Archive - Jan 30, 2014

• Only time will define Bernanke's crisis-era legacy at Fed (Reuters)
• Record Cash Leaves Emerging Market ETFs (BBG)
• Investors Look Toward Safer Options as Ground Shifts (WSJ)
• Fed Policy Makers Rally Behind Tapering QE as Yellen Era Begins (BBG)
• Rating agencies criticise China’s bailout of failed $500m trust (FT)
• Russia to await new Ukraine government before fully implementing rescue (Reuters)
• U.S. readies financial sanctions against Ukraine: congressional aides (Reuters)
• Companies resist president’s call for minimum wage rise (FT)
• Secret Swiss Funds at Risk as Italy’s Saccomanni Visits Bern (BBG)
• Top Democrat puts Obama trade deals in doubt (FT)
• Erdogan to Give Rate Increase Time Before Trying Other Plans (BBG)

Yesterday's epic failure of central bank intervention when both Turkey and South Africa hiked rates only to see their currency initially bounce then collapse, is long forgotten, and early today, the USDTRY once again traded to the rather unstable level of 2.30 and threatened with yet another rout, before verbal intervention out of Russia managed to soothe nerves on edge around the EM world. What followed out of Turkey, however, was an epic verbal diarrhea from both the government and the central bank, which firmly proves the nation on the Bosphorus truly has no idea what it is doing. Here is the evidence.

And so following yet another Fed taper, coupled with another disappointing manufacturing data point out of China, emerging markets did their thing first thing this morning and all the most unstable EM currency pairs - the TRY, the RUB, the ZAR and the HUF - all plunged promptly in the process pushing down the USDJPY which as become a natural carry offset to EM troubles, only to rebound promptly. Specifically, USDTRY blew out 400 pips to 2.3010 highs after which it bounced, and has now stabilized around 2.27, well above the Turkish central bank intervention level, USDZAR is back down to 11.2120 after hitting five-year highs of 11.3850, the Ruble also plunged after which it jumped on speculation of Russian central bank intervention, while futures are tracking even the tiniest moves by USDJPY and pushing the Emini which is trading in a liquidity vaccum by a quarter point for ever 2 or pips. And with all news overnight shifting from bad to worse (keep an eye on declining German inflation now) it goes without saying, that EM central banks around the world now are desperately trying to keep their currencies under control: which is why the market's jitteryness is only set to increase from here on out.