Month: February 2014

• California couple finds $10 million in buried treasure while walking dog (Reuters) … not bitcoin?
• Dimon Says Threats to JPMorgan Span Google to China Banks (BBG)
• Stocks So Many Love to Hate Buoyed by Fed’s Jobs Priority (BBG)
• White House Weighs Four Options for Revamping NSA Phone Surveillance (WSJ) … to pick the fifth one
• Credit Suisse Executives Weren’t Aware of U.S. Tax Dodges (BBG)
• Militias Hunt Kiev Looters From Central Bank to Bling Palace (BBG)
• Crisis Gauge Rises to Record High as Swaps Avoided (BBG)
• Obama to Propose Highway-Repair Program (WSJ)
• Ukraine Pledges to Protect Deposits as Kiev Rally Called (BBG)
• Twinkies Bankruptcy Raises Specter of U.S. Pension Fund Failures (BBG)
• U.S. warns banks to watch for ousted Ukraine leader moving looted funds (Reuters)
• Investors Mount Attack on Norway in $20 Billion Oil, Gas Row (BBG)
• Switzerland Shifting From Bankers to Bunkers in Data Push (BBG)
• Obesity rates remain high, but stable in the U.S (Reuters)

 

Oveernight Media Digest

WSJ

* Administration lawyers have presented the White House with four options for restructuring the National Security Agency’s phone-surveillance program, from ditching the controversial collection altogether to running it through the telephone companies, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

* The virtual currency bitcoin suffered the biggest setback in its five-year history after a major exchange shut down on Tuesday, stoking concern about the future of a digital form of money traded by professional investors and ordinary people, but regulated by no one.

* Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has received a subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York, according to a person familiar with the matter, dealing another blow to the embattled marketplace for buyers and sellers of the virtual currency.

* Two big banks, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, on Tuesday disclosed details of the continuing regulatory and legal challenges they face for their actions during the financial crisis.

* Credit Suisse Group AG went to great lengths to assist U.S. customers trying to open Swiss bank accounts and evade federal taxes, courting clients at a Swiss-themed ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and setting up a branch in the Zurich airport to assist Americans en route to ski vacations, a Senate report alleged Tuesday.

* Tesla Motors Inc shares hit a record high on Tuesday ahead of an expected announcement of a battery-production partnership in which the company would carve out a business making advanced batteries for itself and others. Panasonic Corp, now the primary battery supplier for Tesla’s $71,000-and-up electric cars, is in talks about investing in a nearly $1 billion battery factory in the United States, according to Japanese business newspaper the Nikkei.

* When word got out that Procter & Gamble Co had allowed Amazon.com Inc to set up shop inside its warehouses, Amazon’s bitter rival Target Corp reacted by retaliating against P&G, according to people familiar with the matter. Several months ago, the discount chain started to give some P&G products less-prominent placement in stores people in the industry said.

* The Pentagon has responded to concerns that defense cuts could harm the U.S. military-industrial base by proposing support that could aid two unlikely beneficiaries: General Electric Co and United Technologies Corp.

 

FT

UK Chancellor George Osborne is facing a push from Tory MPs to announce tax cuts in the upcoming budget in an attempt to protect the government’s political position from a backlash from an interest rate hike by the Bank of England.

The European Commission has forecast a growth of 1.2 percent for the Eurozone’s economy while cautioning on vulnerable members such as Italy and France.

Indian banks may be forced to stop offering retail services in the UK as regulatory compulsions proposed in a consultation paper by Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority would make it tough for banks to offer customer banking due to additional costs.

World’s biggest chemical maker by sales, BASF is targeting investments in North America and emerging markets as it feels the heat of saturating markets in Europe hit by recession.

The chief executive of British banknote printer De La Rue Tim Cobbold has resigned to join marketing services company UBM, and will replace David Levin effective May 6.

 

NYT

* The apparent collapse of Bitcoin’s best-known and once-dominant trading platform has provoked outrage among its users, but it has also stirred hopes that the way may now be clear for more established players to transform and rein in a largely unregulated market.

* U.S. orders tests on oil shipments as recent accidents have drawn attention to the risks of shipping large quantities of crude oil in unpressurized railcars.

* The proposal by the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee to overhaul and simplify the nation’s tax code is already coming under scrutiny from fellow Republicans, with at least one party leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, saying the plan has no chance.

* Seventeen brokerage firms, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Merrill Lynch, have agreed to stop participating in money management surveys aimed at tapping into research analysts’ changing views on companies before those opinions are publicly issued.

* A report by a Senate subcommittee said Swiss bank Credit Suisse helped customers hide assets from taxation by the United States, and also accused American law enforcement of dragging its feet.

* Bank of America said that it was facing new investigations related to its activities in foreign currency exchange markets as well as its handling of government-backed mortgages in the United States.

* Morgan Stanley has tentatively agreed to pay $275 million to resolve a federal securities investigation related to subprime mortgage bonds the investment firm underwrote in 2007.

* Steven Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund owner, is looking to hire a former prosecutor or securities regulator to monitor trading at his investment firm after the federal government’s insider trading investigation.

* Standard & Poor’s is seeking information about certain meetings between President Obama and Timothy Geithner in 2011, hoping the details will help show that a lawsuit filed by the government in 2013 against the company was done in retaliation for a ratings downgrade of American debt.

* Hedge fund Elliott Management raised its bid for Riverbed Technology on Tuesday and continued to criticize the networking equipment company for failing to begin a process to sell itself.

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

* The debate over the proposed overhaul of Canada’s elections laws will be confined to Parliament Hill, as the governing Conservatives and opposition New Democrats continue to spar over the changes.

* Ottawa’s auction of the 700-megahertz frequency sparked such a frenzy among wireless carriers that during some rounds, they placed bids totaling more than C$7 billion ($6.32 billion).

Reports in the business section:

* The federal government’s plan to sign a free-trade agreement with South Korea has won the support of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association of Canada.

* Tim Hortons Inc is planning a big expansion, some of it in smaller spaces. The company said on Tuesday that it would open 800 restaurants in North America – 500 of those in Canada – and 220 in the Middle East as it targets compound annual profit-per-share growth of 11-13 percent in the next five years.

NATIONAL POST

* Politicians have been trying to make the middle class out to be a poor huddled mass of declining fortunes, but Statistics Canada paints a different picture. The study, released on Tuesday, shows the median net worth of Canadian families jumped 44.5 percent to $243,800 in 2012, up from $168,700 in 2005. Over the past 15 years, the median net worth figure leaps 80 percent.

* Prime Minister Stephen Harper is hinting that the key Conservative campaign plank from the 2011 federal election that earned him a majority might not be pitched overboard after all. Income-splitting for couples with children under 18 was a $2.5-billion pledge during the last election – a Conservative promise that would kick in as soon as the government balanced the federal budget.

FINANCIAL POST

* Chief Executive John Chen is hoping that moving one step back will help BlackBerry Ltd take two steps winning back customers. Since taking over the embattled Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone maker in November, Chen has made it clear the company must return to its roots if it hopes to restore its fortunes and rebound to profitability.

* Canadian shippers are bracing on Wednesday for a work stoppage at the Port Metro Vancouver by truck drivers protesting what they claim are long lineups, wait times and other “unfair” practices at the country’s busiest port

 

China

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

– The Securities Association of China has published rules that would require Chinese brokerages strengthen their risk management.

SECURITIES TIMES

– Singaporean developer CapitaLand Ltd plans to build 100 shopping centres in China over the next 3-5 years.

