Tag: finance

Unidentified Fighter Jets Open Fire On Kramatorsk Airfield, Casualties Reported

Things in east Ukraine have spiraled out of control. Moments ago Itar Tass reported that there has been a shoot out at the separatists-controlled airport in the city of Kramatorsk where according to on the ground witnesses,  four Su-27 fighter jets have allegedly opened fire at the local airfield. It is unclear who the unidentified warplanes belong to although Itar Tass notes that one of the jets was allegedly taken down, so there should be confirmation shortly. Eyewitnesses also add that there are victims and an ambulance has been sent to the scene.

Itar-Tass also adds that according to the newspaper “News Kramatorsk” three helicopters were circling over Kramatorsk.

Elsewhere, RIA adds that Ukraine troops have now successfully regained control of the same airport.

Here is a photo of one of the fighters seen circling above Kramatorsk.

Russia is keeping mum for now:

  • RUSSIAN DEFENSE MIN DECLINES COMMENT ON REPORT ON AIRBORNE UNIT

Finally, from Bloomberg citing RIA:

  • PROTESTERS IN EAST UKRAINE SAY THEY HAD 4 DEATHS: RIA

At what point does one declare that there is now a civil war going on in Ukraine?




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And Now Market Tumbles, As News Of Ukraine Deaths Spook Algos

Despite the best efforts of the straight-line panic buying algos on a Tuesday, it seems flashing red headlines of dreadful escalations in Ukraine (more deaths), from Bloomberg:

  • 11 REPORTED DEAD DURING UKRAINIAN OPERATION IN KRAMATORSK: RT
  • UKRAINE GOVT: RUSSIAN 45TH AIRBORNE IN SLOVYANSK, KRAMATORSK

…and USDJPY tagging 102 again (of course) were enough to spark the manic idiocy of markets from buy-buy-buy to sell-it-all-Mortimer… So much for yesterday’s “see it’s all good now” ripfest… The Russell 2000 is back at yesterday’s lows and NASDAQ is back under 4000.

 

 

Wondering why?

 

“Fun-durr-mentals”

However, there is still hope:  

  • RUSSIAN PM MEDVEDEV SAYS HE HOPES UKRAINE AUTHORITIES HAVE “ENOUGH BRAINS” TO PREVENT ESCALATION OF CONFLICT

If by Ukraine authorities he means the CIA, he is out of luck.




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Will Terrific Tuesday Hold Once Again?

For the 11th week this year, US stocks are higher on the most fundamentally bullish combination possible in today’s markets… a Tuesday open… Absent the exuberance of Turnaround Tuesday (which appears to have been discounted into Manic Monday yesterday afternoon), the S&P would in correction territory (down over 10% in 2014). The question is… will today be any different?

 

As the following code explains… trading is easy…

 

 

 

 

2014 – same as 2013…?

 

One look at the following chart explains it all…

 

h/t @Not_Jim_Cramer




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Homebuilder Confidence Misses For 4th Month In A Row

NAHB confidence missed expectations once again – the 7th miss in the last 8 months – as the ‘hope’ priced into this index is eroded and collapses back to the reality of actual sales. The index was up very modestly but all thanks to yet more “hope” as Future (expected) single-family sales expectations rose to 57 (the highest since Jan). The Northeast saw prospective buyer traffic rise while all other regions fell with the West collapsing.

 

 

NAHB catches down to reality as yet another false dawn breaks…

 

Charts: Bloomberg




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Ukraine Troops, APCs Storm Occupied Slavyansk

As we reported earlier, Ukraine finally unleashed a military action to the “pro-Russian separatists” in “pro-Russian separatist” occupied Slavyansk and other east Ukraine towns. And now, we get to see it in action. From Bloomberg:

  • UKRAINE UNITS STORMING CITY HELD BY PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTERS: RIA
  • UKRAINIAN TROOPS, APCS ENTER SLOVYANSK, RIA SAYS
  • MILITARY STORM AIRFIELD IN E. UKRAINE, WOUNDED REPORTED: RT

The response by Putin, who has repeatedly warned against precisely this escalation, is now expected momentarily.




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The “Shocking” Buying Spree Of America’s Mysterious Third Largest Treasury Holder Ramps Higher

When we reported last month that in a shocking twist, “Belgium” holdings of Treasurys had soared by a massive amount in the past three months, making the tiny country the third largest holder of US paper, our Belgian readers took offsense alleging it is impossible that Belgium itself could be buying all this paper, explaining it was all Euroclear. Well, yes: we know and noted that, which is why those same readers probably should have actually read the part in the post which said: “our question is: just who is Belgium being used as a front for?

Recall that for years, the “UK” line item on TIC data was simply offshore accounts transaction on behalf of China. Of course, since China hasn’t added any net US paper holdings in the past year, the UK, and China, are both irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. “

So yes, to clarify for our trigger-happy Belgian (non) readers: it is quite clear that Belgium itself is not the buyer. What is not clear is who the mysterious buyer using Belgium as a front is. Because that same “buyer”, who to further explain is not China, just bought another whopping $31 billion in Treasurys in February, bringing the “Belgian” total to a record $341.2 billion, cementing “it”, or rather whoever the mysterious name behind the Euroclear buying rampage is, as the third largest holder of US Treasurys, well above the hedge fund buying community, also known as Caribbean Banking Centersm which held $300 billion in March.

In summary: someone, unclear who, operating through Belgium and most likely the Euroclear service (possible but unconfirmed), has added a record $141 billion in Treasurys since December, or the month in which Bernanke announced the start of the Taper, bringing the host’s total to an unprecedented $341 billion!

Also of note: Chinese holdings of US Paper dropped by $2.7 billion to $1273 billion, offset by Japan’s $9 billlion increase in holdings to $1210 billion, as the convergence between the two countries resumes.

One thing that is certain: the mystery buyer is not Russia, which in February, or just as the Ukraine conflict was starting, sold another $6 billion, bringing the Russian total to $126 billion, the lowest since 2011, and the biggest annual drop, -24%, in holdings in history.




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Gold Futures Halted Again On Latest Furious Slamdown

It seems the two words "fiduciary duty" are strangely missing from the dictionary of the new normal's asset management community. This morning, shortly before 8:27am ET, someone decide that it was the perfect time to dump thousands of Gold futures contracts worth over half a billion dollars notional. This smashed Gold futures down over $12 instantaneously, breaking below the 200DMA and triggered the futures exchange to halt trading in the precious metal for 10-seconds. Palladium also got clobbered and was also halted. This is gold's worst since Bernanke 'tapered' in December.

 

As Nanex exposes in great detail…

1. June 2014 Gold (GC) Futures on April 15, 2014
Note the 10 second halt.

2. Zooming out.

3. Zooming way out.

4. June 2014 Palladium (PA) Futures on April 15, 2014
Palladium futures also halted for 10 seconds.




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GMO Shows Why BTFD In Small Caps Is Dead (In 1 Simple Chart)

The future for US Small Caps is not a bright one, according to GMO. While High Quality US equities are expected to return a meager 2.1% annually over the next 7 years, Small Caps have become so egregiously over-valued that GMO’s forward-looking estimate of Small Cap performance is a dismal 5.0% annual loss over the next 7 years (compared with a 6.5% annual return average for broad US equities). It seems the BTFD easy money has been made in this bubble…

 

 

Source: GMO




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