STILL IN THE DUMPS

Couldn't reach Massimo and then out comes the jobs report that was a real howler.  I mean there was nothing good about it except for a drop in the unemployment rate which everyone now realizes is a result of people just giving up or taking a part time position.  Not even the administration tries that line any more sending out one of their economic advisors to explain all this without a script.  Poor bastard.  He got slaughtered.  It was so bad that the stock market, fully realizing that the numbers solidified the view that Ben will be QEing forever, nonetheless crashed at the open although is recovered well at the close.  What with all going on I doubt if anybody, anywhere, has a long or short position of any kind going into the weekend.

The full extent of the ABE plan has now been fully understood and if applied comparatively to the U.S. it would be as though the Fed was taking up $185 billion a month.   That's a lot of rice cakes gang and a monumental bet that it's going to work, that they are not going to destroy the Yen forever and that they can get out of it at some point in  time.  In regard to the latter, there seems to be a goodly body of opinion going around that at a point of time all Mr. Abe has to do is tell the Bank of Japan to burn the stuff and...problem solved!  Now that would be the competitive devaluation of all competitive devaluations and maybe that is the plan but forgive me if I can't get my brain around this one.  Of course sitting out there is a body of opinion that holds one of the quickest ways to jump start an economy is to militarize and clearly--with a little help from North Korea--the post war pacifism of the Japanese population has been greatly eroded in recent years.  Printing money at the same time helps as well and the Japanese, who if they are anything they are students of their own history which will show that Japan did something like this quite successfully back in 1933.  Got a bit awkward at the end, however, as the then minister of finance, having declared victory, was shot by the Tojo crowd who felt they needed a few more toys.  Next stop, Greater South East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.  It ended badly.

Not a peep out of Euroland today with the big news being that the UK held on to it's triple A rating from S & P.  Gnashing of teeth in the Elysee this evening for sure to go along with the embarrassment that a number of key players in the government were revealed to have stashed away a few Francs where they shouldn't have been in a remarkable release of data from financial "safe havens"  that is driving half the continent nuts.  I think it's a hoot but....oh damn, now I know why Massimo was 'Non che" this morning.  Among other things, Massimo...oh never mind.  Have a good weekend.