Phisix-ASEAN Outperformance Despite Global Meltdown

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.– Confucius

This week’s global market rout puts into perspective the issue of ‘decoupling’ vis-à-vis divergence.

As I previously wrote[1],

So it is unclear whether ASEAN and the Phisix would function as an alternative haven, which if such trend continues or deepens, could lead to a ‘decoupling’ dynamic, or will eventually converge with the rest. The latter means that either global equity markets could recover soon—from the aftermath of the Greece (or PIIGS) bailout and the imminent ratification of the raising the US debt ceiling—or that if the declines become sustained or magnified, the ASEAN region eventually tumbles along with them. My bet is on the former.

Therefore, I would caution any interpretation of the current skewness of global equity market actions to imply ‘decoupling’. As I have been saying, the decoupling thesis can only be validated during a crisis.

The bloody losses of this week had been distinct. On a regional basis they ranged as follows: in the Americas 5-9%, in the Eurozone 8-11% and in Asia 5-9%.

The ASEAN-4 rubric seems to have been likewise influenced by the bloodbath, but on a substantially lesser degree (see lower window).

The Philippine Phisix was down 1.47%, but the bulk the week’s decline was accounted for by Friday’s (-1.42%) loss. In other words, the Phisix traded in the neutral zone prior to the reaction to the global equity market crash on Friday.

While Indonesia’s JCI endured the most losses (-5.06%) in the region, followed by Thailand’s SET (3.54%) [see Bloomberg chart upper window], these two neighboring bourses has outperformed the Phisix and Malaysia’s KLSE when seen from the year to date chart. The KLSE on the other hand, had been on a downside streak since early July.

So the lion’s share of the region’s losses, particularly Indonesia -4.86%, Thailand 2.73% and Malaysia -1.45%, also came during the meltdown contagion on the ASEAN-4 last Friday.

In short, prior to Friday’s meltdown, the region was essentially trading neutral (Malaysia, Philippines) to slightly lower (Thailand, Indonesia).

I construe such actions as mainly profit taking, the degree of which ran parallel to the previous gains. Notice that the pecking order of losses mirrors the ranking of best performers.

And importantly, this week’s regional action can be seen in the light of an expression of sympathy to the world.

While this provides little validation of ‘decoupling’ dynamics in the face of a crisis, this week’s significant outperformance presented some evidence to the alternative haven theme in favor of ASEAN bourses. This will likely hold true in absence of sharp volatility.

I’d further posit that losses weighed more on the region’s currencies than the equity markets in terms of relative market scale. The Peso’s 1.04% fall signifies a much larger loss for the Phisix than last week’s 1.47%.

During the last bear market, for every 1% loss suffered by the Peso, the Phisix fell 2.3%. In addition, during the stated period, the Peso had a 5 month time lag to the cratering Phisix. Of course, this has NOT BEEN an established bear market. So there is no need to freak-out.

One would further note that outflows based on net daily foreign trade (averaged on a weekly basis) has been marginal, despite the global market thrashing. Friday’s activities posted a net Php 99 million pesos of outflows.

The falling Peso in reaction to the selloff could have emanated more from the actions of the locals than from foreigners. Local market participants seem to have been hardwired to the misguided perception that US dollar will continue to serve as a safe haven currency.

The previous bearmarket (2007-2008) saw massive foreign selling. Yet this has not been the case today.

Moreover, Friday’s global meltdown had been broadbased, and featured a bear market breadth where decliners trounced advancers by 134 issues. The last time we had the same magnitude of losses was in January 22, 2008 where declining issues predominated the trading session by 144.

Friday’s action could be representative of an emotionally hijacked market. It may or may not highlight a continuation.

Again computed for the weekly averages, the advance decline spread has not even reached the level of deterioration from the losses which occurred during Arab Spring-Japan Triple Whammy shakeout. And this goes with average total traded issues which also remain significantly above the February-March lows.

Bottom line:

The Phisix and the ASEAN-4 bourses have not been unscathed by the brutal global equity market meltdown.

However, excluding Friday’s emotionally charged fallout and despite the weak performances of developed economy bourses during the week, the Phisix and ASEAN bourses has managed to keep afloat and has even demonstrated significant signs of relative strength, signs that could attract more divergent market activities in a non recessionary setting.

