In a worryingly coincidentally timed move, Moody's has put Desutche Bank on review for downgrade, citing "execution challenges" in its new strategic plan. The worrying aspect comes from the fact the timing is entirely fitting with the ratings downgrade that started the last and most painful down-leg in Lehman's collapse...
Full Moody's statement:
Moody's reviews for downgrade Deutsche Bank's ratings (senior debt at Baa1)
To sum up: China car sales crash by most on record (boom goes the overseas growth meme), US existing home sales plunge most in 6 years (boom goes the domestic housing strength supporting consumption meme), Williams and Lockhart go full hawk-tard (positing April as "live" and suggesting everything is hawkishly awesome), and one of our most succeesful 'innovative' tech firms unveils the worst product launch ever... and investors buy stocks with both hands and feet...
Shiite militia forces in Iraq have strongly opposed the new deployment of US troops to the country. The Iranian backed militias have warned that if Washington does not withdraw its forces “immediately,” they will deal with them “as forces of occupation.” The Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, known as the League of the Righteous, issued the warning after it emerged the US had sent an undisclosed number marines to aid Iraqi forces as they try to retake Mosul.
Submitted by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com's Pater Tenebrarum),
Grotesque Mutants
Let’s see… U.S. corporate earnings have been going down for three quarters in a row. The median household income is lower than it was 10 years ago. And now JPMorgan Chase has increased its estimated risk of a recession to about one in three.
From the grotesque mutants collection
It is a quiet start to the week: in the US we have the Chicago Fed’s National Activity index (CFNAI) numbers for February (0.25 expected; 0.28 prior) which missed badly as noted earlier, printing negative after a sharp upward revision to the January number, as well as the latest existing home sales data (5.31mn expected) momentarily.