The most probable replacement to Trichet, Axel Weber who is a member of ECB's governing council said earlier on Bloomberg TV that extend and pretend is now shifting to Europe warning that Germany's Q1 growth could be negative, of course qualifying the statement that everything past this quarter will be stronger. Weber said that "a very weak first quarter means that the second and third quarters will be stronger." Even so he said there was still no reason to revise the expectation of German growth in 2010 to just over 1.5%
Now that China is once again back in the center of attention, we present the latest from one of the undisputed leaders in Chinese analysis (albeit extremely bullish): CLSA, and specifically Andy Rothman's latest edition of Sinology, " A Wild Ride ." In a nutshell, CLSA sees virtually no signs of overheating in China, and all is good, with lines of people in front of Hermes boutiques all over the place (with some caveats). This is ironic because lately even the Chinese press has quoted Chinese real estate investors and management teams as saying that the entire Chinese market is one unprecedented turbo-bubble. More on this soon
Another European country is about to be cut to junk by the rating agencies, after a whopping 93% of Iceland voters turned down the ironically named Icesave bill in a historic referendum, which would have saddled citizens with an additional $16k in debt to compensate the UK and Holland with a $5.3 billion note for the failure of Landsbanki.
Submitted by The Prudent Investor While clueless politicians and bankers have still not come up with decisions that could turn around the economy, Mr. Market may soon force them into action. Greece may dominate headlines these days, but this buys other equally distressed Eurozone economies time to fly under the radar.
Asian stock markets rise as optimism ahead US jobs report grows; Tokyo jumps 2 percent. Asian stocks rose, after U.S.
Ken Rogoff, in a great summary piece, recaps practically every point presented previously by Dylan Grice , in discussing why Japan is in a very sad economic state and about to get much worse. For all you JGB fans - read this and buy Japan's deflationary blue light specials at your own peril.
Yesterday CDS speculators, today financial shorts, tomorrow the world. German regulator BaFin has learned absolutely nothing from America's 2008 brush with the short sale ban, and has announced that it is tightening disclosure rules on short-selling as related to ten financial company shares, saying it "wanted to ensure the stability of the financial system" is preserved. Ah, the old "if-the-world-is-threatened-by-vicious-speculators-you-must-acquit-of-irresponsible-fiscal-policies-and-mismanagement" defense
China's hidden debt to reach 96% of GDP, compared to the IMF's estimate of 22% ( Bloomberg ) Here come the idiots - Banks summoned to EU to discuss sovereign CDS market ( Bloomberg ) Upwardly biased ADP continues longstanding tradition of prior downward revisions ( Bloomberg ) US said to tell hedge funds to save euro records ( Bloomberg , first reported on Zero Hedge ) SEC supervisor surfed tranny porn to cope with stress [and self-loathing from working for an incompetent bureaucracy] ( Dealbreaker , h/t plastic man) Europe's original sin ( WSJ ) Rumors of Ukraine's default to become certainty: Tymoshenko loses Ukraine vote, moves into opposition ( Bloomberg ) And so the Fed and Goldman HoldCo win again: Consumer agency within Fed seen as victory for the banking industry ( Bloomberg ) Betting on the blind side ( Vanity Fair , h/t Tim) How high could the US tax rate go? ( Time ) Greece: from hard money to fool's gold ( Merk Funds ) Even the dead cats aren't bouncing ( Financial Armageddon ) US dollar best in a bad neighborhood ( Reuters ) Morgan Stanley's secret Japanese weapon ( Deal Journal )
There is nothing quite as liberating as jumping on the bandwagon of scapegoating that which one does not understand. The idiocy of the chorus which blames CDS "speculators" for the mysterious kidnapping and rape of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus' stomach stapling, not to mention the imminent Greek implosion (NOT as a function of a funding crisis, but due to the one soon to be unending strike, which will commence once Greeks realize their wages are about to be cut by 250% and the new retirement age will the same as that of Yoda), is just getting surreal.
Today's Breakfast with Dave has an updated perspective on the contraction of the US consumer, after yesterday's income and spending update. And good news for Amazon: Americans are finally rememberizing how to read good
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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