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[1] See The Phisix-ASEAN Alpha Play, July 31, 2011

Debt Addiction: US borrowing tops 100% of GDP

I forgot to post this earlier.

The floodgates for borrowing has opened.

From Yahoo,

US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government's debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday.

Treasury borrowing jumped Tuesday, the data showed, immediately after President Barack Obama signed into law an increase in the debt ceiling as the country's spending commitments reached a breaking point and it threatened to default on its debt.

The new borrowing took total public debt to $14.58 trillion, over end-2010 GDP of $14.53 trillion, and putting it in a league with highly indebted countries like Italy and Belgium.

Public debt subject to the official debt limit -- a slightly tighter definition -- was $14.53 trillion as of the end of Tuesday, rising from the previous official cap of $14.29 trillion a day earlier.

Treasury had used extraordinary measures to hold under the $14.29 trillion cap since reaching it on May 16, while politicians battled over it and over addressing the country's bloating deficit.

The official limit was hiked $400 billion on Tuesday and will be increased in stages over the next 18 months.

Here are some noteworthy debt charts

From the Economist

From Britannica

Addiction to acquiring debt has not been limited by political party.

Outside Japan JP and Belgium BE, the US approaches the debt levels of today’s crisis stricken nations of Portugal PT, Italy IT and Greece GR (chart from Deutsche Bank)

What is unsustainable won’t last.

Video: Judge Napolitano: The Austrians Were Right

(via Bob Wenzel)

Graphic: Tidal Flows Even in US Equity Markets

The financial markets have not been driven by inflation?

Great chart from Bespoke Invest

How does one explain the synchronous movement as measured by the % of stocks above 50-day moving averages representing the market breadth of the US S&P 500? Except for the remaining 4%, all issues in the S&P 500 basket are in the morass.

In short, the above is another representation of rising and sinking tides.

see more charts of specific sectors here

So what happened to earnings?

chart also from Bespoke Invest

Where is the connection which shows earnings drive equity prices?

ECB Expands QE: Will Buy Italian and Spanish Bonds

So I am right, the ECB will expand her version of Quantitative Easing (QE) operations

From Bloomberg,

Stocks erased losses after Reuters said the European Central Bank is pressuring Italy to make further reforms in return for buying Italian and Spanish bonds. Italy’s government will announce plans to speed up state-asset sales, liberalize the labor market and introduce a balanced-budget amendment into the country’s constitution, Sky TG24 reported today, citing unidentified officials.

European leaders are hunting for solutions to the debt crisis, helping Italy and Spain gain a respite from the market turbulence after the resumption of the ECB bond-buying program.

The ECB would be willing to buy more bonds of deficit-hit countries once they take “concrete” steps to stabilize their finances, European Central Bank council member Luc Coene said.

Today’s paper money system founded on the welfare based tripartite banking-central bank-government architecture seems bound for disintegration.

NO Such Thing as Risk Free: S&P Downgrades US

The United States has lost its coveted top AAA credit rating.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the nation's rating for the first time since the U.S. won the top ranking in 1917. The move came after Congress haggled over budget cuts and the nation's borrowing limit — and failed to cut enough government spending to satisfy S&P. The issue has contributed to convulsions in financial markets.

The drop in the rating by one notch to AA-plus was expected. The three main credit agencies, which also include Moody's Investor Service and Fitch, had warned during the budget fight that if Congress did not cut spending far enough, the country faced a downgrade. S&P said that it is making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation. Moody's said Friday it was keeping its AAA rating on the nation's debt, but that it might still lower it.

That’s from the Associated Press.

Governments have painted bonds to be sacramental, which the public has worshipped for all these years. Now that the tide has began to ebb, this illusion has been exposed.

As the great Frank Chodorov wrote

The use of the word investment in connection with a bond issued by the State is a treacherous euphemism. When you buy an industrial bond you lend your money to a corporation so that it can buy a machine with which to increase its output of things wanted by the market. The interest paid you is part of the increased production made possible by your loan. That is an investment. The State, however, does not put your money into production. The State spends it — that is all the State is capable of doing — and your savings disappear. The interest you get comes out of the tax fund, to which you contribute your share, and your share is increased by the cost of servicing your bond. In effect, you are paying yourself. Is that an investment?

Government bonds represent as key instruments of financial repression. They signify as redistribution mechanism of scarce and economically valuable resources from the taxpayers (productive sector of society) to the benefit of the politicians, bureaucrats and vested interest groups (unproductive sectors). Yet this arrangement has limits. Apparently we have reached it.

