International Monetary Fund

Washington picked a completely unnecessary fight with China over the ostensibly non-contentious topic of infrastructure development because the US can’t stand the fact that traditionally US-dominated multinational institutions are on the verge of being supplanted by sinocentric ambition — and lost.

"Because the Bank of Japan gobbles up dramatic amounts of debt, the cost of financing government spending stays low. It’s been said that a country that issues debt in its own currency cannot go broke. Theoretically that may be correct: the central bank can always monetize the debt, i.e. buy up any new debt being issued. But in practice, there has to be a valve."

CCC-rated Ukraine is preparing to issue more debt, debt with a Aa+/AAA rating because it will come with the explicit guarantee of the United States of America. In other words, after raiding Greek pensions with the IMF's blessing, the Kiev puppet government is now going after the "full faith and credit" of the US... backed by its taxpayers.  In yet other words, the latest Ukraine "bailout" is courtesy of you, dear US taxpaying reader.

"Ignoring direct pleas from the Obama administration, Europe’s biggest economies have declared their desire to become founding members of a new Chinese-led Asian investment bank that the United States views as a rival to the World Bank and other institutions set up at the height of American power after World War II," The Times notes, in yet another indication of declining US influence.

What can strike a balance between the opposing forces operating on the euro-dollar exchange rate? No one can say for sure, but one thing is certain: Whereas the profits from playing transatlantic interest-rate differentials may run to 1% or 2% per year, investors can easily lose that amount in a single day – or even an hour – by buying the wrong currency when the trend turns. As we know from decades of Japanese and Swiss experience, selling a low-interest-rate currency simply to chase higher US yields is often a costly mistake.

There have been countless previews of the FOMC statement at 2pm today, all of them largely worthless and regurgitating the same exact stuff. The only one that matters, as it is the only one with the explicit blessing of the Fed (see "On The New York Fed's Editorial Influence Over The WSJ") in its attempt to manage expectations: that "drafted" by Jon Hilsenrath. And if what the WSJ economist writes in "Fed to Markets: No More Promises" is accurate, then fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen, because we are about to enter some turbulence. "The Federal Reserve is about to inject uncertainty back into financial markets after spending years trying to calm investors’ nerves with explicit assurances that interest rates would remain low."

Draghi, we have a problem. Despite the omnipotent buying power of the all-knowing ECB, peripheral European bond spreads are blowing out again (and stocks dropping) as Grexit fears start to spread contagiously across the continent. As Greece's cash crunch looms ever closer (with capital controls looming) and bulls "throw in the towel" on the "nuts" Greeks, the IMF has come out and rubbed Mediterranean salt into that wound by telling the Eurogroup that Greece is the most unhelpful country the organization has dealt with in its 70-year history. As Bloomberg reports, in a short and bad-tempered conference call on Tuesday, officials from the 'Troika' complained that Greek officials aren’t adhering to a bailout extension deal leaving Dijsselbloem hinting at Cypriot templates for Greece.

It's not just Greece which is protesting the utter lack of reforms enabled by the ECB known as "austerity" - as of today so is Germany itself with the so-called #Blockupy movement. According to local media reports, the start of anti-austerity rallies in Frankfurt coincided with the European Central Bank opening its new headquarters, whose occupants are now besieged by tens of thousands of protesters, so perhaps #OccupyQ€ would have been more appropriate. Police said they expect around 10,000 anti-capitalist protesters, marching under the banner of leftist alliance Blockupy, to attend the rally, with a march through the city planned for later in the evening. The result is what according to a police spokesman "is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city."

Things are not going well for the Greeks. Bond yields are at post-default highs, implicitly shutting them out of the capital markets; stocks are cratering; and deposit outflows continue as the cash crunch looms. Even ex-Goldman silver-lining-finder Erik Nielsen stated this weekend that he is "throwing in the towel," on Greece, adding, as Bloomberg reports, that things have gone "plain nuts" in Athens. However, things are going great for the Germans - borrowing costs have never been lower, and the stock market is at record-er highs every day, as Draghi's money-printing fiasco has succeeded in one thing (and one thing only) dividing an already fragile 'union' into ever-greater 'haves' and ever-lesser 'have-nots'.

While we try to our patriotic duty every day, Jack Lew's comment that: U.S. ECONOMIC RECOVERY WELL ESTABLISHED, LEW SAYS was too much to bear... so we provide the following 3 charts for guidance in comprehending the propaganda. Why would he blatantly lie in the face of unequivocally bad data? Simple, they are desparate to spin US economic strength as the world comes to realize it no longer needs to rely on a unipolar US-based model...

The UK has announced it’s joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China’s answer to the Asian Development Bank over which Beijing feels the US has undue influence. US wonders aloud if "constant accommodation" is the best way to engage a "rising power".

Simply put -  the Greek economy still consumes more than it earns. Despite a 25% contraction in its economy, a plunge in domestic consumption and a sharp decline in imports, as WSJ reports, Greece is still exporting less than it imports, i.e. its current account is still negative. The reason... Shipping.

To summarize: Greek pensioners are now paying the IMF, which is paying Kiev, which is paying Gazprom, which is paying Putin.

• Dollar at 12-year peak versus euro, emerging markets spooked (Reuters)
• CIA sought to hack Apple iPhones from earliest days (Reuters)
• Draghi Urged Greece to Allow Troika Back Before It’s Late (BBG)
• Brent crude dips below $58 on strong dollar and supply (Reuters)
• Credit Suisse replaces CEO Dougan with Prudential's Thiam (Reuters)
• More "distressed" energy M&A: Verisk buys Wood Mackenzie for £1.85bn (FT)
• Prepare for a surge in defaults: Investors Are Buying Stocks and Bonds From Energy Producers Amid Oil Price Drop (WSJ)
• Private equity executive ordered to pay £72m to ex-wife (FT)
• Democratic donors unfazed by Hillary Clinton's use of private email (Reuters)
• Expensive Hepatitis C Medications Drive Prescription-Drug Spending (WSJ)
• 'ISIS Hackers' Almost Certainly Not ISIS Hackers (NBC)

Having been shamed what seems like numerous times now by the Eurogroup in recent weeks, Greece suffered its greatest humiliation today. First, the farcical renaming of 'Troika' to 'Institutions' was summarily dismissed as "semantics," as France played good cop (asking for the group not to call it Troika) while Germany's bad-cop Schaeuble used the T-word four times in one interview. And second, Eurogroup chairman Dijsselbloem stated that "technical teams will begin considering Greek reform plans on Wednesday," adding that some of the negotiations will have to take place "in situ in Athens." So instead of discussing reforms with institutions in Brussels, the Varoufakis-defined "cabal of technocrats" Troika will be back on Greek soil to straighten out the nation.