By Lee Adler, The Wall Street Examiner: One of the purposes of the Fed’s Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) was ostensibly to allow banks to rebuild their capital through suppressed funding costs and increased profits. Theoretically that would add to their capital. But in this chart, we see that the growth rate of bank capital has fallen to zero.
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Hammered By Abenomics, Japanese Consumers Get Gloomier
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Hammered By Abenomics, Japanese Consumers Get Gloomier
A quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan brought a dose of reality to the glorious hype surrounding Abenomics, whose stated beneficiaries are the big banks and Japan Inc., including the formerly omnipotent nuclear power industry that Abenomics is trying to restore to its glory. But consumers are struggling with reality, apparently.
Supercars In The US, Japan, and China: How QE And Corruption Boosted Sales
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Supercars In The US, Japan, and China: How QE And Corruption Boosted Sales
Supercar-makers Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce are reacting to the forces whacking global markets for luxury products: a corruption crackdown in China, Abenomics in Japan, and the Fed’s money-printing in the US. The idea that sales in China, which is printing billionaires by the dozens, are crashing is a hard-to-swallow concept for the industry.
“A Feeding Frenzy, A Mad Dash To Snap It Up” – House Flipper
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “A Feeding Frenzy, A Mad Dash To Snap It Up” – House Flipper
You can’t get away from it. The media fawn over it. Rational neighbors drool unexpectedly. Ads flood the airwaves. “Learn our simple three-step system on how to flip homes,” the announcer says. Everyone knows: untold riches are waiting for you. “Right here in the Bay Area,” he says. It’s hot, so hot that people will get burned. And banks will get hit (again).
S&P Threatens To Cut US Debt To Junk
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on S&P Threatens To Cut US Debt To Junk
“This sort of political brinkmanship is the dominant reason the rating is no longer ‘AAA,’” S&P ratings agency wrote in a research note. More ominously, it warned that if Congress failed to pass a debt-ceiling hike before the out-of-money date in mid-October, it would cut the U.S. to “selective default.” And then there would be the post-default era.
Bubble Trouble: Record Junk Bond Issuance, A Barrage Of IPOs, “Out Of Whack” Valuations, And Grim Earnings Growth
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Bubble Trouble: Record Junk Bond Issuance, A Barrage Of IPOs, “Out Of Whack” Valuations, And Grim Earnings Growth
When Blackstone’s global head of private equity, Joseph Baratta, said Thursday night that “we” were “in the middle of an epic credit bubble,” the likes of which he hadn’t seen in his career, he knew whereof he spoke. Junk bond issuance hit an all-time record in September. IPOs are flying off the shelf. But earnings growth is grim – and plunging. What gives?
David Stockman: Monetary Central Planners And Financial Manias
by David Stockman • • Comments Off on David Stockman: Monetary Central Planners And Financial Manias
“One of the hallmarks of financial manias is that propositions which are perfectly absurd nevertheless get widely embraced by those caught up in the excitement,” writes David Stockman – in this case, Blackstone’s LBO of Extended Stay Hotels, and its subsequent sale at a ridiculous three times replacement cost, funded by Citibank … a pre-packaged scam.
Great Start in Germany: Three Days After Election Victory, Merkel’s Party Breaks Campaign Promise Of “No Tax Hikes”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Great Start in Germany: Three Days After Election Victory, Merkel’s Party Breaks Campaign Promise Of “No Tax Hikes”
Germans pay a lot of taxes. The value added tax was raised to 19%. The state grabs 42% of any income above €52,882 and 45% above €250,731. There’s the church tax, solidarity tax, gasoline tax…. Not much is left over when a German is done paying taxes. So, during the campaign, Chancellor Merkel’s party pledged categorically not to raise taxes.
J.C. Penney And Goldman: Lies, Scams, And Rip-Offs
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on J.C. Penney And Goldman: Lies, Scams, And Rip-Offs
Why would anyone buy this crap? No, not the clothes in J.C. Penney’s stores – which practically no one is buying – but the shares it just sold. It desperately needed to raise capital because it’s bleeding cash and won’t be around much longer without lots of new cash to bleed. So it did. At a horrendous expense, overnight, to existing stockholders.
First Cracks (And Losses) In The Insane LBO Craze
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on First Cracks (And Losses) In The Insane LBO Craze
It could be an aberration. Or it could be the first visible crack in the insane leveraged buyout craze that has spread across the country: JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs could get hit with a loss of up to $156 million on the $780 million in junk debt they pledged to sell to fund the buyout of teen-fashion retailer rue21. With consequences for investors.