– China’s electronics manufacturer, TCL Corp, said it would fully embrace Internet and mobile technologies, aiming to boost the company’s market value to over 100 billion yuan in five years, from around 23 billion yuan now.

PEOPLE’S DAILY

– China President Xi Jinping has called on the nation to promote and embrace the core value of socialism.

 

Britain

The Telegraph

BRITAIN’S GROWTH PROSPECTS UPGRADED BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The European Commission expects Britain to grow by 2.5 percent in 2014, compared with a forecast of 2.2 percent in November. Its forecast for 2015 was unchanged at 2.4 percent.

DIXONS AND CARPHONE MERGER COULD FACE COMPETITION INVESTIGATION

A potential merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse is likely to face an investigation by Britain’s competition authorities, analysts have warned.

The Guardian

LONDON’S BUY-TO-LET RENTS DOUBLE THAT OF REST OF UK, SAYS LENDER

Landlords taking on new buy-to-let properties in London are charging twice as much rent as those in the rest of the country, according to data from one of Britain’s biggest buy-to-let lenders, BM Solutions.

ROYAL MAIL: COALITION ACCUSED OVER ‘POLITICAL’ FLOTATION

The government faced fresh accusations of short-changing the taxpayer over the Royal Mail float on Tuesday after it was revealed that bankers valued the company at up to 8.6 billion pounds when approached months before the float went ahead.

The Times

TESCO UNDERCUT BY ASDA AS IT STARTS HIGH-STREET PRICE WAR

The opening salvo in a supermarket price war was fired by Tesco as it announced a multimillion pound investment in price cuts. Britain’s biggest supermarket said it would spend more than 200 million pounds lowering prices.

COBHAM REPORTS “IRREGULAR” SALES OF SPY-TRACKING KIT

Cobham is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over sales of its satellite tracking devices used by spies, emergency services, mining enterprises and oil and gas companies around the world.

Sky News

RBS REACHES DEAL TO AWARD £550M BONUS POT

Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay approximately 550 million pounds for 2013 after securing the agreement of the Treasury agency that is its biggest shareholder.

BOOHOO LURES EX-ASOS DIRECTOR FOR 500 MLN STG IPO

A former director of the online fashion retailer Asos is to become chairman of rival Boohoo.com as it finalises plans for a stock market flotation valuing it at 500 million pounds.

 

 

Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot

ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
New home sales for January at 10:00–consensus down 3.4% m/m to 400K

ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Bristow Group (BRS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays
Exterran Partners (EXLP) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse
Felcor Lodging (FCH) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities
Kroger (KR) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
LinkedIn (LNKD) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital
Masco (MAS) upgraded to Hold from Underweight at KeyBanc
Ralph Lauren (RL) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo
SciQuest (SQI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord
Teradata (TDC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Longbow
Downgrades
DiamondRock (DRH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at ISI Group
Dynamic Materials (BOOM) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan
Fresenius Medical (FMS) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS
Humana (HUM) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cantor
Juniper (JNPR) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray
NII Holdings (NIHD) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie
Phillips 66 Partners (PSXP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Safeway (SWY) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan
Toll Brothers (TOL) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette
Valero Energy Partners (VLP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Volaris (VLRS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank
Vornado (VNO) downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Imperial Capital
Initiations
Atlas Pipeline Partners (APL) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank
CHC Group (HELI) initiated with a Buy at UBS
CHC Group (HELI) initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital
EP Energy (EPE) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank
EP Energy (EPE) initiated with a Buy at Goldman
EP Energy (EPE) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse
EP Energy (EPE) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
EP Energy (EPE) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan
Intevac (IVAC) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley
Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley
La Jolla Pharmaceutical (LJPC) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush
Nutraceutical (NUTR) initiated with an Outperform at Imperial Capital
Randgold Resources (GOLD) initiated with a Buy at UBS
Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) initiated with a Buy at B. Riley
Trevena (TRVN) initiated with an Outperform at JMP Securities
Trevena (TRVN) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays

COMPANY NEWS
GE (GE) to pay Shinsei $1.7B for refunds of interest
Bank of America (BAC) disclosed forex, FHFA probes
T. Rowe Price (TROW) opposes American Financial (AFG) tender offer for National Interstate (NATL)
General Motors (GM) expanded ignition recall to nearly 1.4M vehicles in U.S.
Lowe’s (LOW) board authorized repurchase of additional $5B in company stock
Anika Therapeutics (ANIK) announced that its Monovisc injection supplement to treat pain and improve joint mobility in patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee received FDA approval
Weatherford (WFT) said identified 6,192 positions for workforce reduction
Yandex (YNDX) announced advertising partnership with Google (GOOG)
Superior Energy (SPN) to pursue strategic alternatives for Asia Pacific-based unit

EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
AB InBev (BUD), Ormat Technologies (ORA), Range Resources (RRC), Solar Capital (SLRC), HEICO (HEI), Alleghany (Y), Big 5 Sporting (BGFV), Huron (HURN), R.R. Donnelley (RRD), Questcor (QCOR), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), Edison International (EIX)

Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Sturm, Ruger (RGR), Forest Oil (FST), Nordson (NDSN), Newfield Exploration (NFX), CoreLogic (CLGX), Superior Energy (SPN), EXCO Resources (XCO), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), Boston Beer (SAM), QEP Resources (QEP), Cerus (CERS), First Solar (FSLR), Culp (CFI)

Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Lowe’s (LOW), Papa John’s (PZZA), Weatherford (WFT), Dycom (DY), Demand Media (DMD)

NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Carlyle Group (CG) near deal for Tyco (TYC) unit, WSJ reports
Vodafone’s (VOD) European cable pursuits make AT&T (T) deal less likely, WSJ reports
Buffett (BRK.A) to modify Bank of America (BAC) investment terms, FT reports
BlackBerry (BBRY) CEO says he would accept $19B for BBM, CNBC reports
Aeropostale (ARO) working with Barclays (BCS) to explore options, Bloomberg reports
Target (TGT) retaliates against P&G (PG) after Amazon deal (AMZN), WSJ reports
Google Glass (GOOG) faces possible driving ban from some states, Bloomberg reports
Monsanto (MON) at epicenter of intensifying food debate, FT reports
Numerous Wall Street firms (JPM, GS) agree to stop analyst previews, Bloomberg reports
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to pay GBP550M in staff bonuses for 2013, report FY13 loss, Sky News reports
Apple (AAPL) issues fixes for security flaw on Macintosh computers, Reuters reports

SYNDICATE
Allete (ALE) files to sell 2.5M shares of common stock
Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI) files to sell 1M common shares for holders
Neurocrine (NBIX) files to sell 7M shares of common stock

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1kg5kYR Tyler Durden

Lest it be confused that Russia has somehow forgotten about the Ukraine coup, and that it no longer concerns the bread basket (and key gas pipeline hub) of Europe a core strategic resource, moments ago Russian wire services blasted the following diplomatic summary of Russian bullish grace in a china store:

• PUTIN ORDERS URGENT COMPREHENSIVE CHECKS OF TROOPS’ COMBAT READINESS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL MILITARY DISTRICTS, AND OF AEROSPACE, AIRBORNE TROOPS, LONG-RANGE AND MILITARY TRANSPORT AVIATION – SHOIGU

Bloomberg adds the following:

• President Vladimir Putin issued orders to conduct immediate check of combat-readiness of central, western military districts, test of air defense, airborne troops, aviation, Interfax reports, citing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
• Test began at 2pm local time today: IFX
• Exercise to be conducted Feb. 26-March 3 in 2 stages
• Commander-in-chief ordered test of military capability to react to “crisis situations, posing a danger to the country’s military security,” Shoigu is cited as saying
• Second test phase will include tactical exercises involving Northern, Baltic Fleets

In short, not only has the Russian bear woken from hibernation but is rather angry. Incidentally, Russia’s ever-louder war footing rumblings have not been lost on investors who sent the USD/RUB to the highest level since March 2009, just north of 36.

As for the Ukraine Hryvnia, don’t ask.

And now back to watching your regularly scheduled S&P500 all time high melt up. Becuase there is nothing at all concerning in the world.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1c7CVVv Tyler Durden

For the second night in a row, China, and specifically its currency rate which saw the Yuan weaken once more, preoccupied investors – and certainly those who had bet on endless strenghtening of the Chinese currency – however this time it appeared more “priced in, and after trading as low as 2000, the SHCOMP managed to close modestly green, which however is more than can be said about the Nikkei which ended the session down 0.5%. Still, the USDJPY was firmly supported by the 102.00 “fundamental” fair value barrier and as a result equity futures, which had to reallign from tracking the AUDUSD to the old faithful Yen carry, have been propped up once more and are set to open at all time highs. If equities fail to breach the record barrier for the third time in a row and a selloff ensues after the open in deja vu trading, it will be time to watch out below if only purely for technical reasons.

As DB reports, China continues to bubble nervously under the surface. Chinese equities yesterday hit 1 month lows and are 65% off the all time highs. There’s a mix of reasons but one of the biggest stories of the past week or so has been the depreciation of the Chinese currency, both onshore where USDCNY is up 1.0% over the past week and offshore where USDCNH is up 1.25%. Whilst these moves may not seem large in the context of other EM currencies, they are significant compared to the usual size of Renminbi moves. Whilst there has been some weak Chinese data which might explain part of the depreciation, the broad feeling is that this move has been driven by efforts by the PBOC to shakeout the large long Renminbi carry trade that has been built on the back of the view that the Chinese currency can only appreciate in value. Indeed worries at the PBOC may have been triggered by one sign of this carry trade in action – the premium with which offshore USDCNH has been trading over the tightly controlled onshore USDCNY value over the course of 2014. This premium has now largely disappeared. The total size of the carry trade is hard to estimate although even just looking at some of the onshore CNY positions accumulated, DB Asia FX strategist Perry Kojodjojo estimates that corporate USD/CNY short positions are around $500bn. The size of the carry trade and the fact that China saw significant capital outflows during the last period of substantial Renminbi depreciation in the summer of 2012 has led to concerns over what this might mean for both the Chinese economy and financial markets as well as broader global financial implications. Looking forward it’s possible that the PBOC is not attempting to actively engineer a sustained depreciation of the Renminbi but rather is attempting to increase the level of two-way volatility in the market to discourage the carry trade and also excessive capital inflows. In terms of the broad risk going forward the sheer scale of the challenge the PBOC has set out to tackle likely means they will have to move with restraint. This is certainly a story to watch.

Stocks in Europe gradually pared the opening gap higher and are seen lower across the board, with Bunds failing to sustain the early bid after the second consecutive technically uncovered auction from the Bundesbank. Nonetheless, sentiment toward core fixed income is somewhat supported by concerns over what is widely believed to be PBOC engineered exodus of long CNY carry trades may lead to further volatility. Still, the fact that the Shanghai Comp gradually edged into positive territory and USD/JPY staged a minor rebound O/N underpins the view that the recent erasure of the premium by the PBOC is temporary measure aimed at discouraging investor  demand before widening the trading band in Q2.

There was little in terms of EU specific news flows this morning, instead market participants digested the release of the latest UK GDP reading which came in line with expectations and showed that total business investment was much stronger than expected (2.4% vs. Exp. 1.3%), with the Y/Y rising firmly to 8.5%. As a result, GBP
outperformed its major counterpart EUR this morning, albeit marginally, as a number of BoE members sought to downplay growing expectation of a rate hike. Going forward, market participants will get to digest the release of the latest new home sales data from the US, weekly DoE data and earnings by Target. Also, the US Treasury will auction off its 2y FRN and 5y note auction.

Overnight Headline Bulletin from Bloomberg and RanSquawk

• Bunds failed to sustain the early bid after the second consecutive technically uncovered auction from the Bundesbank.
• The release of the latest UK GDP reading came in line with expectations and showed that total business investment was much stronger than expected (2.4% vs. Exp. 1.3%), with the Y/Y rising firmly to 8.5%.
• China’s SAFE sought to downplay the recent price action by USD/CHY and stated that the recent CNY fall is normal compared to other markets.
• Treasuries steady, holding near week’s lowest levels after disappointing economic data yesterday; this week’s $109b auction cycle continues today with $35b 5Y notes and $13b 2Y floaters.
• 5Y notes yielding 1.542% in WI trading after drawing 1.572% in January. 2Y notes sold yesterday awarded at 0.340% vs 0.343% WI yield at 1pm, 8th straight 2Y to stop through according to Stone & McCarthy; largest indirects since June, primary dealers with smallest share since Nov.
• China’s benchmark money-market rate fell to a seven-month low amid speculation the central bank was intervening to weaken the yuan, a policy that would boost currency’s supply
• Ukraine is weighing measures to stem cash withdrawals after as much as 7% of deposits were taken from banks during last week’s bloody uprising, underscoring the need for action to fend off a default
• Merkel will call for a stronger EU in a speech in London that may disappoint Prime Minister David Cameron, according to a German government official with direct knowledge of her preparations
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won’t consider raising the U.S. minimum wage to any level less than $10.10 an hour, though some of his fellow Democrats say they are ready to negotiate a lower amount
• Obama ordered the Pentagon to ready a so-called zero-option plan for Afghanistan after an unsuccessful months-long campaign to pressure Afghan President Karzai to sign an agreement that would leave a residual U.S. force there after the end of the year
• Sovereign yields mostly lower. EU peripheral spreads tighter. Nikkei -0.5%; Shanghai Composite gains 0.4%. European stocks lower, U.S. stock-index futures gain. WTI crude, gold and copper higher

US Event Calendar

• 7:00am: MBA Mortgage Applications, Feb. 21 (prior -4.1%)
• 10:00am: New Home Sales, Jan., est. 400k (prior 414k)
• New Home Sales m/m, Jan., est. -3.4% (prior -7%) Central Banks
• 12:00pm: Fed’s Rosengren speaks in Boston
• 7:30pm: Fed’s Pianalto speaks in Wooster, Ohio Supply
• 1:00pm: U.S. to sell $13b 2Y FRN in reopening, $35b 5Y notes
• POMO – 11:00am: Fed to purchase $1b-$1.25b in 2036-2044 sector

Asian Headlines

Overnight in Asia, JPY swaps reversed the initial flattening bias after the BoJ reduced the size of ultra longend bond buying operation by JPY 20bln from JPY 200bln.

In other Japan specific commentary, BoJ board member Ishida says BoJ stance is that it will adjust policy if needed, but not currently debating whether adjustments are needed for specific scenario. Ishida went on to say he is not seriously worried about economy undershooting BoJ’s main scenario or worried about sales tax hike impact on positive economic cycle. (RTRS)

China’s SAFE says two-way cross-border fund flows are normal as the CNY exchange rate moves towards its equilibrium level and market participants should deal with it actively. (BBG)

EU & UK Headlines

UK GDP (Q4 P) Q/Q 0.7% vs. Exp. 0.7% (Prev. 0.7%) – ONS says household expenditure and gross fixed capital formation including business investment and net trade are the biggest contributor to Q4 growth.

