...
At 11:00 am ET, the S&P already dumped 2030 and 2020. Getting closer to the magic mark of 2000.
Don't actually think it matters if it happens today, tomorrow, next week or next year. The crash has been underway since late May, the last time the NAZ, S&P and Dow all set new all time highs.
The trash is being taken to the dumpster. Watch terrorism disappear as a major story. The meme for 2016 will be economic security, and Trump will win easily.
In fact, since Putin's endorsement yesterday, some would wager that in the minds of most world leaders, Trump is already the US de facto president. Obummer is so over. Hillary is a non-starter. Change is good; best to be out in front of it. The elections will be all for show, since Trump is self-financed. The money machine(s) is/are grinding to a halt.
Americans are going to see the fruits of what the Fed and the federal government, state governments, and local governments have sewn: TRASH. Loads of TRASH, piled high, heaped upon more loads of TRASH.
Bankruptcies should absolutely soar in 2016. Corporate failures and bond defaults will accelerate. Pensions will default on payments. The US will slowly, painfully, resort to honest money. GOLD AND SILVER WILL SOAR.
A BIG THANK YOU TO JANET and THE FOMC. THANKS, YOU NITWITS.David Stockman really nailed it in his post at Contra Corner Blog.
And, while the economy slowly crumbles, congress (which obviously didn't get the memo that they're fired) conveniently passed a $1.15 trillion omnibus budget bill with the notorious CISA government spying act included.
At the end of the week (the last full week of 2015), the figures for the major averages look pretty stupid.
The Dow was smacked down a whipping 367 points, closing at 17,128.59, the lowest closing price since mid-October. For the week, the DJI was off nearly one percent, down 136.62 points.
The S&P nearly got to the 2000 mark, closing down 36.43, at 2005.46 on the day, but lost just 6.95 for the week. On the NASDAQ, it was a 1.59% loss, down 79.47, at 4973.08. On a weekly basis, it doesn't look bad on the surface, as the NAZ lost a mere 10 points.
However, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all up days for the major indices. Thursday and Friday were down, and down big, erasing all of the early-week gains. From the highs after the FOMC meeting, on Wednesday's close, the losses portend further losses next week. a cleansing of bad assets is well underway, and there are plenty of bad ones in all markets.
Also, the entire treasury curve flattened. The 10-year yield, in particular, dropped 10 basis points from 2:00 pm ET on Wednesday, the moment of the FMOC rate hike announcement, ending the week at 2.20%. If the Fed's master plan was working, shouldn't all bond yields - especially those of shorter durations - have gone up? This is a classic example of the market rejecting the Fed, with more to come, as the Fed thinks it's going to raise rates four more times in 2016, a recipe for economic cataclysm.
Lastly, keep a close eye on the banks (JPM, BAC, C, GS, WFC, MS) as they were all lower by 2-3% on the day.
David Bowie's Changes should suffice as an appropriate song for a truly epic week:
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Stocks Erase Most of Monday's Gains; Dow Closes Down for the Quarter, Year
Well, that escalated quickly...
After booming on Monday, Tuesday's players must have had a case of buyer's regret, selling back 2/3rds of what was bid up just a day earlier, very odd, considering that the last trading day of the month usually ends up positive, due to "window dressing" by fund managers.
That did not happen today. In fact, the markets reversed course right at the open, but really accelerated the selling in the final hour of trading.
Reasons? The Fed? Mountains upon mountains of un-payable debt? Iran? Yellen? Bueller?
Tracking the foibles and fantasies of the Wall Street crowd on a daily basis can be a thankless task, especially under the conditions which are currently reigning over the market. Levels of uncertainty are reaching a fever pitch, between various conditions in Europe (Draghi's failing QE, Ukraine, Turkey tuning totalitarian, Greece), the Middle East (ISIS, Syria, Iran) or the troubles bourn at home in the US, ranging from gay upset in Indiana, crumbing infrastructure, fracking drillers facing bankruptcy, insolvency of college grads with high student debt loads (a catastrophe waiting to happen), chronic underemployment or a host of other nagging circumstances which don't add up to recovery after six years of waiting.
