Financial, Real Estate, Stock Markets Trends and Current Affairs

As the equity markets are benefiting from the forced zero rates of central banks world-wide, I remain cognizant that the core problems of the crash five years ago have went absolutely nowhere. As I have demonstrated to all that I am no perma-bear in calling the contrarian pair trade of the decade (short Apple: Deconstructing The Most Accurate Apple Analysis Ever- long Google: Reggie Middleton Goes For 2nd Win On CNBC Stock Challenge & Causes TROUBLE!!!). I'm not pessimistic, I'm realistic! My recent rant on the Irish banks included the post that pretty much laid out the evidence of a potential Irish bank collapse -  "If I Provide Proof That The Entire Irish Banking System Is A Sham, Does It Set Up A Much Needed System Reboot? Let's Go For It... I followed this up with a stern warning to Irishmen - "As Forewarned, The Irish Savers Have Just Been "Cyprus'd", And There's MUCH MORE "Cyprusing" To Come". Who do you believe, me or your Irish government? Let me give the skeptical readers a little assistance...

Just a month and a half ago, we've had Irish officials proclaiming...

image004

Hey, ninety days or so later... guess what?

image008

These banks are likely to need a recap, a recap that will likely get a sloppy and ugly. I visited the UAE this time last year and noticed that would be an excellent source of capital for a shopping spree based upon the EU Bank deleveraging. It prompted me to detail my thoughts to subscribers for I was preparing to raise capital. 

Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 01Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 02Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 03Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 04Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 05

This is just a portion of the report released (subscribers can find the full report in the Global Macro Section of the downloads area). One page in particular was particularly prescient, page 9... Remember what happened two months ago before you read this and be sure to notice the dates on the embedded documents... Bank deleveraging is REAL!!!

• Is The Cypriot Government Crazy Or Do They Really Fear Bankers That Much?
• Mainstream Media Says Cyprus Salvaged By…
• Economic Depression Is The New Success

Distressed Sales from European Sovereign Nations and Banks Page 09

I have updated versions of this distressed asset acquisistion document which I will post for institutional subscribers later on in the day. Any institutions or high net worth individuals interested in my plans should feel free to contact me. 

Kiss Those Euros GoodbyeAs of today, all of the puzzle pieces for an Irish government cum ECB via Germany confiscation of Irish bank depositor money is in place. The first piece, Irish bank insolvency was clearly identified and articulated in "If I Provide Proof That The Entire Irish Banking System Is A Sham, Does It Set Up A Much Needed System Reboot? Let's Go For It... I drove the point home even further as the Irish PTB start to admit that their banks need to be recapitalized, in "The Beginning Of The Great Irish Unwind?!?!?!". The second piece of the puzzle is the political will to actually sacrifice bank depositors, clearly illustrated in "As Forewarned, The Irish Savers Have Just Been "Cyprus'd", And There's MUCH MORE "Cyprusing" To Come". Now as of today, we have the final piece, the legal mechanism - which allegedly is just being debated but in reality is already in place. The template has already been established with Cyprus, ala "EU Bank Depositors: Your Mattress Is Starting To Look Awfully Attractive - Bank Risk, Reward & Compensation".

The Irish are about to see their deposits above the 100k euro insured limit hit risk heretofore unseen. You see, weeks after my many warnings of Irishmen and women at financial risk, the Irish presidency of the European Council put forth a proposal to do just what I warned of ahead a key meeting of finance ministers next week. Whats of even more importance is the fact that, as in Cyprus, EU states have NOT ruled out the possibility of confiscating bank deposits below the EU insured limit of 100k euro. This means that there is far from a AAA credit covering your deposits. It almost happened a month or so ago, and nobody wants to rule put the potential of it happening again. Now, on to the news piece that has confirmed my many warnings, the last piece of the puzzle - from the Irish Times: Bank deposits of over €100,000 may be at risk...

Deposits of over €100,000 are likely to be hit in the event of future European bank collapses, according to a proposal put forward by the Irish presidency of the European Council ahead of a key meeting of finance ministers next week.

Discussions on the controversial bank resolution regime, which is likely to see savers with deposits over €100,000 “bailed in” as part of future bank wind-downs, are due to intensify this week in Brussels, ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, which will be chaired by Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan.

Under a compromise text proposed by the Irish presidency, uninsured deposits of over €100,000 would be bailed in in the event that a bank is resolved, but depositors would rank higher than other creditors in the event of a wind-down. In this scenario – known as “deposit preference” – depositors would rank at the very end of the process, with other creditors first absorbing losses.

