Wednesday, April 28, 2010

European Debt Crisis right around the Corner?

I must admit folks that I am in awe of what I see each day in the financial markets. It's also very hard to make any sense of any it when it comes to investing.

Things that would have been considered tinfoil 4 years ago now have become reality. I mean heck: If anyone would have told me three months ago that Goldman Sachs would be accused of fraud I would have laughed in their face.

Yet(minus yesterday's hiccup), the market continues to march higher despite being surrounded by seemingly endless economic landmines that threaten to destroy our financial system.

I mean take your pick: Greece? The consequences of the Goldman Sachs trial on the TBTF banks? Portugal? Spain? Massive unemployment? Housing Collapse? Financial Reform? US National Debt? Derivatives? Inflation(I know they keep telling us there isn't any but just take a look at oil)?

All of these problems have fuses that could potentially take us all down if they get lit. The reason this is the case is because the world is all now interconnected financially. It doesn't matter whether or not the crisis is here or in Europe: If the European banks go down as a result of soveirgn defaults, the USA's banks will be right behind them.

That's why we must focus on the European debt crisis. The ramifications of a Greek debt default would be devastating despite it's small size.

Greece and Portugal alone are a half a trillion dollar problem:




2y Greek bonds hit 20% today which is unbelievably bad. Greece is rapidly becoming an Argentina 2001 on steroids. Spain was also downgraded today and their economy is over $1 trillion. Our banks basically avoided the two bullets above but the big bankers in Europe. This puts us at risk as a result.

For awhile it appeared that Greece would get bailed out and I still lean towards this theory, but I am starting to hedge as I watch the credit spreads blow out on the rest of the PIIGS. Making matters worse if the fact that it is beginning to put pressure on the debt of the other Euro countries.

This is rapidly becoming a situation where if you bail out one PIIG you need to bailout them all. The problem is the money simply isn't there to do it.

What's happened to Euro bond market this week is flat out stunning. The bond vigilantes in the USA must have hopped on a plane and flew over to Europe this week in order to have a little fun.

I don't see how this ends well. The only answer to this crisis IMO is to have the PIIGS leave the Euro and go back to their old currencies where they can then devalue them and inflate out of their fiscal disasters. The results of this would be catastrophic from a social chaos standpoint but I see no other way out.

Housing Collapse Part 2?

I may be early but I think it's unavoidable as we watch the homebuyer tax credit end this Friday.

The only part of the housing market that was really recovering since the bubble burst was the lower end of the market where buyers were taking advantage of the government's gift.

Making matters worse is the fact that these new loans were also done using more horrible lending standards via FHA. I spoke to one of my Wall St friends this week who had an interesting take on this: "FHA will go down just like Fannie/Freddie did because the lending standards haven't really changed".

I totally agree with him. Allowing a buyer with a 620 credit score to buy a house with only 3% down is a recipe for disaster! Why do we continue to make the same mistakes over and over again?????? 20% down with a DTI of 36% is the only way any financial institution should be lending. If housing prices have to collapse as a result so be it. It's the ONLY answer.

Making matters even worse for the housing market is the fact that the TBTF banks are preparing to dump massive amounts of foreclosures into the market. I have read one report where Bank of America is preparing to dump 600,000 foreclosures just by themselves!

I guess they must be getting tired of the millions of squatters who stopped paying their mortgages 2 years ago. The reality here is the banks can't afford to play this game anymore.

They also probably recognize that the economy is getting worse(despite what CNBC tells you), and they may be better off trying to dump them now versus dumping them later as unemployment continues to rise.

The Bottom Line

Hold onto your hats. Stocks and bonds in the USA may do well in the short term as a result of the chaos in Europe. There is a massive "flight to safety" going on over there and we will be the beneficiaries of it. This is also why you saw such a spike in gold this week.

Over the long term I expect the debt crisis to eventually end up over here as well. We are in no better shape than anyone else. However: Risk is relative and the perception by the markets for now is the USA is safer than Europe.

For now I agree. Europe is heading rapidly into a serious debt crisis. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Be careful if you are short treasuries. Bonds over here should do OK for awhile.

