Greek Retailers Stocking Up On Shutters In Case Of Riots, Alcohol Inventories Plunge
While
America may be experiencing the occasional zombie apocalypse breakout,
probably due to the absence of easily available edible iPads, Greek
retailers are preparing for the retail version. "British electrical
retailer Dixons has spent the last few weeks stockpiling security
shutters to protect its nearly 100 stores across Greece in case of
riot. The planning, says Dixons chief Sebastian James, may look
alarmist but it's good to be prepared." Why Dixons? "Europe's No 2
electrical retailer Dixons owns Greece's market leading but loss-making
Kotsovolos chain, which has a 25-percent market share selling iPads and
laptops as well as washing machines, televisions and air conditioning
units." There we go: Bill Dudley's edible iPads. The question is what
happens when this easily digestable piece of plastic is thoroughly
looted after local rioters dispense with the "shutters" supposedly
protecting their wares. What will be on the menu next? Sadly not booze:
"Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group and the name behind Johnnie
Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka, has reacted by slashing its marketing
spend in Greece, reducing stock levels and pulling cash quickly
out of the country after it saw its Greek sales halve in the last
three years to less than 100 million pounds." So: no food, no booze, no cheap 99 cent iPad aps: this is the way the world's most miserable monetary experiment ends.Facebook Slide Continues Even As US Market Closed
The
market may be closed but that does not mean long, well,
short-suffering FadeBoon longs get a respite: courtesy of FB's German
tracking stock, it appears that the stock traded down another 1.7%
during today's trading session. This shift (adjusted for the EURUSD) implies a 2.7% drop from Friday's USD day-session close
and extends the after-hours rout that occurred. And in even worse news
for FB bulls, rumor has it Europe may open tomorrow again.My Broker Is EF Hutton, And EF Hutton Says...
When Harry Schultz talks, people listen (see video). Schutlz's intel
suggests the inevitability of liquidity to infinity to retain control.
While it may take weeks/months to unfold, it could be just enough time for
the invisible hand to finish its operation to regain control in gold,
silver, equities, and forex markets. For instance, when silver's spreading
activity (SA) and diffusion...
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content, and more! ]]
If Greece Leaves, Markets Will Rally
I think the market would be relieved if finally Greece exited the euro.
There would be some clarity. Although it wouldn’t be good for banks and
insurance stocks in general I think markets are oversold and with an exit
markets would rally. - *in CNBC*
Related: SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Indx
ETF (EEM)
*Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions
of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*
Summer of Frustration Ahead?
The invisible hand uses the easy headline explanations as cover for the
true intentions. This technique of misdirection works because few
investors can see past the complexity that hides its actions. The actions
of the invisible hand, more often than not, represent the tail that wags
the dog through the use of leverage. The invisible hand been leaning
against higher bond prices...
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content, and more! ]]
If You're Smart, Put Your Money Into Anything Related To Agriculture
Nobody wants to farm any more. Yet there are more people than even now.
Seven billion of us....Fewer and fewer people are producing more and more
food for more and more of us. That's only going to get worse over the next
20 or 30 years. So if you're smart, put your money into anything related to
agriculture. - *in Farmland Investment*
*
*
*Related: Potash (POT), Mosaic (MOS), John Deere (DE)*
*Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful
international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The New
York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Jou... more »
CNBC Video: Gloom & Doom Coming
Latest video interview, CNBC.
*
*
*Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions
of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*
A Global Recession Is Coming
I think we could have a global recession either in Q4 or early 2013. - *in MoneyControl * * * Related: SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY) *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*
Greece Jumps Most In 8 Months As Rest Of Peripheral Europe Slumps
The
Greek equity index jumped almost 7% today, its biggest rise in 8
months, on the back of absolutely no 'real' change whatsoever (Greek
opinion poll results change by the second and the stability fund
payments were already known) and indeed a worsening situation across
most of the rest of Europe (ex-Germany) - with chatter of growing bank
runs and Bankia's epic demise. Of course, one needs to bear in mind the
ASE pop is off 22-year lows before sounding that all-clear here as Bund
yields collapse to all-time record lows and Spanish yields (and spreads) to Euro-era record wides
(and almost all-time record highs). Broad European equities and credit
gapped up at the open (as did EURUSD) but the rest of the day was spent
drifting inexorably back to lows as the Euro-Stoxx ended down 0.5% (with Spain - at 9 year lows - and Italy underperforming
notably also - with banks halted on and off all day). Spain and Italy
saw sovereign spreads leaking (16bps and 8bps respectively) as the
former broke 450bps over AAA for the first time (and 510bps over Bunds).
Corporate and financial credit spreads leaked back wider
from the positive start to the day and ended still modestly tighter on
the day - though financials notably underperformed non-financials.
EUR-USD basis swaps improved modestly but EURUSD round-tripped
from a decent open to Thursday/Friday highs over 1.26 and back down
towards Friday's close - with the USD -0.2% from Friday's close - as AUD
strength helped exaggerate the move mildly. Commodities are following
USD's lead and as it strengthens into the European close, they are
losing early gains (Copper/Oil up around 0.6%, Gold Unch, Silver down 0.5%). USD and Oil weakness into the European close were the most notable micro-trends.As One Of UK's Biggest Refineries Prepares For Shutdown, Drivers Concerned About Gas Price Spike
Back in 2007, BP sold its Coryton refinery, one of the largest in the UK, to Swiss refiner PetroPlus for $1.4 billion. Fast forward 5 years later where we find that shortly after PetroPlus filed for bankruptcy, and was forced to proceed with a firesale of its assets, the European end demand market is so abysmal that a buyer could not be found for even a 30% off firesale. As Reuters reports, following a failure to sell Coryton for the low, low, price of $1 billion, the refinery, in dire need of CapEx investments, will be shutting down, and taking about 10% of UK refining capacity with it. "Insolvent Swiss refiner Petroplus' Coryton refinery in the UK is likely to close after its administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday that it had failed to find a buyer that could pay $1 billion for the site. Petroplus filed for insolvency in December after it could not meet its debt obligations. "The current economic environment, the challenge of raising $1 billion (£625 million) of funding for the refinery, including the $150 million capital expenditure 'turnaround' project ultimately proved prohibitive in the face of an over supplied European refinery market for both buyers and investors." The Coryton refinery has a capacity to process about 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day and additional 65,000 barrels per day of feedstock. Richard Howitt, the local member of the European Parliament said: "It's a bitter blow for the workforce...I think the process was flawed and that the government should have stepped in." It will be an even more bitter blow to the island nation's motorists who will suddenly find themselves facing with other spiking prices, a shortage of gasoline, or some combination of both.
The National Attack Authorization Act?
We all know that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed by President Obama on New Year’s Eve contained a now-struck-down provision to authorise the indefinite detention of American citizens on US soil. But did you know that the NDAA also paves the way for war with Iran? From Dennis Kucinich:Section (6) rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran. Section (7) urges the President to reaffirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability and opposition to any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to Iranian enrichment. This language represents a significant shift in U.S. policy and would guarantee that talks with Iran, currently scheduled for May 23, would fail. Current U.S. policy is that Iran cannot acquire nuclear weapons. Instead, H. Res. 568 draws the “redline” for military action at Iran achieving a nuclear weapons “capability,” a nebulous and undefined term that could include a civilian nuclear program. Indeed, it is likely that a negotiated deal to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and to prevent war would provide for Iranian enrichment for peaceful purposes under the framework of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty with strict safeguards and inspections. This language makes such a negotiated solution impossible. At the same time, the language lowers the threshold for attacking Iran. Countries with nuclear weapons “capability” could include many other countries like Japan or Brazil. It is an unrealistic threshold.The notion of a “nuclear weapons capability” seems like a dangerously low standard. Let us not forget that Mossad, the CIA and the IAEA agree that Iran does not have a bomb, is not building one, has no plans to build one.
The Financial Reform: A Mayan Prophecy?
While the Spanish government feverishly attempts to wrap up the country’s euphemistic financial system reform, the ever-expanding black holes, multiple balance-sheets restructuring with infinite amounts of public funds and reiterated calls for the need to further consolidate financial institutions seem to be setting up the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy of Mayan proportions. Hopefully, this time around, we can learn from the not-so-ancient Mesoamericans’ hard-learnt lessons of the dangers implied in the state breaking the rules of free market capitalism when bailing out institutions and interest groups at the taxpayers’ expense. If we don’t, at least the endgame should not take anyone by surprise.EUR Shorts Hit New Record
Last week, when we reported on the then brand new record number of EUR non-commercial short contracts as reported by the CFTC, we said:
"with such a massive surge in shorts in a short period of time, this
means that the likelihood of major short squeezes is substantial on even
the most innocuous of news, such as a G8 summit which promises much
but delivers nothing, or China once again saying it will gladly focus
on growth (as opposed to what? non-growth?), or some DieBold-inspired leadership change in the Greek pro/anti-bailout polls. Our
advice to FX trading readers: be very careful with EURUSD stops: it is
very likely that in their pursuit of short covering squeezes, (BIS)
algos will take the pair substantially into the offer-side stop limit
buffer just to force short hands out, which in turn may initiate
short-term covering ramps." As of last Friday, the record number of net
short contracts (-173.9K), just rose to a new all time high of -195.4K.
The result: something as worthless and meaningless as uber-volatile
Greek political polls (which had Syriza with a 4 point lead last Friday,
which somehow dissolved and is now in second place about 24 hours
later), was enough to send the EUR higher nearly by 100 pips overnight.
