Monday, December 23, 2013

Financial Sarcasm Roundup for 12/23/13

It's been too long since I published a financial sarcasm roundup.  It's not for lack of sarcastic things to say.  I just had to find decent LOL pictures to accompany the text.  That problem is now solved.  I was not satisfied with commonly available LOL pics.  Many of them are governed by copyright law because of their proprietary origins.  Getting permission for each use would be expensive and burdensome.  Free stock photos also usually come with caveats about acknowledging credit to the creators.  I decided to take my own photos.  No one deserves any credit except me.  Get ready for genuine original Alfidi Capital LOL photos.

Congress will negotiate its final spending allocations behind closed doors.  The lobbyists for the major sectors mentioned in the article pretty much know what they'll get, so there won't be many surprises.  They don't know that pork spending sprees can't continue forever.  Uncle Sam will have a hard time doling out research grants and child care subsidies after hyperinflation begins.  Meanwhile, let the catfights begin.


China is trying very hard to prevent a run on the yuan.  Note the discrepancy of over 300 basis points between the opening quotes on seven-day repos and that rate's mid-morning weighted average.  The PBOC is not injecting enough liquidity into the Chinese banking system to stop the rate from rising.  If real estate prices collapse, so will the shadow banking system, and then the run on the yuan will become very real.  I'm so glad I am no longer exposed to China in my portfolio.


The IMF is bullish on the US's prospects for growth next year.  It is no coincidence that Mme. Lagarde said this very close to the FOMC's taper announcement.  Central bankers and monetary authorities coordinate their actions and announcements to foster stability.  The IMF, as part of the European troika lending to the crippled PIIGS, knows darn well what the Fed's support means to the ECB.  I don't think she's realistic about the US's prospects but I'm one of the few analysts who lives in the real world.  She needs to know that corporate earnings are still at twice their historic norm as a portion of GDP, and when they revert to mean they'll take equities down with them.


Alrighty, then.  There's your fix of LOL pic sarcasm.  Expect more lulz now that I have a collection of my own meme photos to use.