Bonds & Interest Rates

Too Big to Fail = Too Big to Exist

Big-BankSeveral banks who are friendly and not the wild trading types, reported to us before that the Federal Reserve officials were visiting them warning that they needed to change their models. Now the Fed is warning banks that they MUST do more to curb excessive risk-taking. They have also been warned about the bogus claims of “rogue” traders who amazingly lose billions and somehow management never knew. That claim is BOGUS, for anyone claiming that means that they bank should be shut down for it is incapable to risk management and should be barred from trading. So the Fed has again informed the banks that the have to now improve employee behavior at their firms or face stiff repercussions, including being broken into smaller pieces.

The bankers have come in second to politicians as the most untrusted profession. This time around we WILL see banks broken apart. The Fed will cover only deposits. There is no political stomach for another $1 trillion check to bail them out next time. Besides, next time would be 3 times as great as the last bailout. This seems to be the growth path that they are on with a MINIMUM 300% increase from one bailout to the next. However, our models are point to a Phase Transition in this statistic. That means we may see more than a 500% increase in losses next time around.

….more from Martin Armstrong:

Hedge Funds get Hit – Unable to See TIME – “Rich Man’s Panic of 2014″

It’s More than just a Debt Bubble – It’s a Social Bubble

Calgary & Toronto Hit New Historical Highs

In September 2014 Calgary and Toronto single family detached average prices hit new historical highs on Absorption Rates that are the highest among Canada’s 6 biggest cities. Look also at the total MLS sales across Canada which are projecting the biggest single year since the 2008-2009 plunge. It’s been a banner year for sales.

6613063

Click Chart twice for Larger View 

The chart above shows the average detached housing prices for Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa* and Montréal* as well as the average of Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto condo (apartment) prices (Left Axis). On the right axis is the MLS Annual Total Residential Sales across Canada; the most recent data point being a projection to year end.

Meanwhile Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal ticked down in their flat channels and Vancouver ticked up inside Bull Horse Mt

It remains interesting to note that the combined average price of a Vancouver, Calgary & Toronto condo is currently 26% more expensive than a median priced Montreal SFD and note also that in the spring of 2006, those 3-City average condos zoomed 58% in price (over $100,000) in just 3 months as the buy side of the market freaked out over the inversion of the 10yr less the 2yr spread as it went negative (Yield Curve). 

Mattress money has gushed into condos with no respect for fundamentals or plan for contingencies that may be required if Pit of Gloom II develops and one must write off capital gains and rely on employment earnings.

….related:

 

  • 6 BIG METRO SALES & LISTINGS Total Residential
    Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa & Montreal
  • MONTHLY ABSORPTION RATE & MONTHS of INVENTORY Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa & Montreal
  • HOUSING STARTS since 1955 Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta & BC
  • VANCOUVER Housing Prices of Single Family Detached, Townhouse & Condos as well as total residential Sales and Inventory. The page also includes charts for the Deflator (prime area listings over-under $750,000) and Strata unit prices as a % of SFD prices and a 10 year comparison of increases in SFD prices and Family Income.
  • BULL HORSE MOUNTAIN The Bull Trap that is Vancouver Housing; includes the Double Double chart.
  • CALGARY Housing Prices of Single Family Detached, Townhouse & Condos as well as total residential Sales and Inventory. The page also includes charts for Strata unit prices as a % of SFD prices and a 10 year comparison of increases in SFD prices and Family Income.
  • TORONTO Housing Prices of Single Family Detached, Townhouse & Condos as well as total residential Sales and Inventory. The page also includes charts for Strata unit prices as a % of SFD prices and a 10 year comparison of increases in SFD prices and Family Income.
  • TORONTO COMPARED with VANCOUVER Single Family, Townhouse, Condo & Other Metrics including Absorption Rates and charts for Strata unit prices as a % of SFD prices and a 10 year comparison of increases in SFD prices and Family Income.
  • HOUSING PRICE MOMENTUM Price Change Y/Y
    Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto & TSX Real Estate Index
  • TSX INDEXES & Canadian Commodities Index
    Real Estate, Gold, Energy, Financial Services & Commodities
  • MILLIONAIRE METRIC Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto SFDs & Cash Millionaires priced in Gold

 

 

