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Quantum Computers Will Make Even “Strong” Passwords Worthless

March 13, 2018

The race is on to perfect quantum computing. It will make your bank passwords and all existing security methods useless.

The Hutch Report has a fascinating 44-page PDF on Quantum Computing.

If perfected, existing methods of encryption will cease to work. Your bank account password and passwords to cryptocurrencies will easily be hackable.

The ability to break the RSA coding system will render almost all current channels of communication insecure.

This is a national security threat.

The benefits are also huge: Quantum computers will be superior at hurricane detection, airplane design, and in searching DNA for markers to help find cures for diseases such as Autism, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s.

Classical Computers

Classical computers use strings of 0’s and 1’s with a single digit a “bit” and strings of bits a “byte”. A bit is either a one or a zero.

Excerpts from the Hutch report now follow. I condensed 44 pages to a hopefully understandable synopsis of the promise and problems of quantum computing.

Quantum Background

Quantum computing does not use bits, but uses qubits which can be one, zero, or both zero and one at the same time. This state or capability of being both is called superposition. Where it gets even more complex is that qubits also exhibit a property called entanglement. Entanglement is an extraordinary behaviour in quantum physics in which particles, like qubits, share the same state simultaneously even when separated by large distance.

As comparison a classic computer using bits of zero and one can only store one state at a time and can represent 2n states where n is the number of bits. In the case of two bits, this would be 2*2 which is four states: 00, 01, 10, 11.

A normal computer would require four operations to examine each state. Two qubits could store the four states at one time. When the number of states are low there is not a major processing difference. As the number of possible state combinations increases, the difference in processing time between quantum computers using qubits and a classic computer using classic bits, increases exponentially. The following chart depicts this well showing that 20 qubits can represent simultaneously over 1 million permutations of classical bits.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Imaginary Wage-Inflation Conundrum

March 10, 2018

Economists are puzzled over the wage growth conundrum. Wages were supposed to rise significantly. They didn’t. Why?

Let’s start with a look at the conundrum expressed in a Tweet.

Lisa Abramowicz
✔@lisaabramowicz1

This is a confusing jobs report. US employers added the most workers since mid-2016, but hourly wages didn’t increase as much as analysts had expected. Bond traders are generally taking this to be positive for growth, with yields ticking up, but the inflation conundrum remains.

Confused? Most economists were, especially at Econoday. I wasn’t.

There’s still no wage inflation underway but the flashpoint may be sooner than later based on unusual strength in the February employment report. Nonfarm payrolls rose an outsized 313,000 which is more than 80,000 above Econoday’s high estimate. Revisions add to the strength, at a net 54,000 for January which is now 239,000 and December which is 175,000.

Despite all this strength average hourly earnings actually came in below expectations, at only plus 0.1 percent with the year-on-year 3 tenths under the consensus at 2.6 percent. But given how strong demand is for labor, policy makers at the Federal Reserve may not want to risk runaway wage gains as employers try increasingly to attract candidates.

The workweek further points to strength, up 1 tenth to an average 34.5 hours for all employees with the prior month revised 1 tenth higher to 34.4 hours (the private sector workweek rose 2 tenths to 38.8 hours with manufacturing also up 2 tenths to 41.0 hours in a gain that points to strength for next week’s industrial production report).

The unemployment rate held at a very low 4.1 percent as discouraged workers flocked into the jobs market. The labor participation rate is another major headline, up 3 tenths to 63.0 percent and again well beyond high-end expectations.

The sheer strength of the hiring in this report would appear certain to raise expectations for four rate hikes this year as Fed policy makers may begin to grow impatient with their efforts to cool demand.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Housing Collapse Coming Right Up

March 8, 2018

Mortgage rates are high and rising. Refinancing opportunities are nonexistent; home affordability has collapsed.

The latest Black Knight Mortgage Monitor is worth a very close look.

Here’s what the report says about the feature chart.

