German Bunds Are on the Cusp of Going Positive Yield Again

In my opinion, this is the single most important driver in the risk off camp, for now. The negative yield environment was feeding on itself. It was fomenting both fear and greed amongst equity and bond traders. In an amazing move today, bunds got decimated and yields went from -0.13% to -0.03%. The way markets are moving now, with forex and commodities all cooperating and such, I would expect bunds to claw out of the deflationary vortex by tomorrow.

This, of course, will lead to another joyous rally, one filled with popping champagne corks and crazy people getting tattoos of the Wall Street bull on their arms.

His hair is looking real wavy in that photograph, no? Bill Ackman responds to EXTREME shit talking out of the mouths of HLF. I was floored when I read their statement, regarding Ackman’s short position. It’s the vernacular of a guilty person.

Come on, son.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been assisting governments in monitoring people, making sure they be punished for anything the power structure deems as ‘hate speech’.

Over in Merkel’s Germany, they’re fed up with people talking shit about the millions of Islamic refugees invading their cities. Thanks in large part to the eager help of Facebook, the Bundeskriminalamt have been able to arrest these people for their grave and most heinous crimes.

The country’s federal police agency – the Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA – said in a press release that it was the first nationwide use of police force to combat hate speech on the internet.

In December, the trio of internet giants agreed with Germany and pledged to delete hate speech from their services within 24 hours to help fight a rising tide of online racism in the wake of the country’s influx of refugees.

Facebook, for one, for months had been laying the groundwork to make 24-hour take-down a reality.

Under pressure from Germany, the company launched a hate-speech task force in September to deal with anti-refugee posts.

In fact, before it even sat down with German Justice Minister Heiko Maas in September, the company had agreed to do three things in the wake of the previous month’s anti-immigration violence.

Namely, Facebook promised to:

Partner with FSM, a German self-regulatory group of multimedia service providers.

Start the hate speech task force, working with nonprofits, companies, and government officials, including Maas.

Establish a campaign to promote “counter speech” in Germany, drawing in experts from the UK and Scandinavia to develop ways to combat racism and xenophobia through discussions on social media.

Facebook, along with Twitter and YouTube, are also now facing legal action in France over hate speech.

The BKA said that Wednesday’s raids in Germany were meant to confront what it calls a substantial rise in “verbal radicalism” and related offenses.

Western societies are barreling towards authoritarianism.

This actually makes a lot of sense. Also, I didn’t know ZAGG owned Morphie. With 80% share of the portable phone charger market, ZAGG may very well be set to scream higher here, in spite of the fact their core business is inane.

“It seems that the rise in Zagg is due to the power drain effect of the (Pokemon Go) game. Everyone is going out and buying these phone cases,” said Wunderlich Securities Inc. Analyst Rommel Dionisio in a phone interview, who noted that the firm acquired Mophie Inc. in February of this year. “Mophie has over 80 percent market share for these battery-saving cases in the U.S.”

“Our checks of various Apple, AT&T, Best Buy, Target, and Verizon stores across the country indicated a surge in demand for power management products, including battery cases. More than 35 percent of the ~50 retail locations we surveyed noted increased demand and many specifically cited the popularity of Pokémon Go,” added Roth Capital Partners LLC Analyst Dave King, who upped his price target on Zagg to $6 from $5, while maintaining a neutral rating on the stock. “We believe Anker’s PowerCore 20100 may be the largest product beneficiary, based on Reddit posts and a well-timed Amazon promotion.”

The stock is barely up 12% since last week. With NTDOY up 76% during the same time period, ZAGG is a steal!

The Irish government is on a need to know basis. They’re not permitted to ask questions, regarding a tax deal, under heavy EU scrutiny, that their government struck with Apple to create jobs. They should’ve known better. Now that the good folks in Brussels are on the case, the beer swillers in Dublin can go back to river dancing in the streets, as they watch the EU shatter Apple’s relationship with Ireland to pieces.

“We’ve no indication which way it’s going to go yet,” Noonan told reporters in Dublin on Thursday. “We’ll get information in due course and then we’ll see.”

Ireland continues to brace for an adverse finding following the meeting with Vestager, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Ireland will appeal any repayment decision, no matter how much Apple must repay, the person said, who declined to comment because the process is still ongoing. The EU opened the Apple probe in 2014, and, in preliminary findings, said its tax arrangements were improperly designed to give the company a financial boost in exchange for jobs in Ireland.

Apple told a European Parliament panel earlier this year that it has “paid every cent of tax that is due in Ireland.”

In a worst-case scenario, Apple may face a $19 billion bill if the government ultimately loses and is forced to recoup tax from the company, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Rod Hall. Matt Larson of Bloomberg Intelligence puts the figure at more than $8 billion.

And you wonder why Great Britain wanted out of the EU?

Deep inside the foremost corner office at Citadel, Dr. Benjamin Bernanke ashes his blunt on the expensive Persian, mumbling to himself, as he watches stocks scream higher, ‘got you bitches again. I done told you not to fuck with me.’