The good news is that the credit spigots are wide open, though many individuals, having been burned by financial institutions or failed investments in the past have been wary to expend much energy spending money they don't have on things they don't need. Credit card companies have been unduly generous of late, the number of 0% interest cards offered having swelled in recent months.
Additionally, auto loans and leases are becoming as easy to obtain as water from a faucet, but default rates are also rising as consumers continue to be tapped out on the road.
Gas prices are low, sings of Spring are everywhere, but somehow, the major indices - at least for today - are not feeling the love.
Something is wrong, but we're not going to wait around to find out what it is. Anyone who hasn't divorced his/herself, at least in some part, from the credit-debt-tax-cycle-slave-system is missing the proverbial boat, which may sail off into the horizon at any time.
Americans, especially older ones, are becoming more detached from the system as the system disappoints and disillusions many who have played and paid and are seeing their paltry incomes stagnate and savings threatened by seven years of a low-interest regime engineered by the Federal Reserve.
And, with markets closed on Friday, who exactly will be able to react to the March non-farm payroll data? At least tomorrow, ADP will issue their March jobs report, which mirrors the NFP report to a degree.
Making matters worse, the Dow Industrials closed the quarter lower than at the start of the year, the S&P and NASDAQ posting fractional gains (less than one percent) for the quarter and the year so far.
So much to ponder and so little time. Tax day is April 15. What fun!
Dow 17,776.12, -200.19 (-1.11%)
S&P 500 2,067.89, -18.35 (-0.88%)
NASDAQ 4,900.88, -46.56 (-0.94%)
After booming on Monday, Tuesday's players must have had a case of buyer's regret, selling back 2/3rds of what was bid up just a day earlier, very odd, considering that the last trading day of the month usually ends up positive, due to "window dressing" by fund managers.
That did not happen today. In fact, the markets reversed course right at the open, but really accelerated the selling in the final hour of trading.
Reasons? The Fed? Mountains upon mountains of un-payable debt? Iran? Yellen? Bueller?
Tracking the foibles and fantasies of the Wall Street crowd on a daily basis can be a thankless task, especially under the conditions which are currently reigning over the market. Levels of uncertainty are reaching a fever pitch, between various conditions in Europe (Draghi's failing QE, Ukraine, Turkey tuning totalitarian, Greece), the Middle East (ISIS, Syria, Iran) or the troubles bourn at home in the US, ranging from gay upset in Indiana, crumbing infrastructure, fracking drillers facing bankruptcy, insolvency of college grads with high student debt loads (a catastrophe waiting to happen), chronic underemployment or a host of other nagging circumstances which don't add up to recovery after six years of waiting.
The good news is that the credit spigots are wide open, though many individuals, having been burned by financial institutions or failed investments in the past have been wary to expend much energy spending money they don't have on things they don't need. Credit card companies have been unduly generous of late, the number of 0% interest cards offered having swelled in recent months.
Additionally, auto loans and leases are becoming as easy to obtain as water from a faucet, but default rates are also rising as consumers continue to be tapped out on the road.
Gas prices are low, sings of Spring are everywhere, but somehow, the major indices - at least for today - are not feeling the love.
Something is wrong, but we're not going to wait around to find out what it is. Anyone who hasn't divorced his/herself, at least in some part, from the credit-debt-tax-cycle-slave-system is missing the proverbial boat, which may sail off into the horizon at any time.
Americans, especially older ones, are becoming more detached from the system as the system disappoints and disillusions many who have played and paid and are seeing their paltry incomes stagnate and savings threatened by seven years of a low-interest regime engineered by the Federal Reserve.
And, with markets closed on Friday, who exactly will be able to react to the March non-farm payroll data? At least tomorrow, ADP will issue their March jobs report, which mirrors the NFP report to a degree.
Making matters worse, the Dow Industrials closed the quarter lower than at the start of the year, the S&P and NASDAQ posting fractional gains (less than one percent) for the quarter and the year so far.
So much to ponder and so little time. Tax day is April 15. What fun!
