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"Mystery" Buyer Of Stocks In The First Quarter Has Been Identified
Three days ago, when looking at the unprecedented, record outflows from US equities (coupled with continued inflow into bond funds into what BofA's Hans Mikkelsen would likely dub the Great Antirotation) we asked a simple question: "who is buying... no really".
Then yesterday, the spoofing algos were briefly spooked when Yellen, for the second time in under one year, issued a warning about valuations, only this time instead of bashing the biotech and social media sector, the non-Series 7, 63 certified financial advisor brought attention to the entire market saying "equity market valuations generally are quite high."
She was referring to a level in the S&P around 2100 (aka 21x forward GAAP P/E multiple) which is where the S&P has been trading for the past several months, a level which was as high as 2120 in the first quarter, on February 20, 2015.
Yet, one entity that clearly disagrees with her assessment is none other than her peer institution in Switzerland, the Swiss Central Bank, which as we noted earlier, owned a record $1.1 billion in AAPL stock as of March 31.
The Swiss National Bank is also the answer to the question we posed, rhetorically, a few days ago:
"Who is buying"?
We now know, because while everyone else, hedge funds included, were dumping stocks in droves, here is what the Swiss National Bank was doing:
Together with companies engaging in record amounts of stock buybacks, the SNB was buying billions and billions worth of shares. So much so, in fact, that its US-listed equity portfolio rose by a record 40% to a record $37 billion.
And now we know, even if we don't know how many other central banks were active alongside the Swiss during its record stock-buying spree. And perhaps even more apropos: which central bank was selling to the SNB?
Finally, those wondering if the Fed gave the SNB the money with which to buy stocks on its behalf, the answer based on the most recent NY Fed FX swap data, is no. At least not in the most recent week.
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Belgium?
I love GOOOOOOOOOOOLD.
And who, I wonder, decides how to vote all of the SNB's shares in matters of corporate governance?
The mail room clerk....who also intercepts the dividend checks.
Intesting that now US/Swiss swaps are showing. Another way to look at this: the swiss are dumping USD for equities.
SNB bought $10 B
Outflows $300 B
So who bought the other $290B?
Well, the SNB was so good with currencies, might as well give equities a try.
Chuck Norris.
Gotta keep the shell game going.
I can imagine Yellen's call, "listen you choclatey breathed motherfuckers better buy all that shit up, or you're all suckin my dick!"
...
Sequence 16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKrzijChaYM
I wonder if the SNB is also the ultimate owner of all those Belgian UST's?
Here's how it plays out.
IRS "We need you to give us the names of all those tax cheats who have money in your banks"
SNB "No"
IRS "Come on, you did it before and the NSA still has the photos of you and those girl scouts at that party"
SNB "True, but now we can kill your financial system by selling all those shares of SPY in a block, so no more names and crawl back in your hole"
I know, it's fanatsy but it still warmed my heart.
stop already with sequence 16
, it sucks
Central banks printing fiat and converting it into equities and soon PMs. First one to do so will come out on top.
Old Yellen?
"Old Yellen?"
Only if it ends like in the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Yeller_(film)
For obvious reasons, Uncle Sam probably won't put rabid Yellen down.
How about Japan.
They are too busy monetizing their own debt. I do think Japan is a forgotten player, and will rise on to the scene again shortly.
Well it's exactly the amount Greece owns, so it's obvious. The Greeks have leveraged their debt using their debt as collateral for buying stock. And we all know no bank could resist buying debt.
Pretty soon Greece will own everything.
LOL!
That was way funnier than it had a right to be. +1 for you.
A self-financing hedge fund.
Shades of Bob Citroen
always an upvote for the scourge of orange county and the repo mkt in general.
Exactly Knukles, you hit the nail on the head: Issue unlimited Fiat DEBT AND GET PAID FOR IT OVER A 10 YEAR SPAN, use the profits to buy the shares of any half decent company. Pocket all the dividends while there are any, make sure that you keep the cash 1:1 to pay back the bondholders so that you don´t have to roll over any debt when it expires and here you go, you are in a never ending win win trade.
You left out one item....if the trade goes against them and they lose money, the taxpayer gets left holding the bag.
Bankster perfection!!
In gold we trust (the original phrase).
That other phrase was a typo.
I'm long on chocolates and cuckoo clocks.
I'm long pork bellies, which is used to make bacon, which you might find in a 'bacon and lettuce and tomato' sandwich.
Motimer and Randoulph
Now tell him the good part Randolph.
Now whether people make money or lose money we still get paid.
I get it, you're just a couple of bookies!
I think he gets it Mortimer.
also known as a 'balat'
Chinese Oligarchs?
NY FED can make daily swaps that can be rolled over with whoever they want. at month end they can make an accounting shenanigan (possibly involving repo) and make it disappear for a day - that's my guess. this is bill dudley we are talking about.
Swiss National Bagholder...
The Swiss need to find their Libertarian roots and 86 these kooks.
How can you say that? They are proud graduates of the Krugman-Goldman Sachs school of monetary policy.....
The Swiss seem to have a particularly stupid CB. But then it's their country and... whatever floats their boat. However, one cannot stop noticing how TPTB in all Western countries seem to be engaged in a speed race to bottom IQ. To paraphrase a famous telecom ad "the future is friendly"... LOL !