  1. Recent rate jumps coupled with climbing home prices have increased the cost to purchase the median home by $67/month (+6 percent) over the past six weeks.
  2. Overall, it costs $1,141 in monthly principal and interest to purchase the median home using a 30-year fixed mortgage with 20 percent down, the largest monthly payment required since late 2008.
  3. It currently takes 23 percent of the median income to purchase the median home, the highest share since 2009.
  4. However, overall affordability remains better than long-term historical averages, even taking the recent rate jump into consideration. Purchasing the median home requires one percent less of the median income than 1995-1999, three percent less than 2000-2003 (before the sharp run-up in home prices) and two percent below those combined benchmarks (1995- 2003).
  5. Average incomes are more than 20 percent higher today than in 2006 (according to the Census Bureau) and interest rates 2.3 percent lower. As such, affordability remains much better than at the pre-recession peak, even though today’s home prices have surpassed 2006 levels.
  6. Assuming all else remains equal, to return to 2006 affordability levels, interest rates would have to climb north of 8.0 percent or the median home price increase to $420K.

Statistical Nonsense

Black Knight is correct on points 1-3. Statistically, it is correct on points 3-6. However …

Regarding point 5: It’s not average incomes that matter, it’s median incomes.

Regarding points 4 and 6: Those who want a home and can afford a home have a home. The rest struggle because incomes have not kept up with home prices.

Notions of affordability are statistical nonsense. Black Knight does mention some of these issues in relation to other charts.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Collapse of NZ “Guarantor” Puts $300M Deposits for 10K Homes at Risk

March 8, 2018

Guaranteeing things is an excellent business until it fails suddenly and completely.

In the Great Financial Crisis guarantors were wiped out. It’s happening now down under where 10,000 Property Buyers are Caught in the Collapse of Deposit Power.

A leading national property finance company has collapsed potentially leaving an estimated 10,000 residential, commercial and property investors in the lurch about the fate of nearly $300 million worth of deposits.

Deposit Power, which provided interim finance to property buyers, has closed its doors after the collapse of New Zealand’s CBL’s insurance, which was an issuer and guarantor of deposit bonds.

Sale Complications

Worried mortgage brokers, who recommended the products to clients, are seeking advice on whether clients need to buy other cover, or secure additional or replacement financial risk bonds. It could mean unspecified risks, uncertainty and deal delays for tens of thousands of counter parties, financiers and their representatives, including lawyers and other brokers.

Mortgage brokers, who act as an intermediary between borrowers and lenders, are being warned the status of existing loan guarantees is unknown, pending applications will not be processed and no payments have been taken.

Investors calling the Sydney-based office are being answered by a recorded message the company is facing “external issues” and that it is unable to process any deals.

Deposit Power’s bonds were sold to individuals, first time buyers, retirees, self-employed borrowers, trusts, corporate entities, or self managed super funds purchasing commercial or residential property. It was established in 2012 and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

They were also heavily marketed to first time and off the plan property investors. A deposit guarantee is an alternative method of placing a deposit on a property.

CBL in Interim Liquidation

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Housing Collapse Coming Right Up

March 5, 2018

Mortgage rates are high and rising. Refinancing opportunities are nonexistent; home affordability has collapsed.

The latest Black Knight Mortgage Monitor is worth a very close look.

Here’s what the report says about the feature chart.

  1. Recent rate jumps coupled with climbing home prices have increased the cost to purchase the median home by $67/month (+6 percent) over the past six weeks.
  2. Overall, it costs $1,141 in monthly principal and interest to purchase the median home using a 30-year fixed mortgage with 20 percent down, the largest monthly payment required since late 2008.
  3. It currently takes 23 percent of the median income to purchase the median home, the highest share since 2009.
  4. However, overall affordability remains better than long-term historical averages, even taking the recent rate jump into consideration. Purchasing the median home requires one percent less of the median income than 1995-1999, three percent less than 2000-2003 (before the sharp run-up in home prices) and two percent below those combined benchmarks (1995- 2003).
  5. Average incomes are more than 20 percent higher today than in 2006 (according to the Census Bureau) and interest rates 2.3 percent lower. As such, affordability remains much better than at the pre-recession peak, even though today’s home prices have surpassed 2006 levels.
  6. Assuming all else remains equal, to return to 2006 affordability levels, interest rates would have to climb north of 8.0 percent or the median home price increase to $420K.

