If You Have Bonds, Sell Them.

posted by Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 3 hours ago

"If any of you have bonds, I would urge you to go home and sell them. If any of you are bond portfolio managers, I would get another job:if I were you, I would think about becoming a farmer." - *in BigGove...

 

 

 

 

Treasury Prepares To Plunder Another $45 Billion From Retirement Funds As It Issues $110 Billion More Debt Next Week 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 12:38 -0400

Now that it has finally been made clear that in order to accommodate the debt ceiling by adding marketable debt, the Treasury has no choice but to literally plunder retirement accounts, we now know that in order to fit in the just announced $110 billion in new bond issuance over the next week, Tim Geithner will have to reduce US retirement funding (the bulk of which, the Social Security Trust Fund already lost $1.1 trillion in the past year) by at least $45 billion. That is the net result of $60 billion in net new cash and $15 billion in bill paydowns which will settle between May 19 and May 31. What remains to be seen is just how much cash the Treasury will bleed as it seeks a parallel track of under-rolling maturing Bills, in order to keep its previously disclosed intentions of issuing just $142 billion between April and June. Keep in mind almost two thirds of this period has passed, which means that somehow the Treasury has to not only stop but in fact reverse its net issuance. We are not sure how this will actually happen.

LNKD Bubble Update: $100 Passed... Make That $107.... $108...$110....$115...$117...$122...$115...$112 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 11:45 -0400

It seems investors are doing their best to recreate the entire 1998-2000 bubble in the span of one trading day. After opening at $83, LNKD has just passed $100. The question is will the bubble pop today or take a few more trading days? And yes, at current count the P/E is over  1,200x.
11:40 EDT: The stock just moved from $100 to $107......
11:43 EDT: $108....
11:45 EDT: $110...
11:46 EDT: $115
11:47 EDT: $118
We will chart it as soon at it hits $200 in a few minutes.

Bring Out QE3: Philly Fed Plummets: Prints At 3.9 On Expectations Of 20 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 10:19 -0400

The Philly Fed, which was expected to rise from the April number of 18.5 to 20, instead collapsed to 3.9! This compares to the March level of over 43. So much for the "Economic Recovery"^TM. The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 18.5 in April to 3.9, its lowest reading since last October (see Chart) and the 3rd largest 2 month drop on record. The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, showed a similar slowing: The index fell 13 points while the shipments index declined 23 points; both remained positive, however, suggesting slight growth last month. For the first time in eight months, firms reported that unfilled orders and delivery times were falling—both indexes were slightly negative this month." And even thought the prices paid dropped from 57.1 to 48.3, this was little solace for survey respondents: "A majority of firms continued to cite input price pressures and a sizable share of firms reported higher prices for their own manufactured goods again this month." Time for Tim Geithner's 2011 NYT OpEd edition, titled appropriately, "Welcome to the Economic Stagflation." And, oh yes, bring on the QE3.

Sorry, You Can't Blame The Philly Fed's Collapse On Japan; And Goldman's Take Of Today's Trifecta Of Bad News 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 10:40 -0400

Already some of those who said that the Japanese disaster would lead to a surge in global GDP (since disproven) are trying to validate that 3rd worst 2 months drop in the Philly Fed in history (43.4 in march, 3.9 in May) can be attributed to, you guessed it, Japan. Sorry. You can't. Goldman explains why: "We have no information on how much of the drop in the Philly survey over the past two months could have been related to supply chain issues associated with the Japanese earthquake, but this is not a region with an especially high concentration of vehicle manufacturing." So while other Fed districts that do have a substantial manufacturing exposure will likely collapse even more, but at least have a validation for their drop, the Philly Fed is indicative of nothing more or less than wholesale economic contraction, absent the "one-time" impact from Japan. 

 

 

 

 

 

Guggenheim's Scott Minerd Discusses QE3... And QE4.... And QE5 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 09:17 -0400

And so another frequently cited by Zero Hedge strategist, Guggenheim's Scott Minerd, steps up to the plate and makes the case that all those expecting an end to quantitative easing may well end up being disappointed (much to the joy of government darling - stocks; and more importantly the government's black horse - commodities). Minerd's speculation is based on what is glaringly obvious: the forced take down of commodity prices does nothing but provide the Chairman with the green light he so needs in order to proceed with further easing: "The case for extended low rates and possibly even QE3 grows stronger given the recent sharp declines in agriculture and energy prices. If price pressures from food and energy prove transitory, as Bernanke predicts, then inflationary expectations are likely to ease by the end of the year. A decline in inflation would certainly make the risk/reward trade-off for QE3 more attractive to the Fed chairman." Basically, the paradoxical outcome is that the lower the most "hated" commodities: crude, gold, silver drop, the higher the probability the Fed takes the step that sends them surging to new record levels. Elsewhere, Minerd once again follows our thinking: the econom is the primary catalyst for further easing (especially in light of fiscal easing being impossible under the current political breakdown): "What would be Mr Bernanke’s motivation to endure the political fallout of QE3? The same motivation for QE1 and QE2: namely, stimulating growth to help employment recover. If economic growth stalls, this will become the chairman’s primary motivation. Looking ahead, the expiry of tax cuts in 2011 and a government deficit reduction programme (likely to take effect as early as 2012) will present real headwinds to growth." Lastly, doing a comp to that endless QE basket case demonstrates that at least from the Fed's perspective, the US has much more capacity for monetization as a percentage of GDP, to go on with LSAP for much, much longer: "The balance sheet of the Bank of Japan equals about 30 per cent of Japanese GDP. If the Fed were to hold as many assets on a relative basis, it could conduct a further $1,800bn worth of quantitative easing. That would amount to QE3, QE4 and QE5 (at the same size as QE2) just to get to where Japan is today. If US economic growth stalls, Mr Bernanke, an expert in all things deflationary, could view Japan as an imperfect but relevant precedent for further quantitative easing." And there you have it.

Initial Claims Print At 409K, Down From Upward Revised 438K, Below Expectations Of 420K 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 08:41 -0400

Another week, another 400+ jobless print, another prior upward revision: the DOL does it like clockwork. In the week ended May 14, initial jobless claims were filed by 409,000 people (to be revised to at least 412,000 next week), which while is a drop from last week's upward revised 438,000 (originally 434,000), better than consensus, yet with the number being well above 400,000, it means that the economy continues to be a net loser of jobs. Lastly, while irrelevant, the 4 week moving average printed at 439,000, highest since November, due to that outsized print from two weeks ago. This number will rise over the next week as well. Continuing claims dropped slightly from an upward (of course) revised 3,792K (first 3,756K) to 3,711K, beating expectations of 3,278K. Looking at the 99 week cliff, it appears an equilibrium has been reached as 49K lost Extended Benefits in the week ended April 30, offset by 53K people added to EUCs. 

 

 

 

 

 

China Central Bank Lays It Down: "New IMF Leadership Should Reflect New World Order" 

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/19/2011 08:26 -0400

There's a funny thing about the New World Order: it eventually gets too big and bites the hand the feeds it. Enter the PBoC: "The new IMF leadership needs to reflect changes in the world economic order and be more representative of emerging market economies, Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Thursday in his first public comments since the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. "The senior management team of the IMF should better reflect changes in world economic patterns and should be more representative of emerging market economies." Translation - no more European of American cronies. It is also probably safe to say that Lagarde's odds of pulling the white smoke out of the conclave bag have just plunged. It is also safe to say that with China now unofficially Europe's backstopper (and there were those wondering why China is buying all those Spanish and Portuguese bonds), what China wants, China gets.