Greece at the end of the Road/Euro gold at record levels/Two Japanese reactors melt down

Harvey Organ, Monday , May 23, 2011

Greece at the end of the Road/Euro gold at record levels/Two Japanese reactors melt down

 

Well That Was Quick: Goldman Goes Long Crude, Raises 12 Month Brent Forecast To $130/bbl 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 19:32 -0400

Anyone remember that rapid succession of brent downgrades by Goldman last month which did nothing until the CME and the administration launched an all out war on speculators a relentless barage of crude margin hikes? Well, uber momo Goldman sure doesn't. Just out from David Greely: "While near-term downside risk remains as the oil market negotiates the slowdown in the pace of world economic growth, we believe that the market will continue to tighten to critical levels by 2012, pushing oil prices substantially higher to restrain demand. Events in the Middle East and North Africa are having a persistent impact, which leads us to increase our oil price targets We expect that the ongoing loss of Libyan production and disappointing non-OPEC production will continue to tighten the oil market to critically tight levels in early 2012, with rising industry cost pressures likely to be felt this year. We are now embedding in our forecasts that Libyan production losses will lead to the effective exhaustion of OPEC spare capacity by early 2012. Consequently, we are raising our Brent crude oil price forecast to $115/bbl, $120/bbl, and $130/bbl on a 3, 6, and 12 month horizon." Welcome back volatility. CME petroleum product margin reduction in 5...4...3...

Co-Founder Of Reaganomics, Paul Craig Roberts, "There Is Probably More Democracy In China Than There Is In The West" 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 19:29 -0400

Paul Craig Roberts: "The west prides itself that it is the standard for the world, that it is a democracy. But nowhere do you see democratic outcomes: not in Greece, not in Ireland, not in the UK, not here, the outcomes are always to punish the innocent and reward the guilty. And that's what the Greeks are in the streets, protesting. We see this all over the west. There is no democracy, there are oligarchies, some of these smaller European countries are not even run by their own governments, they are run by Wall Street... There is probably more democracy in China than there is in the west. Revolution is the only answer... We are confronted with a curious situation. Throughout the west we think we have democracy, we hold ourselves up high, we demonize China, we talk about the mafia state of Russia, we talk about the Arabs and so on, but where is the democracy here?"

The Market Is Like A Child In Search Of Santa Claus 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 18:48 -0400

We have all heard the saying that the market is like a bug in search of a windshield. Today, courtesy of Peter Tchir we proposed another one: the market is like a child in search of a Santa Claus (and Bernanke will likely be the jolly fat man).To clarify: "Tthe markets are waiting for the ECB or FED or both, or Santa Claus, to announce some new program to stop this horrific decline of a couple percent in the market. Smart money is betting that the ECB, FED, or some other government agency will step up and give us a reason to rally. The data shows that the economy is taking a leg lower. Very few of the 'macro' problems have been fixed. Japan is still spewing radiation. MENA, with the possible exception of Egypt is worse than ever. Killing Osama eliminated one man, only to expose the potential danger from a nation, that we half considered allies while never trusting them or treating them well. The PIGS are back at the trough with their unending appetite for cheaper debt. We are using accounting tricks to keep exactly 25 million under our debt ceiling until at least August 2nd (or whatever date that Tim deems appropriate). Against the logic that things are getting worse and nothing has worked, is the Pavlovian response that governments bailout the markets and it is stupid to bet against a fresh round of stupid intervention. On data alone, the market would be lower, but we are so conditioned to expecting support at every crisis that no one is willing to miss the next rally. We all know St. Nicholas comes on December 25th, and we all know Trichet, Ben, and crew come every time the Dow drops 3%."

David Stockman: "Both Parties And The White House Are Advocating A US Default" 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 18:17 -0400

Last week David Stockman was on Tom Keene, making the usual media rounds (sometimes we marvel at his patience and endurance), as one of the few voices of fiscal prudence available to TV producers who seek to hold a balanced debate on the topic of US insolvency. Today, Reagan's budget director was again on Bloomberg TV explaining the reality of the situation to Matt Miller for the nth time (by now even a 2 year old will understand the cul-de-sac facing the US), although presenting a new spin on the situation, namely that we have gotten to a point where both parties are implicitly pushing for a US default, while though their inability to reach a political compromise, blaming each other for this inevitable outcome. "The real problem is the de facto policy of both parties is default. When the Republicans say no tax increases, they're saying we want the U.S. government to default. Because there isn't enough political will in this country to solve the problem even halfway on spending cuts. When the Democrats say you can't touch Social Security, when you have Obama sponsoring a war budget for defense that is even bigger than Bush, then I say the policy of the White House is default as well...That is the question that really needs to be understood better and appraised by the bond market. Both parties are advocating default even as they point the finger at each other."

DSK To Maid: "No, baby. Don’t worry....Don't You Know Who I Am" 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 17:38 -040

The DSK soap opera continues. The latest revelations about the alleged rape that occurred last Saturday at the Sofitel now detail the specific language attemptedly used by the former IMF head, in what is becoming apparent was nothing more than a case of entitlement gone horribly wrong, and unchecked, thus encouraged, for many years. Per Fox news: "Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a New York hotel maid, “Don’t you know who I am! Don’t you know who I am?” while pinning her down during the alleged sexual assault, law enforcement sources close to the investigation told FoxNews.com. The 32-year-old African immigrant repeatedly told her alleged attacker, “Please, please stop. No!” Strauss-Kahn allegedly responded: “No, baby. Don’t worry, you’re not going to lose your job. Please, baby, don’t worry,” Strauss-Kahn responded, according to investigators. “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know who I am?." As usual, with most opinions on the matter appear to have been already determined well in advance of the actual jury trial, the one reasonable assumption is to take everything with a grain of salt.

Weekly Insider Selling To Buying Ratio: 60x

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/23/2011 17:17 -0400

Little can be added to the ongoing discussion of insider selling (and occasionally, buying): while last week the ratio of selling to buying was over 350x, Bloomberg reports that the just ended week saw the ratio drop to the still massive 60x, primarily courtesy of the Titanium Metals Buyer appearing on the scene again, whose $7.6 million purchase accounted for 61% of total purchases of $12.4 million, spread among 14 transactions. The selling, meanwhile, barely abated, and while it was not last week's nearly record $1 billion, insiders did sell just about $750 million worth of stock in 130 transactions. The top 5 sales were in Microsoft, where $377 million was sold, either before or after the company's earnings. MSFT was followed by 3M, Pepsi, Estee Lauder and Praxair. All in all, total selling-to-buying was roughly 2 times the threshold of the bearish barrier, which however has been the case for the bulk of the past two years.