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Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Big Picture

The Big Picture


Acapella Only: Theme Songs

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST

The classic 1964 James Bond Theme, recording is 100% vocals, made up of more than 30 tracks:

James Bond Theme Vocal Cover (Nick McKaig & Trudbol)

~~~

30 Tracks, Vocals Only:

The Simpsons Theme Song

~~~

90 tracks, voice only:

Star Wars Main Title Theme

(hat tip American Digest)

~~~

100% vocals, all tracks are unaltered. Except for the horse neighing

Rossini: William Tell Overture

Music of Nick McKaig

Weekly Eurozone Watch (11/16/12)

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST

Key Data Points
German 10-year Bund 2 bps lower;
France 10-year 4 bps tighter to the Bund;
Ireland 14 bps tighter;
Italy  9 bps tighter;
Spain 7 bps wider;
Portugal  4 bps wider;
Greece 50 bps tighter;
Large Eurozone banks down 0-6 percent;
Euro$ flat to up 0.15 percent.

Comments

It feels like the Greek debt crisis is as old as the Acropolis. Stocks are sinking as we shut up shop for the weekend, as traders take their money off the table ahead of yet another Eurogroup meeting next week.

We all know how it going to play out; the talks will go down to the wire, stocks will fall because of the 'what if' factor, but in the end Greece will be given the money and we might see a small bounce. Even when Greece is given the kiss of life next week, another indebted nation will be in the cross hairs, and it may well be Spain.  – David Madden,  IG market analyst

Europe experienced widespread austerity protests  this week;
CEPR stated Eurozone has been in recession since Q3 2011;
Portugal's opposition calls for rethink of austerity;
China's sovereign wealth fund warns EU that its citizens are being "pushed to the limit";
Opinion polls show that two-thirds of Italians do not want Mario Monti to continue as PM;
The Economist magazine's cover regarding France:  The time-bomb at the heart of Europe;
Greece makes €5bn bond payment;
Investors bet on Greek bond buyback.

Source:  The Guardian

(click here if charts are not observable)

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events (11/16/12)

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST

Succinct summation of week’s events:

Positives:

1) Congressional leaders say they had constructive meeting at WH. We’ll get deal but don’t expect a good one in terms of dealing with the real drivers of debt/deficits and incentivizing economic activity.
2) Sept Business Inventories rise .7% vs est of .6% and I/S ratio falls to 1.28 from 1.29. Expect inventory ramp up in the Northeast post hurricane.
3) Oct PPI unexpectedly falls .2% both headline and core.
4) MBA said refi’s rose 13.1% and purchases up by 11%, both to 4 week high as rates hover near record lows.
5) NFIB small business optimism index up a touch to 93.1, a 5 month high but still below high for yr of 94.5.
6) India reports slowest rate of wholesale inflation in 8 months at still high 7.45%.

Negatives:

1) Hurricane Sandy negatively impacts Jobless Claims, Industrial Production and the NY and Philly mfr’g figures.
2) Oct Retail Sales, also impacted by storm, unexpectedly down by .1% at the core.
3) CPI index at new record high with headline up 2.2% y/o/y, highest since Apr. Seems benign but not relative to income growth and its still remaining sticky.
4) Fed hints at QE4. They still don’t get it.
5) Japan’s gov’t calls for new elections where new leader will follow path of printing way to prosperity (though will be good for Japanese stocks).
6) Japan’s GDP in Q3 contracts by 3.5% annualized.
7) Chinese loan growth in Oct totals 505b yuan, 85b less than expected and slowest since Sept ’11, M2 growth slightly below est as new leadership takes over. Shanghai index closes just shy of lowest since Mar ’09.
8) India’s IP falls .4% vs est of up 2.8%.
9) Q3 GDP in Hong Kong up by 1.3% vs est of 1.7%.
10) German ZEW investor confidence in their economy 6 mo’s out falls almost 4 pts to -15.7, below zero for 6th straight month.
11) Euro zone economy contracts .1% m/o/m and hasn’t grown in a yr (modest growth in Germany and France completely offset).
12) Euro zone CPI up 2.5% y/o/y, above 2% ECB target for 23rd straight month.
13) UK jobless claims rise at fastest pace since Sept ’11, CPI up 2.7% to 5 mo high and retail sales weak. BoE Gov King acknowledges stagflation.

Where Does Your Nation Rank on Wellbeing?

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST

Click for full image

 

Source: Where Does Your Nation Rank on Wellbeing?
Nathan Gamester
Harvard Business Review 12:00 PM October 30, 2012
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/where_does_your_nation_rank_on.html


click for ginormous graphic

Worst Quarter for Corporate Profits in 3 Years