Obviously, with ever more record shorts in the currency, expect the
desperate continent to come up with nothing but more flashing red
headlines in attempts to spook weak hands and incite even more very transitory short covering.Start Of The Zombie Apocalypse Caught On Tape
For
those who missed it, the weekend's most morbid, and harbingery, story
was the official launch of the zombie apocalypse. Here it is caught on
tape.Spain-AAA Spread Just Broke 450 bps: LCH Margin Hike Alert
Why is 450 bps important? That is the threshold (as explained before here and here) beyond which LCH goes all medieval on one's bond holdings.The True Greek Debt/GDP Ratio Of 421.7%
With all of the talk of Greece leaving the Eurozone and forfeiting the Euro as its currency; what if it does not? That, my friends, is now the question. The current estimation of Greece’s GDP is $308.3 billion. All of the debt of Greece, direct, derivatives and guaranteed is $1.3 trillion giving the country an actual debt to GDP ratio of 421.67%. You may recall all of the talk, all of the pandering words spit out by the IMF and the European Union that the new austerity measures would take the Greek debt to 120%; all nonsensical and a nonfactual expression of a very fantastic and fairy tale imagination. If someone has actually stepped through the looking glass I suspect it is Christine Lagarde. Perhaps she is Alice’s granddaughter? In my estimation she must have eaten some of the cake because her reputation has dwindled as she and Greece fell down the rabbit’s hole.Gold Bar Demand in China Surged 51% to 213.9 Tons In 2011
A reminder of the sharp increase in demand for gold and silver, particularly store of wealth demand, in recent years was seen in the figures released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association in Shanghai today. China’s gold consumption rose 33% to 761 tons in 2011 and China’s silver consumption rose 6.8% to 6,088 tons last year. China’s gold consumption rose 190 metric tons last year to 761 tons, Wang Shengbin, China Gold Association Vice Chairman, said in a speech in Shanghai as reported by Bloomberg. China’s jewelry consumption jumped 28 % to 456.7 tons last year, gold bar consumption surged 51% to 213.9 tons and gold coin consumption gained 25% to 20.8 tons, Wang said. China’s silver consumption, including industrial use, jewelry and coins, rose 6.8% to 6,088 metric tons last year, the vice chairman said. The amount shows a surplus given China’s output of 12,348 tons last year, which gained 6.3%, Wang said.
Frontrunning: May 28
- Merkel Prepares to Strike Back Against Hollande (Spiegel)
- China to subsidise vehicle buyers in rural areas (Reuters) - what could possibly go wrong
- Bankia’s Writedowns Cast Doubts on Spain’s Bank Estimates (Bloomberg) - unpossible, they never lie
- Shares in Spain's Bankia plunge on bailout plan (AP) - oh so that's what happens when a bank is bailed out.
- SNB’s Jordan Says Capital Controls Among Possible Moves (Bloomberg)
- Greeks Furious Over Harsh Words from IMF and Germany (Spiegel)
- Tehran defiant on nuclear programme (FT)
- Finally they are getting it: Greece needs to go to the brink (Breaking Views) - of course, Citi said it a week ago, but it is the MSM...
- OTC derivatives frontloading raises stability concerns (IFRE)
- Wall Street Titans Outearned by Media Czars (Bloomberg)
Overnight Sentiment: Europe Is Open, Bankia Is Plunging And Spanish Bond Yields Are Soaring
The
US may be closed today but Europe sure is open. And while the general
sentiment may be one of modest optimism in light of four highly
meaningless Greek polls which fluctuate with a ferocious error rate on a
daily basis, now showing New Democracy in the lead (and soon to show
something totally different - after all Syriza had a 4 point leads as
recently as Friday according to one of the polls), pushing equity
futures higher, Spain has so far failed to benefit from either this
transitory spike in optimism driven by record number of EUR shorts
forced to cover (more below), with its yields touching a fresh record
overnight, the 10 year hitting 6.50% and 450 bps in the spread to bunds,
while re-re-nationalized Bankia, now with explicit ECB support
plunging nearly 30% only to make up some of the losses and trade down
20% at last check. An earlier 2 year bond auction out of Italy did not
help: the country raised the maximum €3.5 billion in zero coupon bonds,
however the OID was high enough to send the yield soaring to 4.037%
average compared to 3.355% just a month ago, while the Bid to Cover
dropped from 1.80 to 1.66. In summary: Europe is walking on the edge
right now, and the only thing preventing it from imploding this morning
is some short covering as well as a furious statement out of Germany,
which has to understand that its precious ECB is now directly funding
nationalized banks: something Merkel and BUBA's Weidmann have said in
the past is dealbreaker.Top U.S. Government Officials Admit that Our Government Has Repeatedly Protected Drug Smugglers
05/28/2012 - 00:42
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