"In this scenario – known as “deposit preference” – depositors would rank at the very end of the process, with other creditors first absorbing losses." Absolute non-sense. Simply smoke and mirrors for those who don't know any better. The only reason for there to be a wind-down in the first place is that there is no equity left in the bank. With gearing in the European banking model what it is, and the dearth of transparent (non-fraudulent) reporting what it is (see If I Provide Proof That The Entire Irish Banking System Is A Sham, Does It Set Up A Much Needed System Reboot? Let's Go For It...), the chances of there being any recovery is somewhere between zilch and nil, give or take a euro or two - reference LGD 100+: What's the Possibility of Certain European Banks Having a Loss Given Default Approaching 100%? and The Anatomy of a Serial European Banking Collapse to realize that once a counter party driven bank run starts, there may be less than nothing to divy up in the end. Lehman Brothers' US creditors received roughly 10 to 40 cents on the dollar, but after 5 years of wrangling, the European International arm was full repaid. Hey, do you feel lucky with your life savings? Even if you do feel lucky, you'll still need 5 years to spare and a ton of cash for legal fees.

However, some member states have not ruled out the possibility that insured deposits, i.e. deposits under €100,000, would be forced to bear losses in the event of a bank collapse even though these deposits would be likely to be protected by the deposit guarantee scheme.

As stated earlier, this ain't AAA coverage!

This year Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the group of 17 euro zone finance ministers, said that losses on bondholders and depositors could form part of future bank bailouts as euro zone officials seek to move the burden of bailouts away from taxpayers – as was the case in the Irish bailout – and on to private investors.

The European Commission argues that this switch from so-called “bailouts” to “bail-ins” would result in an allocation of losses that would not be worse than the losses that shareholders and creditors would have suffered in regular insolvency proceedings that apply to other private companies.

Ahem, that non-sense only works on the uneducated and/or the unassuming. The major difference is that creditors that would be subject to regular dissolution proceedings AND that are unsecured, would demand considerably higher rates of return. A borderline solvent bank whose officers AND regulators admit publicly is in need of additional capital infusions after receiving three thus far, and 96% losses in its publicly traded equity, would have to borrow money at 18%, not 2% - and that's being generous. See the bank deposit rate calculator below.

While the inclusion of large savers in future bank bailouts is now widely accepted, significant differences still remain between member states.

While the new rules governing bank resolution were first intended to come into place in 2018, since the Cypriot bailout there have been calls from senior EU figures such as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and EU economics affairs commissioner Olli Rehn to introduce the new regime as early as 2015.

The Irish presidency of the European Council is hoping to reach a common position by the end of next month.

The little app below calculates what return you should expect to receive to take on the risk of a potential 40% haircut. The second tab offers what recent Cyprus bank rates were. Do you see a disparity???

 Other hard hitting pieces on the resurgent EU banking crisis

• Is The Cypriot Government Crazy Or Do They Really Fear Bankers That Much?
• Mainstream Media Says Cyprus Salvaged By…
• Economic Depression Is The New Success
• The Canadian Government Offers "Bail-In"…
• EU Bank Depositors: Your Mattress Is Starting To Look Awfully Attractive - Bank Risk, Reward & Compensation
• Global Banking Crisis - How & Why YOU Will Get "Cyprus'd" As This Bank Scrambled For Capital!!!
• As If On Cue, BoomBustBlog Shenanigan Research Gets Real In Ireland, Why Aren't These Guys Knocking On My Door?
• Are You About To Get Cyprus'd in Ireland? When A Single Word's Worth Billions Of Euros...
• Dear Ireland (& AIB), Haven't We All Learned The Problem Is Insolvency, Not Liquidity?
• Oh No! Is It Possible? A 3rd Irish Bank With Hidden Charges Not Revealed In Its Annual Reports?
• Ireland, You May Very Well Be Bust & I Make No Apologies For What I'm About To Show You
• The Next Leg Of That Counterparty Led European Bank Run Has Put On It's Running Shoe
• I Illustrate How The Irish Banking Cancer Spreads to UK Taxpayer & Metastizes Through US Markets
• Allegations Of Big Irish Banks Operating…
• Readers Respond With Evidence That AIB (…

This short post has more pertinent Apple analysis than a year's worth of Goldman's research. Don't believe me? Get some of the best Goldman research from the year and compare it, or better yet send it to me and I'll post it so we can all compare! In the meantime...  

