Switzerland

While we have largely resumed ignoring the non-newsflow out of Europe, as it has reverted back to one made up on the fly lie after another, or just simple rumor and political talking point innuendo in the most recent attempt to get hedge funds starved for yield (and chasing year end performance) to pursue every and any piece of Italian and Spanish debt (at least the until euphoria ends and the selling on fundamentals resumes) the latest development from the FT bears noting as it has major implications for Europe's make it up as you go along "recovery." According to the FT: "A plan to create a single eurozone banking supervisor is illegal, according to a secret legal opinion for EU finance ministers that deals a further blow to a reform deemed vital to solving the bloc’s debt crisis. A paper from the EU Council’s top legal adviser, obtained by the Financial Times, argues the plan goes “beyond the powers” permitted under law to change governance rules at the European Central Bank." The punchline: "The legal service concludes that without altering EU treaties it would be impossible to give a bank supervision board within the ECB any formal decision-making powers as suggested in the blueprint drawn up by the European Commission."

The erstwhile 'developed' market of the Athens Stock Exchange has just suffered a major blow. Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co (CCHBC), the world's second largest Coca-Cola bottler, will quit the exchange for London next year, cutting the value of equities listed in Athens to a mere $31bn - smaller than Vietnam's $35.2bn. CCHBC is Greece's largest company by market value and sets a rather ugly precedent in leaving the troubled nation. Accounting for 23% of the benchmark index weight, it is 50% larger than all four of Greece's major banks combined. A new company, headquartered in Switzerland, will make a share-exchange offer for CCHBC and seek a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange - which will mean around 10% of all trading volume on the Athens Stock Exchange will be lost. The decision to leave Greece was prompted by concerns over political and economic stability - so for the Greeks, Coke Is not It.

While European equities, sovereigns, and corporate credit all seem cock-a-hoop at the tail-risk mitigation efforts of the Draghi 'promise'; demand for the safety of Swiss interest rates has quietly been creeping higher. Swiss 2Y rates are now at almost six-week lows (below -18bps), its lowest since the Draghi 'believe' speech... it seems not everyone 'believes'.

"The European Union is a horrible, stupid project. The idea that unification would create an economy that could compete with China and be more like the United States is pure garbage. What ruined China, throughout history, is the top-down state. What made Europe great was the diversity: political and economic. Having the same currency, the euro, was a terrible idea. It encouraged everyone to borrow to the hilt. The most stable country in the history of mankind, and probably the most boring, by the way, is Switzerland. It’s not even a city-state environment; it’s a municipal state. Most decisions are made at the local level, which allows for distributed errors that don’t adversely affect the wider system. Meanwhile, people want a united Europe, more alignment, and look at the problems. The solution is right in the middle of Europe — Switzerland. It’s not united! It doesn’t have a Brussels! It doesn’t need one."

Stronger Periphery trapping European equities, with the latter dragged down by US apathy.

Risk adverseness factors (equities – Periphery - EUR) decoupling.

US equities seem utterly tired.

Somehow the last months’ rally ahead of QE has tired everyone and since delivery every step seems sooooo heavy.

• OECD: Japan Public Debt in 'Uncharted Territory' (WSJ)
• Germany holds firm on Greece as IMF pressure mounts (Reuters)
• Schäuble and Lagarde clash over austerity (FT) - it would be great if someone actually implemented austerity...
• Merkel hints at tax cuts for growth boost (FT)
• Hollande Robbed of Growth Engine as Companies Cut Investment (BBG)
• Romney Narrows Gap With Obama in Swing State Polling (BBG)
• Sluggish Growth Seen Into Next Year (WSJ)
• Softbank Founder Has 300-Year Plan in Wooing Sprint Nextel (BBG)
• Singapore Forgoes Currency Stimulus on Inflation Risk (Bloomberg) - as does China day after day
• Sharp Jabs Dominate Combative Vice-Presidential Debate (WSJ)
• Japan and China Agree to Hold Talks on Rift After Noda Call (Bloomberg)

We are now five years into the Great Fiat Money Endgame and our freedom is increasingly under attack from the state, liberty’s eternal enemy. It is true that by any realistic measure most states today are heading for bankruptcy. But it would be wrong to assume that ‘austerity’ policies must now lead to a diminishing of government influence and a shrinking of state power. The opposite is true: the state asserts itself more forcefully in the economy, and the political class feels licensed by the crisis to abandon whatever restraint it may have adhered to in the past. Ever more prices in financial markets are manipulated by the central banks, either directly or indirectly; and through legislation, regulation, and taxation the state takes more control of the employment of scarce means. An anti-wealth rhetoric is seeping back into political discourse everywhere and is setting the stage for more confiscation of wealth and income in the future. This will end badly.

