Pizza delivery boys were kept busy for several hours while key members of the GOP sat around a table and attempted to salvage the Boehner plan for deficit reduction. At (literally) the end of the night the planned vote on the measure did not materialize and the measure itself was headed for a re-write for the second time this week. Meanwhile, the debt limit clock ticked mercilessly on and will now run out of ticks to tock on Tuesday. House minority leader Pelosi remarked that the Republicans have taken the US "to the brink of economic chaos."
As of now, Mr. Boehner’s proposals are some two to six votes away from getting approval by his own party’s membership. At the end of the day, and just six months into being, the speakership of Mr. Boehner is now thought to have suffered a lethal wound and few believe that he will be able to continue to lead his caucus after such an epic failure as we have seen over the past couple of days. Beware the Hobbits…
Weekend voting is what the current stalemate appears to be headed towards. However, the US Treasury is not sitting around waiting for the drama to take it by surprise; it is already contemplating how to prioritize various payments it needs to make in the days immediately following the deadline. Others, namely practically every Wall Street banking head, have issued urgent pleas to the US President and Congress to do that which must be avoided. Mr. Obama has been on the silent side over the past couple of days, but he is set to address the debt ceiling issue this morning. Markets can hardly wait.
A week from now the snapshot of the day in government intake versus expenses might show a $7 billion kitty available to pay $12 in committed spending. Fascinating factoid #86: The US Treasury has less cash on hand than Apple Computer — some $3 billion less. The trick will be how to short each/all/any of the recipients of said payments: will it be defense vendors? Medicaid? Federal workers? The unemployed? Any of these payees are likely to do more than merely grumble at the reality of getting less (or nothing) than they expect to get. Trouble is; when someone does not pay you, you send the repo man out to attach their assets. What do your repo from Uncle Sam? The Lincoln Memorial?
Spot gold dealings opened with minor losses this morning, shedding $2.20 to start with a bid-side quote of $1,615.00 per ounce, Participants appear unwilling to give up much if any of the fear premium currently baked into the golden pie so long as the debt ceiling free-for-all rolls on in Washington. Unlike the lawmakers, market-makers and investors do no have the luxury of ‘voting’ (with their pocketbooks) over the weekend; they must thus decide how to close the books later today and walk away with a sense of being safe for whatever comes on whatever day before Monday out of Capitol Hill. Thus, the tilt in the market will likely still point towards higher values, or maybe even new records, as the weekend begins.
Silver started off the session with a loss of 8 cents per ounce and a quote at $39.65 in New York. The white metal’s players also appear reluctant to walk away from the $40 price tag just yet, even if the market is still exhibiting a corrective bounce in an otherwise downward-flavored trend. The platinum-group complex, on the other hand, headed lower for different reasons this morning, but lower nevertheless. Platinum and palladium each declined $5 to open at $1,778 and at $820 respectively.
Rhodium was the only one to show no change in value; it was still quoted at $1,950 the ounce.
One of the reasons industrial metals speculators are apparently skittish (but not yet too much) during these days of indecision in Washington is that the upshot of either plan- Mr. Bohener’s or Mr. Reid’s-will be lower spending levels. That, in turn, could lead to slower US economic growth. That’s not some foggy theory, mind you. As things already stand, America’s pace of economic progress (as reflected by its GDP) was slower in Q1 of this year (by 1.2%) because of more restrained government spending.
Estimates for how much the Boehner/Reid plans might slice away from the US’ GDP between now and 2015 range from 0.1% per annum to as much as 0.5% per annum. Those prospects would give Mr.
Bernanke no only something to ponder, but reason to keep a large supply of Rolaids handy near his bed. Consider that even before these measures are rolled out, the current statistical data (released today) will show that US GDP is moving along at a 1.3% growth rate (versus economist projections that estimated it to be near 1.8% per annum). Factoid #38 appears to be fairly grim, Mr. Bernanke.
While the American economy managed the expand three time faster than the near-stall of 0.4% it exhibited in Q1, the rather anemic pace of job and income growth makes the potential implementation of the spending cuts being cobbled together in DC these days a thing of worry for the Fed. Apparently, that holds true for oil traders as well, as this morning they pounded black gold lower by $2.25 (to just under the $95) per barrel in the wake of the weak GDP figure. Stock market players also voted with their feet after the GDP data, and those feet were pointed towards the exit doors; the Dow lost 125 points in a hurry following the opening bell’s chiming.
Falling US stocks might just present the perfect buying opportunity for… China. Huh? Yes, China. As in: the largest holder (1.15 trillion dollars’ worth) of US Treasuries. Independent economist Andy Xie tenders the opinion that China should consider buying US equities not only as an alternative to the possible debt debacle in the making on Capitol Hill, but because they might actually present a better investment proposition than Treasuries. Now there’s an elegant and most helpful solution to the putative efforts of Mr. Bernanke to keep the Dow aloft that some have theorized QE to really be all about…
For the time being, however, China has certain… other priorities, such as addressing the potential slew of losses it might incur if loans to local governments implode and undermine the country’s banks.
Regulators in the country are worried sick that there is a huge shortfall between the amount that lenders have set aside to cover such losses and the size of the potential losses. In fact, the amount exceeds the aforementioned holdings by China that are parked in US Treasuries.
The tally is 1.7 trillion dollars. So, whenever you read someone railing on the subject of US debt and related problems, you might pull fascinating factoid #94 out of your sleeve and inform them than China’s debt ‘problem’ — liabilities on the order of nearly 2 trillion bucks, and local governments whose debt represents 116% (!) of their revenue. How familiar doe all of that sound? Not to mention that the first audit — yes, the first one — of local government debt only took place last month in China. Someone at Moody’s must be sharpening their scalpel as we speak… Bad debt? You ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.
We close this week with a rather interesting angle on the debt maelstrom of indecision in Washington; the one offered by David Weidner in the columns over at WSJ.com recently. Mr. Weidner suggests that beneath all of the anger and posturing and name-calling and such, there lies a secret and perverse desire to witness the mushroom cloud of default, and that we are all (not just the dyed-in-the-bullion gold bugs) guilty of harboring it. Take it away, Mr. Weidner:
"I would argue that there is one more motivation at work in both D.C. and Wall Street: an overriding curiosity. Admit it. Part of you wants to see Washington blow it. You want to see our national debt downgraded. Deep down inside, against your more rational instincts, you want to see a U.S. debt default. We haven’t had a real default since powdered wigs and tri-cornered hats were in vogue. The reason, maybe the only reason, we like games of chicken is the potential for disaster.
"We want to see someone wait too long, past the moment of no return. And the funny thing about it is as that moment comes closer — in this case, Aug. 2 — we want to see it happen even more. If anything, brinksmanship spurs a rabid, adrenaline-fueled curiosity. In the debt-ceiling debate, we’ve got it in spades. And, given the way each side is misreading the other, the odds are getting better every day that we will find out how spectacular a crash would really be."
On that suspenseful note, we leave you hanging until next Monday.
Jon Nadler
Senior Analyst
Kitco Metals Inc.
North America
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
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