Meanwhile in China......
It seems liquidity (or counterparty mistrust) is beginning to reach extreme levels in China as the nation's banking system is now quoting overnight repo transactions at 25%. The explosion in funding costs echoes the collapse in trust (and surge in TED spread) among US banks in the run-up to the Lehman bankruptcy. MSCI Asia-Pac stocks are down over 3% with China's Shanghai Composite -2.5% at seven-month lows.
China's bond market is also collapsing:
Yield on 3.1% govt bonds due January 2016 jumps 39 bps to 3.749%, biggest rise since notes were issued in January
It seems liquidity (or counterparty mistrust) is beginning to reach extreme levels in China as the nation's banking system is now quoting overnight repo transactions at 25%. The explosion in funding costs echoes the collapse in trust (and surge in TED spread) among US banks in the run-up to the Lehman bankruptcy. MSCI Asia-Pac stocks are down over 3% with China's Shanghai Composite -2.5% at seven-month lows.
- MNI - CHINA OVERNIGHT REPO FIXING AT RECORD HIGH
China's bond market is also collapsing:
Yield on 3.1% govt bonds due January 2016 jumps 39 bps to 3.749%, biggest rise since notes were issued in January
targeted liquidity operations" to supply 50b yuan to a bank in China. Bloomberg reports that the overnight cash supplied was at 5.1%, while the 1-week at 5.4%. Hong added that more banks are in talks with PBOC to obtain funds amid a cash squeeze, as expected. The problem is that the PBOC can't continue targeted bail outs, and will sooner or later be forced into a broad liquidity providing move, which will unleash a repeat of the 2011 in China scenario, which did not have a very happy ending.
Problems at the federal reserve preserving a false recovery.....
It would not be the DOL if the last week's initial claims wasn't revised higher. And it was: from 334K to 336K. But more importantly, the current week's number of 354K once again broke the "improving" trend, and printed far above consensus estimates of 340K, proving that there is still a substantial amount of "disposable" slack in the economy. If the stock market continues its downward jiggle, and without the Fed that may well be the case, look for the Claims trendline to resume going from the lower left to the upper right, in seasonally adjusted terms. In short: yet another red flag for the economy, which continues to reject the Fed's attempts to restart a "virtuous cycle." Yet by the looks of things, this datapoint alone is not enough to start speculation of the untaper.
It would not be the DOL if the last week's initial claims wasn't revised higher. And it was: from 334K to 336K. But more importantly, the current week's number of 354K once again broke the "improving" trend, and printed far above consensus estimates of 340K, proving that there is still a substantial amount of "disposable" slack in the economy. If the stock market continues its downward jiggle, and without the Fed that may well be the case, look for the Claims trendline to resume going from the lower left to the upper right, in seasonally adjusted terms. In short: yet another red flag for the economy, which continues to reject the Fed's attempts to restart a "virtuous cycle." Yet by the looks of things, this datapoint alone is not enough to start speculation of the untaper.
Europe plays catch down to credit and the Bernanke/China double whammy. The broad Bloomberg Europe 500 equity index tumbled over 3% today - its worst day since November 2011 and fell below its 200DMA for the first time in 11 months. Europe's Dow (EuroStoxx 50) fell a stunning 3.7% - its worst since October 11 - smashing thorugh its 200DMA and notably red year-to-date. Sovereigns widened dramatically with Italy and Spain spreads +20bps or so. The EUR is having its worst 2-day run against the USD in 3 months. Europe's VIX closes at its highest in 4 months. Europe's high-yield credit market saw its worst day in 19 months and is back notably above its 200DMA. Not pretty overall.
Worst day broadly in 20 months for EU stocks...
Worst day broadly in 20 months for EU stocks...
The FOMC lives in a fantasy world. The economy is not improving materially and deflationary pressures are rising as the bulk of the globe is in recession or worse. The problem is that the current proposed policy is an exercise in wishful thinking. While the Fed blamed fiscal policy out of Washington; the reality is that monetary policy does not work in reducing real unemployment. However, what monetary policy does do is promote asset bubbles that are dangerous; particularly when they are concentrated in riskiest of assets from stocks to junk bonds. However, if you want to see the efficiency of the Federal Reserve in action it is important to view their own forecasts for accuracy. The reality is that Fed may have finally found the limits of their effectiveness as earnings growth slows, economic data weakens and real unemployment remains high. Reminiscent of the choices of Goldilocks - it is likely the Fed's estimates for economic growth in 2013 are too hot, employment is too cold and inflation estimates may be just about right. The real unspoken concern should be the continued threat of deflation and the next recession. One thing is for certain; the Fed faces an uphill battle from here.
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