Now even the politically connected major credit rating agencies have obviously bowed to the forces of the marketplace. Risk-free cannot be attained by fiat or legislation (such as the Basel Accords on the banking system).

Risk-free is thus a myth.

Paradigm Shift: The Growing Role of Emerging Markets

In the graphs below the Economist shows of the growing importance of emerging markets relative to the world economy.

The Economist writes, (bold highlights mine)

The combined output of the emerging world accounted for 38% of world GDP (at market exchange rates) in 2010, twice its share in 1990. If GDP is instead measured at purchasing-power parity, emerging economies overtook the developed world in 2008 and are likely to reach 54% of world GDP this year. They now account for over half of the global consumption of most commodities, world exports, and inflows of foreign direct investment. Emerging economies also account for 46% of world retail sales, 52% of all purchases of motor vehicles and 82% of mobile phone subscriptions. They still punch well below their weight in commerce and finance, but they are catching up fast. Almost a quarter of the Fortune Global 500 firms come from emerging markets; in 1995 it was only 4%. The chart below shows more detail of how the economic clout of emerging economies has risen over time:

Except for the ‘consumption of most commodities’ which functions as an effect more than the cause, “world exports, and inflows of foreign direct investments” represent as forces of globalization as further shown below.

Chart from Google’s Public Data

One would note that growth in the share of merchandise trade relative to GDP has more than doubled since 1960s and has breached the 50% level in 2007. But fell below 50% during the last crisis. (chart hasn’t been updated)

The updated chart shows that world trade has now surpassed the previous highs (courtesy of Professor Mark Perry)

And emerging markets' trade liberalization has been leading to hefty increases in the growth trend of imports (chart from ADB) and foreign direct investments.

Bottom line: World trade has played a very significant role in the convergence dynamics of emerging markets and developed economies.

War on Credit Rating Agencies: Italy versus S&P and Moody’s

Falling markets? Blame anyone else but the government.

From Reuters,

Italian prosecutors have seized documents at the offices of rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's in a probe over suspected "anomalous" fluctuations in Italian share prices, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

The measure is aimed at "verifying whether these agencies respect regulations as they carry out their work," Carlo Maria Capistro, who heads the prosecutors' office in the southern town of Trani which is leading the probe, told Reuters.

The documents were seized at the Milan offices of the two agencies on Wednesday, he said, adding that prosecutors had also asked Italian market regulator Consob to provide documents relating to their registration in Italy.

S&P in Italy said in a statement it believed the probe was "groundless".

"We strongly defend our work, our reputation and that of our analysts," it said.

Moody's said it "takes its responsibilities surrounding the dissemination of market sensitive information very seriously and is cooperating with the authorities."

The Trani prosecutors have opened two probes -- one for each rating agency -- after a complaint by two consumer groups over the impact of their reports about Italy on Milan stock prices.

The first complaint was filed against Moody's after it published a report in May 2010 about the risk of contagion for Italian banks from the Greek crisis.

A second complaint filed in May this year targeted Standard & Poor's after it threatened to downgrade Italy's credit rating because of its huge public debt.

This isn’t to defend the sullied US credit rating agencies whom failed to predict the last crisis and whose operating process appears to be politically oriented.

The essential point here is that when turmoil emerges, governments always shift the blame elsewhere. In this case, markets are simply reflecting on the real deterioration of the country’s ability to pay creditors as a result of fiscal imprudence.

Desperate governments will resort to almost anything, even to the absurd, in order to control market price signals for them to look ‘good’.

At the end of the day, dealing only with the symptoms are most likely to exacerbate the disease.

ECB Intervenes in Bond Markets, More to Follow

Following the global market route, a reportedly reluctant ECB has started intervening in Europe's bond markets.

From Bloomberg,

European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet may be forced to step up his fight against the sovereign debt crisis after a resumption of bond purchases yesterday failed to halt a rout in Italy and Spain.

Over opposition from Germany’s Bundesbank, Trichet yesterday sent the ECB back into bond markets as yields on Italian and Spanish yields soared, threatening the ability of the euro region’s third- and fourth-largest economies to borrow. As the sell-off continued, traders said the ECB purchased only Irish and Portuguese securities, suggesting the central bank is reluctant to put up the funds needed to tame a crisis it says governments are responsible for fixing.