Germany sells EUR 2.438bln in 2046 2.50% Buxl Auction (New line), b/c 1.1 (Prev. 1.4) and avg. yield 2.53% (Prev. 2.64%), retention 18.7% (Prev. 16.75%) – second consecutive technically uncovered auction from the Bundesbank.

Market talk of ECB sources saying no consensus within governing council now for March policy move, March move possible if data and ECB governor Draghi supports. Negative deposit rate could send ‘problematic’ signal. (MNI)

Following the release of the preliminary EU GDP data for Q4 2013 last week, analysts at UBS believe that the Eurozone recovery remains on track and reiterate their above-consensus GDP forecast of 1.1% for 2014 and 1.5% for 2015, following -0.4% in 2013.

BoE’s Miles says people should not expect sudden rate rise and next year might be the right time but there is no certainty as there is quite a lot of slack in the economy. At the same time, BoE’s Dale said that he doesn’t know when rates might rise and any rate rise will depend on the speed of recovery with the rise set to be gradual and cautious. (BBG)

Barclays preliminary pan-Euro agg month-end extensions: (+0.07y) (12m avg. +0.07y)

Barclays preliminary Sterling month-end extensions:(+0.05y) (12m avg. +0.06y)

US Headlines

Senate banking panel to consider Fischer, Brainard and Powell nomination to the Fed on March 4th. (BBG)

Barclays preliminary US Tsys month-end extensions:(+0.12y) (12m avg. +0.07y) – Large extension is a result of the refunding auctions earlier this month.

Equities

In terms of notable stock movers, Lanxess shares came under distinct selling pressure and are seen among the worst performing stocks in Europe after the company said it had 2013 loss, citing unplanned writedowns of EUR 257mln in Q4.

Elsewhere, Credit Suisse shares fell this morning after a report alleged that the bank “helped its US customers conceal their Swiss accounts” and avoid billions of dollars in American taxes. Also of note, the FTSE-100 index underperformed its peers, with a host of Co.’s such as easyJet and Diageo trading ex-dividend.

FX

Concerns over potential default of Ukraine and likely spill over effects into neighbouring states (Russia, Hungary), continued to drive EUR/HUF and spot RUB higher this morning, with USD/UAH trading above the 10.00 level for the first time since 1996. Of note, this morning, Russian Finance Minister Siluanov said that Ukrainian bail out deal is bound by bond covenants and that Ukraine covenants breach to trigger talks with Russia.

Looking elsewhere, GBP marginally outperformed its peers this morning, with the short-sterling curve trading marginally steeper following the release of the latest GDP data. Of note, good size option strikes due to expire at 1.6600/50 level (USD 1.6bln) at NY cut.

Commodities

Analysts at Citi revised up its Brent price forecasts for 2014 and 2015 whilst widening out its WTI-Brent price forecast for 2014 due to tighter than expected global S/D balances and increasing pessimism over incremental supplies from Iran and Libya.

Iraq’s Rumalia oil field is set to raise output to 1.39mln bpd by years end, with Iraq exporting 2.7mln bpd of crude this month, and oil exports due to rise to 3.4mln bpd by years end. (BBG)

US API Crude Oil Inventories (Feb 21) W/W 822k vs. Prev. -473k
US API Cushing Crude Inventories (Feb 21) W/W -1,070k vs. Prev. -1,800k
US API Gasoline Inventories (Feb 21) W/W -314k vs. Prev. 1,400k
US API Distillate Inventories (Feb 21) W/W -693k vs. Prev. -676k

China is to raise fuel prices from tomorrow, with diesel prices increasing by CNY 200 per ton, and gasoline by CNY 205 per ton. (BBG)

Chinese copper importers put purchases on hold after a sharp price fall and tight credit cut spot demand, with bonded stocks in Shanghai estimated at 560,000-660,000 tonnes, premiums hit their lowest point since July 2013. (RTRS)

* * *

We conclude with the overnight summary from DB’s Jim Reid

In fairly calm and generally buoyant markets, China continues to bubble nervously under the surface. Although the S&P 500 edged lower yesterday (-0.13%) it remains within 0.2% of its all-time highs. Meanwhile Chinese equities yesterday hit 1 month lows and are 65% off the all time highs. There’s a mix of reasons but one of the biggest stories of the past week or so has been the depreciation of the Chinese currency, both onshore where USDCNY is up 1.0% over the past week and offshore where USDCNH is up 1.25%. Whilst these moves may not seem large in the context of other EM currencies, they are significant compared to the usual size of Renminbi moves. Whilst there has been some weak Chinese data which might explain part of the depreciation, the broad feeling is that this move has been driven by efforts by the PBOC to shakeout the large long Renminbi carry trade that has been built on the back of the view that the Chinese currency can only appreciate in value. Indeed worries at the PBOC may have been triggered by one sign of this carry trade in action – the premium with which offshore USDCNH has been trading over the tightly controlled onshore USDCNY value over the course of 2014. This premium has now largely disappeared. The total size of the carry trade is hard to estimate although even just looking at some of the onshore CNY positions accumulated, DB Asia FX strategist Perry Kojodjojo estimates that corporate USD/CNY short positions are around $500bn. The size of the carry trade and the fact that China saw significant capital outflows during the last period of substantial Renminbi depreciation in the summer of 2012 has led to concerns over what this might mean for both the Chinese economy and financial markets as well as broader global financial implications. Looking forward it’s possible that the PBOC is not attempting to actively engineer a sustained depreciation of the Renminbi but rather is attempting to increase the level of two-way volatility in the market to discourage the carry trade and also excessive capital inflows. In terms of the broad risk going forward the sheer scale of the challenge the PBOC has set out to tackle likely means they will have to move with restraint. This is certainly a story to watch.

Outside of the Renminbi, China-related nervousness is showing up again this morning in both equities and credit. In equities, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (-0.25%) is underperforming other regional indices overnight, and Australian mining stocks are down 1.3%. On the credit-side, offshore Chinese high yield property bonds and investment grade SOE bonds continue to lag the rest of the market as aversion to the Chinese story continues. The Australian dollar is down 0.1%, and is poised to closer weaker against the greenback for the 6th time in the last eight days. Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei (-0.4%) is another notable underperformer, albeit on thin volumes.

Another interesting story at the moment is Italy although it’s more of a slow burning one. Overnight DB’s Marco Stringa has put out a comprehensive update entitled “Italy – Implementation, Implementation, Implementation”. In the piece he tries to quantify the potential impact of two key potential reforms in Renzi’s speech made before he obtained the confidence votes in the Upper and Lower Houses on 24 and 25 February. First, he thinks the government will target a EUR c10bn cut in the tax wedge in 2014. This could be increased to EUR15 and EUR20bn in 2015 and 2016 respectively if the savings from the planned expenditure cuts are not dispersed. The second is improving the efficiency of the public administration. A cut in the tax-wedge of EUR 10bn would not have too material an impact on growth. But a EUR 20bn cut in the tax wedge and a modest improvement of the efficiency of the public administration could nearly halve the gap between Italy’s potential GDP growth and that of Germany and France. The lack of detail in Renzi’s speech suggests that much of the groundwork has not been done ahead of the decision to replace ex-PM Letta. This is a potential concern in terms of the implementation phase. Furthermore, several of the headlines proposed by Renzi could disperse the country’s limited resources. Nevertheless, the report shows that even modest reforms could significantly improve the country’s public debt dynamics over the next 15 years if funded via expenditure cuts. That said, in a pessimistic scenario, the benefit of a small permanent cut in the tax wedge would be offset by decreases in the structural primary balance. To conclude after the ruling of the German Constitutional Court, the ability of the European allies to encourage Italy on a path of reform while shielding it from external shocks via the ECB’s OMT has decreased significantly. Hence, it is crucial that Italy pro-actively implements economic reforms before the next major internal or external shock hits the country.

