Bank of England

Despite Mario Draghi and Janet Yellen's (repeat) attempt to steal the show today, the first when the ECB reports its monetary decision (with zero real chance of announcing any change in policy considering all the furious, and failed, attempts to jawbone the Euro lower) as it faces the dilemma of deflationary pressure, record low bond yields and interest rates at record lows coupled with an export crushing Euro just shy of 1.40, and a practical impossibility to conduct QE even as the hawks jawbone a "potential" European QE to death, while Janet Yellen conducts the second part of the congressional testimony this time before the Senate Budget Committee where she will again, say nothing at all, it appears the world will be focused on Russia once again after the latest 24 hour "de-escalation" gambit is now once again dead and buried and on top of it is Putin waving a "come launch a nuclear attack at me, bro" flag.

There should be no 'flexible currency' and no central planning of money. They are at the root of the boom-bust cycle, the very reason for the various crises that have beset Western economies in recent decades. Switzerland would be far better off if no-one had the power to meddle with its money supply. As it is, there has been plenty of meddling already, and quite a bit of suspension of disbelief would be necessary to conclude that there will be no price to pay. As always in monetary matters, the bill will be presented at an unknown future date, but it could be a very big bill in this case... but Switzerland's Keynesian dunderhesds are well on their way to that coming due as they blast any gold repatriation plans as "reducing the credibility of the SNB’s policy."

Italy’s central bank, the Banca d’Italia, has recently published an important document detailing the storage locations and composition of the country’s gold reserves. The document confirms that Italy’s gold is held across four vault locations, three of which are outside Italy. This is a significant announcement given that the Banca d’Italia is the world’s third largest official holder of gold after the U.S. and Germany. Italy officially holds 2,451.8 tonnes of gold, worth more than €72 billion (US$ 100 billion) at current market prices. In the detailed three page report focusing exclusively on its gold reserves (and only published in Italian), the Banca d’Italia reveals that 1,199.4 tonnes, or nearly half the total, is held in the Bank’s own vaults under its Palazzo Koch headquarters on Via Nazionale in Rome, while most of the other half is stored in the Federal Reserve Bank gold vault in New York. The report also states that smaller amounts are stored at the Bank of England in London, and at the vaults of the Swiss National Bank in Bern, Switzerland.

• Ukraine attacks rebel city, helicopter shot down (Reuters)
• Euro Unemployment Holds Near Record Amid Factory Gains (BBG)
• Yellen’s Fed Resigned to Diminished Growth Expectations (BBG)
• Junket Figure's Disappearance Shakes Macau's Gambling Industry (WSJ)
• China tried to undermine economic report showing its ascendancy (WSJ)
• Liquidity Trap Hitting AAA Bonds Has ATP CEO Sounding Alarm (BBG)
• AstraZeneca Snubs Pfizer Approach That U.K. Won’t Block (BBG)
• Missing Jet Recordings May Have Been 'Edited' (NBC)
• RBS turns corner as first-quarter profit trebles (Reuters)
• Japan household spending hits four-decade high, wages key to outlook (RTRS) while Real Incomes Drop 3.3% in March, 6th straight decline

Challenging a Sacred Cow of Banking Dogma

Whoever is looking for the flashpoint, that lethal moment when the war of words and diplomatic lies turns into full-blown physical conflict between the East and the West, they will find it relatively soon if we are to believe the markets and how they are reacting this morning.

• EU regulators unveil details of bank stress tests (FT)
• Just use NSAfari: U.S., UK advise avoiding Internet Explorer until bug fixed (Reuters)
• China’s Income Inequality Surpasses U.S., Posing Risk for Xi  (BBG)
• US races to refuel infrastructure fund as revenue dries up (FT)
• New Era Dawns at Nokia as Company Appoints CEO, Plans $1.4 Billion Special Dividend, Share-Repurchase Program (WSJ)
• Obama reassures allies, but doubts over 'pivot' to Asia persist (Reuters)
• Dissent at SEC over bank waivers (FT)
• U.S. Banks to Help Authorities with Tax Evasion Probe (WSJ)
• U.S., Europe Impose New Sanctions on Russia (WSJ)
• Why the U.S. Is Targeting the Business Empire of a Putin Ally (BBG)
• Euro-Area April Economic Confidence Unexpectedly Declines (BBG)
• Bitcoin traders settle class actions over failed Mt. Gox exchange (Reut

Andrew Haldane, who is well known among readers as being one of the most outspoken and truthy central bankers in the world, will become Bank of England's Chief Economist in June. That fact is what makes his comments - however factually honest - extremely uncomfortable for the Keynesian status quo DSGE modelers alive and well in every central bank in the world. To summarize his thoughts in the following letter - the models are useless and it's time to rethink everything...

