Recent comments by Rajesh
French Flash May Composite PMI unchanged at 44.3.
Markit Flash France PMI®
Good thing they aren't going to pare their bond buying soon. Otherwise, this would be much worse.
The yen is going vertical.
USD to JPY Exchange Rate - Bloomberg
101.6200 Price of 1 USD in JPY -1.5300 -1.49%
Wow.
USD to JPY Exchange Rate - Bloomberg
102.0600 Price of 1 USD in JPY -1.0500 -1.07%
Nikkei slumps 3.4 pct after soft China PMI rattles investors
| Reuters
The Nikkei average took a dramatic turn for the worse on Thursday afternoon, sliding 3.4 percent from an earlier surge to a 5-1/2-year high as investors were rattled by weak factory activity in China, one of Japan's major export markets.
The Nikkei was down 535.79 points to 15,091.47 in a volatile session after climbing to a peak of 15,942.60 in morning trade, its highest since December 2007. The index, which dropped as much as 14,945.56 at one point, was on track for its biggest one-day percentage drop in nearly two years.
Up 2% then close down 3.4%. That's a reversal.
dilbert dogbert wrote:
the Sandinistas were going to come roaring up through Mexico with those Russian T72s and take Tejas.
The Sandinistas were from the '80s. It think it was the killer bees that were going to invade Tejas. But I don't remember too clearly. 
Bloomberg goes for the Unexpectedly!?
China Manufacturing Unexpectedly Contracts in Blow to Growth - Bloomberg
“The slowdown is really bad,” said Ken Peng, a BNP Paribas SA economist based in Beijing. “It’s a big probability now that China’s GDP growth rate in the second quarter will be lower than in the first quarter,” he said, referring to gross domestic product.
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.
Nikkei index goes crazy, shy of the 16000 handle
The Nikkei index is posting yet another 5.5-year high last at 15903, up +1.73% for the day, highest since early Dec 2007. The index adds almost a 5% gain this week alone, while mounts for almost +85% advance from Nov lows when anticipated elections were called in Japan.
Where's my 16k hat?
josap wrote:
Guess they are easy to own / rent.
Sex addiction is an expensive habit to keep up. You need to get the money from somewhere.
The FOMC is narcissistic to think that the decline in the unemployment rate over that last six months has anything to do with their bond buying. The rate has pretty much descended a glide path as people have dropped out of the workforce.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
Want to bet on June?
I'll wait until the May Non-Farm Payroll report before I'll put money on it. The unemployment rate seems to go down whether many jobs are created or not.
Cr wrote:
The real Fed story today was that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke scolded Congress.
I'm sure Congress is trembling in their boots.
Cr wrote:
Three words: Will Not Happen. Not in June. Probably not this year (although tapering could start late this year).
I respectfully disagree.
June FOMC statement | Hoocoodanode?
yagij wrote:
And from where are these increased wages going to originate?
German corporate profits.
josap wrote:
Need to figure out how to FIX this mess.
According to the article there are two choices:
1. German worker wages go up
2. Spain leaves Euro which results in German worker wages going up.
For those who missed it the first time.
Excess German savings, not thrift, caused the European crisis
To ask Spanish households to be more “German” by saving more is not only impractical in an economy with 25 percent unemployment (it is hard for unemployed workers to increase their savings), it is counterproductive. Lower Spanish consumption can only cause even higher Spanish unemployment, until eventually Spain will be forced to abandon the euro and so regain control of its ability to absorb or reject German imbalances. This abandonment of the euro will be driven by the political process, as those in the leadership (of both main parties) who refuse to countenance talk of leaving the euro lose voters to more radical parties until they, too, come around:
Where's RIF?
Midwest gasoline prices expected to cool after spike
| Reuters
Problems at regional refineries, declining gasoline stockpiles and delays of shipments into the region from the Gulf Coast helped boost prices last week, prompting market players to hoard what fuel they had.