Elsewhere in Europe, German QoQ GDP growth came in at +0.4% yesterday, slightly ahead of the Q3 number of +0.3% and unchanged from the flash estimate. As our German economists noted however the underlying components painted a mixed picture with stronger than expected net export numbers adding +1.1pp compensating for weaker than expected final domestic demand growth (which added +0.1pp) and a large drop in inventories. This marks a reversal from Q3 where net exports where negative and domestic demand was strong. It would be wrong to take too much from a single quarter of data, but such a reversal if sustained would be a worry for the European periphery. On that note yesterday also saw some weak data out of the European Periphery as we got Spanish PPI data for January which saw the rate of producer price inflation rate slip to -1.3% MoM (vs. +1.1% previously), leaving the YoY rate at -1.8% (vs. -0.6% previously). We also had weak Italian retail sales numbers with a reading of -2.6% YoY vs. +0.2% expected. In more positive news the European Commission yesterday raised its forecasts for eurozone 2014 and 2015 growth by 0.1pp each to 1.2% and 1.8% respectively.

News on the other side of the Atlantic was slightly more positive as housing data beat expectations across the board, with the Q4 House price purchasing index up +1.2% vs a market consensus estimate of +1%. The December Case-Shiller 20 City index also surprised to the upside (0.76% MoM vs 0.6% consensus). Staying on the housing theme, there were some noteworthy observations from home improvement-retailer Home Depot on the recent effect of inclement weather. The company said that this Spring is likely to be an especially strong season for the company as homeowners flock to Home Depot for repairs caused by the winter storms of January and February. The CFO said that the company knows “firsthand that many homeowners have some major repairs ahead of them”. Home Depot’s stock closed 4% higher yesterday, driving a 1.2% gain in S&P500 retail stocks. Offsetting some of the positive newsflow on the housing front, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 78.1, short of consensus estimates of 80.0 and below last month’s revised 79.4. US equities hit an intra-day low shortly after the confidence data. Elsewhere JPMorgan announced that it will be shedding 8000 jobs, predominantly in its mortgage unit reflecting weakness in refinancing volumes. JPM joins Wells Fargo and Bank of America in announcing home-lendingrelated job cuts in recent months.

Today looks set to be a relatively quiet day on the data front with the biggest release being UK Q4 preliminary GDP data. Consensus is expecting no change from the Advanced figures of +0.7% QoQ and +2.8% YoY. If the YoY figure remains at +2.8% this would be the highest YoY rate since Q1 2008. Maybe my building work is making a small difference! Staying in Europe we will also get French jobseekers data and German consumer confidence which will be interesting to see after the downward revisions yesterday to Q4’s QoQ German domestic demand. In the US we will get more Housing data with January new home sales. We will also hear from the Fed’s Rosengren who speaks on the economy in Boston.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1cPjXRl Tyler Durden

.

 

Gross: “I have a 41-year track record of investing excellence… What do you have?”
El-Erian: “I’m tired of cleaning up your shit.”

Mohamed and Bill are in drag
The market they’re starting to lag
Their bonds were sure hot
But then they got caught
Now both are left holding the bag
The Limerick King

.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1fFNdv0 williambanzai7

Submitted by J. Michael Cole of The Diplomat,

As Taiwan’s legislature prepares to review the controversial Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement with China next month, apprehensions over the island’s growing economic reliance on China continue to rise. A recent anti-dumping case initiated by a U.S. trade commission, and subsequent decisions on legal representation, highlight the dangers — economic and political — that can arise from a further integration of the two economies.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) on February 14 said it had reason to believe that Chinese solar panel companies have used solar cell components built by a third party — Taiwanese firms — to circumvent heavy anti-dumping duties imposed on China in late 2012. U.S.-based SolarWorld Industries America, a subsidiary of the German firm SolarWorld AG, filed the initial complaint in 2012, which resulted in countervailing tariffs averaging 31 percent against Chinese solar makers. However, efforts back then to expand the tariffs so as to include Chinese solar panels made with non-Chinese solar cells were turned down, creating a loophole that China quickly exploited. (Some industry watchers, however, have suggested that SolarWorld is “manipulating U.S. trade procedure in order to prop up its own failing business.” Others argue that the “dumb” trade war could end up hurting the future of solar power.)

So in January 2014, USITC and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) launched an investigation following a renewed complaint by SolarWorld, filed on December 31, 2013, which this time targeted Chinese solar energy firms it said were exploiting the loophole by using components supplied by Taiwanese crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell makers.

The USITC is scheduled to pass its views to the DOC on February 24. The latter is expected to make preliminary determinations on June 9 regarding the dumping case and to impose duties and anti-dumping tariffs against the Chinese and Taiwanese firms, with a final judgment in October (the department is also scheduled to make a separate preliminary ruling on unfair subsidies to Chinese firms at the end of March).

The Taiwanese firms deny engaging in dumping practices and stated that their prices are 8 percent above the global average and 11 percent above those of Chinese firms.

The case highlights the many problems that could face Taiwan should it further open its high-tech sector to China. While China has positioned itself as an indispensible partner in assembly, it remains a laggard on several fronts, including advanced technologies, for which it depends on countries like the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan. By joining forces with Chinese firms, foreign companies can become collateral whenever unfair subsidizing or dumping accusations are lodged against Chinese firms. By positioning themselves as component makers rather than end-product manufacturers, Taiwanese high-tech firms are especially vulnerable to such an outcome and risk being dragged into cases over which they have little control and in which they did nothing wrong. Or they can get dragged into trade wars between the U.S. and China.

To drive the point home, Yingli Solar and Hanwha SolarOne, two of the Chinese PV module makers involved in the DOC/USITC decision, have “offered” to represent the Taiwanese companies. The Taiwanese firms in question, along with other local solar component makers, have reacted with alarm at the possibility that the U.S. would allow the Chinese firms to represent them, arguing that this loss of sovereignty over their products would prevent them from having their attorneys speak for and defend them. Already, major Taiwanese PV makers including Motech Industries have warned that the case could have a seriously damaging impact on Taiwan’s industry. Taiwanese authorities have weighed in and vowed to do everything in their power to ensure that the Taiwanese firms are represented properly and not by China.

According to statistics from Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, exports of Taiwan-made solar cells to China were valued at US$1.02 billion in the first 11 months of 2013, up 66 percent from the previous year. During the same period, Taiwan’s direct solar cell shipments to the U.S. only accounted for 5 percent of Taiwan’s exports, with China accounting for about 45 percent. However, the majority of the cells exported to China ended up being shipped to the U.S., meaning that the U.S. market represents about 50 percent of Taiwan’s total cell exports.

Aware of the dangerous precedent that the case could create, Taiwanese politicians representing southern parts of the country, where most PV suppliers are located, brought up the issue during a U.S. congressional delegation visit to Taiwan led by Ed Royce, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), and eight other committee members.

