More Kool-Aid?
UK Business bankruptcies up +56%, Personal Bankruptcies up +23%.
ft.com
“What may be interesting is that in the 1990s recession,
bankruptcies continued to increase for nearly three years
after the worst of the recession had passed. If that is the
case this time, we may be seeing record figures every quarter
until 2012
Germany's slump risks 'explosive' mood as second banking crisis looms.
telegraph.co.uk
A clutch of political and labour leaders in Germany have
raised the spectre of civil unrest after the country's
leading institutes forecast a 6pc contraction of gross domestic
product this year, a slump reminiscent of 1931 and bad enough
to drive unemployment to 4.7m by 2010.
French protest against economic crisis
PARIS, May 1 - Thousands joined May Day demonstrations around
France on Friday to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s social
policies and his handling of the financial crisis.
Unions have organised nearly 300 marches and turnout is
expected to be high, reflecting frustration about soaring
unemployment, weak purchasing power and plant closures that
have also led to a wave of ”bossnappings”.
The first marches started at around 0830 GMT in major towns
such as Marseille, Toulouse, Le Mans, Orleans and Avignon.
The Paris demonstration was due to start at 1130 GMT.
In Germany dozens of police were injured in clashes
with protestors that erupted in the early hours of Friday.
Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas in
clashes with May Day demonstrators in Istanbul. The police
cordoned off the city’s main Taksim square.
The protests follow on from a March 19 day of protests
attended by up to 3 million in the largest
demonstrations since Sarkozy’s election in 2007.
Japan edges back into deflation
By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo
May 1 2009
Japanese consumer prices fell in March for the first time in
18 months, stoking fears that the recession afflicting Japan
could be aggravated by persistent deflation.
Nationwide core consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent year-on-year
in March, reflecting declines in oil prices and
weakening demand.
An edgy quiet descends over Mexico City
latimes.com
Mexico prepared for the shutdown on Friday of all but
essential services to help combat the spread of swine flu.
Fear of swine flu stills the noisy megalopolis, with parks and
roads empty of children and traffic. But unlike the lull over
a holiday weekend, this one is filled with dread.
telegraph.co.uk
The capital well is running dry and some economies will wither
The world is running out of capital. We cannot take it for
granted that the global bond markets will prove deep enough to
fund the $6 trillion or so needed for the Obama fiscal
package, US-European bank bail-outs, and ballooning deficits
almost everywhere.
Unless this capital is forthcoming, a clutch of countries will
prove unable to roll over their debts at a bearable cost.
Traders already whisper that some governments are buying their
own debt through proxies at bond auctions to keep up illusions
– not to be confused with transparent buying by central banks
under quantitative easing. This cannot continue for long.
Gilt buyers back after shock failed auctionCommerzbank said
every European bond auction is turning into an "event risk".
Britain too finds itself some way down the AAA pecking order
as it tries to sell £220bn of Gilts this year to irascible
investors, astonished by 5pc deficits into the middle of the
next decade.
US hedge fund Hayman Advisers is betting on the biggest wave
of state bankruptcies and restructurings since 1934.
From Bloomberg:
bloomberg.com;
At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional
capital according to preliminary results of government stress
tests, people briefed on the matter said.
---------------
More Kool-Aid anyone?
Thank Goldman & The PPT for this Kool-Aid Rally...
zerohedge.blogspot.com
According to the NYSE, last week program trading was 8% higher
than the 52 week average, which on almost 4 billion shares is
a material increase. It is probably safe to say that the
1 billion in program trades last week does not account for
significant additional low- to high-frequency trades
originated at non NYSE members, implying the real number for
the overall market is likely even higher. Some more program
trading statistics: principal trading is running 21% above 52
week average, agency trading is 11% below average, while NYSE
weekly volume is running about 9% below 52 wk average.
A very interesting data point, also provided by the NYSE,
implicates none other than administration darling Goldman
Sachs in yet another potentially troubling development. The
chart below demonstrates the program trading broken down by
the top 15 most active NYSE member firms. I bring your
attention to the total, principal, customer facilitation and
agency columns.
Key to note here is that Goldman's program trading principal
to agency+customer facilitation ratio is a staggering 5x,
which is multiples higher than both the second most active
program trader and the average ratio of the NYSE, both at or
below 1x. The implication is that Goldman Sachs, due to its
preeminent position not only as one of the world's largest
broker/dealers (pardon, Bank Holding Companies), but also as
being on the top of the high-frequency trading/liquidity
provision "food chain", trades much more often for its own
(principal) benefit, likely in tandem with the other top dogs
on the list: RenTec, Highbridge (JP Morgan), and GETCO. In
this light, the program trading spike over the past week could
be perceived as much more sinister.
For conspiracy lovers, long searching for any
circumstantial evidence to catch the mysterious "plunge
protection team" in action, you should look no further
than this.
SOTB
PS: Did you see David Sokol the CEO of Mid-American Energy
and one of Warren Buffet's chief lieutenants on CNBC this
morning talking about the economy?
Industrial and consumer energy demand is collapsing...
He see's "no greenshoots" and it will be "years" before
demand returns... 2nd half 2011 at the earliest.
And how about that word -- "greenshoots"?
Talk about talking points...
Wasn't it Lenin that said - "we will rule by slogans?"
And last rant...
Is it just me, or have many of CNBC's anchors abandoned
all pretense of being 'reporters' and taken Imelt & Zuckers
"good news" marching orders and run with them, turning
into apartchnik party advocates?
One of them even dropped a line under their breath about
"having your CNBC commentators contract renewed" to one of
the CME bears...
Why don't they just get it over with and change the
name to PC-NBC?
Kool-Aid Antidote...
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