SO FAR SO GOOD

Commodities Up So Far In 2014

We talked about commodities earlier, specifically beef and hogs and grains and cocoa. Much is being made about the China perfect slowdown that many fear will turn out not so perfect. But 2014 so far has been so good if you owned some commodities.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101523319

A LITTLE BUFFETTOLOGY

The 10 worst places to retire included Mr. Buffett's beloved Nebraska. How Mr. B gets remunerated, you can be sure most of these tax bites don't bite him.

Buffett pays himself a pittance of a salary and takes most of his billions in capital gains taxes, taking further advantage of the state being the second least expensive place to retire.

So The B man profits two ways.
http://www.topretirements.com/blog/great-towns/10-worst-states-for-retirement-for-2014.html/

BANKS WILL BE BANKS

Run on banks not new in most places. But this is China where things for many are beginning to appear grim. Despite all claims to the contrary, the last word is perception rules. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/25/us-china-banking-yancheng-idUSBREA2O0R520140325

OXY FOLLOW UP

Though this story first ran a little over a month ago, it's very much center stage. A growth-by-shrinking trend is afoot not just in the energy business. It's too bad that most governments don't take the hint.

http://www.energytribune.com/80345/will-oxys-divorce-spur-the-break-up-of-big-oil#sthash.DVFHaVvK.dpbs

QUICK MARKET WRAP

When you go swimming you never know what lurks just below the surface.

What with the all the current market jitters the real trouble might lay just below the rumblings and not in some far off place like next year when most expect the Fed to be well into its projected QE weening. http://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/daily-forex-market-wraps/2014/03/24/

QUACKING DUCKS

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There's an old Wall Street bromide quacking ducks get fed. Initial public offerings frequently attract the fast-buck crowd. They also often accompany a feeding frenzy.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/24/investing/premarkets/index.html

PMI TEA LEAVES

If you're a PMI fan you might find this update http://www.marctomarket.com useful. We don't put much stock in purchasing manager stuff. But along with March Madness it can lend to glancing water cooler one-up man-ship.

On the cosmic scale of importance they're about the same.

THE MARKET RUNS THE SHOW

In a recent post, Dial Up Your Counter-Intuitive Intuitive Barometer, we stated the market, not the Fed, runs the show.

Well, here's a piece from The Big Picture that makes the case quite plainly. Check out the charts. In all the clamoring, jockeying for position and media mesmerizing it's almost always the one hardly anyone saw coming.

What's key to remember is those officials who really think they're running things really think they're running things. It's their gray matter, manipulations and presence. They are the light and the way.

http://t.ritholtz.com/bigpicture/#!/entry/the-fed-and-hyperinflation,532ea2ca025312186ce846d8/3%

DON'T FALL ASLEEP AT THE TAX SWITCH

If you like annually visiting your friendly proctologist, you'll love this bipartisan proposal.

It's another classic example of the camel getting its nose under the edge of the tent. The first step came several years ago when Congress cut the mortgage interest deduction for homes priced at one million or more. The latest proposal suggests cutting it to $500,000.

But that's not the funny part. One elected wag had the contempt to play the analogy card, suggesting in these difficult economic times the government could put those usurped funds to "good use." That's what we now know they did with all the money they garnered from the first restriction.

Not that long ago one could deduct the interest one paid on new car loans, credit cards and the like. They confiscated those deductions in 1987. This is the slippery slope of dangerous stuff. Get this in your head and keep it straight: deductions are anathema to all governments.

Fall asleep on this one and, like the line in country song about the guy's girl, "You won't even know she's gone."


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-congress-limit-mortgage-deduction-2014-03-22?link=MW_popular

FED SPEAK

Question: What's the difference between voodoo and Fed speak?
Answer: Nothing.

That's what the newly released 'passing grade' the Fed stamped 29 of the 30 largest banks with in their so-called stress test is, Fed Speak. Quite often government makes its net bigger under the guise of the so-called fees. The term tax is too harsh, so we'll call it fees. Big pharmaceutical does it a bit differently; they just pay researchers to produce the results they want to spread a bigger net so more patients will require their drugs. It's a great gig if one can get it.

The idea that these bankers are not savvy enough to keep certain assets in certain dark places is hardly a new one apparently to all but the Fed. And that's just the tip of the full disclosure financial treadmill test.  Once again the public remains mesmerized by the media coverage.