Dow 17,776.12, -200.19 (-1.11%)
S&P 500 2,067.89, -18.35 (-0.88%)
NASDAQ 4,900.88, -46.56 (-0.94%)
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Ho-Hum, Another Record Close for the S&P, Dow
Well, since last Tuesday (October 22) when we issued our missive that one should be prepared for 100-point gains on the Dow for no reason, we at last have our first winner, and just five trading days hence. To boot, it propelled the Dow Industrials to a new all-time closing high (though we had to check because we didn't hear Maria Bartiroma hooting and hollering about it).
Today's close topped the September 18 close of 15,676.94, at the time, the all-time high. Something else interesting about our call from a week ago, which was implicitly a bullish "BUY STOCKS" advisory: the Dow is up about 213 points since then and has closed down on two days, up three, though the down days amounted only to a total of 55 points, while the gains were 268, or an order of magnitude of roughly five times better for the bulls.
If this isn't a sign of an imminent breakout, then nothing is. Since the debt ceiling and government shutdown masqueraded over all the internal financial problems facing the government and kept QE at a solid $85 billion a month without any slowdown even considered for another six months, there could be no more bullish news.
While the tone here at Money Daily is often flip and at times mistaken for an inherent pessimism, we are in the end nothing other than realists, now having come, somewhat reluctantly and late, to the sad realization that nothing in the equity market matters besides the official narrative from sources like the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes and Bloomberg and the continued loose money policies of the Fed, the latter, naturally, the most important.
Government debt and massive annual deficits ceased to have any meaning with Obama's first term, at the depths of the financial collapse, have since continued to grow, and will continue until they don't. What earth-shattering event it will take to upend the global liquidity spooning through the banks that is happening worldwide is as yet unknown, and the globe may be further from it now than it was just five years ago, the level of rampant money creation having gone from stimulus to necessity in the interim.
In the short term, this means that ordinary things like work, income, taxes and debt have little to no meaning and that getting onto the Federal Reserve's gravy train via the smorgasbord of handouts and/or entitlement programs is a sure path to immediate gratification, though not necessarily riches (though bankers with huge bonuses may beg to differ).
As with all gambling or investing, it's all about knowing who the other players are and what they're holding that is the key to success. With the Fed intent on creating more and more and more debt, ad infinitum (because they truly have no plan for tapering or unwinding their enormous balance sheet), one can either hunker down with real assets like gold or land, or play the paper chase with stocks, bonds, derivatives, options, and the rest.
The paper game has won for the past five years, and, as long as the economy keeps shrinking instead of growing, people, governments and businesses will continue borrowing, spending and defaulting, keeping the Fed busily creating more money in a vicious, non-virtuous cycle.
At some point, the debts will become so large as to be unpayable, and maybe we've already reached that point, so that the Ponzi scheme of unlimited money creation will have to continue and grow, a la Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany.
Fiat currencies have a perfect record, having failed 100% of the time, though this time the fiat is a global phenomenon. There is no currency in the world that is backed by anything but faith, and faith can be shattered any time the central bankers of the world deem necessary.
That, in the end, is the point. They control. We are but slaves on the global plantation, devoid of rights or wealth, with the means to exploit the system in whatever ways we find convenient. It surely won't last forever, and many are absolutely amazed it has lasted this long. Since we are five years into this global liquidity experiment without adequate capital, inflating assets willy-nilly all along the way, the only measures are the forex measures of currencies against the US dollar. When the dollar erodes to a point at which it is no longer maintaining itself as the reserve currency of the planet, the game is up.
Until then, party like its 2013.
Dow 15,680.35, +111.42 (0.72%)
Nasdaq 3,952.34, +12.21 (0.31%)
S&P 500 1,771.95, +9.84 (0.56%)
10-Yr Bond 2.51%, -0.01
NYSE Volume 3,335,803,750
Nasdaq Volume 1,840,704,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3376-2221
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 427-25
WTI crude oil: 98.20, -0.48
Gold: 1,345.50, -6.70
Silver: 22.49, -0.046
Corn: 432.00, +1.25
Today's close topped the September 18 close of 15,676.94, at the time, the all-time high. Something else interesting about our call from a week ago, which was implicitly a bullish "BUY STOCKS" advisory: the Dow is up about 213 points since then and has closed down on two days, up three, though the down days amounted only to a total of 55 points, while the gains were 268, or an order of magnitude of roughly five times better for the bulls.