“The ECB is being dragged unwillingly back to the table, having tried originally to palm off responsibility for restructuring the euro zone to governments,” said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London. “If the ECB is serious about playing its part in holding the euro zone together, then it’s going to have to spend a considerable sum.”

The ECB, which ceased buying bonds four months ago, was forced back into action after governments failed to convince investors that a package of new measures agreed to last month will prevent the crisis from spreading. The ECB may be hesitant to intervene in Italian and Spanish markets, which according to Bloomberg data have a combined 2.2 trillion euros ($3.1 trillion) worth of outstanding bonds, for fear of starting an engagement it can’t get out of.

As expected, once the distress on the marketplace becomes pronounced, global central banks will set aside political squabbling to give way for more inflationism. [All these meant to save the cartelized global banking system]

Yet if this episode of bloodbath continues, expect the ECB to expand its purchases to include Italian and Spanish bonds. That’s the ECB’s version of QE (asset purchases from money printing) now at work.

So you have 3 major central banks intervening in the financial marketplace over the past 48 hours, the Swiss, Japan (yesterday’s record 4 trillion yen or US $50.6 billion at the forex market) and now the ECB.

Global central bankers appear to be synchronizing their efforts at an escalating scale. Expect even more.

Hot: BSP’s Amando Tetangco says Philippines Open to Currency Intervention

Given the recent fad of currency interventions initiated by the SNB and the BoJ, the Philippine central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has threatened to join the bandwagon

From Bloomberg,

The Philippines is prepared to impose controls to cap volatility in the peso after its currency rose to a three-year high this week, central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said in an e-mail late yesterday. The bank “will not go against the fundamental currency trend but will not hesitate to use tools, including imposing prudential limits on certain transactions of banks,” he said.

Gadzooks. This guy speaks as if he has been bestowed with supernatural powers to control the marketplace, like the fabled King Canute who commanded the sea waves to halt.

The Philippines has already been engaged in subtle currency interventions, but because of the political correctness, which are meant to advance the remittance and export based interest groups, the BSP honcho has announced his willingness to do much further actions at the risks of unintended consequences

These people are hardly accountable for their actions, and would boldly take any measures at our expense.

Well, if competitive devaluation becomes widespread or the predominant measure worldwide, then expect inflation to accelerate.

Global hyperinflation could turn into a real risk.

Return of the Bond Vigilantes? China and Russia Blasts Debt Ceiling Bill

Back to the debt ceiling bill, foreigners as the BRICs represent as pivotal forces, whom could function as bond vigilantes (bond market investors who protests monetary or fiscal policies they consider inflationary by selling bonds, thus increasing yields) and who could substantially sway US sovereign bond prices or the direction of interest rates.

Some of these significant bond holders have reportedly criticized the debt bill.

From Bloomberg,

China, the largest foreign investor in U.S. government securities, joined Russia in criticizing American policy makers for failing to ensure borrowing is reined in after a stopgap deal to raise the nation’s debt limit.

People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said China’s central bank will monitor U.S. efforts to tackle its debt, and state-run Xinhua News Agency blasted what it called the “madcap” brinksmanship of American lawmakers. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said two days ago that the U.S. is in a way “leeching on the world economy.”

The comments reflect concern that the U.S. may lose its AAA sovereign rating after President Barack Obama and Congress put off decisions on spending cuts and tax increases to assure enactment of a boost in borrowing authority. China and Russia, holding a total $1.28 trillion of Treasuries, have lost nothing so far in the wake of a rally in the securities this year.

“It’s probably frustration more than anything else for China,” said Brian Jackson, a senior strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong. While the nation has concerns, “they realize there’s not a lot of options for them out there and so they need to keep buying Treasuries.”

China held $1.16 trillion of Treasuries as of May, U.S. Treasury Department data show. The nation has accumulated the holdings as a by-product of holding down the value of its currency, a policy U.S. officials have said gives China an unfair advantage in trade.

Apparently these have not just been political talk but appear to have been accompanied by action

Charts from yardeni.com

Foreign appetite for US bonds has been on a decline, with China accounting for the gist.

As earlier discussed, the local savers through private banks have been shackled by various regulations particularly the Basel Accords, which compels the banking industry to divert these savings to finance government expenditures. This has been called as Financial Repression by some experts. Once the bond market unravels, many of the private sector money tied due to such regulations will get burned.