Oct 21, 2014

  1. While all “systems are go” for the precious metals sector, or at least appear that way, things are substantially more questionable for the world’s stock, bond, and real estate markets.
  2. India’s top central banker, Raghuram Rajan, is highly educated, in both engineering and economics. He’s one of the smartest practical economists in the world, and the only central banker to have predicted the 2008 super-crisis.
  3. Ominously, he’s the only central banker now, issuing dire warnings about a new super-crisis, one that could become a 1930s-style depression. My suggestion to the Western gold community is to take this man seriously. Here’s why:
  4. The Fed often uses a rough eight year business cycle in its calculations. The last two cycles peaked in the year 2000 and 2007. The current cycle has been anemic, and it is likely to peak in 2015, using that eight year gauge as a rule of thumb.
  5. If Western gold community investors did not buy the US stock market into the 2002 and 2009 lows (I did), they should not be “chasing price” now, as this business cycle peaks. Bank economists keep saying this recovery cycle can continue far beyond eight years, but that’s what they said in 1999 and 2007, right before the last two crashes.
  6. Wealth in the stock market that is “here to stay”, is generated by buying business cycle troughs, not peaks. While most bank economists and gold community analysts predicted a Fed taper would crush the price of gold, I suggested it would cause gold to rally, and turn the Dow into a wet noodle, and that’s exactly what has transpired.
  7. Here’s what I see next: I think bank economists and gold community analysts are seriously underestimating the Fed’s concerns about inflation, and risk-on market froth. For 2015, I’m predicting substantial increases in interest rates, as the Fed works to support higher wages for low and middle income Americans. 
  8. Janet Yellen has categorically stated that she has serious concerns about the wage differential between the rich and the rest of America. Higher wages are inflationary. Higher wages are almost certainly coming in 2015, and that means the Fed must raise interest rates decisively, to halt the inflation generated by those higher wages.
  9. While a 1929-style stock market crash may seem unlikely in 2015, trading volume has steadily shrunk in the Dow, since the 2009 lows. To view that decline, please click here now. That’s the monthly chart for the Dow. While the market typically rallies from October to the end of the year, I think rallies now need to be sold and shorted. I can easily see the Dow at 14,200 after the first rate hike. All global stock markets would join in the “downside fun”. There are two ways to solve wage disparity. The first is by raising the wages of the poor. The second is by crushing risk-on markets, and crushing the wealth of the rich. I think the Fed will engage in both actions.
  10. Higher rates could crush junk bonds, mortgage markets, and the Dow, while gold powers higher as inflation rises and the bond market loses its safe-haven status. 
  11. Richard Fisher is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He stated yesterday that QE has encouraged indiscriminate investing by investors. “We’ve been floating this market with the Ritalin of easy monetary policy,” – Richard Fisher, CNBC News, October 20, 2014. When a Fed president compares QE and low rates to Ritalinit’s time to seriously think about what happens to global stock markets when there is no more Ritalin. To view recent statements from Mr. Fisher, pleaseclick here now
  12. When Raghuram Rajan outlined the risks of the 2008 super-crisis before it happened, US government and central bank officials called him “misguided” and “lead-eyed”. Perhaps his “lead-eyed” concerns about a 1929-style crash now should not be dismissed quite so quickly, this time? 
  13. If the Fed suddenly raises rates, investors may find there are few buyers for their stock. The correction that Mr. Fisher is outlining could quickly become a much more dangerous event, depending on how global markets react to a major change in central bank interest rate policy.
  14. Please click here now. That’s the daily chart of JNK-NYSE, a junk bond ETF. It’s become a “cauldron of volatility” as QE is tapered to zero. What happens to junk bonds, if the Fed actually hikes interest rates?What happens to the US real estate market, in that situation? It could get ugly. Richard Fisher is rumoured to own a lot of gold, so he’s likely fully prepared to manage this situation!
  15. Gold itself is racing higher this morning, and the hourly bars chart is beginning to look like “bullish artwork”, painted by an old master. To view that chart, please click here now
  16. From the $1183 area lows, gold has now rallied about $71, and established a nice uptrend channel. Importantly, the sell-side HSR (horizontal support and resistance) at $1240 has been penetrated this morning in a decisive manner.
  17. To view the daily chart for gold, please click here now. Note the thick blue line I’ve drawn on this chart in the $1240 price area. The rise to the $1254 area is turning the $1240 area into buy-side HSR, which is great news for gold bulls.
  18. The lead line of the price stoker (14,7,7 Stochastics series) at the bottom of the chart is now at about 90, which is very overbought, and so light profits can be booked on a small portion of positions, using my systematic risk capital allocator, the pyramid generator.
  19. The weekly chart is extremely impressive. To view it, please click here now
  20. If gold can rise above the gold coloured downtrend line on this chart, I think a further rise to about $1350 may be a realistic target. Note the position of the price stoker. It’s sitting at about 37, and is rising steadily. In the intermediate term, that supports the bullish case for gold.
  21. Gold is generally frowned upon by governments, because it’s regarded as an “anti-debt” asset. Nobody knows this better than the citizens of India, who must import gold through a literal gauntlet of punitive rules, regulations, and kickbacks to government officials. 
  22. One Indian banker recently told me, “Government corruption has always been a part of our culture, and it always will be. Isn’t that great?” I’m not sure how great it is, but it’s clear that Indian citizens are fully prepared to do whatever it takes, to import all the gold needed for their sacred religious ceremonies, regardless of the actions of any government entity. 
  23. That gold ultimately must come from gold dug out of the ground byWestern mining companies. On that note, please click here now. That’s the weekly chart of GDXJ. From a technical perspective, a rare quadruple bottom pattern has materialized, with bullish implications for price of junior gold stocks.
  24. Note the price stoker at the bottom of the chart. The lead line is at about 15, and there’s now a crossover buy signal. In the intermediate term, a rally towards the $45 area appears to be very likely!