A DOC decision allowing the Chinese firms to represent their Taiwanese counterparts would furthermore have political implications, as this would further erode Taiwan’s image abroad as a sovereign country and play directly into Beijing’s efforts to absorb the democracy of 23 million people.

According to reports, the department was scheduled to decide on February 21 whether to allow the Chinese firms to represent Taiwanese component makers. When contacted, the DOC responded that no decision was to be made on that day.

 

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1hR4t3K Tyler Durden

From April to September of 2013, as Bloomberg reports, TEPCO admits that levels of radiation measured from water samples around the destroyed Fukushima nuclear reactor were "significantly undercounted."  We assume it was mere coincidence that during this very time Shinzo Abe proclaimed the 2020 Olympics would be safe and used many of these readings as evidence. In addition to this debacle, The BBC reports, the likely scale of the radioactive plume of water from Fukushima due to hit the west coast of North America should be known in the next two months; and rather stunningly, The Japan Times reports a new study finds the lifetime risk of developing cancer has risen among 1-year-old girls in an area affected by the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. But apart from that, everything's great.

 

TEPCO admits radiation levels were "signicantly" undercounted… (Bloomberg)

Tokyo Electric Power Co. is re-analyzing 164 water samples collected last year at the wrecked Fukushima atomic plant because previous readings “significantly undercounted” radiation levels.

 

The utility known as Tepco said the levels were undercounted due to errors in its testing of beta radiation, which includes strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer. None of the samples were taken from seawater, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

 

“These errors occurred during a time when the number of the samplings rapidly increased as the result of a series of events since last April, including groundwater reservoir leakage and a major leak from a storage tank,” according to the statement.

…

And this…

Earlier today, Tepco suspended the removal of spent nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima plant after a cooling system failed due to a damaged power cable, the company said in a separate e-mailed statement. Work resumed at the reactor No. 4 spent fuel pool after activation of a backup system.

And then there's the plume coming California's way… (BBC)

The likely scale of the radioactive plume of water from Fukushima due to hit the west coast of North America should be known in the next two months.

 

 

Only minute traces of pollution from the beleaguered Japanese power plant have so far been recorded in Canadian continental waters.

 

This will increase as contaminants disperse eastwards on Pacific currents.

 

…

And this dismal study.. (The Japan Times)

The lifetime risk of developing cancer has risen slightly among 1-year-old girls in an area affected by the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, according to a study published online in a U.S. science journal Monday.

 

The assessment was based on a two-month study by Japanese researchers conducted about a year and a half after the March 2011 nuclear disaster. The study checked the radiation exposure of around 460 residents living near the crippled plant Fukushima Prefecture.

 

Health risk assessment indicates that post-2012 doses will increase the lifetime solid cancer incidence rate among 1-year-old girls by 1.06 percentage points in the Tamano area of Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, from the average rate of 31.76 percent, the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said.

 

…

 

It is the first time projections have been made regarding the probability of cancer risk related to the nuclear disaster, according to the team.

 

Akio Koizumi, a team member and Kyoto University professor of environmental health, acknowledged that lifetime cancer incidence likely rose slightly due to radiation exposure but said he sees the impact of radiation exposure on health as “small.”

But apart from that, the clean-up is going great…

Oh wait…

• *TEPCO SAYS PLANNED RESTART OF NUCLEAR PLANT DIFFICULT: MAINICHI

But this should make everyone feel better…

• *TEPCO TO GIVE CONDO RESIDENTS 5% DISCOUNT ON POWER: NIKKEI

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/OAPMVV Tyler Durden

Submitted by James Quinn of The Burning Platform blog,

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.

This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

– Edward Bernays – Propaganda

 

 

I find the quote above by Edward Bernays to be a perfect synopsis for everything that has come to pass over the last century. The world has become increasingly controlled by an invisible government of greedy Wall Street bankers, shadowy billionaires, immoral big business, crooked politicians, and the military industrial complex, with mammoth media conglomerates, purposefully using propaganda to manipulate and mold the minds of the masses in order to exert power and control over our lives. He wrote those words in 1928, when the only available forms of manipulation were newspapers and radio. Bernays would be ecstatic and delighted with the implements available today used by our corporate fascist state controllers as they deliver the electronic messaging guiding the public mind.

He never dreamed of television, the internet, social media, and the ability of corporations like Google, in full cooperation with the government, to censor the truth, while feeding misinformation and state sanctioned propaganda to the masses in such an efficient and effective mode. Compelling the masses to worship at the altar of technology, while idolizing the evil men running our largest banks and corporations, has been a prodigious success for the shadowy ruling power and their mass media propaganda agents. Mike Lofgren, former congressional insider and author of The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless and the Middle Class Got Shafted, describes these mysterious perfidious men as the Deep State:

Yes, there is another government concealed behind the one that is visible at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, a hybrid entity of public and private institutions ruling the country according to consistent patterns in season and out, connected to, but only intermittently controlled by, the visible state whose leaders we choose.

My analysis of this phenomenon is not an exposé of a secret, conspiratorial cabal; the state within a state is hiding mostly in plain sight, and its operators mainly act in the light of day. Nor can this other government be accurately termed an “establishment.”

 All complex societies have an establishment, a social network committed to its own enrichment and perpetuation. In terms of its scope, financial resources and sheer global reach, the American hybrid state, the Deep State, is in a class by itself. That said, it is neither omniscient nor invincible. The institution is not so much sinister (although it has highly sinister aspects) as it is relentlessly well entrenched.

Far from being invincible, its failures, such as those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, are routine enough that it is only the Deep State’s protectiveness towards its higher-ranking personnel that allows them to escape the consequences of their frequent ineptitude. – Mike Lofgren, Anatomy of the Deep State

The techno-narcissistic American public has been manipulated into falsely believing their iGadgets, Facebook, Twitter, and thousands of Apps have made them smarter, freer and safer. As Goethe proclaimed, the majority of willfully ignorant Americans are hopelessly enslaved, while falsely believing they are free. Our controllers, through relentless propaganda and misinformation pounded into our brains by the government controlled education system and unrelenting messaging by their mass media co-conspirators, have molded the minds and opinions of the vast majority into believing government and mega-corporations are beneficial and indispensable to their well-being.

The overwhelming majority have been conditioned like rats to believe anything their keepers feed them. In order to keep society running smoothly, with little dissent, thought, opposition or questioning, the Deep State utilizes all the tools at its disposal to manipulate, influence, coerce, bully and bribe the populace into passive submission. They’ve trained us to love our servitude. The Inner Party sees this as essential to their continued control, power and enrichment, while keeping the Proles impoverished, ignorant, fearful and distracted with bread and circuses.

The key weapon in their arsenal of obedience is technology and the mega-corporations that control the flow of information disseminated to the hypnotized mindless masses. The United States has devolved into a society where a few powerful unelected unaccountable men, controlling the levers of government, education, finance, and media are able to formulate the opinions, tastes, beliefs, and fears of the masses through the effective and subtle use of technology. They have tenaciously and unflinchingly fashioned a technology addiction among the masses in order to keep them distracted, entertained and uninterested in thinking, gaining knowledge, or comprehending their roles and responsibilities as citizens in a purportedly democratic republic.

The mass media, along with their corporate compatriots – Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Yahoo, Facebook and Google, gather vast amounts of data, emails, phone calls, texts, internet searches, spending habits, credit information, passwords, videos and private personal information from an agreeable, gullible and trusting populace. Americans have a seemingly infinite capacity for blindly counting on the government and the corporatocracy to use this data in an honorable and ethical manner. But, as Edward Snowden has revealed, the corporate fascist state is collecting every shred of data on every American in a systematic and thorough way. We have voluntarily surrendered our privacy, liberties, and freedoms to mega-corporations like Google and their techno-brethren, who then willingly collaborate with Big Brother NSA and allow unfettered access to this private information.