I shifted some more of my portfolio out of treasuries and into cash this week despite my belief that bonds may do well over the next few weeks. I did this because I am afraid that the Euro debt crisis could potentially come over here in a heartbeat if things really start to unravel in Europe.

Be very very careful and keep a close eye on Europe. As for the Goldman debacle, I will get to that another day.

Disclosure: Sold US treasuries and government bonds.

13 comments:

CT-Hilltopper said...

I'm watching everything very very carefully.

I'm haven't been blogging period. I've been just watching the wheels turn.

It's not IF there's a collapse anymore...it's a matter of WHEN...

I'm tired of trying to time it. I'm just investing my time and energy in making sure that my family and I survive it.

Jeff said...

CT

Right there with you. I haven't had much time to blog either

The whole thing is almost surreal isn't it?

It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

Herb said...

I always thought it was a given that pretty much every Wall*Street firm committed some sorta crime or at a minimum acted in an unethical manner. Remember, when you are at the poker table and cannot tell who the sucker is, its you.

So I think that the Euro will not last much longer. USD might be a safe haven for money fleeing Europe and Treasuries might absorb a lot of that money.

Jeff said...

Herb

I agree. Check out these two articles. It looks like there is a Sept. 2008 style run on the bank in Europe.

ECB looking at doing a TARP and/or buying their own bonds.

OMG...This is unbelievable. Time to duck. The Euro might be toast.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_mCd08Cy2wI&pos=1

Here is the article around the money markets:

"(Reuters) - Money markets tensed up on Wednesday -- a warning sign when the financial crisis erupted two years ago -- with some banks finding access to funding harder as fallout from the euro zone debt crisis spread.

The signs of stress prompted calls for the European Central Bank to act to protect euro zone lenders as it did in 2008 when central banks took over provision of banking sector liquidity."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63R40H20100428

Herb said...

I think it is a real possibility that the entire country of Greece can go completely bankrupt at this point.

Hungary is not far behind:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aHdnHoPOfUSk

Jeff said...

Just finished watching Cramer dismiss the whole PIIGS fear.

Telling everyone to buy on th dip the PIIGS crisis has created. What a douche. Talk about leading the sheep to slaughter..

Nice catch on Hungary. Didn't know they were in trouble.

flipdippy said...

Jeff, you live? Glad to see the gang still posting.

Gotta hand it to TPTB, they have almost pulled the con on the public.

At least, finally, everything is predictable again. We're very clearly on a path towards disaster. We can have a lot of spasmic rises in equity markets until then.

Hell, neighbors are buying cars, taking vacations, they are living the dream.

But the walls are closing in.

Anonymous said...

I wouldnt worry so much about Hungary. Little guys like that go belly up all the time and not much happens. Heck even a midsize GDP like Argentina defaulting early in the decade didnt do much to affect the US economy.

Greece, however, is different. Were it on its own, and not part of the eurozone, it could default all day long and given its minscule size, nothing would happen here.

However, Greece is now part of the Eurozone, and the GDP of the eurozone is just about as large as the GDP of the US. Thus in some ways, a default by Greece (or Portugal, or the other PIIGS) is in effect, a default by the #2 GDP in the world. This is where it gets concerning.

So if they do go belly up, will it be seen as a default by Greece or a default by, (and threat to the sanctity of) the Eurozone? If its the former, its a nothingburger in the US. If its the latter, nobody knows, and thats the problem.

Jeff said...

Flip

I'm alive. Sorry its been so quiet around here.

I am seeing the same thing with people I know. Many are spending again and pretending that everything is back to normal. I do see a few that have lost their jobs though. People need to wake up and start saving.

Crazy times

Herb said...

I wouldnt worry so much about Hungary. Little guys like that go belly up all the time and not much happens.

I hope nothing happens, but those little countries were on track to join the Euro-zone in a few years.

Jeff said...

Anon

I totally agree. Greece alone is a nothingburger. The problem is if the crisis spreads. Time will tell!

EconomicDisconnect said...

I had a C-T sighting tonight!

Jeff,
Have you seen that rare pesumed extinct animal?

I have some vacation pics up if you want to stop by.

Anonymous said...

I always keep this in my mind that any CFD Common Mistakes will not caused by me..