If this isn't a sign of an imminent breakout, then nothing is. Since the debt ceiling and government shutdown masqueraded over all the internal financial problems facing the government and kept QE at a solid $85 billion a month without any slowdown even considered for another six months, there could be no more bullish news.
While the tone here at Money Daily is often flip and at times mistaken for an inherent pessimism, we are in the end nothing other than realists, now having come, somewhat reluctantly and late, to the sad realization that nothing in the equity market matters besides the official narrative from sources like the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes and Bloomberg and the continued loose money policies of the Fed, the latter, naturally, the most important.
Government debt and massive annual deficits ceased to have any meaning with Obama's first term, at the depths of the financial collapse, have since continued to grow, and will continue until they don't. What earth-shattering event it will take to upend the global liquidity spooning through the banks that is happening worldwide is as yet unknown, and the globe may be further from it now than it was just five years ago, the level of rampant money creation having gone from stimulus to necessity in the interim.
In the short term, this means that ordinary things like work, income, taxes and debt have little to no meaning and that getting onto the Federal Reserve's gravy train via the smorgasbord of handouts and/or entitlement programs is a sure path to immediate gratification, though not necessarily riches (though bankers with huge bonuses may beg to differ).
As with all gambling or investing, it's all about knowing who the other players are and what they're holding that is the key to success. With the Fed intent on creating more and more and more debt, ad infinitum (because they truly have no plan for tapering or unwinding their enormous balance sheet), one can either hunker down with real assets like gold or land, or play the paper chase with stocks, bonds, derivatives, options, and the rest.
The paper game has won for the past five years, and, as long as the economy keeps shrinking instead of growing, people, governments and businesses will continue borrowing, spending and defaulting, keeping the Fed busily creating more money in a vicious, non-virtuous cycle.
At some point, the debts will become so large as to be unpayable, and maybe we've already reached that point, so that the Ponzi scheme of unlimited money creation will have to continue and grow, a la Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany.
Fiat currencies have a perfect record, having failed 100% of the time, though this time the fiat is a global phenomenon. There is no currency in the world that is backed by anything but faith, and faith can be shattered any time the central bankers of the world deem necessary.
That, in the end, is the point. They control. We are but slaves on the global plantation, devoid of rights or wealth, with the means to exploit the system in whatever ways we find convenient. It surely won't last forever, and many are absolutely amazed it has lasted this long. Since we are five years into this global liquidity experiment without adequate capital, inflating assets willy-nilly all along the way, the only measures are the forex measures of currencies against the US dollar. When the dollar erodes to a point at which it is no longer maintaining itself as the reserve currency of the planet, the game is up.
Until then, party like its 2013.
Dow 15,680.35, +111.42 (0.72%)
Nasdaq 3,952.34, +12.21 (0.31%)
S&P 500 1,771.95, +9.84 (0.56%)
10-Yr Bond 2.51%, -0.01
NYSE Volume 3,335,803,750
Nasdaq Volume 1,840,704,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3376-2221
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 427-25
WTI crude oil: 98.20, -0.48
Gold: 1,345.50, -6.70
Silver: 22.49, -0.046
Corn: 432.00, +1.25
Monday, October 7, 2013
Government Shutdown Day 7: Debt Ceiling Begins to Take Precedence; Silver-Corn Trade Plummets
Remember a few weeks ago, when everybody (including Money Daily) was saying that the government wouldn't shut down? And then, when it did, all the pundits and "important" people saying it would only last a day or two?
Well, those predictions were all wrong. Now, what we're hearing is that the shutdown (which isn't really a shutdown, because 83% of the federal government is up and running) will meld into the debt ceiling deadline, which is October 17, but, but, but, some of the same predictors from before are now saying that there's no chance the politicians won't have a deal on the debt ceiling, or that the government won't go into default.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The two sides are as far apart, ideologically, as they were a week ago, two weeks ago, two months ago, plus they have the added kicker of ObamaCare, the federal heath insurance program this is largely a fiasco of proportions only the federal government could accomplish, the main website for signing up only partially-functional, replete with glitches, shutdowns, "waiting rooms," and other assorted disasters. It is undeniably the worst rollout of any federal program in living memory (*some of our editors are pretty old, but don't predate WWII).