The U.S. Constitution along with the First and Fourth Amendments are meaningless to these deceitful entities. Our freedoms have dissipated at the same rate we have adopted the technological “innovations” of Facebook, Twitter, and Google. We are being monitored, scrutinized, tracked and controlled by the technology we have exuberantly purchased from the mega-corporations stripping us of our freedom. Technological “progress” has actually resulted in a colossal regression in freedom, liberty, independence, choice, and intelligent questioning of authority. We having willingly submitted to the google shackles of tyranny in exchange for being entertained and amused by Angry Birds, Words with Friends, facebooking, texting, tweeting, posting selfies and statuses, and linking in.       

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” – Aldous Huxley – Ends and Means

 

                 

David versus the Nameless, Faceless Goliath Robot

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair – I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked

 

My enlightening encounter with the nameless, faceless $52 billion “non-evil doing” behemoth entity known as Google, over the last month, has clarified my understanding of how the invisible governing body of the Deep State uses the power of the all-mighty dollar to suppress dissent and obscure the truth. My inconsequential libertarian minded blog that attracts 15,000 visitors per day has been up and running for the last five years. I started my own blog because I didn’t want to deal with ongoing censorship of my articles by Wall Street sellout blogs such as Seeking Alpha, Minyanville, and Financial Sense.

Their salary/living depended upon them not publishing articles critical of Wall Street and the government. My intention has never been to make a living from my blog. Any donations or incidental advertising revenue allowed me to upgrade my server capacity to handle more visitors. I’m certainly not averse to making money, but the sole purpose of my blog has been to try and open people’s eyes to Wall Street criminality, political corruption, media propaganda, and the perilous financial state of our country. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when Google approved my website for ads in December.

I will admit my site has been essentially an un-moderated free for all going back to the very beginning in 2009. I do not believe in censorship or false civility. I attempt to induce anger and outrage with every article and post. These are desperate times and anger is the appropriate reaction. The country is on a burning platform of unsustainable policies and practices which threaten the future of our society. I’m pissed off and I want others to be just as pissed off. The regular commenters are intelligent, critical, opinionated, and not afraid to unload with both barrels on fellow regulars or newbies. The language is often strong and the posting of pictures and images adds to the frat house like atmosphere. Regular contributors include doctors, farmers, engineers, business owners, accountants, teachers, waitresses, students, homemakers, soldiers, spies, and retirees. The wild-west nature of the site is not a secret to anyone who has ventured a peek. I assume Google did a review of the site before approving it for their Adsense program.

I started running Google ads on my site in early December. My site operated as it always had. The $30 per day in ad revenue was welcome, as it helped defray my server and security expenses. I experience a surge in visitors whenever I publish an article that gets picked up by fellow truth telling alternative media websites like Zero Hedge, 321 Gold, Washington’s Blog, Jesse’s Cafe Americain, Steve Quayle, Monty Pelerin, Doug Ross, Market Oracle, Dollar Collapse, TF Metals and several others. I published an article called The Retail Death Rattle on January 20 which obliterated the false government and mainstream media recovery storyline and skewered the delusional incompetent CEOs of mega-retailers. It struck a nerve as it generated the highest visitor count in history for my site. It was even picked up by Wall Street Journal owned Marketwatch. My articles are highly critical of Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, corrupt Washington politicians and the feckless captured legacy media, but they usually fly under the radar of the ruling class. On January 22 Google disabled my ads for “policy violations”. This is the vague non-specific description provided by the non-human policing bot:

Scraped content

It’s important for a site displaying AdSense to offer significant value to the user by providing unique and relevant content, and not to place ads on auto-generated pages or pages with little to no original content. This may include, but is not limited to:

• copying portions of text content from other sources
• websites dedicated to embedded videos from other hosts
• websites with gibberish content that makes no sense or seems auto-generated
• templated or pre-generated websites that provide duplicate content to users.

Sexual content

Google ads may not be placed on pages with adult or mature content. This includes, but is not limited to, pages with images or videos containing:

• Strategically covered nudity
• Sheer or see-through clothing
• Lewd or provocative poses
• Close-ups of breasts, buttocks, or crotches

Over the last five years I have received exactly ZERO complaints from other websites or authors about re-posting their articles, with full attribution and links, on my website. No one can accuse my site of not having unique and relevant content. I have permission to post articles from Zero Hedge, Charles Hugh Smith, Michael Snyder, Jim Kunstler, David Stockman, John Mauldin, Doug Casey, Paul Rosenberg, Fred Reed and dozens of other brilliant truthful journalists detailing our societal decay. Was there some Kate Upton bikini Gifs and provocative Salma Hayak pictures scattered within the 200,000 comments made on the site in the last five years? Guilty as charged. It seems Google reviewers can’t see the hypocrisy of running ads to meet young bikini clad Asian girls, while disabling ads because there a few bikini pictures on the website. I suspected my article had drawn the Eye of Sauron in my direction and this was the response.

Speaking truth to power during these perilous times has repercussions. But I decided to make a good faith effort to follow their rules.

I had made almost 15,000 posts over the last five years. Over the next week I scanned the site and archived posts that included articles from mainstream media websites, along with a hundred or so bikini pictures. You never deal with a human being when attempting to satisfy the Google Gestapo. Identical canned appeal denial responses are issued from Google Central with no clarification or effort to help you understand their reasoning.

Hello,

Thank you for providing us with additional information about your site. However, after thoroughly reviewing theburningplatform.com and taking your feedback into consideration, we’re unable to re-enable ad serving to your site at this time, as your site appears to still be in violation.

When making changes, please note that the URL mentioned in your policy notification may be just one example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of your website. Appropriate changes must be made across your entire website before ad serving can be enabled on your site again.

If you’d like to have your site reconsidered for participation in the AdSense program, please review our program policies and make any necessary changes to your webpages.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team         

There must have been some miscommunication within the Google Gestapo, as the ads were re-enabled after one week and my third appeal. A newbie, who didn’t get the memo, must have mistakenly activated my ads. Regular commenters and contributors were confused by what they could and couldn’t post on the site, as was I. The iron fist of the Google Stasi came down once again within a week, with the identical policy violation notice. I made the assumption that since the site was declared in compliance as of January 29, I only had to address anything posted since that date.

I had purged the site of any and all risqué pictures, so I knew that wasn’t a real issue. I thoroughly reviewed every post made since January 29 and archived or edited them to leave no doubt I was meeting Google’s vague guidelines. I continued to have my appeals rejected. I then went back a year and archived hundreds of other posts. By the fourth appeal rejection, I realized I would never meet their standard because it wasn’t really about violating Google content policies. It was my libertarian, anti-government, anti-Wall Street, anti-Mega-Corporation, anti-Surveillance State views that were the real issue. They were attempting to make me “not understand” or write about the creeping corporate fascist paradigm overtaking the country by making my Google salary dependent on “not understanding”.

Once I understood this truth, I was set free to provoke and prod the nameless, faceless Google entity and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt their true purpose. Their appeal form allows 1,000 characters for your response. Along with the actions I had taken, I began to question the integrity of the Google apparatchik “reviewer”, as it was clear the site was not in violation. I had archived over a thousand posts and tens of thousands of comments. I challenged the man behind the Google curtain to provide me with proof the site was still in violation. I must have struck a nerve, as out of the blue I received a new violation notice.