Oct 21, 2014
Stewart Thomson
Graceland Updates
website: www.gracelandupdates.com
email for questions: stewart@gracelandupdates.com 
email to request the free reports: freereports@gracelandupdates.com

Monday Oct 21, 2014
Special Offer for Money Talks readers
: Send an email to freereports@gracelandupdates.comand I’ll send you my free “Die Bonds Die!” report. I’m preparing to attack the global bond markets with short sales. I’ll show you how to get richer, by betting on rates hikes as gold climbs higher!

 

4 Solutions To The 4 Fears of Investing/Trading

images-14 Lessons From Buffett That Every Investor Needs To Know

Behind each trade or investment, they are there… lurking, waiting to reveal themselves during a moment of weakness.

They are the four fears of investing.

I learned about these early into my trading career, and I’ve been a victim of each one over time. All drama aside, they affect every investor or trader who actively manages his or her own money.

In no particular order, the four fears are as follows:

1. Fear Of Loss
2. Fear Of Missing Out
3. Fear Of Letting A Profit Turn Into A Loss
4. Fear Of Being Wrong

Despite their prevalence, there are fortunately many methods to help conquer each of these fears. One of these tools comes from the long career and immortalized wisdom of the Oracle of Omaha himself.

While I can’t be 100% sure what Warren Buffett would say in regard to each of these problems, we can use his bank of interview quotes and newsletter excerpts to infer what the billionaire would say about understanding and conquering each problem.

images1. Fear Of Loss
I have seen the fear of loss paralyze and end more trading careers than I’d like to recall. When buying a stock, there’s an overwhelming chance you won’t pick the exact bottom, which means losing money before hopefully turning a profit. Taking risk and experiencing loss are part of the game.

This fear keeps many from executing a position in the first place. Alternatively, seeing your recent purchase fall can cause enough anxiety for an investor to exit their position and take quick losses. This is a quick way to nickel and dime your accounts.

Note that lacking this fear completely could be even more disastrous. Feeling immune to the fear of loss and ignoring stops can see an investment drop to $0 (or worse, if it’s a short position).

Buffett’s take: “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”

Solution: Patience is key. Being patient before buying may make for a more comfortable entry and can give your trade enough room to grow — even if that means a missed opportunity. Always keep a realistic and appropriate stop-loss and commit to it. Keeping the quality of your trades high will limit this fear.

….read 2 thru 4 HERE

Trading the Topping Stock Market

“Fear” blew out Wednesday (Oct 15) but not before investors realized that, “When markets are falling hard you have no idea how far down, down is.” They also learned what “lack of liquidity” feels like…and it feels awful…and certainly they learned that, “Risk Happens Fast!”  All that, and the DJIA was only down ~8% top to bottom.

We’ve been “skeptical” of the stock market for months and have traded it from the short side…thinking that it had gone WAY too high too quickly without even a small correction…that it was WAY overdue for a break.  After months of ultra-low volatility and record new highs Market Psychology had become enthusiastically “risk on”…and had become extremely vulnerable to a “shock”…it was indeed, as Mohammed Ali might have said, “Cruisin for a bruisin!”

In early September capital began to retreat from the more speculative “reaching for yield” type investments…it began to move from the periphery to the core…it began to concentrate in BIG CAP investments…which continued to rally and made All Time Highs on September 19…a date we believe was a Key Turn Date…a date when Market Psychology across asset classes registered a definite shift to “risk off”…and that shift intensified (!!!) over the next 4 weeks.

September 19 may well have marked the 2014 highs for the stock market. Bullish Market Psychology has been hit hard…and Fear showed up (Big Time!) for the first time in a long time. We’ve been expecting the market to roll over with “topping action”…price breaks and rallies…but no new highs…rather than to just “turn on a dime” and start down. We weren’t expecting the DJIA to drop nearly 1,500 points just for openers, but given that it has we would not be surprised to see it rally back 50% to 70% of that break…which would take it into the 16,600 to 16,900 range. We will be looking for an opportunity to get short if/when any “bounce back” rally runs out of gas. The harder trade will be to get short if there is no “bounce back” rally…to get short if the market just breaks lower from here.