Imagine if this government were in charge of planning and executing D-Day, the invasion of Normandy which eventually resulted in ending World War II? Hitler would have won, after having laughed his tail off at our incompetence.
So, think that the US government won't violate its citizens again by exceeding the deadline for raising the debt limit? Think again. They've already done so. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been employing "extraordinary measures" - that's Wahington-speak for raiding the pension funds of federal employees - since mid-August and those funds are running out fast.
If the government doesn't raise the debt limit by October 17, nobody will notice at first, except maybe some of those future federal pensioners, whose trust funds would remain empty and funded only at the behest of congressional appropriation prioritization. In other words, federal employees might end up without pensions - or with greatly reduced pensions - should the US decide that their funding is not a top priority. Suppose there's a war, a natural disaster, or other unforeseen event that would require quick funding by the government? What might happen to those unfunded pensions?
Of course, most people see that condition as far-fetched, but, in reality, it is closer than one would want to believe. The various federal employee trust funds have already been drained, just like Social Security and Medicare, each of which poses an even more serious, existential problem than the current government funding issues.
So, eventually, all of this will be resolved, either by wise political will or abject bungling and failure, which is what we have now. Anyone even remotely believing that our current crop of grade B politicians will do anything more than apply remedial, short-term fixes to long-term problems is kidding themselves and not approaching the situation with the required seriousness.
The US government, because of 100 years of debt servitude to the Federal Reserve, willful neglect of fiscal prudence and outright incompetence has been pushed to the brink of disaster, a disaster which took decades to create, but which can come crashing down in a matter of days, and those days are numbered.
Despite the various voices in the media - especially on CNBC - who publicly appear to be not at all concerned about the government shutdown and debt ceiling issues, are privately fearful that the politicians are either inept and incapable of fixing the mess they've created or have planed the entire charade all along.
We will find out soon enough.
As for the public markets of the financial world, a state of semi-paralysis has taken hold. The usual buy-on-the-dip screamers have been silenced, now merely whispering about possibly buying a few selected stocks, as volume - already at lowered levels - has cratered, the result of relentless stock buybacks over the past four years and a market juiced by the funny money of QE and ZIRP from the Federal Reserve. There's less stock available to purchase, and most of it is overpriced, with average P/E ratios in the 16-17 range, a touch high for an economy embroiled in a severe recession or possible depression.
Since the government shutdown began officially on Tuesday, October 1, the Dow is down 194 points, most of that accounted for just today, and, bear in mind that the Dow kicked out three losing companies and replaced them with high-fliers Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa just two weeks ago. The usually-ebullient NASDAQ is off by just 1.10 points and the S&P has shed a little more than 15 points, again, most of that being gnawed off today.
What's more worrying for stock junkies is that the A-D line took a severe downturn today, with losers outpacing gainers by a 7-2 margin and the gap between stocks making new 52-week highs and lows was the slightest since mid-August.
Market internals are indicating a degree of concern, but the mouthpieces for financial firms aren't openly expressing of it, yet.
For those taking a more esoteric view, consider the relationship of silver to corn. According to no less an authority as Adam Smith (yes, the one who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776), a decline in the real price of corn, expressed in silver (i.e., one could buy more corn for the same amount of silver or could buy the same amount of corn for less silver), is a certain sign of deflation, and that particular metric has been bleeding all summer, as the price of corn has declined while silver - even though its price is substantially manipulated to the downside - has remained stuck in a range of $21-23/ounce.
The reality is that without central banks and their agents stomping down on the price of silver and gold, the deflationists would have an irrefutable argument that the economy of the United States is close to, if not already in, a severe depression.
