Weekend Links

Friday 25 May 2012

Morning All. It’s Saturday May 26 and I hope you’re enjoying the weekend.

Here is some stuff Reynard the Fox found interesting overnight.

Global Macro:

Stocks stumble on the pain in Spain. MarketWatch
Indeed, Spain’s Bankia seeks €19bn bailout. BBC
But here are some wise men to solve the problem. Paul Krugman’s interview with Martin Wolf. FT
Higher levels of Iranian enrichment found. BBC. Uh oh.

United States:

Europe:

Italian retail sales decline again. RTT
But Armani’s operating profit climbed 23% y-o-y. FT. Woo hoo!
Why I believe the Eurozone will survive. Mainly Macro. So do I.
Why Europe will either separate or become a superstate. Economist. I believe it will eventually become a superstate, but via the long road of a banking union, backed by post-Merkel Eurobonds and a policy reform/harmonisation pact, first.
The seeds of the Eurozone crisis were sown 60 years ago. Bloomberg. Interesting, but it contains the seed, if you will, of a fallacy. History is one continuous line. You could say the seeds of every current event were sown 60 or 600 years ago.
Europe’s other financial crisis (and one sown 2,000 years ago): Vatican Bank boss ousted, under investigation. Washington Post. Do you think he said “I wasn’t expecting the Spanish Inquisition!”?
Meanwhile, inquisition in train for the Bank of England. FT. I wonder if the RBA could ever have an inquiry of its own?
On Russia’s new privatisation plan. Beyond Brics. Speaking of history’s long arc, does anyone else see Putin’s vision as a continuation of the Brezhnev-era?
On the ECB’s plan to ring-fence its balance sheet. Alphaville

Asia:

A sanguine view on China’s economic resilience. The Economist. A must read and as good as the bull arguments get. I will be tackling this and several more of the better bull arguments (i.e. CLSA and GK-Dragonomics), which no matter how bearish you are deserve scrutiny, unlike the facile bulls%^& we all too often hear in Australia from the mining lobby, sell-side economists and the mainstream media.
A less sanguine view. China banks may miss loan targets for first time in seven years. Bloomberg
And thus is China running out of policy options? Yukon Huang. Or as I like to call it, options for can-kicking?
Unsurprisingly, Chinese are urged to spend more, save less. Washington Post. See how long that can work with an inverted demographic pyramid and without an adequate welfare or public health system.
Meanwhile, GS and Merrill downgrade India forecasts. Economic Times
The continuing debacle in PNG. Rowan Callick
And the continuing debacle with Bo Xilai. John Garnaut. Thank God the MSM still employs some excellent foreign correspondents.
Jakarta to build the world’s fifth-tallest building. Viva News Indonesia. Isn’t a mega-skyscraper plan always the sign of a bubble about to burst?

Local:

Interesting/Other stuff:

The ‘1%’ are happier, better looking, more goal-orientated, etc. etc. Ritholtz. That’s why they’re the 1%!

Former Wall Street wiz Rajat Gupta, now on trial, is however the unlucky exception. WSJ

Germans are incapable of enjoying life, study reveals. Der Spiegel. This is of course from the place that invented terms like weltschmerz.
India and Pakistan: brought together by beer. Guardian. Beer brings everyone together. Maybe the Germans could learn something here.