In some parts of the Midwest, prices have already slipped, according to Gasbuddy.com, which monitors prices through consumer input. In Minneapolis, the average price per gallon has fallen to $4.26 from an all-time high of $4.32.
Prices at the pump across the United States are underpinned by an intermediate market moving gasoline and other fuels between a refiner and a supplier. Those trades are expressed in the deficit or premium of the fuel to its futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The so-called differentials for gasoline in the Group Three market, which encapsulates most Midwestern states, have been falling fast since last Friday. Differentials for the Chicago market have also retreated although in a less-steady manner.
"This will certainly mean that retail prices will likely in the days and weeks ahead give up some of their ground," said Patrick DeHaan, a petroleum analyst with Gasbuddy.com.
lawyerliz wrote:
The hub sent that to me earlier today.
Is he trying to tell you something?
BarleyReturns quoted:
Beverage Forum
This is a very important event for Atlanta.
More signs of stealth hyperinflation!
PepsiCo rethinks U.S. pricing to attract more daily buyers
| Reuters
The strategy, which PepsiCo refers to as "hybrid everyday value," involves narrowing the gap between soda prices on holidays and regular days. It aims to lessen the discounts on holidays, when a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans can cost as little as $2.50 to $3, and lower prices throughout the rest of the year, when the same package can cost as much as $5.99.
The strategy has been tested with a few retailers in several markets and is rolling out a little more broadly this summer, said PepsiCo Americas Beverages CEO Al Carey this week at the Beverage Forum conference in New York.
"This is a very important idea," Carey said. "We are way too dependent on deep discounting 12- and 24-packs of our drinks during the holidays."
Quotes By Yogi Berra - Yogi-isms
" The future ain't what it used to be "
BBC News - Riots grip Stockholm suburbs after police shooting
Rioters have lit fires and stoned emergency services in the suburbs of Stockholm for the third night in a row after a man was shot dead by police.
Incidents were reported in at least nine suburbs of the Swedish capital and police made eight arrests.
...
"We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: this is not okay. We cannot be ruled by violence."More than 80% of Husby's 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia.
Fisker fields $20 million offer from Bob Lutz, Wanxiang: sources
| Reuters
The $20 million bid is a far cry from Fisker's estimated value during the launch of its flagship Karma plug-in hybrid sports car. In December 2011, Fisker told prospective investors that its total capitalization was "approaching" $2 billion, according to an investor document filing obtained by Reuters.
In the spring of 2012, Fisker competed a fundraising round that valued the company at $2.2 billion, according to regulatory filings analyzed by venture capital data provider VC Experts.
Ted Cruz: 'I Don't Trust The Republicans' | TPM LiveWire
"Unfortunately," Cruz said, "one of the reasons we got into this mess is because a lot of Republicans were complicit in this spending spree and that's why so many Americans are disgusted with both sides of this house. ... And every Republican who stands against holding the line here is really saying, let's give the Democrats a blank check to borrow any money they want with no reforms, no leadership to fix the problem."
josap wrote:
They are trying not to shoot themselves in the wallet by crashing rental prices.
Taking the loss upfront, I wonder how deep their pockets are?
Daily chart: Taxing for some | The Economist
This comes at a time when America's corporate profits are at a record high, thanks to the swift sacking of workers at the start of the recession, lower interest expenses, and the fact that cheap labour in emerging markets has eroded union power, allowing firms to move production offshore and defy demands for pay rises. Meanwhile corporation tax, which makes up 10% of the taxman’s total haul (down from about a third in the 1950s) has plummeted. An increase in businesses structuring themselves as partnerships and "S" corporations, which subject profits to individual rather than corporate income tax, is in part to blame.
Outsider wrote:
anyone actually believes there's going to be a taper of any kind?
May FOMC statement | Hoocoodanode?
June FOMC statement | Hoocoodanode?
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Not sure on a suitable hieroglyph yet.
Shouldn't it be Sally Struthers?
barfly wrote:
inflation expectations cannot be stable in the face of falling commodity prices
That's why Richard Fisher is worried about runaway inflation.