 Violent or disturbing content

AdSense publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages with violent or disturbing content, including sites with gory text or images.

Now this was funny. My site focuses on the financial, political, and social decay of our country. It in no way advocates or promotes violence. It has no graphic images or gory videos. If Google is attempting to suppress videos of revolutions occurring in Venezuela, Ukraine, and Syria from being seen by citizens of the world, their credibility is zero. If Google is attempting to suppress videos of police brutality against citizens or the police state locking down an entire city while violating the Fourth Amendment, they prove themselves to be nothing more than a fascist propaganda tool of the State. This violation notice was laughable, but I decided to call their bluff one last time. I spent three days and archived 14,000 out of the 15,000 posts ever made on my site. All that remained were my main articles, published on dozens of other sites with Google ads active, and original content produced by myself or other approved contributors. There was no violent content, scraped content, or sexual content on my website.

My ninth and final appeal was denied. I then proceeded to write an FU Google post on my website and inform my readers and contributors they were unshackled from the Google Evil Empire of Censorship. I’m in the process of restoring all of the posts I had archived. Some might argue that Google is just exercising their rights under our free market capitalism system. I would argue free market capitalism does not exist today. The unholy alliance of big banks, big corporations, big military and big media has created a state run by the few for the benefit of the few. They use their control of the purse strings to manipulate minds, crush dissent, and censor through bullying and bribery.

Once I mentally liberated myself from their financial control, I was able to see their game. They essentially wanted me to purge the site of every anti-establishment example of free speech and First Amendment rights I had ever written, in order to kneel before the altar of $$$ in the Church of Google. Google would be perfectly fine if I converted my website into a chat-fest where I discussed the details of the upcoming Kim and Kanye wedding, pondered deep issues regarding the benefits of gay marriage, conducted polls on who The Bachelor will choose to be his betrothed this season,  mused about what Hollywood stars will wear at the Academy Awards, and debated who will win the fourteenth season of American Idol. The Google money would flow freely as I contributed to the dumbing down and sedation of the masses. I have chosen not be a Judas that sells out my readers and the American public for 30 pieces of fiat to the Google Pharisees and the American corporate fascist surveillance empire.

This was not the first time the Deep State attempted to silence my anarchistic viewpoint. On June 5 Edward Snowden, American hero and patriot, released the first of thousands of documents detailing the traitorous actions of the NSA, Obama, Congress, the Judicial branch, and the corporate media. Snowden revealed the government, in cooperation with Google, Verizon, Facebook and a myriad of other technology/media companies, was collecting metadata and conducting mass surveillance of every American in violation of the Fourth Amendment, a clearly illegal form of search and seizure.

On June 19 I penned an article titled Who Are the Real Traitors? In the article I declared Obama, James Clapper, Dick Cheney, Diane Feinstein, Peter King and a plethora of other politicians, faux journalists, and talking media heads as the real traitors of the American people. The article achieved wide distribution through my usual channels and must have again drawn attention in Mordor on the Potomac. Two days later anyone with McAfee or Norton security were receiving false warnings about a malicious virus on my site. Long time readers in the military informed me the site was now blocked by the Department of Defense as a dangerous website. Other long-time readers informed me their corporations were now blocking access to the site. The site was inundated by denial of service attacks. It slowed to a crawl and was virtually inaccessible. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.  

I was forced to switch server companies and hire an anti-hacking company to protect the site, thereby increasing my cost to run the site by a factor of 10. Even though the companies I hired confirmed there were no malicious viruses on the site, Norton continued to scare Internet Explorer users from reading my site for the next eight months. How the $8 billion Symantec (owns Norton) entity could rationalize this false warning on only $80 billion Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, seems suspicious to me. The warning would not appear if you accessed the site with Mozilla Firefox, even if you employed Norton security. Norton makes it virtually impossible to appeal their false danger rating. I’m sure thousands of people were scared away from my website by these unaccountable corporate entities, working on behalf of the all-powerful state. Lofgren’s Deep State or Bernays’ Invisible Government hate the truth. They despise anyone who attempts to open the eyes of the public to their deception, criminality, and propaganda.             

Google has become a tool and partner of the Deep State. Enrichment of the state within the state is their sole purpose. Google’s Don’t Be Evil motto, originated when they were a fledgling company in 2000, has become a farce as they have descended into the netherworld as the information police for the ruling despots. They are now a humungous corporation with near monopoly control over the flow of information, searches, emails, and internet advertising. They know more about you and your habits than you do. They attempt to control freedom of speech at the point of a wire transfer. Fall into line or no advertising blood money for you. Not only do they suppress viewpoints through advertising revenue bullying, they manipulate their search engine results to hide the truth from the masses.  Google search engines filter, block and bury blog posts that contain content or information it deems incompatible with the message of its corporate fascist co-conspirators. Its oppressive corporate practices on behalf of its evil partners are an abridgment of the freedom of speech, perversion of the truth, and active attempt to mold the minds of the masses.

One of the most intelligent and cleverest contributors to my website, Nick (aka Stucky), summed up the evil entity known as Google in this pointed comment on my website:

There is an Entity out there who knows every search you ever made.

The Entity knows all about your emails, the content and address.

The Entity knows what you buy online and how often.

The Entity is developing software to predict what you will buy next.

The Entity can now even watch you, and know where you are, and what you are doing.

The Entity even knows your habits.

The Entity has enormous resources and stacks of cash.

The Entity shares your information with Lesser Entities … and also The Big Evil Entity that rules us all.

The Entity makes the NSA, CIA, FBI, DHS, and their ilk look like Lightweight Chumps.

The Entity hates you. You are just a means to an end.

The Entity is building a Profile all about you.

The Entity will soon know you better than you know yourself.

Welcome to Google, the most evil Entity on the planet.

As a society we have fallen asleep at the wheel. We’ve allowed ourselves to be lulled into complacency, distracted by minutia, mesmerized by technology, turned into consumers by corporations, pacified by financial gurus and Ivy League economists, and fearful of our own shadows. Surveillance, censorship and propaganda are the tools of the oppressive state. Free speech and truthful revelations about the Deep State are a danger in the eyes of our oppressors. Words retain power and can change the hearts and minds of a tyrannized citizenry willing to listen. V’s speech to London in the movie V for Vendetta, with slight modification, captures the essence of how Google fits into the evil matrix we inhabit today.  

Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there?

Cruelty and injustice…intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance, coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told…if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War. Terror. Disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic you turned to the government and their banking/corporate patrons. They promised you order. They promised you peace. And all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

I choose not to silently and obediently consent to the will of the Deep State. Google will not silence me. We are in the midst of a Fourth Turning and I will try to do my small part in sweeping away the existing social order and trying to replace it with a system that honors and follows the U.S. Constitution. In Part 2 of this expose of evil, I’ll provide further proof of Google’s hypocrisy, censorship, and willing participation in spying on the American people. I’m beginning to understand the major conflict which will drive this Fourth Turning – The People vs The Corporate Fascist State.

WARNING: The National Security Agency is recording and storing this communication as part of its unlawful spying program on all Americans … and people worldwide. The people who created the NSA spying program say this communication – and any responses – can and will be used against the American people at any time in the future should unelected bureaucrats within the government decide to persecute us for political reasons. Private information in digital communications is being shared between Google, Facebook, Verizon and the government. It will be used against you when it suits their purposes.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1euMU1B Tyler Durden