• Tag Archives Bloomberg

  • Graham Dares Trump: “Holy Hell To Pay if You Fire Sessions”

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Threat, promise, or red flag to a bull?
    After a few days of non-stop tirades against current Attorney-General Jeff Sessions by President Trump, increasing numbers of Republicans are coming out in support of the “beleauered” AG urging Trump to stop.
    As Bloomberg reports, a number of Republicans have called White House officials – and even Trump personally – to warn against removing Sessions, according to a Senate GOP aide who asked not to be identified discussing the private conversations. Their message has been that Sessions is universally liked on Capitol Hill and that removing him would be one of Trump’s biggest mistakes as president.
    But, just in case the message from senior Republicans was not getting to the President, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN on Thursday morning…

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Krona Sinks After Swedish PM Refuses To Resign, Reshuffles Cabinet Over “Disastrous Leak”

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    A brief (ECB/Fed-driven) sigh of relief yesterday in the Krona has ended as Sweden’s embattled PM has refused to resignover the government’s “disastrous leak” of the nation’s citizens’ information. Lofven has instead chosen to reshuffle his cabinet, ading “I don’t want political chaos in Sweden, that’s not what we need right now, I will take responsibility and ensure we don’t get a political crisis.”
    However, as Bloomberg reports, opposition members were already signaling they weren’t satisfied with the steps taken, and Lofven’s government remains far from secure.
    The prime minister said Home Affairs Minister Anders Ygeman and Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson will leave the Cabinet, as parties representing a majority in parliament prepared no-confidence motions against them.
    Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist will stay, Lofven told reporters in Stockholm on Thursday, arguing the specific motion against him was ‘not serious.’
    The announcement follows speculation the prime minister would himself be forced to resign, or call an early election, in response to the deepening scandal. With the reshuffle, Lofven is buying himself time to negotiate with parliament.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Bankers Ditch 7-Figure Salaries To Climb Aboard The ICO “Rocketship”

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    In just a few short months, companies – many of dubious legitimacy – have raised more than a billion dollars through ICOs. Some of the better-hyped offerings in the field of 900 new coins that have been created this year managed to raise tens of millions of dollars in minutes. Investors, who were eager to throw money at the new coins, blindly hoping they would land on the next bitcoin or Ethereum.
    With all this money flying around, it’s no small wonder that bankers in New York, Hong Kong and London are abandoning seven-figure salaries to try their luck in the nascent ICO industry, according to Bloomberg. Stories like this have become commonplace with every passing fintech trend, as bankers, fearing the technology’s potential to disrupt the banking business and threaten their bonus pool, hoping to cash in on the next technology enabled ‘revolution.’

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Crypto Currency and tagged

  • Is The Fed Poised To Ignite A Violent Dollar Rally?

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    As ther world waits with bated breath for Janet Yellen’s statement this afternoon – whiche is uniformly expected to be a nothing-burger, some are wondering if the recent flip-floppery by Yellen, Draghi (and even Kuroda with his ‘actual’ tapering while lowering inflation expectations) does not leave today open to another modst shift back in The Fed’s ‘hawkishness’. As Bloomberg’s macro strategist warns, this sets the market up for a surprise and as he warns: “Dollar risks are starting to seem skewed all one way: toward an immediate rally.”
    There’s extremely bearish positioning, that’s failed to adapt to changing circumstances, into event risk that’s structured to surprise in the opposite direction. That’s an explosive mix.
    When something seems so obvious, your immediate instinct should be to ask, “what’s the catch?” My problem is that this time, I just can’t see one.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • Who Bought The New Greek Bonds: Here Is The Answer

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    After triumphantly returning to the bond market three years after it last issued a euro-denominated long bond (which one year later nearly defaulted when only a third bailout prevented Grexit), this morning Bloomberg has provided details of who the lucky buyers of the just priced 3BN bond offering were. And not surprisingly, the biggest source of new funds for the Greek government (which will then use most of this to pay interest owed to the ECB) were US buyers.
    As Bloomberg notes, just under half, or 1.425BN of the 3BN deal was new money with 1.57b of existing paper rolled, with the following geographic distribution of new sources of cash:
    U. S. 44% U. K./Ireland 26% Greece 14% France 7% Spain/Portugal/Italy 3% Germany/Austria 3% Others 3% By investor type:
    Fund managers 46% Hedge funds 36% Banks/private banks 13% Others 5%

