Standard Chartered

• Futures rally after BOJ ramps up stimulus (Reuters), Japan's central bank shocks markets with more easing as inflation slows (Reuters)
• Kuroda Jolts Markets With Assault on Deflation Mindset (BBG)
• Japan Mega-Pension Shifts to Stocks (WSJ)
• Russia Raises Interest Rates (WSJ)
• Oil-Price Drop Has Saudi Officials Divided (WSJ)
• Not anymore, the BOJ is here: Fed Exit Could Spark Slump in All Markets, ATP CEO Says (BBG)
• Wal-Mart Weighs Matching Online Prices from Amazon (WSJ)
• Euro-Area Inflation Picks Up From Five-Year Low on Stimulus (BBG)
• Big Banks Brace for Penalties in Probes  (WSJ)
• Ex-UBS Trader Defense Could Be Threat to U.S. Forex Cases (BBG)

When Chinese property developer Agile Property Holdings Ltd. said this month that its chairman was taken into custody by authorities, the disclosure was a shock to Western banks that lent the company money, according to China Spectator as the fog of ever-rising asset values suddenly evaporates into the reality of an opaque real estate credit market slap them in the face. The simple fact is "it is very difficult to get a handle on the financials of a Chinese company," as a local investigative consulting firm warns "in China, nothing is what it appears to be."

If yesterday's markets closed broadly unchanged following all the excitement from the latest "buy the rumor, sell the news" European stress test coupled with a quadruple whammy of macroeconomic misses across the globe, then today's overnight trading session has been far more muted with no major reports, and if the highlight was Kuroda's broken, and erroneous, record then the catalyst that pushed the Nikkei lower by 0.4% was a Bloomberg article this morning mentioning that lower oil prices could mean the BoJ is forced to "tone down or abandon its outlook for inflation." This comes before the Bank of Japan meeting on Friday where the focus will likely be on whether Kuroda says he is fully committed to keeping current monetary policy open ended and whether or not he outlines a target for the BoJ’s asset balance by the end of 2015; some such as Morgan Stanely even believe the BOJ may announce an expansion of its QE program even if most don't, considering the soaring import cost inflation that is ravaging the nation and is pushing Abe's rating dangerously low. Ironically it was the USDJPY levitation after the Japanese session, which launched just as Europe opened, moving the USDJPY from 107.80 to 108.10, that has managed to push equity futures up 0.5% on the usual: nothing.

Just months after unofficially entering the currency wars, China has torn another page from the 'causes of the great depression' playbook. As Reuters reports, for the first time in almost a decade, China - the world's top coal importer - will levy import tariffs on the commodity crushing Australian (the biggest shipper of coal to China) dreams of a commodity-based renaissance. "China is clearly moving to protect its local miners," explained one analyst, which is key since so much of the credit market is predicated on these mal-invested entities - as the China National Coal Association, urged Beijing to act swiftly to support the besieged sector, where 70% of the miners were making losses and more than half owed wages. Crucially, Indonesia - the second-biggest shipper of the fuel to China - will be exempt from the tariffs, which one trader exclaimed, means "It is game over for Australian coal."

• It wasn't Obama this time: Pakistani teen, Indian activist win Nobel Peace Prize (Reuters)
• Surging VIX Shakes Bulls as S&P 500 Charts Go Haywire (BBG)
• Global shares hit six-month low as growth worries mount (Reuters)
• Police, protesters clash in St. Louis ahead of weekend of rallies (Reuters)
• We're Sitting on 10 Billion Barrels of Oil! OK, Two (BBG)
• Spain seeks answers as seven more enter Ebola isolation (Reuters)
• Iran will sell its oil to Asia in November at the biggest discount (BBG)
• Redefining honeypot: U.S. DEA 'most interested' in U.S. investors in Canadian marijuana firms (Reuters)
• UKIP Wins First Commons District With Conservative Defector (BBG)
• Fake Ebola Patients Help Hospitals Prepare for Next Case (BBG)

The Bank of Korea - South Korea’s central bank - released data that says South Korean domestic deposits have reached 16.19 billion Chinese renminbi in July this year, which is a 55-fold increase from the same period last year when renminbi deposits accounted for only 290 million. The signs are clearly all there. Everyone realizes that the present system is on its way out and are taking appropriate measures. The Russians, the Germans, the French, the Brits, the Canadians, the Koreans…

Singapore continues its push to be a global gold hub ... Gold and money, throughout history has flowed to where it is better treated. Today, gold continues to flow from West to East. A sign of shifting economic fortunes ...