Yet with the debt ceiling bill currently lifted to $16.5 trillion, and where the US Federal Reserve has taken over the bulk of the financing of the ballooning US deficits via the QE 2.0 from declining interests from foreigners, the $64 gazillion question is ‘will the US government allow interest rates to go up which increases the risks of popping the banking system’s ultra fragile balance sheets?’

Graphic above from PIMCO’s Bill Gross

I don’t think so.

And it has been part of the central banking dogma or quasi operating manual to inflate the system when some form of distress emerges.

This can be exemplified by the actions of the SNB on the Swiss Franc and the BoJ on the Yen during the past 24 hours. And that’s why, given the mounting risks of a bond auction failure, sluggish asset markets and the desire to keep interest rates at current levels or ‘Zero bound’, we should expect the next round of asset purchases by the US Fed to happen soon.

And this is also why fissures on the US dollar system continue to widen.

From another Bloomberg article

The committee of bond dealers and investors that advises the U.S. Treasury said the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency “appears to be slipping” in quarterly feedback presented to the government.

The Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from firms ranging from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Pacific Investment Management Co., said the outperformance of haven currencies and those from emerging nations has aided in the debasement of the dollar’s reserve status, according to comments included in discussion charts presented ahead of the quarterly refunding. The Treasury published the documents today.

“The idea of a reserve currency is that it is built on strength, not typically that it is ‘best among poor choices’,” page 35 of the presentation made by one committee member said. “The fact that there are not currently viable alternatives to the U.S. dollar is a hollow victory and perhaps portends a deteriorating fate.”

What is unsustainable won’t last. The bond vigilantes are lurking around the corner and substantially higher interest rates will be the future. That’s what record gold prices have been admonishing us.

For now, profit from political folly.

(hat tip Dr. Antony Mueller)

Wine Market as Bubble Meter

I previously pointed out that the Art Markets can signal the phases of a bubble cycle here and here

The wine markets appear to be manifesting some signs too. That’s according to this report from Bloomberg,

Surging demand for Chateau Lafite and other French trophy labels, especially from Asia, has pushed both prices at auction and wine futures to records. Not all wine dealers are happy.

The prices for some of the most expensive bottles are starting to discourage even billionaire collectors, said dealers -- some of whom had warned in January of a bubble that could burst in 2011. Chinese and other buyers balked as some Bordeaux producers raised prices as much as 80 percent last month for the new vintage offered “en primeur,” when it is still in barrels.

“En primeur sales have halved,” Simon Staples, fine wine and marketing director of the London-based merchants Berry Bros & Rudd, said in an interview. “It’s a combination of high prices and the fact that the chateaux released less than last year.”

Sales growth is also slowing at auctions. Takings at the biggest three wine auction houses in the first six months of 2011 were up by 46 percent on the same period in 2010, according to Bloomberg calculations, down from the 88 percent sales increase in 2010…

Chinese consumers continue to spend millions on older vintages in bottles at specialist auctions. Sotheby’s (BID), Christie’s International and Acker, Merrall & Condit took a record $258.3 million in wine sales in 2010, more than double 2009. About two-thirds of the most expensive lots were selling to Asian bidders, according to both Christie’s and Acker.

Wealth from globalization is one thing. Conspicuous consumption from boom bust cycle is another. One would know the difference ex-post or after the bust.

(hat tip: Dr. Antony Mueller)

Paradigm Shift: Wealthy Russians Buy US Homes

In my earlier post, I pointed out that the wealthy Brazilians, Indians and Chinese had been lending “support” to the US property sector.

Under the major emerging markets the rubric of the BRIC acronym coined by Goldman Sach’s analyst Jim O’Neil, Russia posed as the missing link.

Not anymore.

From Bloomberg, (bold emphasis mine)

Roustam Tariko, billionaire owner of Russian Standard Bank and Russian Standard Vodka, completed the most expensive home purchase in Miami Beach since 2006 when he bought a $25.5 million estate on Star Island in April.

The transaction made Tariko the neighbor of another wealthy Russian with a taste for Florida luxury living. Vladislav Doronin, chairman of Moscow-based real estate developer Capital Group, paid $16 million in 2009 for the Star Island home previously owned by Shaquille O’Neal, the now-retired professional basketball player.