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST


Source: Bianco Research

 

With most of Q3 earnings now reported, we can take a quick look at the numbers, and they are none too pretty. Before you roll your focus to Q4 earnings, lets pull a few numbers from Nasdaq:

-460 of S&P500 companies reporting, total earnings are down 2.2% (vs same Q3 2011);

-Total revenues are down 3.6%

-Only 38% of the companies have come out with positive revenue surprises; only 62.6% of the companies beating earnings expectations..

-Technology disappointed with total Tech earnings down 4.3%. Only 61.7% of Tech beat earnings expectations; significantly less than prior quarters.

-Basic Materials is the weakest sectors in terms of growth and negative surprises. Energy is a close second in terms of earnings growth, with total quarterly earnings down 19.8%.

-Growth was for the S&P 500 as a whole and a decline of 4% excluding Finance.

Here is the kicker: Earnings expectations for Q4 and for 2013 have yet to be ratched down in a meaningful way. Earnings expectations for 2013 are expected to be up 11%. Revenues are expected up 3.6% in 2013.

 

 

Sources:
Q3 Earnings Season Mostly Behind Us
Sheraz Mian
Nasdaq, 11/15/2012
http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-11/q3-earnings-season-mostly-behind-us-earnings-trends.aspx?storyid=190273

Fourth-Quarter Earnings the Next Concern
Paul Vigna
MarketBeat, November 13, 2012
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/11/13/fourth-quarter-earnings-the-next-concern/

The Secessionist Declaration of Independence

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST

If today’s secessionists wrote their own Declaration of Independence.

Source: Happy Place

Japan closing in on China as largest holder of US debt

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST

For just the 2nd month since mid 2009, foreigners sold US Treasuries on a net basis according to the just released TIC data. The main sellers though may have been hedge funds rather than central banks as the biggest region of selling came from the Caribbean where many funds are housed. It coincided with the wild Treasury ride in Sept where the FOMC meeting cut the month in the middle. The 1st half of Sept saw the 10 yr yield jump from 1.55% to 1.87% only to fall back to 1.63% by months end. Both China and Japan added to their holdings but Japan has really ramped up its buying of US Treasuries over the past 6 months and is now only $25b away from passing China as the largest owner of our debt.

IP and the hurricane impact

ndustrial Production in October fell .4%, well below expectations of a gain of .2% but the Fed is saying that Hurricane Sandy “is estimated to have reduced the rate of change in total output by nearly 1 percentage point. The largest estimated storm related effects included reductions in the output of utilities (don’t most of us know unfortunately), of chemicals, of food, of transportation equipment, and of computers and electronic products.” Manufacturing IP fell .9% but the Fed estimates that production would have been flat vs Sept “excluding storm related effects.” Bottom line, the hurricane impact will continue in the data and we’ll do our best to separate it out so as to get a more recurring view of the US economy.

Japan downgrades its economy, yet again

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:30 AM PST

The Japanese government downgraded its view on the Japanese economy, once again. The report, released today, reduced forecast employment, consumption, investment and corporate profits. The head of the opposition LDP party Mr Abe (expected to be the largest party in the coming general election) repeated his call for aggressive monetary action to stimulate the economy and weaken the Yen and, in addition, suggested introducing legislation to curtail the independence of the BoJ. The Nikkei has reacted positively to a potential change of government – its up over 4.0% over the last 2 days, as the Yen weakens;

The EZ is pressing to settle the issue of providing further aid to Greece on the 20th November. The IMF, Mrs Lagarde will attend the meeting;

The EZ September trade surplus (seasonally adjusted) rose to E11.3bn, higher than the E9.5bn expected and as opposed to E1.7bn in the corresponding period last year. Exports fell by -1.1% M/M, though imports declined by -2.7% reflecting weaker demand. German exports declined by -1.5% in October M/M, with imports -2.5% lower;

French authorities are finalising legislation which will force its banks to separate parts of their investment-banking operations into separate entities. Details are not available as yet, including which activities will need to be transferred into the separate activities;