• This is why the locals are furious at the US: U.S-led raids hit grain silos in Syria, kill workers (Reuters) explaining this
• Billions Fly Out the Door at Pimco: About $10 Billion Is Withdrawn After Departure of Gross (WSJ)
• Pimco’s Ivascyn Takes on Gross With Unconstrained Fund (BBG)
• Revealed - the Troika threats to bankrupt Ireland (The Independent)
• Private Bad Debt Build-Up Casts Shadow on Greek Rebound (BBG)
• Fed Questions Bank Maneuver to Reduce Hedge Funds' Dividend Taxes (WSJ)
• Yuan-Euro Direct Trading Begins Tomorrow as China Promotes Usage (BBG)
• Geneva Report warns record debt and slow growth point to crisis (FT)
• Greenberg Team to Grill Bernanke, Geithner on AIG Bailout (BBG)... sadly only metaphorically

The Hong Kong protests, which we covered over the weekend, and which took a dramatic turn for the worse overnight when thousands of students camped out and demand universal suffrage on the city streets and were in turn tear-gassed and arrested en masse by the local riot police demanding students disperse or else, and where the leader of the student protest, Joshua Wong - who had been previously arrested and was released on Sunday night - has openly called for the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in an interview with Hong Kong Cable TV, have done the unthinkable: they have impacted financial markets and the "wealth effect" transmission mechanism of the local billionaires.

* Where is Venezuela's 366 tonnes of gold?
* Does Venezuela still control and own unencumbered it’s own gold reserves?
* Is any of the country's gold encumbered, loaned or leased to Goldman Sachs or other banks?
 

China is slowly moving to dominate the global gold market and it is important to join the dots regarding a few key recent developments in China relating to gold. When the International Board of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) was launched last Thursday September 18 during an evening trading session, it was notable that the first transactions were put through by a diverse group comprising HSBC, MKS (Switzerland), and the Chinese banks,  ICBC, Bank of China and Bank of Communications.  One encouraging factor about the SGE and the SGE international platform is that there is a lot of physical gold flowing through the Exchange. Therefore, price discovery is not just based on an inverted pyramid of mostly unallocated gold as in London or mostly cash-traded futures paper gold as in New York.

Yesterday's exuberant equity market reaction has been largely defined by the mainstream media as driven by WSJ Hilsenrath's 'confirmation' that Yellen will keep the uber-dovish phrase "considerable time" in the FOMC statement today. So, we wonder, why did the Fed-whisperer, after markets had closed last night, issue a quasi-retraction of his prediction explaining that instead of some prohetical "I just know" statement, it was a "best guess," as he concluded, "will the Fed take these steps? Only the people in the room know that. The rest of us will see Wednesday afternoon." It appears the sell-side disagrees with him on the language...

The Death Of The Indian and Chinese Gold Markets Has Been Greatly Exaggerated ... 

Singapore and Hong Kong appear to be competing for the a new global gold price benchmark. Further details emerged at the weekend about the planned launch by Singapore of a new 1kg physically deliverable gold contract for the Asian wholesale gold market. Last week, CME announced a new 1 kilogramme gold contract in Hong Kong.

• Ukraine accuses Russia of invasion after aid convoy crosses border (Reuters)
• Hunt for Foley’s Killer Spans Old Policing and Tech Tools (BBG)
• U.S. Probe Examines GM Lawyers (WSJ)
• Argentina accuses U.S. Judge Griesa of "imperialist" attitude (Reuters)
• Violence-weary Missouri town sees second night of calm (Reuters)
• Geneva Banks Break 200-Year Silence to Unveil Earnings (BBG)
• Richest Jailed Putin Foe Says Ukraine Fears Sparked Prosecution (BBG)
• Disclosure of Failed Attempt to Rescue James Foley Is Criticized (WSJ)
• Execution of U.S. journalist reveals the changing business of war coverage (Reuters)