Economists, market analysts, journalists and investors alike are all talking about it quite openly, generally in a calm and reserved tone that suggests that -  to borrow a phrase from Bill Gross – it represents the 'new normal'. Something that simply needs to be acknowledged and analyzed in the same way we e.g. analyze the supply/demand balance of the copper market. It is the new buzzword du jour: 'Financial Repression'. The term certainly sounds ominous, but it is always mentioned in an off-hand manner that seems to say: 'yes, it is bad, but what can you do? We've got to live with it.' But what does it actually mean? The simplest, most encompassing explanation is this: it describes various insidious and underhanded methods by which the State intends to rob its citizens of their wealth and income over the coming  years (and perhaps even decades) above and beyond the already onerous burden of taxation and regulatory costs that is crushing them at present. One cannot possibly "print one's way to prosperity". The exact opposite is in fact true: the policy diminishes the economy's ability to generate true wealth. If anything, “we” are printing ourselves into the poorhouse.

It takes all of three seconds on the ground in Spain to realize that this country is hurting. Big time. It’s amazing what the combination of debt, deceit, and a bona fide banking collapse can do to a nation.  Consequently, depositors are moving money out of the country en masse, often to the tiny principality of Andorra next door - a highly capitalized, low tax banking jurisdiction. This leaves the already thinly-capitalized Spanish banks in an even weaker position. As we have painstakingly pointed out a number of times, the way the banking system works in most of the world is a complete fraud since most banks only hold a tiny percentage of their customers’ deposits in cash. The moment there are more than a handful of depositors wanting their money back, the bank has a big problem. This is happening nationwide in Spain. As such, the IMF is now recommending that Spain (and other nations in the eurozone periphery) take action “at the national level” to stem this flight of funds and prevent people from moving money abroad. Capital controls by any other name should smell so foul.

Ueli Maurer, the Swiss defense minister, has been making coy statements about the European crisis getting ugly – as in really ugly, like needing armed troops to deal with it. This sounds more like Greece, where the rioting is regular and increasingly scary, than anything in Central Europe, but where the whole EU furball is headed does seem less than clear of late. The Swiss are famous for preparing for everything and having an absolutely huge army, relative to their population, to deal with any eventuality. It’s easy to dismiss the Swiss, since they are a tiny country whose military hasn’t actually fought anybody in a couple centuries. On the other hand, they managed to stay out of both of Europe’s catastrophic World Wars precisely though preparing for eventualities and maintaining a strong defensive capability. They’re clearly on to something.

If you are the person who sold 1,300 tons of Swiss gold in the pre-"New Normal" era, you probably would like to keep that fact to yourself. But not Michael Paprotta, or the guy who did sell 1,300 tons of gold for the Swiss National Bank from 2000 to 2005. As a reminder, the price of gold in the period was between $250 and $450, making Gordon Brown's own dump of a meager 400 tons of UK gold between 1999 and 2002 seem like amateur hour by comparison. Assuming a current price of gold of $1800 and a blended disposition price of $350/oz, this means that Switzerland effectively gave up on just under $60 billion in upside. That's ok though, the SNB's balance sheet is now full to the gills with money-good EURs. Who needs gold in a fiat regime anyway? Certainly not Michael Paprotta who gives up on tens (soon hundreds) of billions in gold upside fiat equivalents in the morning, then goes skiing in the afternoon.