In February I opined on Apple's attempt to appease institutional investors in the post "Regarding A Potential Stock Split & Cash Dividend For Apple". I am vehemently against Apple paying dividends or splitting its stock. Apple has witnessed a significant operating obstacle in front of it, and instead of attempting to navigate deftly around that obstacle, it is allowing itself to be distracted by non-operators (large investors, primarily hedge funds, who are eyeing its cash horde). Worry less about fancy cash repatriation schemes via debt issuance, cash dividends and stock splits and worry more on how to stem the tide of market share, technological capability and innovation loss relative to the extremely aggressive and capable Android powered competition. More importantly, focus on how to defeat the progenitor of Android, Google. 

As excerpted from the afore-linked article:

Only short term thinking traders really want Apple to return cash, reference Apple, Big Hedge Fund Stars & The Sell Side/Vaudeville Act To Burn Your Hard Earned Money As A Punchline That's Just Not Funny. Apple needs to put that cash horde to work aggressively, and quite quickly to build up its expertise and assets in the cloud, where it's sorely behind and in danger of never catching up. Apple also needs to significantly beef up its hardware and software in the portable device field. All three of these aspirations will hit margins, and Apple is seriously behind in all three aspects as well. For more on this, reference In Case The Mainstream Media Didn't Get The Memo, I Crush The Apple Reality Distortion Field On CNBC.

Giving cash to shareholders when you should be investing it yourself is an awful idea for the long term prominence of this company, whose days already appear to be quite numbered as a leading tech titan.

Now, to be honest, all tech titan's days are numbered, at least as a tech titan. Apple is currently and sorely outclassed in the tech features and capability race at the same time it has lost its iconic leader and competition has more than quintupled.

I rehash these points because as I fine tune our most recent Apple valuation model, incorporating the most recent quarterly results along with the bond offering details, I see some alarming developments that further my belief that Apple is no longer a growth company in spirit, in practice, and soon in growth rate, but has matured and is taking on the characteristics of a company who market has matured. The major problem with this is that Apple's market has NOT matured, and as a matter of fact, is still in the high growth stage. It is Apple management which has dropped the ball here, foregoing longer term opportunity to appease financial investors' shorter term desires. A very bad idea, and a devaluing event for longer term equity investors of Apple stock.

Apple cash reinvestment

It is no surprise that Apple's margins are dropping uncontrollably for they can no longer differentiate their product enough to justify a premium. Notice hos the drop in margins track the drop of R&D/marketing, albeit with the requisite time lag.

Apples margin free fall by Reggie Middleton on CNBC

This 15 minute video features all of the ins and outs of how Apple fell, why it fell, and how it can rise again.

Apple's management is in desperate need of a cloud infrastructure build-up and build-out. They also need a significant hardware and OS refresh. Without such, they will become RIMM'd, or shall I say Blackberry'd. As you can in the app below, Apple's mobile product margins are all trending down, at the same time their market share and ASPs are downward trending as well.  This sample is one page out of our ten section Apple valuation model, a model which I will make available to all professional and institutional subscribers next week, one updated with the latest quarterly results and the recent bond offering. You can subscribe here to access this model, as well as Google's and Facebook's next week. 

The app below is also what was used to create the charts above...

Related articles:

What Sell Side Wall Street Doesn't Understand About Apple - It's Not The Leader Of The Post PC World!!!

Following up on Deconstructing The Most Accurate Apple Analysis Ever, I am offering subscribers an updated valuation of Apple now that it has fallen to EXACTLY where I warned subscribers in October (the week of its all-time high of about $707 it would fall) to. After playing with the iPhone 5 for about a week, I told subscribers to expect the stock to bounce up against the pessimistic band of our valuation analysis. Apple last traded at $420, this is how I put it 5 months ago...

image124image124image124

This report is still available for download to paying subscribers:

•  Apple 4Q2012 update professional & insitutional
  
•  Apple 4Q2012 update - retail

Apple's most recent quarter was about as close to my analytical forecast and predictions as it can get. Amazingly enough, media and analysts STILL are refusing to face the facts that this company's heyday is well done. Stick a fork in it. A picture's worth a thousand words, so let's make this a short post.

Apples margin free fall by Reggie Middleton on CNBC

I will be  releasing updated Apple research, including analysis that includes their recent bond offereing, within 48 hours to my paying subscribers. Pro and institutional subscribers will get granular access to the model and/or the model output. In the meantime, let's review the work from the recent past....