• Ukraine Accord Nears Collapse as Biden Meets Kiev Leaders (BBG)
• Novartis reshapes business via deals with GSK and Lilly (Reuters)
• Moscow Bankers See Fees Slide 67% as Ukraine Crisis Grows (BBG)
• Why ECB's QE will be Ukraine's fault: Draghi Gauges Ukraine Effect as ECB Tackles Low Inflation (BBG)
• As Phone Subsidies Fade, Apple Could Be Hurt (WSJ)
• Amazon Sales Take a Hit in States With Online Tax (BBG)
• Ford Speeds Up Succession Plan: Mark Fields, Auto Maker's No. 2, Seen Replacing Alan Mulally as CEO Ahead of Schedule (WSJ)
• U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops (Reuters)
• IBM End to Buyback Splurge Pressures CEO to Boost Revenue (BBG)

An explanation of how fractional reserve banking infringes on everyone’s freedom.

Prak central bank balance sheets are still ahead.  Interest rate increases are still several quarters out.  Austerity has peaked.  The output gap has peaked.    What does this mean in the week ahead ?  

Keep interest rates at zero, whilst printing trillions of dollars, pounds and yen out of thin air, and you can make investors do some pretty extraordinary things. "Central bankers control the price of money and therefore indirectly influence every market in the world. Given this immense power, the ideal central banker would be humble, cautious and deferential to market signals. Instead, modern central bankers are both bold and arrogant in their efforts to bend markets to their will. Top-down central planning, dictating resource allocation and industrial output based on supposedly superior knowledge of needs and wants, is an impulse that has infected political players throughout history." The result was always a conspicuous and dismal failure. Today’s central planners, especially the Federal Reserve, will encounter the same failure in time. The open issues are, when and at what cost to society?

In light of the Chinese demand we discussed earlier, the ongoing manipulation of 'rigged' markets everywhere, and rising geopolitical tensions (as the de-escalation continues), we thought it worth dusting off this excellent  and wide-ranging look at the history and present of the barbarous relic, gathering many perspectives (pro and con) on gold. From historical shipwrecks to Nazi 'death gold' and England's war chest to recent years where widespread economic uncertainty has given the yellow metal a "new luster in the world of high finance;" valued for its permanence, beauty and scarcity, people will lie, cheat, steal and kill in the name of gold; and the clip provides color on many of the market manipulations of the last few years.

The conventional view of deflation is that if it sets in, “the banking industry, the financial markets, and much of the rest of the economy will be wiped out in a bottomless deflationary spiral.” But, such a spiral would not prove fatal to the lives and welfare of the general population. Rather, it would destroy “essentially those companies and industries that live a parasitical existence at the expense of the rest of the economy, and which owe their existence to our present money system.” Let us be more explicit. Severe deflation threatens at an existential level bankrupt banks and the bankrupt governments that perpetuate their existence. Deflation is a mortal enemy to the heavily indebted state and its embedded parasites, but it is a friend to the saver and to anyone with a positive net worth.

We summarized yesterday's both better and worse than expected Chinese GDP data as follows: "a substantial deterioration of the economy, one which was to be expected yet one which can be spun as either bullish thanks to the GDP "beat", and negatively if the purpose is to make a case for more PBOC stimulus." Sure enough here are the headlines that "explain" the latest overnight futures surge which has once again brought the S&P into the green on the year - a 40 point Spoo move in hours since yesterday's bottom when the Nikkei "leaked" Japan's economy is on the ropes :

• Stocks Rise on China Stimulus Speculation

Here one should of course add the comment that launched yesterday's rebound, namely the Japanese warning that its economy is about to contract, adding to calls for more BOJ stimulus, and finally this other Bloomberg headline:

• The Strengthening Case for ECB Easing

And there you have it - goodbye "fundamental" case; welcome back "central banks will once again bail everyone out" case. Hopefully today's news are absolutely abysmal to add "US economic contraction fear renew calls for untapering" to the list of headlines that should send the S&P to all time highs by the end of today.