The Federal Reserve policy of propping up asset prices by buying Treasuries and MBS is working real well for and
Reading the speech Dudley-Do-Right didn't learn anything from the Japanese experience.
lawyerliz wrote:
are hummingbird sightings too boring?
So long as the intensity of humming bird sightings is not correlated with stock prices, yes.
Jackdawracy wrote:
Would you really want to stay past the first drink?
Am I armed? Is the a seat where my back is against a wall? Do I have a taster to ensure my drink isn't poisoned?
What the table needs a is a row for drop since housing peak.
vtcodger wrote:
the difference between production and consumption
The preferred term for the difference between production and consumption is 'investment'.
Savings is the difference between income and consumption expenditure.
Note: Savings is not equal to investment in a open economy.
Michael Pettis is on-topic!
http://www.mpettis.com/2013/05/21/excess-german-savings-not-thrift-caused-the-european-crisis/
In the late 19th Century, as I discuss in my most recent book, economists like John Hobson in the UK and Charles Arthur Conant in the US noticed that the rich countries of the west were exporting large amounts of savings abroad – mostly to what were later called by the dependencia theorists of the 1960s the peripheral nations. Hobson and Conant argued that the reason for this excess savings had to do with income inequality. As more and more wealth is concentrated into the hands of fewer people, consumption rises more slowly than production, largely because the wealthier a person gets, the smaller the share he consumes out of his income. Notice that because savings is simply total production of goods and services minus total consumption, this forces up the national savings rate.
This was a very important insight. Excess savings, they pointed out, was not a result of old-fashioned thrift but rather a consequence of structural distortions in the economy. The consequence of this “thrift”, furthermore, was not greater wealth but rather structural imbalances in the global economy.
picosec wrote:
you get the picture
You're suggesting that Tim Cook doesn't seek your advice?
China Trade Surplus Seen by BofA at One-Tenth Customs Figure - Bloomberg
Liu Zhengwen, 36, is a business manager in Shenzhen who handles exporters’ customs and foreign-exchange settlement. This year’s export situation “feels like 2008,” he said, referring to when shipments began plunging because of the global financial crisis. “There’s no money to make from normal operations -- that’s why gray-area or illegal practices emerge.”
“A friend in my industry just visited me and talked about forging documents to make money,” said Liu, who has worked in the business for six years. “I don’t want to take the risk.”
yagij wrote:
there would be no "eye"?
The calm eye is the work of Coriolis effect. A one mile tornado doesn't have enough Coriolis effect to create an eye. A tornado has a center of circulation but because the air flow is turbulent, the center make still be affected by strong winds.
yagij wrote:
walking in the eye
Hurricanes have eyes. Tornadoes don't
sporkfed wrote:
he retired.
I thought it might be a voodoo congregation and the boss became a .
sporkfed wrote:
Made the boss so mad he never came back to
our office again.
The boss never came back?
Oh, the humanity!
Common Gnomes Pop Up at Rarefied Flower Show, to Horror of Many
So it was not surprising that the staid Royal Horticultural Society‘s decision to allow garden gnomes — creatures commonly associated with the landscapes of the unrich, the unfamous and the untasteful — at the Chelsea Flower Show this year elicited a variety of responses.
Such as people all but fleeing in horror when the word was mentioned. “Gnomes?” said one exhibitor on Monday, when the show opened in preview. “I can’t comment on gnomes.”
Some exhibitors went proud and loud, putting gnomes in places they would not be missed, like in the middle of the grass. Others seemed to feel that gnomes may be fine for other people, but certainly not any people they know, or want to know. One renowned landscape architect, Robert Myers, hid a gnome in a tree in his display, lost his nerve and took it out again before the judges could see it.
“I don’t know where he went,” Mr. Myers said of his erstwhile gnome.
mr_clueless wrote:
The recession in France continues. Hope we weren't expecting to increase exports to them, or Japan, or China, or Israel.