DJI-W-Oct20

DJI-D-Oct20

 

The VIX (fear index) hit 3 year highs Wednesday…fell back…but still closed the week at 2 year highs.

VIX-W-Oct20

Interest Rates: A mid-week panic drove Treasury prices sharply higher last week…while junk tumbled. As the panic subsided Treasuries fell back…but still closed at their best levels in over a year.

USA-W-Oct20

The nightly news is all about the drama in the stock markets…but the action in the credit markets may be far more important…junk bond issuers, who have feasted on cheap capital provided by “reaching for yield” investors may have to “pay up” for money in the future…and some “investment grade” issuers may get marked down to “speculative.”

JNK-W-Oct20

Currencies: The CAD registered its lowest close in 5 years last week…the recent Big Break in Crude helped to drag it down. Note that the 2011 CAD high of 1.06 was made as the commodity indices topped out…and as the Bull Market in the US Dollar began.

CAD-W-Oct20

The US Dollar Index closed lower for the 2nd week in a row…but it’s still very close to 4 year highs. We had a great run long the Dollar…we think it goes much higher over the next couple of years…we are looking for a spot to reestablish long positions. We realize that both the Fed and the Treasury are “concerned” about the effects of the Dollar’s rally. We believe that “currency wars” will intensify if global growth remains weak. We see capital “coming to America” for safety and opportunity…regardless of what American authorities may prefer.

DXE-W-Oct20

Gold rallied almost $70 from its early October lows….creating a triple bottom on the charts…as Gold Bulls hoped that the stock market scare would inspire Central Banks to “keep printing.” The weaker US Dollar also gave gold a lift the past couple of weeks…BUT…we think King Dollar will prevail…and new lows lie ahead for gold.

GCE-W-Oct20

WTI Crude briefly fell below $80 BBL last week…a 5 year low…while the Canadian benchmark…Western Canada Select…briefly traded below $70 BBL.

HUGE speculative long positions in Crude Oil (over 450,000 contracts…each for 1,000 BBL WTI) were accumulated as crude rallied to 3 year highs in June 2014. When prices began to fall in July we twice noted that the “unwinding” of these huge spec long positions would exacerbate the decline. We had been short WTI in May/June on the “supply/demand” story but were stopped out when prices rallied on the early ISIS successes in Iraq. We failed to reestablish our short positions as crude broke down…probably our worst trading blunder of the year!    

At the last “count date” of October 14/14 the large spec long positions totaled ~280,000 contracts…down nearly 200,000 from the June highs. The total is probably lower today as prices dropped further on BIG volume Wednesday and Thursday. Crude may “bounce back” the next week or two IF Market Psychology across asset classes turns less fearful…BUT…if/when crude turns down again liquidation of “under-water” large spec long positions will add to the price decline.

CLE-W-Oct20

WTI Option volatility hit record lows in June 2014 as prices hit 3 year highs (option volatility was ultra-low across all asset classes this past summer.) WTI option vol has nearly tripled from those lows…as bearish Market Psychology has intensified.  

CLEIV-W-Oct20

Short term trading:

Currencies: We were out of our long US Dollar positions by the end of September…we’d been long for months but thought that the Dollar had gone up too far too fast. We’ve been short commodity currency calls the past few weeks.

Stocks: We bought S+P puts on September 19 but covered (too early) after 2 weeks and then could not find a “comfortable” place to get re-establish bearish positions.

We looked at selling OTM puts on crude and the S+P late last week…it felt as though those markets “had to bounce”…and option premiums had sky-rocketed as FEAR drove the markets down… but we decided, “We don’t have to make this trade,” and just sat on the sidelines watching the show.

We look for the US Dollar to resume its rally and we will get long again. We think that assets that have run higher on central bank printing will fall and we will look to get short.  

Longer term:

We wonder if September 19 will prove to be what George Soros would have called an  “Inflection Point”…a point at which “the trend” changes. The BIG trend we are considering here is the Bullish Market Psychology trend…a trend wherein investors were blithely confident that Central Banks “had their backs”…a trend wherein credit spreads got narrower and narrower as desperate “reaching for yield” as investors plunged into questionable offerings…a trend wherein deeply indebted Eurozone countries “tried” to reign in their budget deficits…a trend wherein total outstanding debt grew and grew while global growth didn’t…despite all that “printing” from the Central Banks. For the past few years we’ve said that the “main driver” of Market Psychology was the anticipation of Central Bank actions…at the margin nothing else mattered. Something changed in September 2014…and it might have been the dawning of the realization that, “All of the King’s horses and all of the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

 

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