Most Accurate Apple Analysis Ever Pt 2, The Only Investor Accurately Calling To Short Apple Tells What's Next Tuesday, 05 March 2013 13:35

Following up on Deconstructing The Most Accurate Apple Analysis Ever, I am offering subscribers an updated valuation of Apple now that it has fallen to EXACTLY where I warned subscribers in October (the week of its all-time high of about $707 it would fall) to. After playing with the iPhone 5 for about a week, I told subscribers to expect the stock to bounce up against the pessimistic band of our valuation analysis. Apple last traded at $420, this is how I put it 5 months ago...

image124image124

This report is still available for download to paying subscribers:

•  Apple 4Q2012 update professional & insitutional
  
•  Apple 4Q2012 update - retail

With this report and Apple's subsequent ~40% or so drop, we have profited from Apple on both the long and short sides (After My Contrarian Calling Apple's 3rd Miss Accurately, I Release My Apple Research Track Record For 2 1/2 Years)

Related reading:

In Case The Mainstream Media Didn't Get The Memo, I Crush The Apple Reality Distortion Field On CNBC

What Sell Side Wall Street Doesn't Understand About Apple - It's Not The Leader Of The Post PC World!!!

 The short call - October 2012, the month of Apple's all-time high and my call to subscribers to short the stock:  Deconstructing The Most Accurate Apple Analysis Ever Made - Share Price, Market Share, Strategy and All

This crux of that article was to debunk the widely assumed notion that I was bearish on Apple's share price for 2 years. The reality of the matter was that the paid research and opinion clearly supported much of Apple's share price until right about the last earnings report and release of the iPhone 5, until I notably went bearish and Apple promptly lost 35%, or about 4 Dells with a LinkedIn thrown in to boot...

apple stock and front month optionsapple stock and front month optionsapple stock and front month options

Notice how this chart shows subscription research would have provided ample profits LONG and short, with the long presumed to be unleverred as a straight stock purchase. This is to put to bed any naysayers. Now, as to whether my many proclamations over the last two years regarding Apple were able to hold water, we let the facts speak on the reasoning behind the call and the accuracy of my call in the deterioration of Apple's margins, market share and status.

Now, if you recall, there were many sell side analysts calling for Apple to break $1,000 per share just a few months ago. On Friday, 25 January 2013 I penned "What Sell Side Wall Street Doesn't Understand About Apple - It's Not The Leader Of The Post PC World!!!", and is excerpted as follows:

I was going to name this piece "Why Sell Side Wall Street and the Mainstream Media Can't Touch Me", but I decided to go the humble route :-) Do you guys remember those highly paid Wall Street analysts and popular MSM guys who had $1,000+ price targets on Apple just a few months ago? Let's reminisce, shall we...

• Gene Munster [Piper Jaffrey] Says Apple Is Going to $1,000 - Businessweek Apr 2012
• Apple's Quarter Was Lousy, But Stock Still Headed To $1,000 - Forbes Oct 26, 2012
• Andy Zaky: Apple will cross $1,000 within 15 months - Apple 2.0 ...Sep 18, 2012 – And hit $1500 before the end of 2014, predicts the manager of an Apple-only hedge fund Zaky called that bottom in mid May.
• Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Apple $1,000 Not Half-Baked...Apr 3, 2012

Let's contrast this to what I have espoused over a similar time frame...

1. 1. How Google is Looking to Cut Apple’s Margin and How the Sell Side of Wall Street Will Enable This Without Sheeple Investor’s Having a Clue - This pretty much says it all, right Mr. Munster of Piper Jaffrey??? Yeah, I called you out on this one! Here is an excerpt for good measure, but before you read it remember that Apple's thrashing at the exchange has forced it to renounce its earnigns manipulating ways - just as I anticipated!!!

Well, let's see what's in today's news... Oh yeah!!! Apple cuts MacBook Pro Retina and Air prices, boosts specs 

Apple has slashed the price of its MacBook Pro with Retina display notebooks, throwing in some updated specifications along the way.

Hey, wait a minute! Didn't I say that in the CNBC segment yesterday, and all through last year? Subscribers can access my full Apple report and valuation here Apple 4Q2012 update professional & institutional and Apple 4Q2012 update - retail). Those of you who don't subscribe can review the dated, redacted version below...

Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 01Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 01Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 02Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 02Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 03 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 03 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 04 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 04 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 05Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 05Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 07 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 07 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 08 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 08 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 09 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 09 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 10 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 10 copyApple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 11Apple -Competition and Cost Structure - unlocked Page 11

If after reading the articles and viewing the videos above and you believe that I'm the best thing since Wall Street brokerages were private partnerships that couldn't squander other peoples capital at insanely levered levels while misleading muppets with inanely bullshit analysis and sales pitches to 89% losses on their recommendations (reference Multiple Muppet Mashing Leaves Groupon Shareholders Holding The Bag After 89% Off IPO Coupon) just to get paid multi-million dollar bonuses instead of jail time, then feel free to subscribe here.