“In Russia, it’s a status thing now,” Jorge Uribe, a real estate agent with One Sotheby’s International Realty Inc. in Coral Gables, Florida, said in a telephone interview. “If you’re wealthy and you say you have a place in Miami, it’s like saying back in the old days, ‘I own a place in Ibiza or Monaco.’ It’s a cocktail conversation thing.”

International investors are buying some of the priciest homes in America as the broader housing market slumps and a weak dollar makes U.S. property more of a bargain. Sales of residences above $20 million are rising in New York, California and Florida, which are popular business and vacation destinations for foreigners, according to Miller Samuel Inc., DataQuick and real estate brokers who cater to luxury buyers.

This is just one of the manifestations of the effects of globalization from fund flows (capital mobility) to the diffusion of prosperity worldwide.

The same article underscores this, (bold emphasis mine)

The precise number of foreign deals for U.S. luxury properties is difficult to calculate because many purchasers are registered as trusts or limited liability companies. Jed Smith, managing director of quantitative research for the National Association of Realtors, said the number of overseas buyers for multimillion-dollar homes is increasing, helped by the rise of emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil, China and India.

“There’s substantial growing wealth overseas,” Smith said in a telephone interview from Washington. “Just go to the Forbes list of billionaires and see that we’re no longer the only folks on it.”

Of the 214 newcomers to Forbes magazine’s annual global ranking of billionaires this year, 54 were from China and 31 from Russia. The Asia-Pacific region had more billionaires than Europe for the first time in more than 10 years and gained the most of any region, with 105 additions, according to the list. Moscow displaced New York as the city with the greatest number of billionaires with 79, compared with New York’s 58.

If there is anything that would be considered as certain or permanent, (aside from death and taxes) that would be ‘change’.

Japan Intervenes to Curb Rising Yen

From one currency intervention to another, yesterday the Swiss Franc, today the Japanese Yen (the BoJ finally made good their earlier broadcasted plan)

From Bloomberg

Japan intervened in the foreign- exchange market to sell yen, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters today in Tokyo.

The nation acted alone, and was in touch with other countries, Noda said. The Bank of Japan separately said in a statement that it will end its policy meeting today, one day early. Noda said that he hopes the central bank will take appropriate action.

All these money being printed will flow somewhere.

Bottom line: Paper money, as Voltaire said, will eventually return to its intrinsic value: ZERO

Hot: Swiss National Bank Intervenes to Halt a Surging Franc

My skepticism about the Swiss franc has been validated. You simply just can’t trust central bankers. Not even the Swiss variety.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised the currency market as it intervened by ‘injecting liquidity’ in an attempt to forestall the upsurge of the franc.

The SNB apparently went ahead of the Japanese who are mulling to do the same.

From the Marketwatch (bold emphasis mine)

The Swiss National Bank on Wednesday moved to halt the rise of the Swiss franc, saying the strength of the currency was "threatening the development of the economy and increasing the downside risks to price stability in Switzerland." The euro EURCHF +2.08% jumped 1.8% versus the Swiss currency to trade at 1.1061 francs, while the U.S. dollar USDCHF +1.80% jumped 1.4% to 77.61 centimes. Calling the franc "massively overvalued at present," the SNB said it would move its target for three-month Libor as close to zero as possible, narrowing the taret range to 0% to 0.25% from 0% to 0.75%.

The SNB said it will simultaneously "very significantly increase" the supply of liquidity to the Swiss franc money market over the next few days, and that it aims to expand banks' sight deposits at the SNB from around 30 billion Swiss francs to 80 billion Swiss francs. In a statement the central bank said it is "keeping a close watch on developments on the foreign exchange market and will take further measures against the strength of the Swiss franc if necessary."

Under such environment gold prices continue to streak at fresh record levels, which as of this writing has been drifting around the 1,665-1,670 range

from Kitco.com

I would suspect that part of this intervention, aside from publicly wishing for a weaker franc, is to flood the system with money to mitigate the losses being endured by European equity markets.

My guess is that the US will be next pretty soon.

Mainstream Economists Lack Ethics

Speaking of occupational hazards, lawyers are known as liars while economists are known for their lack of ethics.

Al Lewis at the marketwatch.com writes (via Mises Blog Mark Thornton) [bold emphasis mine]

Economist Martha Starr thinks there’s something you should know about economists: They have no code of ethics.

