Archive - Aug 28, 2013 - Story

With 'drums' growing ever-louder, Russia's "emergency situations" ministry has sent a second aircraft to evacuate citizens willing to leave war-torn Syria. As RiaNovosti reports, "an Ilyushin-62 plane took off for Latakia. This special flight is for Russian and CIS nationals who had earlier expressed their determination to return to Moscow," emergencies ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said. The plane also bore humanitarian aid for, what a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said at the time was, about 30,000 other Russians that were still living across the country.

ISRAEL IS DEPLOYING ALL OF ITS MISSILE DEFENSES AS A PRECAUTION.

It makes perfect sense that the precious metals are being slammed lower (as well as WTI modestly) as US equity markets open. No other asset-classes are exhibiting the vertical moves. Pre-open margin calls?

Still confused what that fateful FOMC day just three weeks away from today may bring, in the aftermath of a Jackson Hole symposium which was mostly focused on the adverse side effects of Quantiative Easing and the proper sequencing of unwinding the Fed's nearly $4 trillion balance sheet? Here is the explanation straight from the firm whose chief economist has dinners with none other than the Fed shadow Chairman, Bull Dudley, on a frequent basis. To wit: "First, we expect Fed officials to adjust the “mix of instruments” somewhat away from QE towards forward guidance at the September meeting, which appears to be an appropriate strategy in light of these results. Second, we expect that the FOMC will focus most if not all of the tapering on Treasury purchases rather than (current coupon) MBS purchases, consistent with the evidence that the latter are more effective in lowering mortgage rates and easing financial conditions." So: $10-15 billion reduction in TSY monetization announced in September, enacted in October, and a seismic shift in FOMC communication away from actual intervention to promises of such, aka forward guidance. Judging by the recent track record of "forward guidance" so far, the global market volatility exhibited so far may well be just a walk in the park compared to what is coming.

Astute investor, Jim Rogers has warned overnight in an interview with Tara Joseph of Reuters that "oil and gold will go much, much higher" due to "market panic" regarding Syria and the coming end of free money... "when this artificial sea of liquidity ends we're gonna see panic in a lot of markets, including in the US, including in West developed markets."

With the 22 Arab League member stopping well short of endorsing outside military action - though urging the UN to agree on 'deterrent' measures - the burden of proof for attacking the Assad regime remains firmly on the shoulders of the US. As as the WaPo reports that the administration is planning to release evidence possibly as soon as Thursday, that it will say proves that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for what U.S. officials have called an “undeniable” chemical attack that killed hundreds on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

If last night the year 1993 was notable for India, as the Rupee had its largest plunge since March of that year two decades ago, today 1993 is just as memorable for CNBC. The reason: according to the latest Nielsen data, in July the financial network's prime (25-54 demographic) viewership just tumbled to a fresh 20 year low of just 37,000, the lowest since, you guessed it, March of 1993. Why is this a problem? Considering CNBC came on air in its current post-FNN incarnation in 1991, the core viewership is now about as low as it has ever been for the struggling broadcaster which as recently as 2007 was ranked as the 19th most valuable cable channel in the US.  Now: not so much.

When it comes to Syria, there is a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous. And uh, lot of strands to keep in Obama's head, man. Lot of strands in old Duder's head.

• Merkel Blames SPD’s Schroeder for Letting Greece Into Euro (BBG)
• U.S. Bank Legal Bills Exceed $100 Billion (BBG)
• U.K. to Request U.N. Action to Protect Syrians From Chemical Weapons  (WSJ) - and Russia to veto any decision
• U.N. inspectors in new Syria mission as West prepares to strike (Reuters)
• Emerging-Market Rout Intensifies on Syria Jitters (WSJ)
• Rebels Without a Leader Show Limit to U.S. Role in Syria War (BBG)
• Anger at IRS Powers Tea-Party Comeback (WSJ)
• China has much at risk but no reach in Middle East (Reuters)
• 'London Whale' Penalties Put at $500 Million to $600 Million (WSJ)
• U.S. lawmaker says 'compelling' evidence of Syrian chemical attack (Reuters)

The key overnight events were already discussed previously, but here they are again: the wholesale selloff in Asia (which subsequently shifted to Europe), the accelerating outflows from India (moment ago the SEBI website announced a net INR13.7 billion selling in Indian stocks yesterday and the near record collapse in the Indian Rupee to new record lows, and the ongoing uncertainty over Syria and what it will do to crude prices (if SocGen is right, nothing good). In brief: a market conditioned and habituated to a world in which Bernanke promises "to make everything ok" suddenly finds itself in the throes of uncertainty and following 4 years of dumb trend-following,  has no idea what to do.

UPDATE 2: It would appear Abe got a late-afternoon phone-call to sell some JPY and buy some Indian 10Y bonds... (since Traders have not seen the RBI intervene directly - or thru local banks)

UPDATE 1: Gold (in USD terms) is breaking out... $1428.47 (gold now at a three-and-a-half month high)

From a weak open, the Indian Rupee has now plunged a stunning 3.88% today. This is the largest single-day drop in the Rupee's value since March 1993. The Indian people have lost 30% of their global purchasing power since March 2013 (though those who swapped their paper wealth to gold have seen their purchasing power rise 6% in Rupee terms). With Gold in Rupees having broken to a new all-time high, it would seem the government has little choice but to lease its gold (no matter how vehemntly they deny the fact).