Dow 14,936.24, -136.34 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 3,770.38, -37.38 (0.98%)
S&P 500 1,676.12, -14.38 (0.85%)
10-Yr Bond 2.63%, -0.02
NYSE Volume 2,676,265,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,452,687,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1321-4288
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 135-67
WTI crude oil: 103.03, -0.81
Gold: 1,325.10, +15.20
Silver: 22.39, +0.634
Corn: 449.25, +6.00
Well, those predictions were all wrong. Now, what we're hearing is that the shutdown (which isn't really a shutdown, because 83% of the federal government is up and running) will meld into the debt ceiling deadline, which is October 17, but, but, but, some of the same predictors from before are now saying that there's no chance the politicians won't have a deal on the debt ceiling, or that the government won't go into default.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The two sides are as far apart, ideologically, as they were a week ago, two weeks ago, two months ago, plus they have the added kicker of ObamaCare, the federal heath insurance program this is largely a fiasco of proportions only the federal government could accomplish, the main website for signing up only partially-functional, replete with glitches, shutdowns, "waiting rooms," and other assorted disasters. It is undeniably the worst rollout of any federal program in living memory (*some of our editors are pretty old, but don't predate WWII).
Imagine if this government were in charge of planning and executing D-Day, the invasion of Normandy which eventually resulted in ending World War II? Hitler would have won, after having laughed his tail off at our incompetence.
So, think that the US government won't violate its citizens again by exceeding the deadline for raising the debt limit? Think again. They've already done so. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been employing "extraordinary measures" - that's Wahington-speak for raiding the pension funds of federal employees - since mid-August and those funds are running out fast.
If the government doesn't raise the debt limit by October 17, nobody will notice at first, except maybe some of those future federal pensioners, whose trust funds would remain empty and funded only at the behest of congressional appropriation prioritization. In other words, federal employees might end up without pensions - or with greatly reduced pensions - should the US decide that their funding is not a top priority. Suppose there's a war, a natural disaster, or other unforeseen event that would require quick funding by the government? What might happen to those unfunded pensions?
Of course, most people see that condition as far-fetched, but, in reality, it is closer than one would want to believe. The various federal employee trust funds have already been drained, just like Social Security and Medicare, each of which poses an even more serious, existential problem than the current government funding issues.
So, eventually, all of this will be resolved, either by wise political will or abject bungling and failure, which is what we have now. Anyone even remotely believing that our current crop of grade B politicians will do anything more than apply remedial, short-term fixes to long-term problems is kidding themselves and not approaching the situation with the required seriousness.
The US government, because of 100 years of debt servitude to the Federal Reserve, willful neglect of fiscal prudence and outright incompetence has been pushed to the brink of disaster, a disaster which took decades to create, but which can come crashing down in a matter of days, and those days are numbered.
Despite the various voices in the media - especially on CNBC - who publicly appear to be not at all concerned about the government shutdown and debt ceiling issues, are privately fearful that the politicians are either inept and incapable of fixing the mess they've created or have planed the entire charade all along.
We will find out soon enough.
As for the public markets of the financial world, a state of semi-paralysis has taken hold. The usual buy-on-the-dip screamers have been silenced, now merely whispering about possibly buying a few selected stocks, as volume - already at lowered levels - has cratered, the result of relentless stock buybacks over the past four years and a market juiced by the funny money of QE and ZIRP from the Federal Reserve. There's less stock available to purchase, and most of it is overpriced, with average P/E ratios in the 16-17 range, a touch high for an economy embroiled in a severe recession or possible depression.
Since the government shutdown began officially on Tuesday, October 1, the Dow is down 194 points, most of that accounted for just today, and, bear in mind that the Dow kicked out three losing companies and replaced them with high-fliers Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa just two weeks ago. The usually-ebullient NASDAQ is off by just 1.10 points and the S&P has shed a little more than 15 points, again, most of that being gnawed off today.
What's more worrying for stock junkies is that the A-D line took a severe downturn today, with losers outpacing gainers by a 7-2 margin and the gap between stocks making new 52-week highs and lows was the slightest since mid-August.
Market internals are indicating a degree of concern, but the mouthpieces for financial firms aren't openly expressing of it, yet.