The Troika technical team was chased from their Greek offices on Tuesday by an angry mob of Muni workers (who proclaimed that "they got our labor rights and conditions back to the Middle Ages"). As KeepTalkingGreece notes, this is the third incident in 24 hours as since the team arrived they have had water bottle thrown at them as well as cars kicked and 'hurled coffees'. The clip below shows the Troika member looking rather anxious as he runs from the crowd (and NewsIt reported a female Troika member seeking refuge in a bookstore). It is not just the municipal workers who are in fear though, as GreekReporter notes the unbelievable story of the re-appearance of a 'mysterious' CD containing the names of 2000 ultra-rich Greek Swiss-bank account-holders is now back in the hands of the Greek government as they press for bilateral taxation on those huge deposits. It seems rich and poor alike are not happy with the Troika's exposure of tax cheats across the desparate nation.

Somewhere deep in the bowels of the world’s Western central banks lie vaults holding gargantuan piles of physical gold bars… or at least that’s what they all claim.

Our analysis of the physical gold market shows that central banks have most likely been a massive unreported supplier of physical gold, and strongly implies that their gold reserves are negligible today. If Frank Veneroso’s conclusions were even close to accurate back in 1998 (and we believe they were), when coupled with the 2,300 tonne net change in annual demand we can easily identify above, it can only lead to the conclusion that a large portion of the Western central banks’ stated 23,000 tonnes of gold reserves are merely a paper entry on their balance sheets – completely un-backed by anything tangible other than an IOU from whatever counterparty leased it from them in years past. At this stage of the game, we don’t believe these central banks will be able to get their gold back without extreme difficulty, especially if it turns out the gold has left their countries entirely. We can also only wonder how much gold within the central bank system has been ‘rehypothecated’ in the process, since the central banks in question seem so reluctant to divulge any meaningful details on their reserves in a way that would shed light on the various “swaps” and “loans” they imply to be participating in. We might also suggest that if a proper audit of Western central bank gold reserves was ever launched, as per Ron Paul’s recent proposal to audit the US Federal Reserve, the proverbial cat would be let out of the bag – with explosive implications for the gold price.... We realize that some readers may scoff at any analysis of the gold market that hints at “conspiracy”. We’re not talking about conspiracy here however, we’re talking about stupidity. After all, Western central banks are probably under the impression that the gold they’ve swapped and/or lent out is still legally theirs, which technically it may be. But if what we are proposing turns out to be true, and those reserves are not physically theirs; not physically in their possession… then all bets are off regarding the future of our monetary system.

• Trade Slows Around World (WSJ)
• Debt limit lurks in fiscal cliff talks (FT)
• Welcome back to the eurozone crisis (FT, Wolfgang Munchau)
• Euro Leaders Face October of Unrest After September Rally (Bloomberg)
• Dad, you were right (FT)
• 25% unemployment, 25% bad loans, 5% drop in Industrial Production, and IMF finally lowers its 2013 Greek GDP forecast (WSJ)
• Global IPOs Slump to Second-Lowest Level Since Financial Crisis (Bloomberg)
• France's Hollande faces street protest over EU fiscal pact (Reuters)
• EU Working to Resolve Difference on Bank Plan, Rehn Says (Bloomberg)
• China manufacturing remains sluggish (FT)
• Samaras vows to fight Greek corruption (FT) ... and one of these days he just may do it
• Leap of Faith (Hssman)
• Germany told to 'come clean’ over Greece (AEP)

One by one all the money-laundering loopholes in a broke world are coming to an end. First it was Swiss bank accounts, which for centuries guaranteed the depositors absolute secrecy, and as a result saw money inflows from all the wealthiest savers in the world, who felt truly safe their wealth (obtained by legal means or otherwise) would not be redistributed forcefully. In the ecosystem of finance, Switzerland was the depositor bank. Then 2008 happened, and starting with the US, shortly to be followed by every other insolvent country, demands were issued for a full list of people who had used Zurich and Geneva bank vaults to avoid the risk of asset taxation, capital controls and confiscation on their own native soil. The result was the end of the Swiss banking sector as the ultimate target of all global money laundering. In the ensuing power vacuum, others have sprung up to take its place, most notably Singapore, but its days as a tax-haven are numbered by how long it takes China to fall face first into a hard landing at which point no saving on the Pacific seaboard will be safe.

Now, it is the turn of real estate.