Hong Kong

The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was "deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices" made in a report published Sunday by Der Spiegel. The latest round of NSA 'transparency' suggests U.S. intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving some EU lawmakers calling for concrete sanctions against Washington - calling for an immediate investigation into the claims and suggesting that recently launched negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty should be put on hold. "If the media reports are accurate, then this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War," notes one German minister, adding that, "it is beyond comprehension that our friends in the United States see Europeans as enemies." Schulz concludes, "It would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations."

The world is a big place, after all. And there’s a tremendous amount of freedom and opportunity ripe for pioneering, talented people. Snowden is now marred in a number of banal legal technicalities. The US government has cancelled his passport (another questionable legal move from Uncle Sam). So he appears stuck in the international transit area at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. He’s not legally able to fly back to Hong Kong. Nor is he legally able to board a flight to Havana for onward travel to Ecuador, in order to apply for asylum. If Mr. Snowden had been able to procure a second passport prior to stepping into the limelight, he would likely not be in this predicament as he could have been traveling on his other passport. This is one of the hidden virtues of having a second passport. You might never ‘need’ one. But should such a need ever arise, it can really be a life saver.

Physical demand remains robust internationally especially in China and India where premiums are moving higher again.  In China, physical demand remains robust and premiums remain at elevated levels near $35/oz. In India, premiums charged shot to $20 an ounce overnight from $8-$10 on Tuesday.

The late 20th century was a jam-packed time for stock-market crashes that would change, shape and alter our lives in so many ways.

It was bound to happen some might say. We were warned! Chinese banks have stopped lending due to pressure from liquidity deposits. Some branches of the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have issued statements in which they announce that they are halting lending for a temporary period.

• Scalpel in Hand, Chinese Premier Li Stirs Reform Hopes (Reuters)
• Obama Sets Conditions for Keystone Pipeline Go-Ahead (FT)
• World’s Most Indebted Households Face Rate Pain (BBG)
• SAC Probers Weighing 'Willful Blindness' Tack (WSJ)
• Draghi Says ECB Ready to Act, Calls for Investment Over Tax (BBG)
• U.S. Tops China for Foreign Investment (WSJ)
• Basel Presses Ahead With Plans to Limit Bank Borrowing (FT)
• Gillard Ousted as Australia PM by Rival Rudd (FT)
• Japan Economic Strength Will Show in Stocks, Nishimura Says (BBG)

Reuters reports that Japan's public pension fund, the world's largest with a pool of $1.1 trillion, and which until recently was the mystery buyer ex machina that was supposed to buy up the Nikkei past 16,000 and on its way to 20,000, 30,000 and more (a dream that fizzled as quickly as it appeared following our explanation that buying stocks means selling bonds), may start buying real estate to boost returns in a move that could involve tens of billions pouring into cities such as London and Paris. Or New York.

The market deals extremely poorly with paradigm shifts or cycle changes. One reason for this is that there has been no need for any strategy except for the just-buy-the-dip mantra. This may have ended and that could be the best signal to the markets since the global financial crisis started. Sorry to be the messenger, but the only way for investors to understand risk and leverage is by having them lose money. Essentially then, the balance of this year could be an exercise in re-educating the market to long-lost concepts such as loss, risk, inter-market correlations and price discovery. We even predict that high-frequency trading systems will suffer, as will momentum-based trading and, most interestingly, long-only funds. Why? Because, at the end of the day, they are all built on the same premise: predictable policy actions, financial oppression and no true price discovery. We could be in for a summer of discontent as policy measures and markets return to try to search out a new paradigm. This will be good news for all us.

What magic Chinese rabbit has been pulled out of the hat now?

