The Washington Post reports that the next "Lehman-sized" event may be just around the corner , as the European Commission is now supporting a ban on trading sovereign CDS. While we are in process of tracking down whether this is actual news or just some exaggeration based on semantics, we will caution, once again, that the consequences of a CDS trading ban will be severe and very likely result in the opposite of what the EC intends on achieving. Keep in mind that everyone expected the Lehman bankruptcy to be contained as it was at best a fringe cog in the financial system
You say you need a catalyst for the next leg up to Dow 36,000? Heeeeere's Goldman, proclaiming that a CNY revaluation is virtually a certainty
Submitted by Damien Hoffman at Wall St. Cheat Sheet A few months ago, Dennis Santiago from Institutional Risk Analytics catapulted from financial tech wizard to media celebrity
Today's BLS release on initial claims showed a moderate improvement in SA initial claims, which declined by29,000 from 498,000 to 469,000, which lead to a just noticeable improvement in the 4-week average, and a 134,000 decline in the SA unemployment to 4.5 million. Yet this week once again saw a divergence between the SA and NSA numbers, where NSA initial claims increased by 17,128, and SA unemployed went up by 24,534 to 5.6 million
Asian stocks decline on concern China lending to slow; Euro pares gains. Australia's January trade deficit narrows on increased iron ore shipments. China to boost defense spending by 7.5% in 2010 - slowest pace in a decade.
A previously secret Republican presentation obtained by Politico indicates that the Republicans intend on capitalizing from their current predicament in which they "do not have the White House, the House or the Senate" by pursuing a pitch of "saving the country from trending toward socialism." At least communism is so 1950s.
Goldman's chief Euro strategist Erik Nielsen is out with another note, this time one of praise and wild-eyed adoration for the increasing desperation in Greek polemics (note, not actions: those tend to be more of the semi-violent police clashing, people striking variety). Well, duh, of course Greece will promise it will take out a second-lien on the Parthenon (and a first on the Acropolis): the country will be out of money in two weeks for Pete's sake! Aside from the pandering desire to be next in line as lead underwriter on the next Greek multi-billion swap (and receive fees, millions of dollars in juicy fees), Nielsen does provide a good narrative that ties in the Greek bail out, and the recent anger against CDS "Speculators" who will at the end of the day be the validation for why Europe will have "no choice" but to bail out Greece, as it is solely through their vile scheming that GGBs are trading so much lower compared to where they should be trading. Because taking a cue straight from the US market, none of this bankruptcy stuff is relevant at all when dealing with capital markets.
Submitted by Nic Lenoir of ICAP The earthquake in Chile last night caused a spike in Copper, as the country is one of the top producers of the metal.
Greek bailout rumors are fine and dandy, even if you can get 10 for the price of a Kindle these days. They originate roughly every
The Fed's second in command is leaving in June. WSJ's take on rats leaving the sinking ship . Donald L
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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