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Greece Sells 3 Billion In Bonds In 2x Oversubscribed Offering

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    So it can either come cheap with the new issue, which adds to existing debt service problems, or it can….structure around that.
    — Owen Sanderson (@OwenPSanderson) July 25, 2017

    Just over three years after Greece “triumphantly returned” to capital markets in April 2014, when it issued 3 billion in 5 year bonds at a yield of 4.95%, and a cash coupon of 4.75% – an offering which was 8x oversubcribed – and which crashed and nearly defaulted one year later when only the 3rd Greek bailout prevented the country from going bankrupt, only to get taken out at 102, moments ago Greece once again returned to the bond market, if far less triumphantly, by selling another 3 billion in 5 year paper which however was “only” 2x oversubscribed, with indications from Bloomberg that there was only 6.5 billion in demand for the “high yielding” paper. And speaking of yield, it came in lower than 3 years ago, pricing at 4.625% with a coupon of 4.375%.
    For those who did not get their desired allottment in today’s offering, fear not there will be more:

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 25, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • Deutsche Bank CEO tells staff: Prepare for Brexit “worst outcome“

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan told employees that the German lender is preparing for a hard Brexit in which roles will “inevitably” move from London to Frankfurt.
    Cryan said in a video announcement on July 11 that the bank “will assume a reasonable worst outcome” from the U.K.’s talks with the European Union, according to a Bloomberg News report.
    “The worst is always likely to be worse than people can imagine,” Cryan said.
    Deutsche Bank operates a branch in the U.K., and while London is one of the firm’s major investment banking hubs, Cryan said he will move “the vast majority” of the markets balance sheet to Frankfurt. As a result, some roles will move too.
    “There’s an awful lot of detail to be ironed out and agreed, depending on what the rules and regulations turn out to be,” Cryan said in the video. “We will try to minimize disruption for our clients and for our own people, but inevitably roles will need to be either moved or at least added in Frankfurt.”

    This post was published at Business Insider

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • U.S. Mega Banks Are This Close to Breaking Their Profit Record

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The last time big U.S. banks made so much money, the financial world was heading toward the brink of collapse. This time, it’s stiff regulation that’s in danger.
    Ten of the nation’s biggest lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. together made $30 billion last quarter, just a few hundred million short of the record in the second quarter of 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The achievement comes just as the industry’s long campaign against post-crisis rules finds traction with the Trump administration.
    Banks have been decrying regulations aimed at curbing risk, blaming them for hurting capital markets and discouraging lending to consumers and companies. President Donald Trump, echoing those complaints, has asked regulators to find ways to ease off. But in this year’s second quarter, banks saw their profits propped up by lending operations even after a surge in revenue from more volatile trading units subsided.
    ‘It shows that the legislation we passed in no way retarded the ability of the banks to make money,’ said Barney Frank, the former congressman whose name is on the 2010 law tightening industry oversight. Banks are supporting the economy, he said. And ‘very specifically, it refutes Trump’s claim that we cut into lending. How do banks make record profits if they can’t lend — especially when they’re down in trading?’
    The second quarter wasn’t a fluke. Even looking at the past 12 months, profits are still near the same level as 2007.

    This post was published at bloomberg

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Barclays Exit Of Energy Business Triggers Surge In Oil Options Trades

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Several hours before the US stock market opened on Monday, the commodity world was shaken by an unexpected surge in crude options trades, with traders noting that “someone is either moving positions, blown up or getting out of commodities. MASSIVE amount of blocks going through in crude options.”
    Someone is either moving positions, blown up or getting out of commodities. MASSIVE amount of blocks going through in #crude #options.#OOTT
    — Mark Scullion (@mscullion) July 24, 2017

    A Bloomberg alert shortly after confirmed the huge size of trades crossing the tape, when nearly $100 million in oil options traded simultaneously:
    WTI crude oil options traded the equivalent of 48m bbl of contracts via block, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Total value of all options combined is ~$99m Options include contracts from September 2017 through December 2020 5 largest blocks were: 4.4k Dec. $90 calls, 2.8k Dec. $60 calls, 2.5k Dec. $125 calls, 1.7k Dec. $95 calls, 1.4k Dec. $46 calls