For those taking a more esoteric view, consider the relationship of silver to corn. According to no less an authority as Adam Smith (yes, the one who wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776), a decline in the real price of corn, expressed in silver (i.e., one could buy more corn for the same amount of silver or could buy the same amount of corn for less silver), is a certain sign of deflation, and that particular metric has been bleeding all summer, as the price of corn has declined while silver - even though its price is substantially manipulated to the downside - has remained stuck in a range of $21-23/ounce.
The reality is that without central banks and their agents stomping down on the price of silver and gold, the deflationists would have an irrefutable argument that the economy of the United States is close to, if not already in, a severe depression.
Dow 14,936.24, -136.34 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 3,770.38, -37.38 (0.98%)
S&P 500 1,676.12, -14.38 (0.85%)
10-Yr Bond 2.63%, -0.02
NYSE Volume 2,676,265,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,452,687,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1321-4288
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 135-67
WTI crude oil: 103.03, -0.81
Gold: 1,325.10, +15.20
Silver: 22.39, +0.634
Corn: 449.25, +6.00
Friday, March 9, 2012
Greece OK for Now; NFP Prints at 233K; Trading Volume Pathetic
Two major news events largely determined the tenor of trade on US markets Friday.
The Greek restructuring plan went as the global banking cartel liked, with non-governmental lenders taking a 53.5% haircut on bad Greek bonds, while the troika's funding facilities remained intact.
Triggering the collective action clauses and a credit "event" according to the ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) in which affected parties will settle up on March 19. With just a little over $3 billion in Credit Default Swaps affected in the deal, the effect is little more than a rounding error in the international scheme of things, or roughly the amount Bank of America writes off in a typical quarter.
Prior to the open, the BLS offered another positive reading on unemployment, with the official rate staying unchanged at 8.3%, as the US economy created 233K jobs during February, strongly aided by a raft of temporary hires and the usual fudging by the Labor Department.
Like it or not, the impression is that the US continues to emerge from the depths of the Great Recession, as the calendar turned three years old on the current bull market in equities.
For the week, the major indices were little changed, and, despite all the hoopla, trading volume continued to be incredibly weak, especially on Friday, one of the lowest-volume days of the year, which has seen nothing but poor volume.
Market participants appear to be smug over the developments in Greece and Europe, which continues to avert crises on a regular basis, even though Greece is now in a depression, their latest quarter GDP showing a 7.5% decline.
But, hey, it's the weekend and college basketball is heading into its wild March Madness phase, so relax and enjoy seems to be the operative mindset, though commodity prices, especially in oil, gold and silver, tell a different story.
Dow 12,922.02, +14.08 (0.11%)
NASDAQ 2,988.34, +17.92 (0.60%)
S&P 500 1,370.87, +4.96 (0.36%)
NYSE Composite 8,102.13, +19.75 (0.24%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,553,531,125
NYSE Volume 3,527,470,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3837-1653
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 278-26
WTI crude oil: 107.38, +0.80
Gold: 1,711.50, +12.80
Silver: 34.21, +0.38
The Greek restructuring plan went as the global banking cartel liked, with non-governmental lenders taking a 53.5% haircut on bad Greek bonds, while the troika's funding facilities remained intact.
Triggering the collective action clauses and a credit "event" according to the ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) in which affected parties will settle up on March 19. With just a little over $3 billion in Credit Default Swaps affected in the deal, the effect is little more than a rounding error in the international scheme of things, or roughly the amount Bank of America writes off in a typical quarter.
Prior to the open, the BLS offered another positive reading on unemployment, with the official rate staying unchanged at 8.3%, as the US economy created 233K jobs during February, strongly aided by a raft of temporary hires and the usual fudging by the Labor Department.
Like it or not, the impression is that the US continues to emerge from the depths of the Great Recession, as the calendar turned three years old on the current bull market in equities.
For the week, the major indices were little changed, and, despite all the hoopla, trading volume continued to be incredibly weak, especially on Friday, one of the lowest-volume days of the year, which has seen nothing but poor volume.
Market participants appear to be smug over the developments in Greece and Europe, which continues to avert crises on a regular basis, even though Greece is now in a depression, their latest quarter GDP showing a 7.5% decline.