Statistical Nonsense

Black Knight is correct on points 1-3. Statistically, it is correct on points 3-6. However …

Regarding point 5: It’s not average incomes that matter, it’s median incomes.

Regarding points 4 and 6: Those who want a home and can afford a home have a home. The rest struggle because incomes have not kept up with home prices.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sucker Traps and the Arithmetic of Risk

March 4, 2018

John Hussman has another excellent article out this week but it will be ignored. Mathematically, it must be ignored.

In the Arithmetic of Risk, Hussman posted the above chart. I added the anecdotes regarding where we are. Here are some pertinent snips.​

At present, I view the market as a “broken parabola” – much the same as we observed for the Nikkei in 1990, the Nasdaq in 2000, or for those wishing a more recent example, Bitcoin since January.

Two features of the initial break from speculative bubbles are worth noting. First, the collapse of major bubbles is often preceded by the collapse of smaller bubbles representing “fringe” speculations. Those early wipeouts are canaries in the coalmine.

In July 2007, two Bear Stearns hedge funds heavily invested in sub-prime loans suddenly became nearly worthless. Yet that was nearly three months before the S&P 500 peaked in October, followed by a collapse that would take it down by more than 55%.

Observing the sudden collapses of fringe bubbles today, including inverse volatility funds and Bitcoin, my impression is that we’re actually seeing the early signs of risk-aversion and selectivity among investors. The speculation in Bitcoin, despite issues of scalability and breathtaking inefficiency, was striking enough. But the willingness of investors to short market volatility even at 9% was mathematically disturbing.

See, volatility is measured by the “standard deviation” of returns, which describes the spread of a bell curve, and can never become negative. Moreover, standard deviation is annualized by multiplying by the square root of time. An annual volatility of 9% implies a daily volatilty of about 0.6%, which is like saying that a 2% market decline should occur in fewer than 1 in 2000 trading sessions, when in fact they’ve historically occurred about 1 in 50.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Inflation is in the Rear-View Mirror

March 1, 2018

43 percent of credit card holders carry a balance. Delinquencies are rising. It’s a deflationary debt trap.

Revolving Credit Hits New Record High

In December, revolving debt has topped the previous high-water mark of $1.021 trillion set in April of 2008. Debt as of December 2017 (the latest available) is $1.028 trillion.

Relationship Killer

In addition to student loans, credit card debt is another factor holding down home ownership and family formation. Studies show Credit Card Debt is a Relationship Killer.

  • Of all household debts, Americans find credit card debt the most unacceptable in a partner, but credit card balances are creeping higher.
  • About 43 percent off all card holders carry a balance each month according to the American Bankers Association.
  • More than 3 in 4 Americans consider too much card debt a relationship deal breaker, according to personal finance site Finder.com.

Overdue Debt Hits 7-Year High

The Financial Times reports Overdue US Credit Card Debt Hits 7-Year High.

Distressed debt, defined as debt that’s at least three month’s delinquent, totals $11.9 billion. That’s an 11.5% fourth-quarter surge.

​The Financial Times also notes “More Americans are also falling behind on their mortgages, for which problematic debt levels rose 5.2 percent over the same period to $56.7 billion.”

Deflationary Debt Trap Setup

These numbers are huge deflationary. When credit expands there is inflation. When credit contracts (think defaults, bankruptcies, mortgage walk-away events), debt deflation occurs.

Here’s my definition of inflation: An increase in money supply and credit, with credit marked to market.