• Here come the rolling blackouts: Obama takes on power plant emissions as part of climate plan (Reuters)
• Walking Back Bernanke Wished on Too Much Information (BBG)
• As previewed last week: Bridgewater "All Weather" is Mostly Cloudy, down 8% YTD (Reuters)
• U.S. Said to Explore Possible China Role in Snowden Leaks (BBG)
• Coeure Says No Doubt ECB Loose Monetary Policy Exit Distant (Bloomberg)... so a "recovery", but not at all
• U.S. steps up pressure on Russia as Snowden stays free (Reuters)
• Texas' Next Big Oil Rush: New Pipelines Ferrying Landlocked Crude Expected to Boost Gulf Coast Refiners (WSJ)
• Singapore Offsets Bankers as Vacancies Fall (BBG)
• Asian Stocks Fall as China Sinks Deeper Into Bear Market (BBG), European Stocks Rally With Bonds as Metals Advance (BBG)
• Qatar emir hands power to son, no word on prime minister (Reuters)

China’s central bank issued a statement that the Chinese banking system had liquidity levels that were “reasonable” today. There by hangs a tale. ‘Reasonable’ is that which may fairy and properly be required of an individual (a case of prudent action observed under a set of given circumstances).

Uncle Warren appears unhappy with the humiliating can of whoop-ass Hong Kong unleashed on his favorite crony banana republic. So he has retaliated in the only way he knows: Moody's.

• HONG KONG BANKING SYSTEM OUTLOOK REVISED TO NEGATIVE BY MOODY'S
• MOODY'S CITES CONCERNS ON PERSISTENT NEG REAL INTEREST RATES
• MOODY'S CITES POTENTIAL HK 'PROPERTY BUBBLES' - this one is really good.

But the best reason is:

• MOODY'S CITES HK BANKS' GROWING EXPOSURES TO MAINLAND CHINA

Yup. Moody's just figured out Hong Kong has exposure to... China. Of course, Hong Kong's downgrade of US foreign policy to laughably pathetic, outlook hilarious on Sunday, was a complete coincidence.

• Stocks Fall With China in Bear Market as Bonds Decline (BBG)
• Russia defiant as U.S. raises pressure over Snowden (Reuters) ...
• and sure enough: Kerry Warns Hong Kong and Russia on Snowden  (WSJ)
• Slow-Motion U.S. Recovery Searches for Second Gear (WSJ)
• PBOC Sees ‘Reasonable’ Liquidity in China’s Financial System (BBG)
• Italy's Berlusconi faces verdict in underage sex trial (Reuters)
• Fed Monetary Course Difficult for a Bernanke Successor to Alter (BBG)
• Another China central bank worry; companies push into lending (Reuters)
• Gold Miner Writedowns at $17 Billion After Newcrest Fallout (BBG)
• Snowden Faces Often-Posed U.S. Fugitive Question: Where to Run? (BBG)

In keeping with its firm Christian values, after Hong Kong slapped the US on one cheek yesterday when it allowed a passportless Snowden to leave the country for Moscow, the US has now turned the other cheek. And RUssia's Vladimir Putin was happy to oblige with a perfectly placed uppercut. As the WSJ reports, the Kremlin said Monday that it won't intervene in the case of former U.S. government contractor Edward Snowden and that Russia had no advance knowledge of his arrival from Hong Kong on Sunday. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a decision about holding Mr. Snowden and sending him back to the U.S. to face charges wasn't a matter for the Kremlin."Snowden did nothing illegal in Russia. There are also no orders for his arrest through Interpol to Russian law enforcement agencies," an unnamed security official told the RIA-Novosti news agency." Of course, the NSA which is actively intercepting every Russian (and global) form of communication, knew all about this long ago...

Just to confirm that in a world in which China and Russia (and Caracas... and Cuba) are increasingly seen as the paragons of liberty, virtue, and civil rights and the US is slowly but surely sinking into the role of the turnkey totalitarian tyranny antagonist, we just go this from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers: "Edward Snowden's reported choice to fly to Cuba and Venezuela undermines his whistleblower claims... Everyone of those nations is hostile to the United States, the Michigan Republican said on NBC's "Meet the Press" news talk show. "When you think about what he says he wants and what his actions are, it defies logic," said Rogers. Actually, Mike, when "you think about what he says", his actions make all the sense in the world, and certainly validate his "whistleblower claims."