This Sell Off is Straight Up Bullshit

I haven’t seen a good looking -150 day like this in awhile, truly indicative of a market begging to go higher. Although the Dow is off by 150, breadth is at 50% — meaning half of the stocks traded are green for the day.

My positions give zero fucks and are all higher.

Observe.

At the end of the day, people want to speculate. Look at that god forsaken $DRYS — lifting higher on bullshit news.

In other words, this sell off is straight up bullshit. It looks like Exodus will be right again and stocks will begin heading higher — starting with tomorrow’s session.

Bottom line: with the dollar down by 1% v the euro and base metals ripping through the roof, this market is like a tinder box waiting to detonate and explode. I would not hold onto any shorts here. Book the trade.

I really don’t know what the answer is for our healthcare crisis. None of the plans, thus far, work. Permitting ‘capitalism’ to work when all of the big pharmas dominate has only led to extraordinary price hikes, across the board.

At the very core of the healthcare expense issue are the drug prices. For those of you who don’t have FREE healthcare through your employer, you’re fully aware of the insanity that is health insurance. Regulations need to control prices there, as the big pharma cabal have proven to give zero shits about the American patient.

Is it fair for prices in other countries to be 1/5th as expensive as ours? Why should we pay premium prices, when all those fuckers do is buy back their own stocks and ingratiate themselves with lavish bonuses? Where’s the value add and what good is health insurance if no one can’t afford it?

Trump had a meeting with some big pharma execs this morning. Here were the headlines.

Biotech is bouncing on these headline, now marginally higher, via $IBB.

UPDATE: Merkel responds by saying US can’t influence euro.

“Germany is a country that has always called for the European Central Bank to pursue an independent policy, just as the Bundesbank did that before the euro existed,” Merkel told a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

“Because of that we will not influence the behaviour of the ECB. And as a result, I cannot and do not want to change the situation as it is,” she added.

Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, is making waves this morning after suggesting that the euro was grossly undervalued — giving the cucks in Germany an unfair advantage over its rival, especially within the EU.

His comments were directly pointed at Germany’s Merkel, a person critiqued often by President Trump for her stance on immigration.

“A big obstacle to viewing TTIP as a bilateral deal is Germany, which continues to exploit other countries in the EU as well as the US with an ‘implicit Deutsche Mark’ that is grossly undervalued,” Mr Navarro said. “The German structural imbalance in trade with the rest of the EU and the US underscores the economic heterogeneity [diversity] within the EU — ergo, this is a multilateral deal in bilateral dress.”

The OECD (illuminati) agrees.

Euro is the most undervalued currency among its Group-of-10 peers https://t.co/pBgSx3XBD2 pic.twitter.com/rI4oDezEGL

— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) January 31, 2017

The net result of these comments have people thinking trade war, sending the dollar lower, gold and other base metals way higher, and the dollar lower.

The obvious winners with a weaker dollar are gold and silver. I prefer zinc, especially since it has utility, mostly used to galvanize iron into steel. With Trump’s infrastructure spending bill not too far around the bend, and the specter of the wall looming, I love $TECK and $HBM for their zinc exposure.

Bitcoins are also sharply higher on this news.

While Trump may not talk about it, or his advisors, the culprit of the articailly weak euro is an obvious one: ECB QE.

As long as the ECB is printing magic money out of thin air to purchase bonds, the euro will remain weak. QE has distorted the essence and rules of finance by rigging borrowing costs and suppressing currencies in order to gain an advantage over non host country counterparts.

Will Trump call the banksters out next?

This is a company in crisis, makers of horribly looking sneakers and apparel. I never quite understood how anyone could buy their sneakers. Then again, I’m a guy who never wears sneakers and believes wearing shorts is for women and small children.

Nevertheless, $UAA is plunging in dramatic fashion this morning after missing and issuing downside earnings guidance. Plus, the CFO is Mcquitting — never a good sign.

What stands out the most is the drop in gross margins and 17% spike in inventories. This company must be Kmarting their merchandise in an effort to attempt to reach goals. I know the CEO, Kevin Plank, is one of those high school QB assholes who pretend to know everything and walk around life like it was a giant fucking locker room, slapping people on the ass and snapping wet towels at their faces.

Well guess what asshole? Your fucking company is a piece of shit now and no one cares about your motivational speeches.

Now your shares are in the gutter and your company is taking on water, a la SS Titanic.

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.25; revenues rose 11.7% year/year to $1.31 bln vs the $1.41 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
North American revenues grew 6 percent.

International revenues, which represented 16 percent of total revenues in the quarter, were up 55 percent driven by significant growth in the U.K., Germany, China and Australia.
Apparel revenues increased 7 percent to $929 million including strength in golf and basketball.

Footwear revenues increased 36 percent to $228 million driven by accelerated growth in running and basketball.
Accessories revenues increased 7 percent to $104 million with strength in bags and headwear.

Gross margin was 44.8 percent compared with 48 percent in the prior year’s period, as benefits from more favorable product costs were offset by aggressive efforts to manage inventory, changes in foreign currency and the outperformance of footwear and international businesses in the overall mix.

Inventory increased 17 percent to $917 million.

Total debt increased 22 percent to $817 million.

Co issues downside guidance for FY17, sees FY17 revs of +11-12% approx $5.4 bln vs. $6.06 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Gross margin is expected to be slightly down y/y.

Tempered top line results coupled with strategic investments in the company’s fastest growing businesses are expected to cause a decline in operating income to approximately $320 million.

Other full year assumptions include interest expense of approximately $40 million and an effective tax rate of 32 to 34 percent.

CFO Departure
The Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Chip Molloy, has decided to leave the company due to personal reasons. Effective February 3, David Bergman, Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance will serve as acting CFO. Mr. Molloy will remain with the company in an advisory capacity to assist with the transition.

Retail is dead. This company needs to be reinvented.

Democratic Congresswoman and long term advocate for American tech workers proposed a bill that will greatly fuck the Indian outsourcing problem which ingratiates the fuckhead executives in Silicon Valley.

If passed, and I think the President would be very supportive of this bill, it would destroy the H1-b visa program designated for high skilled workers. The minimum salary would jump from $60,000 to $132,000, instantly making American IT workers sought after and paid the amount the market dictates.

The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017 introduced by California Congressman Zoe Lofgren prioritizes market-based allocation of visas to those companies willing to pay 200% of a wage calculated by survey, eliminates the category of lowest pay, and raises the salary level at which H1B dependent employer are exempt from non-displacement and recruitment attestation requirements to greater than $130,000.

This is more than double of the current H1B minimum wage of $60,000 which was established in 1989 and since then has remained unchanged.

The new salary limit makes it highly impossible for those already in the US on less than $1.30 lakh to stay back and those getting job offers with less than $11,000 per month salary are not eligible even to apply for a H1B visa. Thousands of IT employees working for Infosys, Microsoft, i-Gate, TCS, HCL, Wipro, Accenture, TechMahindra, etc. are the worst affected by the new law.

Earlier on, IT shares in India were crashing, led lower by Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Wipro, but have since recovered and losses are now moderate — ranging between -2 to -5%. I suppose the market wants to see if this bill stands a chance at passing before passing judgement on Indian IT shares.

HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) head, Mark Hetfield, debated Tucker Carlson this evening on the merits of accepting refugees into the country — declaring it was the responsibility of the United States to accept anyone in need — citing the plight of jews in 1921 and how we, as a nation, horribly failed them — which contributed to the death toll during World War 2.

Tucker called him out for applying a straw man, revisionist, argument — asking Mark to explain what are ‘American values’ and how many refugees are we supposed to take in, considering there are upwards of 60 million, globally.

I am sure you could imagine where this went.

It’s important to note that organizations like HIAS make a living off admittance of refugees into the country. They aren’t honest brokers on the subject matter, since their livelihoods are dependent on government funds quantified off a number of refugees entering the country. In recent years, they’ve enjoyed solid growth, with revenues surging from $25m in 2012 to $40m in 2015, according to their 990 form filed with the IRS.

More to that end, the directors of HIAS have enjoyed a prosperous living off the recent influx of refugees, allocating upwards of $17m (~50%) of revenues towards salaries and compensation.

At the end of the day, they’re crony capitalists, sucking off the tit of government handouts — fueled by idealogues.

The last oversold signal for Exodus occurred in July of 2016. For bulls, it has been a long drawn out climb higher, with an energetic sprint higher after the elections. Our algorithms have been adjusting to recent stress points, as it intuitively learns current market behavior. For the first time in a long time, we triggered an oversold signal on our 3,6 and 12 mo algorithms.

It’s worth noting, however, the principle algo used on the site is the 36mo, due to accuracy and larger data sets.

Nevertheless, the data for the 12mo is impressive, 7 times up and 0 down over 10 trading days.

What does that stuff mean above? It indicates a market that stutter steps upon reaching this stress point for no more than a day, then it’s off to the races. In other words, according to recent history and providing the character of the market remains the same, tomorrow will be an optimal occasion to get long.

A Trump candidacy wouldn’t be complete without a public firing, would it? Without equivocation or delay, after acting AG Yates revolted against Trump in ordering the DOJ to not defend Trump’s refugee ban, Trump shit canned her.

He said  she “has betrayed the Department of Justice.”

And just like that, with a bat of an eye and nod of the head, she’s gone.

Because the democrats are obstructing to approve Trump’s AG pick, Sentator Jeff Sessions, he is stuck is an Obama holdover named Sally Yates. Some are calling her actions a mutiny, I view them more of an act in childish stupidity, as she’s well aware that whatever actions she takes now are both fleeting and irrelevant — since she will be replaced shortly.

In a statement issued today, much to the delight of the leftist press, Ms. Yates ordered the Department of Justice to ignore the wishes of the President of the United States.

Source: NYT

“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.”

The decision is largely symbolic — Mr. Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon — but it highlights the deep divide at the Justice Department and elsewhere in the government over Mr. Trump’s order.

Mr. Trump has the authority to fire Ms. Yates, but as the top Senate-confirmed official at the Justice Department, she is the only one authorized to sign foreign surveillance warrants, an essential function at the department.

“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so,” she wrote.

Here is her statement.

On January 27, 2017, the President signed an Executive Order regarding immigrants and refugees from certain Muslim-majority countries. The order has now been challenged in a number of jurisdictions. As the Acting Attorney General, it is my ultimate responsibility to determine the position of the Department of Justice in these actions.

My role is different from that of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which, through administrations of both parties, has reviewed Executive Orders for form and legality before they are issued. OLC’s review is limited to the narrow question of whether, in OLC’s view, a proposed Executive Order is lawful on its face and properly drafted. Its review does not take account of statements made by an administration or it surrogates close in time to the issuance of an Executive Order that may bear on the order’s purpose. And importantly, it does not address whether any policy choice embodied in an Executive Order is wise or just.

Similarly, in litigation, DOJ Civil Division lawyers are charged with advancing reasonable legal arguments that can be made supporting an Executive Order. But my role as leader of this institution is different and broader. My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts. In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful.

Consequently, for as long as I am the Acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.

The Donald doesn’t approve of this type of fuckery.

The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017

It’s hard to describe the person featured in this leaked periscope video as anything but unhinged. Whether or not she’s representative of the majority of anti-Trump, Black Lives Matter activists isn’t quantifiable at this time. It is, however, ridiculous to see people supporting this brand of hatred, designed to disrupt the very fabric of western civilization.

That being said, whatever happened to dignity and grace? Are those qualities no longer important to the left?

In this clip, a Black Lives Matter activist demanded that white people hand over their homes, money and property to pay reparations to black and indigenous people.

“The White House must die”.

I find it hard to believe any ‘normal’ democrat wants this sordid brand of activism representing their interests. For the republican party, this is like a gift that keeps on giving. The further entrenched the leftist media and activist organizations become, the more Americans become disgusted by them. Say what you want about the popular vote during the elections, the fact remains — republicans have been making strident gains over the past 8 years in every facet of government, both national and local — netting more than 1,000 legislative positions since 2010.

In my estimation, the behavior of the left is the result of decades of social engineering, which taught children that everyone was a winner and to avoid dangerous objects, like see-saws or playing dodgeball. They seem to be unable to deal with adversity; and instead of coping with defeat, like any normal well-adjusted person after an appropriate period of mourning, they become unhinged and resort to primeval animalistic behavior.