Deflation is the opposite: A decrease in money supply and credit, with credit marked to market.

Looking Ahead

  • Credit card delinquencies are priced as if they will be paid back. They won’t.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Chart Predicts Every Market Crash in History

March 1, 2018

The Fed blows bubbles. Then it eventually pops them. Where are we in the cycle?

I recreated the chart in Fred and added trendlines. But let’s tune in to Bill Bonner.

“Buy the dip” has worked for the last 38 years. And now, investors are more than 100% convinced that it will work again. But they are wrong. Every major stock market decline and every recession in the last 100 years was preceded by the Federal Reserve raising short-term interest rates by enough to provide the pin to prick the balloon.

Note the emphasis on every. Yes, there have been periods where the Fed raised rates and a recession didn’t ensue. Everyone knows the famous saying about the stock market having predicted nine of the past five recessions! That may be true, that rising rates don’t necessarily cause a recession. But as an investor, you must be aware that every major stock market decline occurred on the heels of a tightening phase by the Fed. More importantly, there have been no substantive Fed tightening phases that did not end with a stock market decline.*

This is an economy built on debt. The whole capital structure – stocks, bonds, and real estate – now depends on excess debt… and more of it.

In a correction, the only way to stop stock prices from falling and the economy from shrinking is to bring in some more debt. But when you do that a few times, you are soon beyond Peak Debt… which is to say, you’re way over the legal limit.

Debt has been growing three to six times faster than income for more than an entire generation. This makes the old 1.5-to-1 ratio of debt to income seem quaint. It is now 3.5-to-1 nationwide.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Forget the Yuan: King Dollar is Here to Stay

February 27, 2018

Many believe deficit spending will kill the US dollar as a reserve currency and the yuan will take over. They are wrong.

Economist Daniel Lacalle asks Can China Really Kill The US Dollar Supremacy?

>Why China Will Fail to Dethrone the US Dollar

First, because it wants the world to widely accept the Yuan while maintaining monetary repression via capital controls. As the British say, they want to “bake the cake and eat it.” What kind of global reserve can be created when capital controls are imposed? None. No economic agent will accept it.

Second, because most economic agents are aware that the huge imbalances of the Chinese economy will likely be disguised with a huge devaluation. The average of estimates assumes between an 18% and a 20% additional devaluation against its main trading currencies in the next five years. The more this inevitable correction is delayed, the less the possibility of reinforcing the credibility of the yuan as a world reserve currency.

Third, the financial balance is against them. The reason why China maintains completely obsolete capital controls is that domestic economic agents, as soon as markets open, do everything possible to get rid of their yuan in the face of the evidence of a huge devaluation. That is why China has lost almost one-third of its reserves in foreign currency in a few years.

The only way in which China and Russia could pose a threat to the US dollar would be to defend sound money and end the disastrous monetary policy that governments are conducting. A commitment to a return to a gold standard and avoid massive money supply increases. However, that does not seem to be the case, rather to spread China’s monetary imbalances to the rest of the world.

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Inflation Coming? How About Deflation?

February 27, 2018

Economists expect higher inflation based on rising producer prices. But will producer prices feed consumer prices? When?

Do producer prices eventually feed into consumer prices? If so, what’s the lead or lag time?

The Wall Street Journal article Why the Inflation Picture Looks Starkly Different for Businesses and Consumers got me thinking about these questions and I do not believe they came up with the correct answer.

This month consumers said they expected a 2.7% rise in inflation over the next year, a level unchanged since December, according to the University of Michigan’s latest sentiment survey.

Other survey data indicate businesses are feeling inflationary pressures. Take, for instance, the rising percentage of executives in the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey who say they’re paying higher prices for materials: In January, 46.6% reported higher prices, up from 42% a year earlier.

Households’ inflation expectations tend to lag behind the behavior of inflation itself, which means as consumer prices rise, inflation expectations for this group should rise, too, said Michael Pearce, economist at Capital Economics.

