Loans made in the Franc are piling up and since the currency is rising rapidly it is expected that Eastern European nations are and will continue to have trouble paying back debt.
Comments »German Business Confidence Drops to Lowest Levels in Over a Year
Aussie and Kiwi Dollars Fall on Slow Demand
A global slowdown also slowed demand for safe haven currencies in Australia and N.Z. The Yen and Swiss France have received all the safe haven buyers as of late.
Comments »Nomura: Chinese Stock are Oversold
Japan Accepts the Yen Will Continue to Rise; Instead of Intervention They Provided $100 Billion For Companies to Offset Currency and Boost Exports
The Japanese government also signaled that companies need to figure out how to offset currency exchange on their own without intervention from the government.
Comments »Asian Markets, Treasury Yields, and U.S. Futures Down; Europe Fluctuates and the Swiss Franc Moves Higher
Greek 2 Yr Notes @ 44%; Highest Since Creation of the Euro
Demand for collateral has politicians scrambling on how to disperse bailout funds.
Comments »Early Evening Fun: Welfare Needs to be Restructured
BofA’s Vicious Attack on Henry Blodget is a Tell; $0.001
Charts Show 2000 NASDAQ is Possible if The Clam Disappoints
The NASDAQ chart is indicating a move to 2000 could be in the cards if the market craps out. The NASDAQ closed @ 2446 today.
Comments »Doug Kass: Everyone Is Too Bearish!
“I see no evidence of a double dip,” he said at the time. And despite the downdrafts since then, Kass still thinks the sellers have it all wrong.
“Talking heads and public opinion polls are unanimously negative, but they are no substitute for analysis,” he says.
Comments »
DICK bove: I Changed My Mind, Buy the Bank Stocks
“In the last few days I started looking at valuations of these companies and was just shocked by what I saw,” said the Rochdale Securities vice president of equity research. “These stocks are selling in many cases at lower valuations than the first quarter of 2009, which was supposedly the bottom.”
Comments »FLASH: Moody’s Cuts Japan to Aa3
Large debt loads lead to the downgrade; at this level Moody’s feels they should remain stable. Yen and bonds move very little as this was telegraphed since May.
Comments »Oil companies stalking Libya?
The obvious question now that Tripoli is under rebel occupation is: how long until oil flow resumes?
Comments »Oil companies are understood to be preparing to move back into the North African country, which used to pump 1.6 million barrels per day before the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s government began six months ago.
Exports could resume within six months, analysts have said. According to a report from Exclusive Analysis, the forecasting firm, many pumping stations in the east of the country have been sabotaged by pro-Gaddafi forces and will need to be repaired, as will the export terminal at Brega.
While fighting continues, and predictions that the Gaddafi regime are over seem premature, the international community – and multinational companies – are looking to revive their interests in the country, should the situation stabilize.
That itself is in doubt for the time being. As Alia Moubayed, head of research for the Middle East and North Africa at Barclays Capital, told CNBC on Tuesday morning, “Obviously it’s a huge and daunting challenge, and for any transitional government… there are still questions of legitimacy that are raised by the Libyans themselves, and the support that they will have from the population at large is still a big question.”
“There are other countries in the region that have gone through similar experiences… the challenge of bringing all the Libyans together can very well turn into a messy thing, if there is any chance of having an insurgency,” she added.
Should the Transitional National Council go from a revolutionary movement to a government, and manage to unify the disparate Libyan opposition and bring the country back to functioning economically, there may be a considerable upside, both domestically and for the world economy, and not just from the resumption of oil flows.
Blodget Responds to Banc Of America’s Attack on Blodget, all Stemming from Earlier Hit Piece
I am getting dizzy. In all fairness, I don’t buy Blodget’s argument that something MUST be wrong because BAC is lashing out. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario, where bears point fingers NO MATTER WHAT. What exactly did Blodget want BAC to say?
Comments »Got Stones ? Some Say to Short Gold Now
Rumor Has It: JPM to Buy BAC
HMMM JPM gets another $100 billion to do it. Sounds like a bailout similar to the Bear deal.
Comments »2010’s Best Hedge Fund Manager: Bring on QE3
Don Brownstein: ”
Some Federal Reserve members and lawmakers, acting the part of “modern day ‘Know-Nothings,’” have been “raving about imaginary uncontrolled inflation and wringing their hands over government deficits.”
The Fed has room to use additional asset purchases to stimulate the economy and create moderate inflation to aid indebted consumers, as Bernanke signals he’s ready to spurn “inflation-obsessed fanatics.” Lawmakers shouldn’t “freak out” about deficits with the economy weak.”
Comments »Bank Stocks Fail to Fully Participate in Today’s Rally; BAC Still Down 3%
Banc of America Strikes Back at Blodget
Following this mornings hit piece on BAC, Banc of America issued a scathing statement on Blodget.
Comments »Mr. Blodgett is making “exaggerated and unwarranted claims” which is what the SEC stated publicly when he was permanently banned from the securities industry in 2003. The sovereign exposure is off by a factor of 10. The commercial real estate figures are off by a factor of four. The mortgage analysis was provided by a hedge fund that has acknowledged it will benefit if our stock price declines. The recommendations on goodwill accounting would be prohibited by generally acceptable accounting practices. Traditional bank valuation relies upon tangible book value per share, which excludes by definition 100 percent of goodwill and other intangibles. As of June 30, our tangible book value per share was $12.65.