Hurricane
Bearing Down on the Wall Street Casino - David Stockman (www.dailyreckoning.com) Other
than the five FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Goggle), the
market has been silently collapsing since March 1st. That's right. During the
last 70 days, the FAANGS have gained $260 billion in value, while the other 495
companies in the S&P 500 have lost an identical amount. And on that utterly
unmistakable pattern history is absolutely clear. In fact, the market cap of
the S&P 500 has risen from $19.5 trillion to $21.3 trillion during the last
29 months. But just five NASDAQ stocks ("Big 5") consisting of
Microsoft plus the FAANGs (less Netflix) account for 56% of that $1.8 trillion
gain. ... When the market narrows to a handful of momo names, its all over but
the shouting. Like the case of the Nifty Fifty back in the early 1970s, a crash
is just around the corner.
What
the Heck’s Going on With Cryptocurrencies? – (www.wolfstreet.com) “One
word, a question: Ethereum,” said the guy at my swim club on Sunday. “What do
you think? It’s a ten-bagger since January.” Meaning that the value of the
cryptocurrency has multiplied by ten in the four months since January 16. It’s
actually more than a “ten-bagger.” At the end of 2015, it was worth $0.90. As
I’m writing this, it’s worth $91.30. Those who bought it at the end of 2015 had
a ten-bagger on their hands by January 16, 2017. Those who bought at that
time also have ten bagger on their hands. Those that rode it all the way
up over the 16 months have a 100-bagger. For percentage fans, that’s a gain of
10,000%. What miracle “asset” did they get when they bought it? Don’t even ask.
Just believe in it. It certainly isn’t a usable currency for legit purposes,
obviously, given this kind of insane instability. But it really doesn’t matter
what it is as long as it is going up.
Some
Of The Funds Losing Billions In Puerto Rico's Historic Bankruptcy - (www.zerohedge.com) In
the aftermath of Puerto Rico's historic bankruptcy, a clearer picture of losses
accrued by U.S. mutual funds on their holdings of Puerto Rican debt is
beginning to emerge: the WSJ has calculated the red ink at as much as $5.4 billion over the last five
years on total holdings of $14.6 billion. Wall Street's paper of record
lists the funds who have piled up losses, both realized and unrealized, on the
trade. These include: Franklin Resources, Oppenheimer, Vanguard, Goldman Sachs
Asset Management, Western, Lord, Abbett, AllianceBernstein and Dreyfus. Of
these, Franklin and Oppenheimer are the biggest losers, according to
Morningstar data cited by the Journal. Oppenheimer has lost as much as
$2.1 billion, and Franklin as much as $1.6 billion. That's compared with AUMs
of $230 billion and $741 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, six other fund
families managed by Vanguard, Goldman, Western Asset, Lord Abbett,
AllianceBernstein Holding and Dreyfus have racked up between $100 million and
$200 million in losses each.
Ireland
is world's fourth-largest shadow banking hub - (www.irishtimes.com) Ireland
is home to the world's fourth-largest "shadow banking" industry, with
$2.2 trillion of nonbanking financial assets based in funds, special-purpose
vehicles and other little-understood entities in Dublin's IFSC, according to a
report published on Tuesday. The figure equates to almost eight times the size
of the Irish economy, as measured by gross domestic product... The key concern
is that, as central banks have clamped down on excessive risk-taking in the
banking sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, lenders might extend
their use of shadow banking to escape the claws of regulators.
Italian
populism unnerves investors in the eurozone - (www.ft.com) Europe’s
investment community has barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief following
Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections before starting
to fret about other latent threats to the eurozone. Some investors have hailed
the election — in which Mr Macron, a pro-EU liberal defeated Marine Le Pen, the
Eurosceptic rightwing candidate — as a sign that Europe’s economic recovery
remains on track. This follows the defeat of anti-EU candidates in both the
Netherlands and Austria over the past six months, which also alleviated fears
that a rise in populism across Europe could spark a break-up of the eurozone.
But many of Europe’s largest investors are now turning their attention to
another risk to their portfolios that is rapidly gaining momentum: the rise of
Italy’s Five Star Movement, and its potential to upend the economic bloc. The
concern is that Five Star, the anti-establishment party set up in 2009 by Beppe
Grillo, the Italian comedian and blogger, could win the country’s next
election, which is due to take place within 12 months.
America First Divides G-7 Even as Ministers Warm to Mnuchin - (www.bloomberg.com)
Euro zone recovery, Macron win give ECB chance to consider unwinding policy - (www.reuters.com)
Behind China’s $1 Trillion Plan to Shake Up the Economic Order - (www.nytimes.com)
Chinese, Western Banks’ Battle for Dominance Reaches Bond Market - (www.wsj.com)
A Populist Storm Stirs in Italy - (www.wsj.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment