Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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• Jackass Buyback Proposal: Fed Rejects Citigroup Share Buybacks and Dividend Increase
• Lithuania pleads to US Senate for Gas Exports, Complains of "Political Price" of Dependency on Russia
• Obamacare Extended Again; No More Extensions, I Promise

Jackass Buyback Proposal: Fed Rejects Citigroup Share Buybacks and Dividend Increase Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:14 PM PDT For the second time in three years Fed Rejects Citigroup Share Buybacks and Dividend Increase. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday rejected Citigroup Inc's plans to buy back $6.4 billion of shares and boost dividends, saying the bank is not sufficiently prepared to handle a potential financial crisis. Officials at the bank never saw the rejection coming, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. The rejection underscores that whatever strides Citi's chief executive, Michael Corbat, has made in fixing the bank's difficulties, he still has work to do. Shares of Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, fell 5.4 percent to $47.45 in after-hours trading. Since taking the reins at the bank in 2012, Corbat has been working hard to cultivate close relationships with regulators in Washington. His predecessor, Vikram Pandit, had a famously testy relationship with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's then chairman Sheila Bair, among other regulators. But even after mending fences in Washington, Corbat was blindsided by the Fed's decision to nix his plan for paying out money to shareholders. His first hint that something might be awry with the bank's capital plans came last week, when the Fed disclosed its views of how global turmoil would affect the bank's capital levels, the source said. The Fed's projections were much less rosy than Citi's. The bank, like its competitors, faces two opposing goals. It wants to have large amounts of capital to please regulators; it also wants to please its shareholders, and high levels of capital weigh on profitability. Citi was one of five banks whose payout plans were rejected by the Fed on Wednesday. Three were the U.S. units of European banks. The fifth, Zions Bancorp, was expected because it was the only bank last week to fail a model run of a simulated crisis similar to the 2007-09 credit meltdown in the first part of the Fed's stress tests. Jackass Buyback Proposal Citigroup has risen from a low of $9.67 to a current price over $50. Citigroup now wants to buy back shares. This is nonsensical (except from the point of view of insiders who are bailing like mad and will sell every share straight into those buybacks). Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Lithuania pleads to US Senate for Gas Exports, Complains of "Political Price" of Dependency on Russia Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:46 PM PDT About the only good coming out of ridiculous tit-for-tat sanctions on Russia is the possibility of revised US energy policy, and Lithuania is pleading for it. The BBC reports Lithuania Pleads for US Gas Exports to Counter Russia Lithuania's energy minister has called on the US Senate to speed up the export of natural gas to Europe. Jaroslav Neverovic said that Lithuania was being forced to pay a "political price" for being entirely dependent on Russian gas supplies. In his statement to a US Senate committee, Mr Neverovic urged members to do everything within their power to release natural gas resources "into the world market". "A law enacted in your country some 75 years ago denies us access to your abundant and affordably priced energy resources," he said. The energy minister said customers in Lithuania were having to pay 30% more for natural gas than other European nations, because they were "beholden to a monopolistic supplier." "This is not just unfair," said Mr Neverovic. "This is abuse of monopolist position." OK But Wait Until 2020 That quite the nerve complaining about the US monopoly when it is Russia that has the monopoly in Europe. Moreover, it will take years for the US to get ready. Edward Chow, a senior fellow at Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Russian exports of natural gas were equivalent to "twice the combined capacity" of the seven US government approved liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, which would only be completed by the end of this decade. OK Lithuania, you can have US natural gas. You just have to wait until 2020 to get it. Be Careful About Agreeing to US Sanction Games Inquiring minds may wish to read Russia Sanctions Lithuania for Supporting Ukraine.< On Thursday morning the Lithuanian parliament condemned the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and its occupation of the territory of a sovereign country. The parliament said that it strongly supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine and expressed political solidarity with the new Ukrainian authorities; they also supported sanctions against Russia, while favoring visa liberalization and the early signing of the European Union Association Agreement with Ukraine slated for next week. In response, Russia has temporarily suspended the import of food products into the Customs Union. Putin Playing Cards Well Given that Lithuania's exports to Russia amount for a fifth of its total exports, perhaps Lithuania should have thought about supporting sanctions on Russia. Speaking of "political price", it seems Lithuania brought this upon itself, and that Putin is playing his cards well. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Obamacare Extended Again; No More Extensions, I Promise Posted: 26 Mar 2014 10:36 AM PDT Want an extension on Obamacare? You got it (again and again and again). Bloomberg reports Obamacare Deadline Extended for Last-Minute Enrollees. Americans will get more time to enroll in Obamacare insurance plans if they started the process but were unable to complete it before the March 31 deadline. "If consumers are in line on the 31st and can't finish, we won't shut the door on them," said Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, in an e-mail yesterday. Under the health-care law, consumers who aren't insured by the end of March may have had to pay a penalty of as much as 1 percent of their income. Officials said yesterday that the federal exchange's website, healthcare.gov, had more than 1.1 million visitors on March 24, the second most ever. State exchanges also were busy with Washington state enrolling 12,000 people last week while almost 1,200 signed up at the start of the week in Connecticut, officials said. No More Extensions, I Promise So when do you have to finish the application and when do you actually have to pay? No one knows, likely including the president. In the meantime, not having a real deadline averts the need for another extension. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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