Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 26, 2015  Wall Street has tried to keep all eyes focused on the ongoing rout in China’s stock markets and away from the slowdown in both earnings and revenues in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index of the largest U.S. corporations. In remarks yesterday, Sam Stovall, Managing Director of U.S. Equity Strategy for S&P Capital IQ said that among the growing concerns are “a possible U.S. profit recession.” Last evening, Bloomberg Business reported that “Profits reported by S&P 500 companies in the second quarter fell 2 percent from a year ago and are projected to slip 5.5 percent in the current period.” As earnings and revenues slide, the corporate balance sheets bloated with debt taken on to buy back the company’s own shares will provide an unwelcome headwind to grow earnings. Since 2009, S&P 500 corporations have spent over $2 trillion buying back … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 25, 2015  America’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, has lost 10.87 percent of its market capitalization in the past three trading sessions. That’s $27.18 billion in three days, raising serious questions about the Federal Reserve’s theory that beefed up equity capital would buffer the mega banks in a market downturn. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.57 percent yesterday, JPMorgan lost 5.27 percent, despite its rich dividend yield of 2.92 percent.  The indefatigable Eric Hunsader, owner of the market data firm Nanex, was Tweeting the abominations occurring in the stock market yesterday as the opening bell set off a bungee dive to a loss of 1,089 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The Dow ended the day down 588 points to close at 15,871.35, a three day loss of 1,477 points. One of Hunsader’s Tweets remarked on the bizarre price action … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 24, 2015 After an 8.5 percent plunge in China’s Shanghai Composite Index on Monday (bringing its loss for the month to a negative 21 percent), a drop in the U.S. Dollar and the U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, slipping below $39 a barrel, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 8:27 a.m. are flashing an ugly opening in New York, with a potential loss of as much as 648 points. (That could materially change before the market opens at 9:30 a.m.) Mainstream media seem obsessed with what actions the central bank of China might take to stem the rout while also focused on debating if this means a rate hike from the Fed is off the table. The Fed, unfortunately, can only talk about hiking or not hiking since it’s fired all its bullets and has no rate cuts to … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 21, 2015 U.S. stocks felt their worst selloff in 18 months on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 358 points and the S&P 500 index shaving off 43.88 points. Of particular concern, the S&P has now broken through its 200-day moving average which suggests to market technicians that more pain is ahead. The stock plunge set off a flight to safety with money flowing into the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, driving down the yield. This morning, the U.S. 10-year paper is sporting a yield of 2.06 percent. Despite persistent talk of a rate hike coming out of the Federal Reserve, the yield on the 10-year has been declining for months, not rising – suggesting that the markets believe the Fed is reading the wrong tea leaves. On the heels of the sea of red in U.S. markets yesterday, China’s stock markets … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 20, 2015 Judging by the speed at which U.S. billionaires are going unfiltered on the airwaves and in print, the U.S. may soon find itself indelibly defined as a nation of well-heeled meatheads. Yesterday we reported on billionaire Sandy Weill, whose crackpot idea of a financial supermarket and rollback of the Glass Steagall Act resulted in his becoming a billionaire despite the implosion of his creation, Citigroup, in 2008.  Citigroup became the largest banking bailout in U.S. history and a catalyst for the largest U.S. downturn since the Great Depression. Now in their twilight years, Weill and his wife, Joan, have nothing better to do than attempt to gut a dead man’s will in order to chisel Joan’s name into the façade of Paul Smith’s College, a 1,000-student campus in New York’s Adirondack mountains. As the Weill article evolved, reflecting a life-long pattern … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 19, 2015 Sandy Weill, of Citigroup infamy, and his wife, Joan Weill, have given $10 million over the years to Paul Smith’s College, a small campus of 1,000 students situated on a lake and nestled in the breathtaking Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. The $10 million resulted in Joan Weill’s name being placed on the school’s library and student union. A month ago, in what now looks like a mean-spirited leveraged-buyout to alumni and faculty, Joan Weill offered to pony up another $20 million but only if the school changed its name to become: Joan Weill-Paul Smith’s College. The name-change requires the involvement of the courts. The 50,000 acres on which the college is located was purchased by the school’s namesake 157 years ago and donated to the college by his son, along with a foundation bequest to build the school. The … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 18, 2015  According to data from Bloomberg, corporations have issued a stunning $9.3 trillion in bonds since the beginning of 2009. The major beneficiary of this debt binge has been the stock market rather than investment in modernizing the plant, equipment or new hires to make the company more competitive for the future. Bond proceeds frequently ended up buying back shares or boosting dividends, thus elevating the stock market on the back of heavier debt levels on corporate balance sheets. Now, with commodity prices resuming their plunge and currency wars spreading, concerns of financial contagion are back in the markets and spreads on corporate bonds versus safer, more liquid instruments like U.S. Treasury notes, are widening in a fashion similar to the warning signs heading into the 2008 crash. The $2.2 trillion junk bond market (high-yield) as well as the investment grade market have … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 17, 2015 After overnight chaos in emerging market currencies, which are still reeling from China’s devaluation of its Yuan, the New York Fed further rattled markets at 8:30 a.m. this morning with a stunning manufacturing report showing that business conditions in New York fell off a cliff in its latest survey. The New York Fed writes: “The August 2015 Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that business activity declined for New York manufacturers. The headline general business conditions index tumbled nineteen points to -14.9, its lowest level since 2009. The new orders and shipments indexes also fell sharply, to -15.7 and -13.8 respectively, pointing to a marked decline in both orders and shipments. The inventories index dropped to -17.3, signaling that inventory levels were lower.” Adding to market angst this morning, the U.S. benchmark crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, was trading below $42 a … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: August 13, 2015  The quirky U.S. consumer has apparently decided to load up on building supplies, eat and drink at restaurants, forego filling the refrigerator, and snub Macy’s. The Commerce Department reported this morning that retail sales edged up 0.6 percent in July with food services and drinking places growing at 0.7 percent; building materials and garden supply dealers ratcheting 0.7 percent; while grocery store sales were flat and clothing and clothing accessories stores edged up just 0.4 percent. Department store sales were negative at -0.8. Yesterday, Macy’s reported that its second quarter earnings came in at 64 cents per share, a sharp drop from the 80 cents per share it earned in the second quarter of 2014. Revenue was also off, declining to $6.1 billion from $6.27 billion year over year. Macy’s stock dropped 5.06 percent by the close of trading yesterday, despite … Continue reading →