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 24, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Market Commentary and tagged

  • Why A Dollar Rebound May Be Imminent Even As Crash Insurance Costs Hit Nosebleed Levels

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Is the bottom in for the dollar yet?
    After hitting a 14 month low, the Bloomberg Dollar Index saw a modest gain of 0.1% as markets awaited this week’s FOMC meeting and kept a wary eye on Capitol Hill hearings which involve close members of the Trump administration. Quoted by Bloomberg, traders described flows as modest amid the elevated event risk we laid out earlier this morning. Besides another potential surprise from the suddenly dovish Fed, traders were keeping a weary eye on Capitol Hill hearings Monday and Wednesday that include Jared Kushner, Donald Jr and Paul Manafort, and what these could mean for Trump’s fiscal agenda. At the same time, the Fed is expected to keep rates and policies on hold, though it may elaborate on balance-sheet reduction or the timing of any future rate increases.
    To be sure, negative sentiment against the dollar has been pervasive, and as we noted yesterday when looking at the latest CFTC Commitment of Traders update, net specs are now the most short they have been the USD doing back to 2013.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 24, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Greece Returns To The Bond Market With A Present To Its Last Group Of Bond Buyers

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    On the same day that Greek PM Alexis Tsipras triumphantly announced to The Guardian that “The worst is clearly behind us“, Greece just as triumphantly announced that its long-rumored bond issue, the first after a three year hiatus which saw its last bond issue crash then surge, is now a reality. Just like in 2014, Greece is looking to sell another batch of five-year bonds, according to an Athens Stock Exchange filing. The bonds will be sold in benchmark size via a legion of banks, and are expected to price on Tuesday. In terms of total size, it will ultimately depend on client demand – recall that the the 2014 issue was 8x oversubscribed – with UBS expecting a possible size of 2BN-4BN while JPMorgan anticipates roughly 3BN in new bonds.
    But the biggest surprise in today’s announcement was the present for its latest batch of bond buyers: a cash tender offer for its existing 4.75% bonds due in 2019 – the same bonds that were issued in 2014 – which will be bought back at a price of 102.6. The 2019 bond have jumped in recent weeks, with the yield dropping around 15bps, though as Bloomberg notes “hardly anything has traded as is usual in Greek bonds.” The bond was priced around 102.25 ahead of the announcement, before rising another 30c.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 24, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • SWOT Analysis: Silver In the Spotlight

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Strengths
    The best performing precious metal for the week was silver, up 3.34 percent as investors loaded up on ETFs that purchase the physical metal, perhaps speculating that silver would outperform gold if the latter rallied. Gold traders and analysts remained bullish this week, for the fifth week, as the European Central Bank keeps its stimulus going, reports Bloomberg. In addition, as the dollar slumps amid an investigation into President Trump, gold heads for the first back-to-back weekly advance since early June, another Bloomberg article reads. Gold bulls are keeping their faith in the metal, reports Bloomberg, as the equity rally pares the yellow metal’s gains. Gold bulls have pointed to slow inflation and Fed concerns that asset prices look ‘somewhat rich.’ Similarly, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey shows fund managers are growing hesitant to buy U. S. equities. Jason Mayer of Sprott Asset Management says that the non-stop bull market has led to a lot of complacency where managers aren’t hedging. ‘Once that tide turns, that could prove to be bullish for gold and precious metals,’ Mayer said. After President Trump’s economic revitalization agenda once again faltered, the U. S. dollar fell to an 11-month low this week, reports Bloomberg. Opposition to Trump’s health-care reform bill, along with European shares dropping amid earnings disappointments, sent gold to its highest level this month.

