Yuan

• UN Insecptors to leave Syria early, by Saturday morning (Reuters)
• Yellen Plays Down Chances of Getting Fed Job (WSJ)
• JPMorgan Bribe Probe Said to Expand in Asia as Spreadsheet Is Found (BBG)
• No Section 8 for you: Wall Street’s Rental Bet Brings Quandary Housing Poor (BBG)
• Euro zone, IMF to press Greece for foreign agency to sell assets (Reuters)
• Brothels in Nevada Suffer as Web Disrupts Oldest Trade (BBG)
• U.S., U.K. Face Delays in Push to Strike Syria (WSJ); U.S., U.K. Pressure for Action on Syria Hits UN Hurdle (BBG)
• Renault Operating Chief Carlos Tavares Steps Down (WSJ)
• Vodafone in talks with Verizon to sell out of U.S. venture (Reuters)
• Dollar Seen Casting Off Euro Shackles as Fed Tapers (BBG)

If Syria is invaded by the West, then we should be getting ready for a hike in the price of Brent that some say may reach a much as $150 since it will escalate into a regional problem and affect supplies coming out of Iraq.

• Merkel Blames SPD’s Schroeder for Letting Greece Into Euro (BBG)
• U.S. Bank Legal Bills Exceed $100 Billion (BBG)
• U.K. to Request U.N. Action to Protect Syrians From Chemical Weapons  (WSJ) - and Russia to veto any decision
• U.N. inspectors in new Syria mission as West prepares to strike (Reuters)
• Emerging-Market Rout Intensifies on Syria Jitters (WSJ)
• Rebels Without a Leader Show Limit to U.S. Role in Syria War (BBG)
• Anger at IRS Powers Tea-Party Comeback (WSJ)
• China has much at risk but no reach in Middle East (Reuters)
• 'London Whale' Penalties Put at $500 Million to $600 Million (WSJ)
• U.S. lawmaker says 'compelling' evidence of Syrian chemical attack (Reuters)

• Lew warns Congress to strike debt ceiling deal (FT)
• Central-Bank Moves Blur the View (WSJ)
• Brazil, Indonesia launch measures to shore up their currencies (FT)
• More mainstream media reminded about Fukushima - Radioactive ground water under Fukushima nears sea (AP)
• Fukushima inspectors 'careless', Japan agency says, as nuclear crisis grows (Reuters)
• New York Banker Arrested on Rape Charges in East Hampton (NYT)
• This time they mean business, for real: CFTC Moves to Rein In High-Speed Traders (WSJ)
• Britain operates secret monitoring station in Middle East (Reuters)
• Moody’s considers downgrading top US banks (FT)
• China's Bo calls wife mad after she testifies against him (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Sub-New Normal Growth Seen Vexing Next Fed Chief (BBG)
• SEC calls for cooling-off period for more staff (Reuters)

The general manager of Fanxin, China's largest insurance dealer, has been arrested (after fleeing the coutry with CNY 500 million) and the entire industry is now under close scrutiny after regulators found that the company was selling unauthorized fixed-income financial agreements. Fanxin offered huge commissions to its staff to sell 'wealth management products' that were merely used to buy more insurance products in what appears a ponzi-like scheme. Investors were 'encouraged' to purchase these with promises of yields up to 20%. As Caixin reports, "such a high yield promise is definitely unsustainable," as Fanxin customers "thought they were buying the normal wealth management products like the ones offered by banks," but actually these products were made by Fanxin and funds were put into higher risk insurance products. In an unsurprising echo from the 'liar loans' of the US, the documentation was often forged or had fake contact information that could have been easily detected, but insurance companies ignored the problems for the sake of premium revenues.

• Obamacare, tepid U.S. growth fuel part-time hiring (Reuters)
• Cameron was behind UK attempt to halt Snowden reports (Reuters), Britain defends detention of journalist's partner (Reuters)
• Goldman Options Error Shows Peril Persists One Year After Knight (BBG)
• China expresses 'shock' as Japan's nuclear crisis deepens  (Reuters)
• Inquiry into China insurance firm rattles industry (Caixin)
• Cheaper rivals eat into Apple’s China tablet share (FT)
• Exporting fast food: Subway Targets Europe With as Many as 1,000 New Outlets in 2014 (BBG)
• Reserve Bank of India boosts liquidity to ease pressure on banks (FT)
• Justice Department Plans New Crisis-Related Cases (WSJ) - Holder doing his cutest attempt to pretend the TBTProsecute aren't
• Syrian Opposition Alleges Gas Attack, Which Government Denies (WSJ)

The “cloud” in China is corporate nirvana: a high-growth tech sector in a high-growth country. Or was. And it’s showing up in the numbers.

• Egypt, U.S. on Collision Course (WSJ), Gunmen kill 24 Egyptian police in Sinai ambush (Reuters)
• India’s efforts fail to prevent new rupee low (FT)
• More bad news for AAPL: Steve Jobs Biopic Crashes on Opening Weekend (WSJ)
• "Sustainable" - U.S. Stocks Beat BRICs by Most Ever Amid Market Flight (BBG)
• Merkel cancels election rally after hostage taking (Reuters)
• Some day, Abenomics might work... Not today though: Japan Exports Rise Most Since ’10 as Deficit Swells (BBG)
• China July Home Prices Rise as Nation Seeks Long-Term Policy (BBG)
• Spanish Bank’s Bad Loan Ratio Rises to Record in June (Reuters)
• Recovery... for some - Ferrari NART Spyder Sets $27.5 Million Auction Record (BBG)
• Bund yields hit 17-month high, rupee slumps (Reuters)
• Regulatory Headaches Worsen for J.P. Morgan (WSJ)

As it turns out, just as we had suspected, the 6% move in the Chinese A-shares index, was nothing more than a CNY7 billion (just over $1 billion) fat finger in the "arbitrage system" of Everbright securities. And just what system is that - if the market is about to sell off do a smash-the-open to kill all downward momentum, and as for the losses from the trade, well there is a PBOC to foot the costs? Also, if all it takes to move a multi-trillion stock market is just a $1 billion "fat finger", imagine what $85 billion per month would do...

