Archive - Oct 7, 2015 - Story

Amid relatively heavy volume, it appears 9ET was the appropriate time to dump paper gold and silver this morning...

As the WSJ has kindly offered, anyone who wishes to, can ask Ben Bernanke questions about his "courage" to print $3 trillion and make the rich richer. Just make sure to tag your tweet with #FedWSJPro.

The Western hypocrisy and outright panic is accelerating, as Washington is simply bewildered about what to do next in Syria. Meanwhile, the Russian military has, in the space of a week, cleared the way for an Iranian gound invasion on behalf of Assad. Once that's finished, the entire campaign will shift to Iraq, where the US will either need to confront Russia or simply pack up and leave.

It had been quite a downcast start to the third quarter earnings season following very disappointing earnings from Illumina, Adobe and Yum Brand. Then Moments ago agri-giant Monsanto made it four out of four when it reported absolutely terrible results, cut guidance, but at least announced a new $3 billion stock buyback, one that will soak up all the company's net cash flow. The cost of all of this: some 2,600 worker terminations.

What most investors do not realize currently is they could go to "cash" today and in five years will likely be better off. However, since making such a suggestion is strictly "taboo" because one might "miss some upside," it becomes extremely important for measures to be put into place to protect investment capital from the coming downturn.  Of course, since Wall Street does not make fees on investors holding cash, maybe there is another reason they are so adamant that you remain invested all the time.

"We are still in a very cautious environment for emerging-market currencies and unless there is a sharp turnaround in commodity prices or capital flows, I still think there’s going to be pressure on the ringgit and the rupiah."

• How Iranian general plotted out Syrian assault in Moscow (Reuters)
• China FX reserves post record quarterly fall as cenbank steps up yuan support (Reuters)
• MSF calls for independent inquiry into U.S. attack on Afghan hospital (Reuters)
• Yen Advances as Bank of Japan Refrains From Adding to Stimulus (Reuters)
• Abu Dhabi Said to Explore Asset Sales After Slump in Oil Price (BBG)
• U.S. Oil Approaching $50 Boosts Stocks as Emerging Markets Surge (BBG)

The big overnight story was certainly the BOJ's announcement at 11pm Eastern whether or not the Japanese central bank would boost QE. This is how we previewed it: "now all eyes to the BOJ when tonight around 11pm Eastern, Japan's central bank is expected do and say precisely... nothing." Sure enough, nothing is precisely what the BOJ delivered, leading to a big, if brief tumble in the USDJPY suggesting many were expecting at least a little tip from the BOJ.