Rumors have been swirling since last night that the good Doctor is advising the BOJ to issue ‘perpetual bonds’ and to partake in fiscal policy which would equate to ‘helicopter money.’ On this news, the yen shattered to pieces, stocks soared, and the good Dr. got to show the world again why he was the best damned central bankster the world has ever known.

But it was the yen’s moves that dominated morning trading in London, sliding past 105 per dollar and 140 yen per pound, with dealers citing a Bloomberg report saying ex-Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke had raised the prospect of the BoJ issuing “perpetual bonds”.

“We had this big move up at 7.30 this morning on the story about Bernanke floating this idea. It pushed the dollar through 105 yen and caught some stops along the way,” said Alvin Tan, a strategist with Societe Generale in London.

“We’ve heard a lot of talk about fiscal policy out of Japan. Something will happen on that front. The big question is whether there will be further monetary easing and coordination of the two. That does seem possible.”

The dollar gained 1.1 percent to 105.62 yen, hitting its highest level since late June.
If the government issued perpetual bonds directly to the BOJ, it could amount to the Bank funding government spending directly by printing new yen, for the first time shooting “helicopter money” directly at businesses and consumers.

This shit is hilarious. Dr. Bernanke saves the day.

Yes, he merely trimmed his position, see. It’s summertime and M. Pearson’s yatch is ready and he needs to stock it with some caviar and champagne. That stuff is expensive. The sale was for personal reasons and he still owns some. Yeah, don’t worry, see.

Valeant issued this statement, discussing this matter and more.

The co commented on recent stock transactions made by Valeant’s former chief executive officer, J. Michael Pearson. The Company understands that Mr. Pearson exercised and sold options representing approximately 4.4 million shares, which would expire within the next 12 months, and sold approximately 411,000 shares of common stock in June and July to satisfy tax obligations with respect to the 2015 margin sale conducted by Goldman Sachs, and for additional liquidity. Mr. Pearson remains a significant Valeant shareholder with more than 3.5 million shares and is required to hold 1 million shares for two years following employment termination.

“I continue to believe in Valeant, Joe and the rest of the management team,” stated J. Michael Pearson. “While I trimmed my ownership position for personal reasons, I plan on holding my remaining shares until the company recovers and returns to being traded on fundamentals.”

“Mike’s personal stock transactions are not a reflection of the ongoing viability of Valeant,” stated Joseph C. Papa, chairman and chief executive officer. “I joined Valeant in May because of the opportunity to lead a company with a highly diversified portfolio of leading global brands, a durable consumer franchise, and a strong new product pipeline. While I knew there would be challenges, I am confident that we are taking the right steps to stabilize the company and deliver stakeholder value to patients, prescribers and shareholders.

Next week, the hard work of our R&D team will result in three significant regulatory events related to brodalumab, latanoprostene bunod and Relistor Oral….Furthermore, I look forward to updating our investors on the progress we are making and outlining my vision for the future when we report second quarter earnings next month. As a Valeant shareholder, I continue to believe that we will succeed in realizing this company’s exceptional potential and remain confident that our future will be bright.”

The stock is up 1.7% in the pre market.

Shares of Monte dei Paschi are surging higher by 5% in Italy on a report that said JP Morgan was set to lend close to $8b to Italian authorities in order to buy up toxic assets from the bedraggled Italian lender.

Naturally, Dimon will be lending into a vehicle that is buying the better toxic assets, ones backed by the state.

In an unsourced report, Il Messaggero said Monte dei Paschi was expected to sell 26.6 billion euros in bad loans to the vehicle that would finance the purchase by selling bonds backed by the non-performing loans.

Italian bank rescue fund Atlante will buy the riskier portion of the new bonds while the senior tranche, worth 7 billion euros, would benefit from a state-backed guarantee that requires 4-6 months to be provided.

The loan by JP Morgan would allow the transaction to proceed while the issuance of the asset-backed notes is arranged.

JP Morgan and Monte dei Paschi declined to comment.

Can’t lose.

There is a distinct harmony to the markets that is suggesting investors are eagerly willing to take on more risk now.

German bunds crushed lower, pushing yields higher to -0.093%.

Oil mounts huge 2% rally, while gold sinks 1.5%.

Pound up, Yen down, dollar down- perfect.

Jp Morgan beat on earnings and futures are indicating +150 at the open. Going out on a limb here, I’d expect gold miners and utes to trade down, as investors trade back into riskier stuff, like tech, oil and biotech. It’s all very predictable.

Markets are set to rise for a 10th consecutive day, spearheaded by animal instincts.

I took my son to catch a jigglypuff today. Also, the Princeton gym is strong as heck, fortressed by a Magmar that was a level 1,188. His fire game was strong.

Shares of Nintendo are ripping higher by 16% in Tokyo this evening, on news that the app has topped 15 million downloads.

Skeptics will say this is all horseshit. But don’t forget that Nintendo is a very real and very big company, led by smart people. They will find a way to monetize the hell out of this. Henceforth, the Pokemon craze continues.