US October CPI came in at +0.1% M/M (+2.2% Y/Y), in line with expectations though much lower than +0.6% in September;

US November Empire State manufacturing index came in at -5.22, better than the -8.00 expected and -6.16 in October. The new orders component rose to 3.08, as opposed to -8.98 previously. The employment component came in at -14.61, from 1.08 previously, the lowest since July 2009, with new orders at 3.08 as opposed to -8.98 previously. Hurricane Sandy impacted the numbers;

The November Philly Fed index declined to -10.7, much lower than the 2.0 expected and 5.7 in October. New orders came in at -4.6, from -0.6 previously, with prices paid at 27.9 as opposed to 19.0 previously. The employment component came in at -6.8, versus -10.7 previously. The expectations component came in at 20.0, lower than 21.6 previously. The numbers were impacted by Hurricane Sandy;

US jobless claims rose by 78k to 439k in the week to 10th November, higher than the 375k expected. The 4 week moving average rose to 384k, with continuing claims rising to 3.334mn for the week to 3rd November. The numbers were impacted by Hurricane Sandy;

The US National Association of Retailers forecasts that retail sales will rise by +4.1% Y/Y to US$586bn in the period from Thanksgiving day (23rd November) through the holiday season, their most optimistic forecast since 2007;

BP has agreed to pay an US$4.5bn fine to settle criminal charges brought against it by the US Department of Justice. The company still faces civil claims from federal, state and local authorities;

Outlook

Whilst the Nikkei and Hong Kong closed higher, Asian markets were mainly lower. European markets are also weaker. US futures suggest a flat to slightly lower open, though are improving. Gold is trading at US$1710, with December Brent at US$108.60. Markets continue to be fragile. However, some “fix” on Greece is likely next week. The politicians start talking about the US fiscal cliff today – expect these talks to go to the wire. Whilst, I accept that it will create uncertainty, US economic data is improving and the market continues to believe that some deal will be done. However, Israeli tanks are collecting on the Gaza border, which is a real concern – Brent has not reacted materially.

Still believe that markets are oversold, with some bounce back likely. Have bought some UK financials and global energy companies.

Have a great weekend.

Kiron Sarkar

16th November 2012

10 Friday AM Reads

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 06:35 AM PST

My morning reads:

• 50 Unfortunate Truths About Investing (The Motley Fool)
• Marx would have been proud of bankers (FT Alphaville)
• In a Switch, Investors Are Buying European Bank Bonds (DealBook)
• Less money, mo' problems: What China, the U.S., and Europe have in common (Washington Post) see also Sheila Bair Says We’re Headed for Another Crisis (The Atlantic)
• Generation Exceptional: The 2012 Rising Stars of Wall Street Research (Institutional Investor)
• Sweet (Debt) Forgiveness (Boston Review)
• Google Preps Maps App for Apple iPhones (WSJ) see also Why Cell Phones Went Dead After Hurricane Sandy (Bloomberg)
• The New Algorithm of Web Marketing (NYT)
• G.O.P. Governors Meet, Amid Whispers of 2016 (NYT) see also The Real Problem with the Demented Republican Party (Esquire)
A brutal new tumblr: Hello There, Racists! (Tumblr)

What are you reading?

 

Global business barometer

Source: The Economist

Kumbaya?/Nikkei spikes again/Shanghai drops again

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 06:33 AM PST

In terms of the major issue of the day, that being fiscal, today’s the most important day of the week as finally the President will have a coffee talk with both Republican and Democratic leaders. While both sides are now using the balance word, the rhetoric seems to have only been on the tax side (which solves little) and nothing on the spending side (which is out of control and can solve almost everything). The market is very oversold, sentiment is negative and is thus set up for a short term bounce if it hears any signs of Kumbaya out of the meeting. Elsewhere, just as US stocks loved QE, Japan is getting a taste of the same on the possibility that new leadership could encourage the BoJ to play on a bigger scale. The Nikkei rallied another 2.2%, up 4.2% over the past two days and is at a two week high. With the Japanese people loaded up on yen and JGB’s, Japanese stocks and gold will be their only place of safety in maintaining purchasing power. I say buy both and hedge out yen exposure. As the pace of reform is uncertain with the change of power in China, the Shanghai index fell for the 8th day in the past 10 to just shy of the lowest level since March ’09. Hong Kong’s economy grew 1.3% y/o/y in Q3, below expectations of a rise of 1.7%.

.

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