Australian banks

From The Australian today: Like a well-drilled army unit, the big banks rallied together to dismiss a royal commission, firing off the scary reasons why it was a bad idea.

They won’t die wondering as Dalian is now up some 17 points from yesterday’s close and big iron is lovin’ it with BHP 4%, RIO 3% and FMG 5.5%: How do you say “don’t fight the Fed” in Mandarin?

From Macquarie:  Short positions in the banks are currently at their highest levels since 2011.

Prepare for a Gotti and Highrise Harry conniption, from the AFR: Westpac Bank and all banks in the Westpac group including St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA have ceased lending to all foreign residential property buyers.

From Deutsche: Expecting sound UL earnings growth offset by bad debt deterioration Overall we expect a mixed 1H16 reporting season, with hoh cash NPAT growth of ~1% -4%. Underlying earnings growth is likely to be solid (3-8%), however we forecast BDD/GLA ratios to rise ~4bps on avg (due to single name exposures and resources).

The bear market rally is struggling today as big iron retraces with BHP under $20 again -2.6%, RIO -3.3%, and FMG -6%.

Anybody that has read Matt Taibbi’s legendary take on Goldman Sachs will remember this: The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.

From S&P: Australian housing loans in arrears rose in February for the fourth consecutive month for prime and nonconforming residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), as measured by Standard & Poor’s Performance Index (SPIN).

Lol, in what is now a metronomic event, Dalian has again surged limit up pushing stocks back to flat from a solid fall earlier.

Big enough.

From Banking Day: When asked to say what concerned them most about the prospects for the mortgage market in a year ahead, a panel of industry participants said changes to regulatory policy settings might put additional pressure on capital requirements and force lenders to put up interest rates.

Big iron continues to rampage with Dalian limit up again and shares following suit.

From the rampantly bank campaigning AFR: The banking industry will launch a sweeping review of commissions paid to sales staff and has committed to improving protection for whistleblowers, as lenders respond to intense political pressure over misconduct by staff and fend off ongoing calls for a banking royal commission.

From the always balanced and forward looking AFR: Here’s a question for the big global investors who used Australian stocks as a proxy for their bets on a Chinese slowdown: How’s that big short treating you now?

From the always excellent Adele Ferguson who exposed much recent banking malfeasance: To get to the root of unethical conduct requires more than creating a strong regulator.

One man who will be breathing an enormous sigh of relief today is Trevor Sykes with BHP blasting through $20 and effectively ending the infamous Sykesnado in which he instructed all to buy the stock as it plunged into a value destroying vortex.

From Goldies: Our Economic team’s views call for unprecedented policy divergence between the RBA (2 rate cuts) and the Fed (3 rate hikes) over the remainder of the year.

So much for rebalancing!

Big gas is taking it in the team today following the Doha dud with WPL -1.4%, OSH -4%, STO -6%, ORG -5% and LNG -1%:   I imagine the market will now follow every tick is every OPEC oil minster’s face henceforth so volatility is going to be the name of the game.

Bloomberg takes the sovereign rating cudgels to Australia today: Thirty years ago, then-Treasurer Paul Keating warned the country risked becoming a “banana republic” because of its reliance on resources and it took nearly 17 years to regain the two top credit scores.