“We’ve seen pickups in producer-price inflation before that haven’t really fed through to higher consumer prices, but there are good reasons to expect that the story this time around could be a bit different,” Mr. Pearce said. This, he said, is because a whole slew of factors are converging to put pressure on business prices and ultimately consumer inflation, a divergence from some past patterns when oil was the main driver.

Lagging the Leader or Noise?

The above chart is easily creatable in Fred. Here is a longer term view.

Cope PPI vs Core CPI

The overall correlation seems easy to spot but it was far stronger prior to 1988. Since then movement seems somewhat random.

I expected the divergences to be oil-related but they do not all seem to be.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

It Was Not Effective, But We’ll Do It Again

February 24, 2018

It Was Not Effective, But We’ll Do It Again

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren has some interesting comments about QE today.

Although large scale asset purchase programs may not be as effective as previously believed, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said Friday, “it is quite likely” that the programs will be needed in the future.

Crisis-Era Failures

The Federal Reserve’s signature bond buying stimulus program undertaken during and in the wake of the financial crisis was largely a dud for the economy, argues a new paper authored by a group of prominent economists.

The paper, which was to be presented Friday at a conference held in New York by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, takes aim at the central bank’s controversial purchases of long-term Treasury and mortgage debt.

Given the unorthodox nature of the stimulus, arriving in an economy undergoing huge stress, central bankers and academics have long struggled to understand what the Fed got for a policy that took its portfolio of cash and bonds from a pre-crisis level of just over $800 billion in 2007 to a peak of $4.5 trillion.

“We find that Fed actions and announcements were not a dominant determinant of 10-year yields and that whatever the initial impact of some Fed actions or announcements, the effects tended not to persist,” the paper’s authors wrote. Their findings were based on a study of Fed policy announcements referenced against market reactions.

William Dudley of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Eric Rosengren of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston both said on a panel discussing the paper’s findings that they agree it’s hard to understand the exact impact of the bond buying.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Don’t Worry, It’s Only a “Pre-Bubble”

February 23, 2018

Ray Dalio, who embarrassed himself saying “You’re Going to Feel Pretty Stupid Holding Cash” offers more silliness.

Ray Galio, the head of the world’s largest hedge fund says U.S. in a ‘Pre-Bubble Phase’ with a 70% Chance of Recession.

“I think we are in a pre-bubble stage that could go into a bubble stage,” the hedge-fund manager said during a Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on Wednesday.

Dalio’s recession comments echo remarks he has made over in a LinkedIn post, where he wrote that “the risks of a recession in the next 18-24 months are rising.”

“Stupid to Hold Cash”

Despite his recession call, Dalio is the same person who told the crowd at Davos, ‘If You’re Holding Cash, You’re Going to Feel Pretty Stupid’.

Dalio is also a believer in the sideline cash theory and that we may see a “Minor Correction“.

In a LinkedIn article following the VIX-related plunge, Dalio said We’ve Just Had a Taste of What the Tightening Will Be Like.

The headline sounds bearish, but the message sure isn’t, as the key paragraph explains.

“Still, these big declines are just minor corrections in the scope of things, there is a lot of cash on the side to buy on the break, and what comes next will be most important.”

Inundated With Cash

In the CNBC interview, Dalio also spoke of sideline cash.

“There is a lot of cash on the sidelines. I don’t mean just investor cash. I think banks have a lot of cash. Corporations have a lot of cash. So we are going to be inundated with cash.”

Sideline Cash Rebuttal

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Global Growth? Retail Sales Flop in US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia

February 23, 2018

Consumers unexpectedly threw in the towel in 5 countries but the central banks and the IMF insist everything is fine.

On February 14, I noted US Retail Sales Dive, Negative Revisions Too. This will impact both 4th quarter and first quarter GDP estimates.

On February 22, Bloomberg reported Canadian Retail Sales Drop Unexpectedly.

