Yuan

Brazil, whose economy officially slid into recession in Q2 - a quarter during which Brazilians suffered through the worst inflation-growth outcome (i.e. stagflation) in over a decade - and whose efforts to plug a yawning budget gap are complicated by political infighting and a growing public outcry against embattled President Dilma Rousseff, has been cut to junk by S&P.

"In theory, investors can exit an open-ended mutual fund or an ETF at will. But the growing popularity of these funds forces them to invest in an ever larger share of less liquid bonds. If everyone wants to exit at once, prices could fall very far, very fast. A lucky few may get out in time. Others will probably get trampled."

"We believe a global recession scenario has become the most likely global macroeconomic scenario for the next two years or so. Helicopter money drops would be the best instrument to tackle a downturn in all DMs. We expect to see QE #N, where N could become a large integer, as part of the monetary policy response in the US and the UK, and QEE2 in Japan." 

• Global stocks rally as investors scent fresh stimulus (Reuters)
• Japan's Nikkei 225 Rises 7.7% for Biggest Gain Since October 2008 (BBG)
• China's Stocks Advance for Second Day Amid Stimulus Speculation (BBG)
• Abe Pledges Corporate Tax Cut as Investments Slump (BBG)
• U.S. to shift 50 staff to boost office handling Clinton emails (Reuters)
• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Says China Doesn't Want a Currency War (BBG)
• One Thing China Got Right (BBG)

Hot on the heels of The World Bank demanding The Fed not hike rates, China issued a statement "calling on US to jointly ensure global economic stability," tonight following a farcical intervention last night on record low volumes and a small devaluation of the Yuan. Foreign Minister Wang added "China and U.S. should also properly handle disagreements and safeguard current international order," just as another minister spewed forth "China’s economic outlook is very bright," - well apart from the record debt, collapsing asset values, and masssive over-capacity, you mean. Further measures detailing the new capital restrictions for forward FX transactions were announced (which will likely do for CNH what regulators did to Chinese index futures). Chinese stoicks are extending their gains in the pre-open on vapid volume as China leaves Yuan practically unchanged.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added another 15.98 tonnes of gold in August – at the same time its foreign exchange reserves fell a whopping $94 billion. 

So much for exiting the market. According to Goldman's estimates, China spent CNY600 billion propping up the stock market in the month of August alone. Meanwhile, MNI reports that in the wake of the yuan devaluation, SAFE began "'urging' [companies to] actively take measures to limit foreign exchange purchase for advance payment under imports... and postpone forex purchases." 

• Sure, why not: China Rebounds as Trade Data Disappoints (BBG)
• Oh, that's why: China's Stock-Rescue Tab Surges to $236 Billion, Goldman Says (BBG)
• Can't make this up: German finmin says must avoid reliance on debt, cenbank stimulus (Reuters)
• Stocks rise after contrasting China, Germany trade data (Reuters)
• Euro zone second-quarter GDP revised up as Italy grows faster (Reuters)
• Brent oil rises on European, Chinese data; oversupply weighs (Reuters)
• Corporate Prosecution Deals Headed for a Legal Test (WSJ)

The last time we looked at Chinese stocks, just a few hours ago, they were on pace to close back under 3000, following the latest collapse in trade, where in August exports dropped 5.5% (last -8.3%) while imports tumbled -13.8% in dollar terms (worse than the -8.1% prior). As the Reuters chart below shows, this was the 10th month in a row of declines and the worst stretch since the 2008 crisis, confirming China will need far more currency devaluation to stabilize the trade pain. And then Chinese authorities intervened with gusto, waiting until the start of the afternoon session, at which point a massive buying orgy ensued, and pushed the SHCOMP from down more than 2% to close at the day highs, up some 2.9%!

Following Monday's roller coaster of manipulated market machinations, perhaps China's leadership will keep its mouth shut tonight and just "monitor" the situation. Japan's opening 300-point flash-smash has now been eviscerated back to unchanged, Chinese stocks look set to open lower as Margin debt rose for the first time in 13 days (likely thanks to CSRC telling retail investors to "come back in, the water's fine.") As markets anxiously await China's trade data - which will either confirm the collapse or confirm the manipulation (given the utter devastation in Taiwan and South Korea trade data), the PBOC fixes Yuan weaker after 5 straight days of stronger fixes and injected another CNY150 billion in 7-day rev repo.

The data point everyone has been waiting on is out and, just as we tipped weeks ago, China liquidated nearly $100 billion in USD assets during the month of August in support of the yuan.

News That Matters

Chinese stocks opened with a bang, and as we previously noted soared higher at the open after China's long 4-day holiday weekend, which however subsequently slowly (but very surely) fizzled, eating away at the hope that the 3-day drop in the Shanghai Composite would finally come to an end following comments from PBOC governor Zhou that the recent rout in Chinese stocks is almost over, and result in a relief rally in Europe and the US. Alas, all that was promptly swept away at the end of trading in China when the Shanghai Composite tumbled at close of trading to confirm just how unpleasant a "death cross" is coupled with loss of central bank control, and to push the Shanghai Composite down 2.5% for the day and 3.4% for the year.