Starr has worked for the Federal Reserve, the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Today, she’s an economics professor at the American University and the editor of a new book of essays, “Consequences of Economic Downturn: Beyond the Usual Economics.”

“Economists have absolutely no guidelines regulating their conduct,” Starr said. “Accountants, financial professionals...sociologists, anthropologists, historians, mathematicians and physicists all have standards, but not economists.”

This includes the economists who were wrong about the Internet bubble, the housing bubble and whether the Fed’s multitrillion-dollar liquidity injections would revive the economy. It also includes the economists who are now offering us differing views on what happens if America loses its Triple-A credit rating or defaults on its debt.

Economists don’t have to disclose relationships that leave them fatally conflicted. They too often work for banks, real estate groups, trade associations, corporations, political organizations and other aggressive players with a vested interest in a nation of suckers thinking that things they buy will always go up.

Economists don’t have to disclose the big, fat speakers fees they might receive from a Wall Street investment firm. They don’t have to mention their roles as corporate board directors, consultants and paid expert witnesses in corporate litigation. Or even the investments they’ve made personally that could benefit from some good, old-fashioned economic cheerleading.

Mainstream economists, along with politicos, are one of the main practitioners of the principal-agent conflict of interest (agency problems). Many of them are shills and operate on a revolving door relationship with government agencies as the US Federal Reserve

Worst, they have a string of very poor track record in forecasting markets

Chart from NewsNEconomics

Yet here is the kicker (from the same article):

Economists are not responsible for the consequences of their forecasts. They don’t even stand to be embarrassed for failing to disclose conflicts or living up to any sort of code.

Al Lewis is right, even sewer workers have standards!

Today’s Market Slump Has NOT Been About US Downgrades

As of this writing the Phisix is down by over 1% and has followed Asia and ASEAN region and global equity markets in deep red.

Chart from technistock

Concerns have been raised that falling global equity markets have been about the risks of US downgrades.

I don’t think so.

One, the passage of the US debt bill temporarily eased US default risks as measured by CDS. That risk has not gone away but will accrue overtime (years).

Two, US credit rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s has affirmed the US credit standings, but has warned of future downgrades if deficits will not be reduced.

Three, the US yield curve has not exhibited signs of US downgrade risks but of fear of recession

Fear of downgrade implies HIGHER interest rates. US interest rates have been tumbling across the curve.

Fourth, if there is an example of the effects of downgrade risks then we should look at Europe

Chart from Bespoke invest.

This is an example of how a downgrade would look like. CDS of France and Italy have spiked.

This means that while everyone’s attention is in the US, they may be missing out that today’s market’s volatility could be a dynamic emanating from Europe

Europe's tanking equity markets (STOX50e, CAC, DAX) appears to have led the US (SPX) and not the other way around.

Lastly, while one day doesn't a trend make, these are seemingly strong signs where when faced with fear from another recession-crisis, the decoupling dynamic vanishes.

Japan Considers More Currency Intervention

In this world of paper money system, policymakers seem to have a single designated solution to every economic problem: policies that leads to the destruction of their currencies via the printing press.

From Reuters, (bold emphasis mine)

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he was closely communicating with the Bank of Japan and other countries on how to address the yen's recent rise.

Sources familiar with the BOJ's thinking also said the central bank will consider easing monetary policy this week as the yen is trading near a record high against the dollar. "Investors' main concern is the possibility of intervention and the yen's moves, so while the market may weaken, hit by concerns about the U.S. economy, losses could be limited to around what the market gained yesterday as investors may be cautious about selling," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities.

These people have not learned from the March 18^th intervention which hardly stopped the Yen from rising.

It’s also another sign why major economies, as Japan, would continue to flush the world with money from thin air which may lead to market asymmetries and higher commodity prices.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin Calls US a ‘Parasite’ Economy

From Reuters,

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States Monday of living beyond its means "like a parasite" on the global economy and said dollar dominance was a threat to the financial markets.

"They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy," Putin told the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi while touring its lakeside summer camp some five hours drive north of Moscow.

"They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar," Putin said at the open-air meeting with admiring young Russians in what looked like early campaigning before parliamentary and presidential polls.

As the world’s largest economy that owns the de facto world reserve currency, the US has naturally been taking advantage of this seignorage privilege.