    This post was published at SilverSeek on July 24, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • One Trader Fears The End Of The “Heads I Win, Tails I Win” Market As Central Bank Credibility Crashes

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    We’re all experts in identifying the problems (and who is to blame), but thanks to the endless intervention of central banks, former fund manager Richard Breslow warns we’ve given up looking for solutions. Why bother looking for solutions when there’s always some ‘greater power’ waiting to save the day
    Via Bloomberg,
    We all seem to be caught up in an endless loop of declaring we’re unhappy because there are so many other people ruining everything. But when asked what should we do, the decision loop points us back to “this stinks” rather than, “well if it were up to me”. Identifying complaints, we’re expert at. Coming up with solutions, not so much.
    With some legitimate justification from experience, who wants to any longer be in the group making sacrifices when we know there’s always a bunch of other folks gaming the system in a ‘heads I win, tails I win’ scenario. Make it pain-free, or go away.
    It’s one thing if these discussions, or lack thereof, concern pizza versus burgers. It’s another if it’s about how we run the economy, or the country as a whole, for that matter. Gridlock or decision-making paralysis only works when things are basically fine anyway.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 24, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • “It Feels Like An Avalanche”: China’s Crackdown On Conglomerates Has Sent A “Shock Wave” Across Markets

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The first to suffer Beijing’s crackdown against China’s private merger-crazy conglomerates, wave was the acquisitive “insurance” behemoth, Anbang, whose CEO Wu Xiaohui briefly disappeared as the Politburo made it clear that the “old way” of money laundering – via offshore deals – is no longer tolerated. Then, several weeks later and shortly after the stocks of the “famous four” Chinese conglomerates plunged after China officially launched a crackdown on foreign acquirers amid concerns of “systemic risk“, it was HNA’s turn, which as we described last week, risks becoming a “reverse rollup from hell“, as HNA’s stock tumbled, sending the LTV of billions in loans collateralized by the company’s shares soaring and in danger of unleashing an catastrophic margin call among the company’s lenders.
    ***
    Then Beijing’s attention shifted to the biggest conglomerate of them all: billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group, which as the WSJ and Bloomberg reported was being “punished” by Beijing, and would see its funding cutoff after China “concluded the conglomerate breached restrictions for overseas investments.”
    The scrutiny could rein in Wang’s ambitious attempt to create a global entertainment empire, including Hollywood production companies and a giant cinema chain he’s built up through acquisitions from the U. S. to the U. K. Six investments, such as the purchases of Nordic Cinema Group Holding AB and Carmike Cinemas Inc., were found to have violations, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The retaliatory measures will include banning banks from providing Wanda with financial support linked to these projects and barring the company from selling those assets to any local companies, the people said.
    The move is an unprecedented setback for the country’s second-richest man, who has announced more than $20 billion of deals since the beginning of 2016. By targeting one of the nation’s top businessmen, the government is escalating its broader crackdown on capital outflows and further chilling the prospects of overseas acquisitions during a politically sensitive year in China.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 23, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Macron’s Approval Rating Plunges, Only Chirac Was Worse

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Macron, deuxime plus forte chute de popularit en trois mois aprs Chirac pic.twitter.com/MGqywBGCic
    — Le JDD (@leJDD) July 23, 2017

    A Ifop poll released on Sunday showed that the approval rating of France’s new President Emmanuel Macron tumbled by 10 points, hitting 54% in his third month in office, as voters were “either confused by plans for the tax system, shocked by a dispute with the head of the army or unsettled by upcoming labor laws reform”, according to Journal dy Dimanche.
    According to Bloomberg calculations, the 10 point slump for Macron, elected in early May, was the second-biggest decline for a French president so soon after election. Jacques Chirac dropped 15 points from his May 1995 election to July, the Paris-based pollster said. The survey for JDD was conducted by phone and online July 17-22 among 1,947 respondents.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 23, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Venezuelans Are Now Paying 1000 Times More For US Dollars Than They Did In 2010

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The hyperinflationary-hell in Venezuela’s currency is deepening as a crippling dollar shortage and a threat of oil sanctions (amid President Maduro’s attempts to rewrite the constition to maintain his grip on power) take their toll on the economy.
    Venezuela’s Latin American neighbors urged President Nicolas Maduro to refrain from actions that might exacerbate the country’s political crisis in a disappointment to some regional governments that favored more direct and forceful criticism. As Bloomberg reports, Mercosur, South America’s largest trade bloc, called on ‘the government and the opposition not to carry out any initiative that could divide further Venezuelan society or aggravate institutional conflicts,’ in a joint statement issued at the end of a summit in Mendoza, Argentina. Member countries Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay were joined by Chile, Colombia, Guyana and Mexico in signing the statement.
    International condemnation of the Maduro government’s plan to rewrite the country’s constitution to maintain its hold on power is gathering pace after the U. S. said it would impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials if Maduro goes ahead.
    As we noted earlier in the week, The Trump administration is mulling over sanctions against senior Venezuelan government officials, and additional measures could include sanctions against the country’s oil industry, such as halting imports into the U. S., according to senior Washington officials who spoke to media.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 22, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • El-Erian Exposes The Upside And Downside Of Liquidity-Driven Markets