“Receipts fell 0.8 percent to C$49.6 billion in the last month of 2017, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. It was the biggest monthly decline since March 2016. Economists were expecting no change during the month.”

On February 16, the Financial Times reported UK retail sales figures disappoint. The results were positive but barely.

“The volume of retail sales grew by 0.1 per cent month-on-month, far below analysts’ expectations of 0.5 per cent growth in January, according to a poll from Thomson Reuters. On the year, sales were up by 1.6 per cent, from 1.4 per cent, far below expectations for a 2.6 per cent rise.”

On January 31, Reuters reported German Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall in December.

Given the Fed’s outlook and increasing expectations of four rate hikes plus tapering in the US, tapering in the EU, and rate hikes in the UK, such reports must be meaningless.

Also note the IMF made a “Brighter Forecast” for the global economy in January. When has the IMF ever been wrong?

Laughable FOMC Statements on Phillips Curve, Inflation Expectations

February 22, 2018

The Jan 30-31 FOMC minutes were published today. In addition to the usual drivel came laughable Phillips Curve nonsense.

The Fed released its January 30-31 FOMC Meeting Minutes today.

The minutes were a combination of the usual drivel about the economy plus some downright laughable comments on the Phillips Curve and inflation expectations.Let’s start with the drivel.

Economic Drivel

In their discussion of the economic situation and the outlook, meeting participants agreed that information received since the FOMC met in December indicated that the labor market continued to strengthen and that economic activity expanded at a solid rate. Gains in employment, household spending, and business fixed investment were solid, and the unemployment rate stayed low. On a 12-month basis, both overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy continued to run below 2 percent. Market-based measures of inflation compensation increased in recent months but remained low; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations were little changed, on balance.

Almost all participants continued to anticipate that inflation would move up to the Committee’s 2 percent objective over the medium term as economic growth remained above trend and the labor market stayed strong; several commented that recent developments had increased their confidence in the outlook for further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent inflation objective. A couple noted that a step-up in the pace of economic growth could tighten labor market conditions even more than they currently anticipated, posing risks to inflation and financial stability associated with substantially overshooting full employment.

However, some participants saw an appreciable risk that inflation would continue to fall short of the Committee’s objective. These participants saw little solid evidence that the strength of economic activity and the labor market was showing through to significant wage or inflation pressures.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How the Fed’s Inflation Policies Crucify Workers in Pictures

February 19, 2018

Every month, pundits comment on average wages. But median wages best explain how the Fed’s policies crucify workers.

The meme of the day is wage growth is accelerating.

I disputed that notion on February 7, in Acceleration in Wage Growth is a Statistical Mirage.

That penny more a year is by hour, in “real” inflation-adjusted terms. The calculation is from the BLS.

Nonetheless, the Fed is not happy with wage destruction.Various Fed presidents seek still higher inflation.

Inflation Targeting

Instead of using an inflation target of 2%, San Francisco Fed President John Williams proposes the Fed use a price-level target, that would allow inflation to run higher during expansions to make up for prior shortfalls.

We need that discussion, but in the opposite sense because the Fed’s insistence inflation in a disinflationary world has seriously harmed median and average wage earners.

Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) from the BLS supports this view.

The following charts are from OES data downloads at the state and national level coupled with additional CPI data from the BLS.

Data for these charts are from May 2005 through May 2016. Those are not arbitrary dates.

The latest OES data is from May of 2016 and prior to May of 2005, the OES used varying months. Having all yearly data from May allows easy comparison of wages vs. year-over-year CPI measurements.

National Hourly Wages

Wage Differentials Mean vs. Median Hourly Wages by State

Every month, analysts track the monthly jobs report for “average” wage increases. Such analysis is misleading because most of the benefits go to the top tier groups.

This behavior is not unexpected, but it makes it very difficult for the bottom half of wage earners who do not own a house, to buy a house.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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