Bitcoin

Just three short years ago, Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane appeared a lone voice of sanity in a world fanatically-religious Keynesian-esque worshippers. Admissions in 2013 (on blowing bubbles) and 2014 (on Too Big To Fail "problems from hell") also gave us pause that maybe someone in charge of central planning might actually do something to return the world to some semblance of rational 'free' markets. We were wrong! Haldane appears to have fully transitioned to the dark side, as The Telegraph reports, he made the case for the "radical" option of supporting the economy with negative interest rates, and even suggested that cash could have to be abolished.

Silver premiums continue to move higher, while premiums on gold have remained steady. UK households are sitting on a £173 billion debt time bomb after once again being lured into a spending splurge by banks and credit card companies.

• Global stocks rally as investors scent fresh stimulus (Reuters)
• Japan's Nikkei 225 Rises 7.7% for Biggest Gain Since October 2008 (BBG)
• China's Stocks Advance for Second Day Amid Stimulus Speculation (BBG)
• Abe Pledges Corporate Tax Cut as Investments Slump (BBG)
• U.S. to shift 50 staff to boost office handling Clinton emails (Reuters)
• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Says China Doesn't Want a Currency War (BBG)
• One Thing China Got Right (BBG)

In the early days of central banking, one primary objective of the new system was to take ownership of the public's gold, so that in a crisis the public would be unable to withdraw it. Gold was to be replaced by fiat cash which could be issued by the central bank at will. This removed from the public the power to bring a bank down by withdrawing their property. A primary, if unspoken, objective of modern central banking is to do the same with fiat cash itself.

But the aforementioned weasel words provide the best of both worlds: if commodities rally, then he can point to "nailing the bottom" with this interview. On the other hand, if commodities continue to sink, as I imagine they generally will, then he's got about five different escape hatches in this verbiage so that he's off the hook.

As Dow futures opened ahead of this evening's China open (after being closed since Wednesday), it appears someone (or something) decided it was time to test down 100 points to Friday's pre-ramp lows. Of course that mini-flash-crash has now been followed - since stops were run - with a 140 point ripfest, we assume gunning for the stops just above Friday's late-day highs...

"China is imposing fresh controls to prevent too much money from leaving the country, in an effort to keep badly needed funds at home to battle a deepening slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy." This is undsiputedly bad news for China, but Blythe Masters would be the first to admit, escalating Chinese capital controls would be just the thing bitcoin needs to surge, and surpass, it previous all time highs...

TLDR: Bitcoin XT proposes a premature fix to a potential problem; let's first wait and see how market forces react

Gold’s reaction to China’s devaluation was impressive. Sure, it came at a time when gold was oversold and due a bounce, but, even so, a rise from $1,080 an ounce to $1,125 is not to be sniffed at – particularly as it went in the face of what other metals were doing.

Naysyers are warning that the recent plunge in Bitcoin prices - from almost $318 at its peak during the Greek crisis, to $221 yesterday - due to growing power struggle over the future of the cryptocurrency that is dividing its lead developers could spell the end of the cryptocurrency. On Saturday, a rival version of the current software was released by two bitcoin big guns. As Reuters reports, Bitcoin XT would increase the block size to 8 megabytes enabling more transactions to be processed every second. Those who oppose Bitcoin XT say the bigger block size jeopardizes the vision of a decentralized payments system that bitcoin is built and represents a "governance coup.". However, the turmoil in the price also coincides with some rather notable global macro events from Asia (where Bitcoin is extremely popular).

It cannot be stressed enough how important Greece is to freedom, liberty and civilization across the globe. Greece is not a one-off, or merely a small nation in big trouble that holds little relevance for the rest of us. Greece is everything. What is happening to Greece follows the exact same game plan of what will eventually happen to every other supposedly sovereign nation. And it appears The Greeks are actively seeking alternatives...

Just 3 weeks after the world could not purge itself fast enough of 'pet rocks', Gold is pushing to one-month highs this morning (at $1120) and Silver just broke a key technical level at its 50-day moving average as USD weakness and global turmoil have seen Precious metals gain for the last few days...

The Fed’s zero interest rate policy has provided a subsidy to investors for the past 7 years.  The lure of easy profits from cheap money was wildly attractive and readily accepted by investors. The Fed “put” gave investors great confidence that they could outperform their exceptionally low cost of capital.  These implicit promises by central banks encouraged trillions of dollars into ‘carry trades’ and various forms of market speculation. Complacent investors maintain these trades, despite the Fed’s warning of a looming reduction in the subsidy, and despite a balance sheet expected to shrink in 2016.  It has been a risk-chasing ‘game of chicken’ that is coming to an end.  Changing conditions have skewed risk/reward to the downside.  This is particularly true because financial assets prices are exceptionally expensive...There are warning signs and visible market stresses beyond those mentioned yesterday.

• Deadline Draws Near for Puerto Rico (WSJ)
• U.S. to defend Syrian rebels with airpower, including from Assad (Reuters)
• Alpha Natural Resources to Seek Chapter 11 (WSJ)
• Iran’s Rouhani Says Nuclear Deal ‘More Than What Was Imagined’ (BBG)
• Cables Show Hillary Clinton's State Department Deeply Involved in Trans-Pacific Partnership (IBTimes)
• Win or Lose, U.S. Stocks Get Biggest Earnings Bang Since ’12 (BBG)
• Weaker China factories argue for more policy support as stocks swoon (Reuters)

Some were confused if the Mt. Gox founder, Mark Karpeles, was going to get away with nothing more than an excuse, even if - as many speculated - he had personally fabricated exchange data entries and embezzled millions of dollars for his own account. Earlier today we got the answer when nearly 18 months after his infamous apology, Mark Karpeles was arrested in Tokyo. FT reports that Japanese police have arrested Mark Karpelès, the head of the bankrupt Japan-based bitcoin exchange Mt Gox. The arrest charge is that he made an illegal entry to the system in February 2013 and increased the balance of his account by $1 million.