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Authored by Mohamed El-Erian via Bloomberg.com,
    Over the past few months, government bond yields have fallen, the dollar has weakened and financials have underperformed, yet the major stock indexes are at or very near record highs, as persistently supportive liquidity conditions have more than compensated for policy and growth disappointments.
    By boosting returns and repressing volatility, ample liquidity is a gift for investors. It makes the investment journey pleasing, comfortable and lengthy. But it is not a destination.
    With the exception of buoyant stocks market indexes, it is hard to find many financial markets that have managed to retain their post-U. S. election mood. Specifically:
    After climbing to 2.60 percent, the yield on 10-year Treasuries has fallen to below 2.30 percent. The yield differential between U. S. Treasuries and German Bunds has narrowed from more than 220 basis points to just 170 basis points. The widely followed DXY dollar index, which reached a high of 103 on Dec. 28, has depreciated sharply to 94, a level not seen since August of last year. The Mexican peso has appreciated to its strongest level in a year, after falling sharply on fears of U. S. protectionism.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 21, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • WTI Tumbles Towards $45 Handle After Tanker-Tracker Signals OPEC Supply At 2017 Highs

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Despite the ‘bullish’ inventory data (and demand), WTI Crude just sank towards a $45 handle – red on the week – as tanker-tracking firm Petro-Logistics signals OPEC crude supply rising again this month will be the highest this year (along with US shale output at record highs).
    As Bloomberg notes, supply from OPEC members is set to exceed 33 million barrels a day this month, more than 600,000 barrels a day higher than the first-half average, according to Petro-Logistics. The data could reinforce skepticism about the effectiveness of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ production cuts as officials from the group gather for meetings in St. Petersburg, Russia.
    This pushed prices below the pre-DOE data lows…and red for the week.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 21, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Energy and tagged

  • Here Are America’s Most Underfunded Corporate Pensions

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    We spend a lot of time talking about the public pension crisis because, well, it’s a massive $5 – $8 trillion dollar overhang on the economy and one which will undoubtedly result in some heartache for investors at some point in the future. Unfortunately, there are some problems that are too large for even U. S. taxpayers to fix and, with an underfunding of $52,000 (mid-point) per household, somehow we suspect this is one of them.
    Of course, our nation’s various governmental institutions aren’t the only ones to have unwittingly created massive ponzi schemes from which there is no escape. In fact, as Bloomberg points out today, as of the end of 2016 over 90% of the top 200 corporate pensions in the S&P were unfunded to the tune of $382 billion.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 21, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Wall Street Efforts to Improve Its Image Fail to Sway Americans

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Bad news for financial titans like JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blankfein: Most Americans hold unfavorable views of Wall Street banks and corporate executives, and distrust billionaires more than they admire them.
    Despite efforts by Wall Street firms to regain trust since the 2008 financial crisis, fewer than a third of Americans view the industry positively — unchanged from 2009, according to the latest Bloomberg National Poll.
    Dimon, 61, and Blankfein, 62, each chief executive officers for more than a decade, have sought to influence the public policy debate on issues including infrastructure investment, regulation, education, immigration and corporate tax reform. Both were revealed as billionaires in 2015, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
    Yet the poll shows that Americans are much more likely to distrust billionaires than admire them, 53 percent to 31 percent. And just 31 percent look favorably on corporate executives and Wall Street.
    Big banks ‘are still pushing for deregulation and they are going to get us right back to where we were with the financial crisis,’ said poll participant Chad Boyd, 36, an independent voter and information technology worker who lives in Louisville, Colorado, about 10 miles east of Boulder.

    This post was published at bloomberg

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged