Oligarchy: Iran Buys 100 Planes from Boeing

The transaction for the Obama administration was an easy one. We couldn’t steal the Iran’s $100 billion or so, which was frozen since those devils have been trying to build nuclear bombs. But the economy has been waning and the Boeing-Airbus lobby was strong. They convinced our autocrats to release the funds, in order to receive $60 billion in new plane contracts.

A fucking win-win.

Iran has signed a historic agreement with Boeing Co. to purchase 100 jetliners, concluding several stages of negotiations, an Iranian newspaper reports.
The plane maker has applied for a license from the U.S. Treasury to permit the deal and the final details will be revealed once government approvals are obtained, Ali Abedzadeh, director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said in an interview with Iran newspaper.

The transaction would be the Chicago-based plane maker’s first in Iran since sanctions were lifted from the nation in January and follows a $27 billion agreement with Airbus Group SE for 118 planes, including the A380 and A350 models.

Granted, one of these planes might end up in one of our office buildings. Nevertheless, it was worth the risk.

In the event of a BREXIT, the world would blow up in a plume of black smoke. In that eventuality, all those not on the ark shall perish. The good folks over at Morgan are trying to do God’s work. You should let them.

“We suggest investors remain long duration across developed rate markets into the EU referendum,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Matthew Hornbach, the head of global interest-rate strategy in New York, wrote in a June 17 report. “Rates would fall much further on a vote to Leave than they would rise on a vote to Remain.”

This is the height of all stupidity. If there was a pecking order and the dumbest shit ever was at the top, this would be the crown jewel.

Japanese markets are higher by 2%. U.S. futures are higher by 150. Crude is higher by 1%. The British fucking pound is mauling the dollar, up 1.5%. The yen is lower and so are bonds and gold.

Why?

Because some guys in the UK, with smashed upped noses and cigars shoved in their mouths are betting the U.K. will not leave the EU.

Bookmakers’ odds of the U.K. voting on June 23 to exit the 28-nation bloc fell to about 32 percent Sunday, with the poll from Survation for the Mail on Sunday newspaper showing 45 percent of people backed the “Remain” camp, while 42 percent supported “Leave.” The opinion poll is the first since the killing of pro-Europe lawmaker Jo Cox last week.

I remember when the 2005 vintage came out and was praised as the best since 1982, possibly the best ever. Then the 2009-2010 vintages topped that and everyone thought Bordeaux wine, of the first growth category, would continue to surge forever, until it didn’t. The years after 2010 were ruinous for asshole wine brokers, people who buy and sell large quantities of wine futures and never take delivery of the damned thing.

But 2015 promises to, perhaps, match the glory days of 2005, 2009 and 2010, thanks to perfect weather, a very hot June and July followed by a rainy August.

Bordeaux first-growth wine estates on the left bank of the Gironde announced prices 60 percent higher this week for their critically acclaimed 2015 wines as the pace of increases accelerated across the region, according to Liv-ex data.

Chateau Margaux in the Margaux appellation and Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac both priced their 2015 wine at 384 euros ($433) a bottle, up 60 percent from the previous year, according to the London-based Liv-ex market. Chateau Haut Brion in Pessac Leognan, on the southern edge of the city, pushed its 2015 price up 60.4 percent to 385 euros, while Chateau La Mission Haut Brion, under the same ownership, more than doubled in price to 300 euros.

Gains in top-classed estates exceed those of more than 40 percent for many leading growers the previous week, advances of 32 percent in early June for other classed growths in the region and price boosts of 19 percent for those selling in late May. The release of the 2015 wines has drawn selective demand for the higher-rated estates from collectors while also sparking interest in cheaper, older vintages in the secondary market.

“It was an active week for Bordeaux, with the region’s market share by value rising above 85 percent for the first time since December,” Liv-ex said in its blog.

“Buyers seeking value away from the new vintage frequently opted for the 2012, which accounted for almost a third of all Bordeaux trade.”

If you’ve never had a Chateau Margaux, Latour (the Chinese are crazy for this shit) or Rothschild, you should do so at least once in your lifetime. There is a discernible difference in the quality of the utter shit you buy at Trader Joe’s and a first growth from the left bank.

I’ve got some very interesting things planned for Exodus. Before I announce it, I am opening the platform up to free trials, from now until Monday afternoon.

Enjoy.

Vix futures got you feeling down? The contango in crude ruined your day? Did the dollar/yen cross remove you from your life savings?

Watch Top Hat, starring the indomitable Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and I promise you’ll be feeling a lot better by the end of the film.

This is a song and dance movie. I am a fan of Fred’s work, but didn’t expect to enjoy a movie of this genre. I was wrong. It was delightful.

As an aside, watch a 71 year old Fred cut loose at the 1970’s Oscars.

Fred was the man.

Forget about Trump v Clinton. The British Empire’s fate stands in the balance. The corrupt finaglers from Brussels are doing everything they can to prevent England from declaring independence from the EU. They want their fish, their banks, and their people. Markets are going to be EXTREMELY volatile next week. There is a better than average chance that some of you reading this will perish under the brush fires of catastrophic consequences.

The Swiss National Bank is the worst actor in the negative interest rate dilemma, mainly because of their balance sheet success. Because everyone else, save Germany, is an abomination in Europe, whenever things get dicey, people flee to the swissy. In the past, this has put a pervasive and unsustainable pressure on the Swiss banks to deter this from happening. Thus, we are seeing them prepare now, ahead of Thursday’s vote.

“This is an event that is possible, and the probability increased in the last few days, but the base scenario that we have does not include the Brexit,” President Thomas Jordan told reporters in Bern after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged. Nevertheless, “turbulences could arise, and we intend to stabilize the market in case such a situation arises.”

The SNB held its deposit rate at minus 0.75 percent on Thursday, as forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. It also reiterated its threat to wage currency-market interventions if needed, saying the franc remained significantly overvalued.

“Fundamentally, we have room to maneuver on these two instruments,” Jordan said. “In a first phase, should the situation arise, it will be about stepping in to markets in a stabilizing manner to prevent exaggerations.”

“We will have a full team that will be following developments as they unfold,” Governing Board member Andrea Maechler said. “We will be following developments very closely. We have a global view, we follow markets on a 24-hour basis.”

“In case of Brexit we expect markets to test 1.05 francs per euro — a level that we expect the SNB to defend fiercely,” said Karsten Junius, chief economist at Bank J Safra Sarasin in Zurich.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict interventions will probably be the SNB’s first line of defense to rein in any currency strengthening. Some also expect a cut to the deposit rate, already at a record low.

Jordan last admitted to currency purchases at the height of the Greek debt crisis a year ago. The SNB has some 600 billion francs ($626 billion) of foreign-currency reserves, a sum almost equal to the economy’s annual output. Growth slowed to 0.9 percent last year due to the strong franc.

In spite of the success of the SNB, their banks are in dire straights. Both Credit Suisse and UBS are trading all record lows. No one is safe. Hide the kids and the husbands.

The last time Exodus flagged oversold was on March the 23rd, 2016. Although rare, I do believe the algorithms are behaving as they should. Markets have, for the most part, done nothing for the past month or so. We’ve seen some weakness in multiple sectors, but not anything that is overly concerning.

But if there’s one thing that I’ve learned since creating this amazing market tool is to be wary of periods of calm, for they always lead to tumult. Over the past two weeks, the algorithms have pointed to overbought conditions in both semis and Asian equities. Today, they are saying to short Brazil and to go short the British pound.

Markets tried to rally today, but the heft and the weight of the selling was a burden too much to bear. With shares of Apple and Google in the penalty box and a sundry of near term events that pose a threat to market stability, investors opted out of today’s rat race.

The bull case, of course, lies with a rejection of the BREXIT referendum, which should spur a feverish rally in European banks. That rally should spill over into our markets and a short squeeze might occur. But the overall sentiment that negative rates have imprinted on markets is one that will not be lifted any time soon. I am somewhat sanguine on the new Fed position, backing away from hiking. However, the way those lunatics talk, at the first sign of economic stability or growth, they might resume the ‘live meeting’ and ‘three more hikes for ’16’ jargon again.

Who knows?

In a world filled with smoke and mirrors and clowns running about splashing cream pies into the faces of investors, this much is, indelibly, clear.

We are entering a period of stagnation. Earnings growth is nil to negative. Valuations are excessive. The main source of liquidity is provided by central banks. Eventually, the fundamentals will matter. Either productivity is set to explode and valuations will grow into their oversized boots, or a lot of jobs are about to be lost and GDP estimates are about to coming tumbling down.

NOTE: Big news coming to members of 12631 soon. Stay tuned.

When I read this Bloomberg report I wanted to punch a hole through my wall. Earlier this morning, the 126 year institution, dubbed ‘The Wall Street Journal’, went head to head with some fucktard tech reporter on CNBC, dubbed ‘Josh Lipton.’

The WSJ reported that China had suspended the sale of the iPhone 6 because it was too similar to an existing Chinese phone, who had already stole IP from Apple. The stock was hit and everyone was pissed off. Then, some asshole from CNBC, threw cold water on the story, claiming that his ‘sources’, who are obviously nobody, said the story was bogus. CNBC spiked the story and everyone took to Twitter to talk shit about the venerable WSJ.

Lo and behold, once again, the Journal was right.

Beijing’s Intellectual Property Office said the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringe on patent rights held by the company Shenzhen Baili because of similarities to its 100C phone, according to its ruling Friday. China’s largest smartphone makers, by unit shipments, were Huawei Technologies Co., Oppo and Vivo in the first quarter, with Lenovo Group Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp. close behind, according to research firm International Data Corporation.

While the decision covers only Beijing, future lawsuits against Apple could take the case as a precedent, potentially influencing the outcomes of litigation elsewhere in China. Baili is one of scores of smartphone brands trying to cash in on the country’s mobile boom. Xu Guoxiang, the inventor who holds the patent and listed as a Baili representative on yellow-pages site czvv.com, did not answer calls seeking comment.

“IPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in an e-mailed statement. “We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court.”

Tim Long, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York, said he doesn’t think the Chinese ruling is meaningful for Apple.

“We believe there have been several prior cases against U.S. companies ruled in favor of local companies by lower courts that were later overturned by higher courts,” Long wrote in a note to clients. “We have seen dozens of court decisions banning different smartphone products over the years in many different countries. We are not aware of one ever that has resulted in an actual injunction.”

I promised to toss Lipton onto the Catherine Wheel in the city square if his story was bogus. That is exactly what I am about to do right now.

I don’t think this was a case of Mozilo greasing the right skids or your standard oligarch gets out of jail free card situation, as the 77 year old holds very little sway over the establishment elite. The Justice Department didn’t have a case, frankly. Alas, this chapter of the tanned man comes to an end.

U.S. prosecutors have abandoned their case against Angelo Mozilo, a pioneer of the risky subprime mortgages that fueled the financial crisis, after a two-year quest to bring a civil suit against him.

The Justice Department sent a letter informing Mozilo, the co-founder of Countrywide Financial Corp., that it isn’t moving ahead with any action against him, according to people familiar with the matter. That effectively ends nearly a decade of U.S. scrutiny of a man who became a face of risky lending practices and later an emblem of the government’s mixed success in holding individuals accountable.

In recent years, the 77-year-old has been living in a 12,692-square-foot house in Santa Barbara, California, investing in real estate and writing a book about his life so his grandchildren will “know the truth.” Interviewed in late 2014, shortly after news of prosecutors’ civil pursuit became public, he denied any wrongdoing and said the national real-estate collapse, not Countrywide’s lending, was at the root of the crisis.
“Countrywide or Mozilo didn’t cause any of that,” he said at the time.

I can’t wait to read his book of filth and lies, about how innocent they all were at Countrywide, which was penned from his 12,000 sq ft fortress in Santa Barbara.