• This won't end well: Islamists call Cairo protest march as Egypt death toll mounts (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Said to Expect Multiple Fines for Whale Loss (BBG)
• Ex-bosses at JPMorgan unlikely to face charges in 'Whale' scandal (Reuters)
• China could target oil firms, telecoms, banks in price probes (Reuters)
• For once, it's not the weather's fault: U.K. Retail Sales Increase More Than Forecast on Heatwave (BBG)
• Japanese visits to shrine on war anniversary anger China (Reuters)
• India Fighting Worst Crisis Since ’91 Seeks to Buoy Rupee (BBG)
• Japan Signals Corporate Tax Cut a Long Shot as Deflation Eases (Reuters)
• Indonesia Tackles Graft in Energy Sector (Reuters)
• Merkel Touts Strength of German Economy (WSJ)
• and... British stuntman who parachuted into London Olympics opening ceremony as James Bond dies in fall (AP)

• Vocal billionaire activist IRR - 150x: Icahn bought $1 billion of AAPL stock, seeks $150 billion buyback (BBG)
• BlackBerry Said to Have Sought Buyers Since 2012 (BBG) - for a phone or the entire company?
• IPhone Fingerprint Reader Talk Boosting Biometric Stocks (BBG) - also, the NSA will need to grow its Utah data center
• UPS Jet Crashes in Birmingham, Ala. (WSJ)
• America's Farm-Labor Pool Is Graying (WSJ)
• Hong Kong Lowers Storm Signal as Typhoon Closes on China (BBG)
• Indian submarine explodes in Mumbai port (FT)
• BofA Banker Sued by Regulator Later Joined Fannie Mae (BBG)
• Software that hijacks visits to YouTube uncovered (FT)
• Chinese Billionaire Huang Readies Iceland Bid on Power Shift (BBG)
• China to launch fresh pharmaceutical bribery probe (Reuters)
• Defeat at J.C. Penney Hurts Ackman as Performance Trails (BBG)

• Solyndra Cola: California aims to 'bottle sunlight' in energy storage push (Reuters)
• Ackman may sues himself after all - Penney Board Assails Director William Ackman, Considered 'Rogue' After Releasing Deliberations (WSJ)
• CFTC subpoenas metals warehousing firm as inquiry heats up (Reuters)
• Obama Plan to Revamp NSA Faces Obstacles (WSJ)
• Japan growth slows in second quarter, adds to sales tax uncertainty (Reuters)
• China Urbanization to Hit Roadblocks Amid Local Opposition (BBG)
• Parents Losing Jobs a Hidden Cost to U.S. Head Start Budget Cuts (BBG)
• US seeks better access to Africa as part of trade pact review (FT)
• Singapore Cuts Trade Outlook as China Slowdown Caps Recovery (BBG)
• White House Sifts Fiscal Ideas With Band of Senators (WSJ)
• Spain may ask United Nations for support over Gibraltar (Reuters)
• Michigan Safety Net for Boomers Frays on Bankrupt Detroit (BBG)

Despite an overnight surge in the Chinese markets, with the Shanghai Composite closing up 2.4% following reports that China will not only continue with its "liquidity tightening" operation by, paradoxically, cutting RRR for smaller banks, but launch a stimulus for several Chinese provinces and city governments "on the quiet" in the form of jumbo-sized bank loans, and GDP news in Japan that were so bad they were almost good (although not bad enough to close the Nikkei in the green) US futures continue to take on water following the second worst week of 2013 as the market now appears resigned to a Taper announcement in just over 5 weeks (as we have claimed since May). News in Europe continues to be bipolar, with the big picture confirming that only dark skies lie ahead following yesterday's news that a new Greek bailout is just around the corner, or rather just after the Merkel reelection (even though Kotthaus perpetuated the lies and said a second cut in Greek debt is not on the agenda - although maybe he is not lying: maybe only Greek deposits will be cut this time), offset by on the margin improvements in the economic headlines, even as credit creation remains not only non-existent but as the FT reports (one year after Zero Hedge), some €3.2 trillion in financial deleveraging is still on deck meaning an unprecedented contraction in all credit-driven aggregates (one of which of course is GDP).

Next month promises to be more volatile than this month.  Consensus views are unlikely to be challenged by the data in the week ahead.  

Whether or not BitCoin actually wants to be regarded as an accepted currency, and thus subject to US government regulation, remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain: a currency is not a currency, until it gets its own Bloomberg ticker. Just recall the confusion that followed the appearance of XGD, or the GREEK DRACHMA (POST EURO), BBG currency ticker in June 2012 caused a panic tsunami across Europe when everyone started asking what does Bloomberg know that nobody else does.

Enter XBT Curncy <GO>