Nevertheless, having abused this position through Keynesian policy induced boom bust cycles and the constant bailouts of the cartelized ‘too big to fail’ banking system, the US dollar’s dominance has been in erosion.

Chart from Wikipedia.org

But Mr. Putin's rants seem to be diverting blame on his country’s woes to the US.

Russia’s autocratic political economy has hardly been a beacon of economic progress worthy of emulation.

chart from the Heritage Foundation

This implies that Mr. Putin holds no moral high ground. It would be like the envious ‘pot calling the kettle black’.

Graphic: US Default Risk—Short and Long Term

Nice chart from Bespoke Invest on the risk of a US default, as measured by Credit Default Swaps—CDS).

Following the announcement of the debt ceiling deal, US CDS prices materially declined exhibiting an easing of default concerns.

It is important to point out that yesterday’s steep drop could be seen as ‘temporary’ relative to the 3 year trend (violet arrow), which reveals that the risks on the credit standing of the US has been on the ascent.

Nonetheless, last night’s debt deal has not helped US equities as the US S&P 500 slumped anew.

However, one would note that as US default risks have been on the rise over the past 3 years, so has gold prices.

So gold could partly be manifesting these concerns too (gold sizably declined yesterday in conjunction with the fall of US CDS).

Debt Ceiling Bill: Where are the Spending Cuts?

I correctly argued that the so-called debt deal impasse was only a theatrical display meant to pander to voters (and the tea party movement) that there has been a standing opposition.

In truth, politicians from both camps had no desire to enact fiscal discipline. Instead, they colluded to use market hobgoblins to arrive at the 11^th hour deal.

Now that the debt ceiling deal had been passed at the Congress, we ask; where are the spending cuts?

Cato’s Chris Edwards says there’s none

More from Mr. Edwards,

the budget deal doesn’t cut federal spending at all.

House Speaker John Boehner’s bullet points on the deal say that it cuts discretionary spending by $917 billion over 10 years, as “certified by CBO.” These discretionary “cuts” appear to be the same as those in Boehner’s plan from last week. The chart shows CBO’s scoring of those spending cuts.

Wait a minute, those bars are rising! Spending isn’t being cut at all. The “cuts” in the deal are only cuts from the CBO “baseline,” which is a Washington construct of ever-rising spending. And even these “cuts” from the baseline include $156 billion of interest savings, which are imaginary because the underlying cuts are imaginary.

No program or agency terminations are identified in the deal. None of the vast armada of federal subsidies are targeted for elimination. Old folks will continue to gorge themselves on inflated benefits paid for by young families and future generations. None of Senator Tom Coburn’s or Senator Rand Paul’s specific cuts were included.

The federal government will still run a deficit of $1 trillion next year. This deal will “cut” the 2012 budget of $3.6 trillion by just $22 billion, or less than 1 percent.

The legislation does create a “Joint Committee” to design a second round of at least $1.2 trillion in spending cuts by November. Presumably, interest savings will be included in those “cuts” as well, reducing the amount of actual program cuts needed to about $1 trillion.

The debt ceiling bill looks more like legal skulduggery or prestidigitation

As Cato’s David Boaz neatly puts its

most of which promise to cut spending some day—not this year, not next year, but swear to God some time in the next ten years. As the White Queen said to Alice, ”Jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day.” Cuts tomorrow and cuts in the out-years—but never cuts today.

Now that debt ceiling has been raised, expect the next round of asset purchase program from the US Federal Reserve

Quote of the Day: Government Expertise

From American libertarian writer and politician Harry Browne (via Lew Rockwell)

The government is good at one thing. It knows how to break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, 'See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk.'"

Hot: Debt Limit Deal Approved

From Bloomberg, (bold emphasis mine)

President Barack Obama said tonight that leaders of both parties in the U.S. House and Senate had approved an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion and cut the federal deficit by as much as $2.5 trillion over a decade, a deal that must now be sold to Congress.

“The leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default,” Obama said at the White House. “This compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit-reduction we need. Most importantly it will allow us to avoid default.”

Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion, sufficient to serve the nation’s needs into 2013. They are preparing to sell to members the deal to cut $917 billion in spending over a decade, raising the debt limit initially by $900 billion, and to charge a special committee with finding another $1.5 trillion in deficit savings by the year’s end. They confront an Aug. 2 deadline for approval of the agreement.

I told you so.