No real news out of the Geithner meetings. Schaeuble and Geithner offer up the same vapid phrases but interesting that the Geithner/Draghi meeting in Frankfurt yielded no news and it seems to be a blackout. Geithner and Draghi are two very verbose policymakers but as of yet … nothing. This evening though the S&Ps have regained all of today’s losses, which is very minor as the day was unusually quiet. The month end is tomorrow so fund managers will probably window dress as the S&Ps attempt to hold on to a 2% gain for the month.
Posts Tagged ‘Schumer’
Notes From Underground: China begins a game of Chicken to see if Schumer is a rebel without a cause
September 26, 2010During the weekend BOJ Governor Shirakawa delivered a speech in which he stated that the BOJ is “ready to take appropriate action if needed” to deal with the strength of the YEN. It seems that the Japanese government has been getting more heat from the corporate sector because of the YEN’s relative strength and the damage it is doing to the major exporters. Shirakawa offered caution on how the “appropriate actions would proceed as the BOJ is prohibited from “monetizing debt” and it also does not want to risk raising bond yields from fear of inflation.
BOJ seems to have a self-imposed cap on government bond buying so as to avoid debt monetization. Shirakawa alluded to the concept that the BOJ could not buy an amount bigger than the cash in circulation. He didn’t say that it was illegal restraint or just a precautionary stance. The BOJ is on the HORNS OF A DILEMMA as it risks creating inflation that would badly undermine the vast majority of domestic Japanese investors. It is important to remember that 97 percent of all outstanding JGBs are owned by the Japanese themselves–unlike the holdings of U.S. treasuries and MBSs. No wonder the Chinese are buying Japanese debt. It would be political suicide for the MOF to push too aggressively on the monetary creation issue for the huge impact it would have on retiring Japanese savers. Shirakawa and the bank, though, appear nervous that politicans such as the defeated OZAWA will make some move to amend the Bank of Japan law, which guarantees its independence. This is a very serious dilemma for the Japanese polity and we will watch closely. Ever since the initial intervention of September 15,the DOLLAR/YEN has settled down but the EURO/YEN has rallied from 108 to close out last week at almost 114. This is the best effect the Japanese could have gotten.
After all the glad handing between Wen Jiabao and Obama, China this week announced that it was levying anti-dumping duties on the import of U.S. chicken products. It has accused the U.S. poultry industry of dumping chicken broiler parts, which has caused damage to its domestic industry. China says it will palce import surcharges of 50 to 105 percent. In the mainstay of world trade, this is no big deal–ok chicken shit–but it sends a message. Schumer and others want to place a tariff on the Chinese for currency manipulation, but the Chinese know that rural, agrarian states in the U.S. Senate and these states have a great deal to lose in a trade war with the U.S. American farmers are doing phenomenally as they export massive amounts of product to the Chinese. Many traders have been blindsided this summer by the continuing strength in ag markets, even as the U.S. farmers bring in record crops. Latin America also had large crops last year so even with drought in Russia and Ukraine, crop prices were and have held up very well. Even Caterpillar and John Deere have been in opposition to the Schumer initiatives. The Chinese have put the senate on notice that the tariff game is much more complicated than the simplistic language of populism.
The most interesting article over the weekend was the front page WSJ piece about the super-secret committee of European heavyweights that met to make sure the entire EU project didn’t implode. The acrimony between Sarkozy and Merkel was very real and we would suggest that the wounds will take long to heal. Sarkozy was doing everything he could to gain the upper hand on the bailout of the PIIGS and it was reported he tried to bring a television crew to one of the meetings as to embarrass Merkel.
As the story unfolded, it was a real possibility that the EU could have blown apart. As we blogged about a month ago, the idea of Sarkozy heading the G-20 beginning in November 2010 needs constant surveillance as a politically wounded Sarkozy is capable of great mischievous. The stresses in the foundation of Europe are far from over as the WSJ poignantly exposes. Yes, the EURO has rallied more than 10 percent since the height of this summer’s tensions. It probably is the surest sign of how weak the underlying fundamentals are for the U.S. DOLLAR. The more that is revealed about the fragility of the economies of the developed world, the more we realize how difficult the trading environment is and will continue to be. Keep your technicals up and be ready for violent swings as the global political economy reacts to sudden changes wrought by weak economic fundamentals. Throw in the impending trade friction and the surprises can come from all corners of the world. This is not the environment to be playing CHICKEN.
Notes From Underground: Geithner and Schumer put more dung on the fire to heat up the Chinese currency battle
September 19, 2010The news over the weekend was was not market moving. The Center Right coalition in Sweden looks to win re-election, which is a very rare occurrence in the model welfare state of Europe. The Swedes have weathered the recent financial crisis fairly well, since they learned their lesson from the financial pains they endured in the early-to-mid 1990s. In fact, the Swedish crisis has provided some of the best solutions for policy markers in the U.S. and Europe as they seek ways to ameliorate the credit stresses that have been plaguing the developed economies for two-plus years. The biggest problem for the Swedes is the anti-immigration party of Democratic Sweden polled stronger than anticipated, which means they will have seats in Parliament for the first time. The move to the right is something to watch for in the EU as the fiscal austerity programs begin to take hold. If the right can rise in the Swedish Utopia, governments in the rest of Europe have to take note.
Notes From Underground: Is the U.S. Chinese symbiosis fragile?
June 13, 2010First we note the obvious: Friday’s data on retail sales was much weaker than forecasted but unlike the previous week when the unemployment number was much weaker then expected, the S&Ps tried to break late but the downside fizzled and we experienced a late rally to close higher on the day. Are we back to a risk on mode? It is too early to tell as the market is going to retest the 200-day moving averages on the various equity indexes. There is a great deal of money sitting on the sidelines that became nervous because of the May 6 market action. It appears it will take some sideways action above significant technicals to bring this money out of the closet and back to the capital markets.