But, hey, it's the weekend and college basketball is heading into its wild March Madness phase, so relax and enjoy seems to be the operative mindset, though commodity prices, especially in oil, gold and silver, tell a different story.
Dow 12,922.02, +14.08 (0.11%)
NASDAQ 2,988.34, +17.92 (0.60%)
S&P 500 1,370.87, +4.96 (0.36%)
NYSE Composite 8,102.13, +19.75 (0.24%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,553,531,125
NYSE Volume 3,527,470,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3837-1653
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 278-26
WTI crude oil: 107.38, +0.80
Gold: 1,711.50, +12.80
Silver: 34.21, +0.38
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Greece Will Not Default... This Week, Maybe Next
The Markets
All you need to know about today's "out of the blue" rally.
According to a Bloomberg report:
...and with that, it was off to the races for the algo-spitting machines which double for a perfectly-functioning market.
Seriously, there was nothing other than that, oh, well, both PPI and retail sales figures were unchanged from the prior month, so nothing to see, there, really, move along. Something (not sure what) spooked the machines at about 3:30, just after the major indices hit their highs of the day and were careening toward an even bigger ramp up, but whatever it was, it took 140 points off the Dow and made today's extraordinary rally look... ordinary.
So, if reading the Wall Street tea leaves correctly, all that has to happen is for Greece not to default and we'll see Dow 20,000 in a matter of months. That appears to be the general herd mentality.
Just for a reference point, take a look at how far below the April highs the S&P, NASDAQ and Dow are and then rethink that strategy of buying everything that has momentum, like Netflix or Apple or maybe LuluLemon. Here's a hint: the Dow closed at 12810.54 on April 29, the high for the year, and, since we're checking, the close on Decembre 31, 2010 was 11557.51, so we're down for the year and about 1500 points off the high.
So, when Greece does default - because they surely will at some point - whether it be orderly or not, what will stocks be worth then?
Dow 11,246.73, +140.88 (1.27%)
NASDAQ 2,572.55, +40.40 (1.60%)
S&P 500 1,188.68, +15.81 (1.35%)
NYSE Composite 7,199.12, +89.17 (1.25%)
NASDAQ Volume 2,300,166,500
NYSE Volume 4,961,128,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4804-1800
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 52-110
WTI crude oil futures: 88.91, -1.30
Gold: 1819.70, -14.50
Silver: 40.69, -0.44
All you need to know about today's "out of the blue" rally.
According to a Bloomberg report:
"Greece is an integral part of the euro area and recent decisions to meet budget targets will help shield the economy," the Greek government said in a statement today following a call between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
...and with that, it was off to the races for the algo-spitting machines which double for a perfectly-functioning market.
Seriously, there was nothing other than that, oh, well, both PPI and retail sales figures were unchanged from the prior month, so nothing to see, there, really, move along. Something (not sure what) spooked the machines at about 3:30, just after the major indices hit their highs of the day and were careening toward an even bigger ramp up, but whatever it was, it took 140 points off the Dow and made today's extraordinary rally look... ordinary.
So, if reading the Wall Street tea leaves correctly, all that has to happen is for Greece not to default and we'll see Dow 20,000 in a matter of months. That appears to be the general herd mentality.
Just for a reference point, take a look at how far below the April highs the S&P, NASDAQ and Dow are and then rethink that strategy of buying everything that has momentum, like Netflix or Apple or maybe LuluLemon. Here's a hint: the Dow closed at 12810.54 on April 29, the high for the year, and, since we're checking, the close on Decembre 31, 2010 was 11557.51, so we're down for the year and about 1500 points off the high.
So, when Greece does default - because they surely will at some point - whether it be orderly or not, what will stocks be worth then?
Dow 11,246.73, +140.88 (1.27%)
NASDAQ 2,572.55, +40.40 (1.60%)
S&P 500 1,188.68, +15.81 (1.35%)
NYSE Composite 7,199.12, +89.17 (1.25%)
NASDAQ Volume 2,300,166,500
NYSE Volume 4,961,128,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4804-1800
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 52-110
WTI crude oil futures: 88.91, -1.30
Gold: 1819.70, -14.50
Silver: 40.69, -0.44
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