The US republic was loosely designed after the Swiss Confederation Helvetica. Seeing this "independent" Country so dependent on it's Central Banks market intervention just goes to show how far down the drain we are. I did however, remember a smiley faced Swiss student showing off his Apple 2 back in 87-88 thinking it was the cats meow. I suppose he works at the SNB now or something.
US now is Velveta Republic. Block of cheeze not only buys the voter but also defines the votee.
As a staunch proponenet of monetizing debt, I hereby call for new font to be developed and henceforth used on our Federal Reserve notes, known heretofore as Velvetica: and it shall be a cross between Velveta and Helvetica.
LOL....Now print mother fucker print! Add moar zeros and do it again!
It's a cardinal sin to call Velveeta, "cheese".
;-D
"US now is Velveta Republic. Block of cheeze not only buys the voter but also defines the votee."
And: "Not fit for human consumption".
The Swiss central bank is now a "team player". The team they are playing on has nothing to do with the people or well being of the nation of Switzerland.
The proof of my thesis was established by the position the central bank took in the recent referendum concerning their gold reserves.
Then your thesis needs some work, because the SNB's position wasn't proof of anything, other than that they were not complete idiots.
There is only one central bank in the world with the scale now to surviving pulling a wrong-way Corrigan in the middle of currency war, and it sure isn't located in a country the size of Maryland.
I seem to remember that "the people" voted exactly as their CB told them to. That kind of negates your theory... Besides, I beg to differ in one other point: "the team they are playing on" has everything to do with the well being of the nation of Switzerland, if only because of the consequences of their actions. Sleep tight, there will be a surprise there wainting for you when you'll wake up...
'Team Player'
A.k.a. 'Tribe Follower'
Why don't the central banks just create trillions out of nothing and buy up all assets and equities? Oh, they're already doing that.
fr "system": enslave a free nation of people to debt through boom and bust, capture all productive assets with fiat created out of thin air.
Insane.
True, but it is the only game to be played.
The only way to win, is not play the game.
1985, War Games. And true.
Pure insanity.
Pure insanity is betting against them (the CBs).
pure insanity is entering their casino and insanely believing u will be allowed to exit with anything....
"its a big club and..." - well, u should know the rest...
Physical Gold and Silver.....u were told.....
Physical Gold and Silver.....u were told.....
Yeah, all the way up to $1800 and $40. Although people still left with something after buying at those heights they must've felt pretty bad for a while after. And they likely still do.
Hopefully those people don't dump their underwater positions as a result of anti gold propaganda and manipulated valuations. They will feel a lot worse in a couple of years when the reality of the folly of credit based money overwhelms all the bankster schemes.
Hopefully they did.
As the speculators placed their faith in a failed currency and a failed paradigm...
Since they were chasing the paper profits rather than protecting themselves from the consequeces of the rampant fraud and corruption...
Since they were complicit participants in exacting frauds amongst the people...
THEN THEY ARE THE MOST DESERVING OF SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE SUFFERING WHICH THEY HAVE CAUSED.
That is another reason I celebrate lower Gold and Silver prices. It does not just create a bargain when I am purchasing. It punishes speculators and empties their powder bins so that they are less destructive.
When the Central Banks lose control, and that WILL HAPPEN SOON, then the price of Gold and Silver measured against that of Dollars, or any other Central Bank issued currency will be MOOT.
And I will enjoy watching the consequential conflagration and outright destruction of a system founded upon, a paradigm built upon a foundation of fraud, corruption, and deception.
Far too many have built their lives upon this. They place their faith into it. They are parasites sucking the wealth from it. And this is the gravest threat which they face.
They expose themselves here and will even downarrow this while not producing a cogent response.
stand tall Tom...
Stand tall.....
understanding the following...
"there are none so blind as those who will not see..."
You tell 'em Tom! I swear you are able to formulate my thoughts even better than I can.
Silver For The People
Tom, any concern for the fact that the Central Banks have to lose control of the very thing that they solely control?
They control the whole thing as it is. To lose control of something you have complete control over is ???
Ever heard of The London Gold Pool?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Gold_Pool
Absolutely fifty, and good point. But, they're still in control. They just change the rules of the game or the game itself.
Feeling particularly misanthropic today :)
The whole paradigm is based upon faith and confidence.
Where is there honor amongst a den of thieves?
They sow their own seed of destruction.
When people decide to self destruct the wise man stands clear....and watches from afar.
They have a nasty habit of tearing others down with them.
Read my post which follows and you can see how it will happen. They will crowd the exits of the burning building, clawing at each others' backs in order to attempt to escape.
Greece...Well Greece is just the tip of the iceberg. And the European Union is steaming at full speed with wanton disregard.
The insolvencies will happen rapidly and Credit Freeze II will manifest as a result. The watertight doors will not contain the flooding of compartments as the design is as flawed as that of the RMS Titanic.
You must see that it is no longer a problem but it is a predicament. THEY HAVE ALREADY LOST CONTROL. There is no way out.
You can delay the onset a bit, using the bilge pumps and that. They have bought some time and it has stayed afloat longer than I have expected.
You can deny the gravity of this but you cannot deny the consequences thereof.
Ohhhh...I say...September, maybe?
While I agree with much of what you are saying, I still question the viability of survival, not against fraud and devaluation, but of an all powerful government who has their fingers in every facet of our lives. I do not see our threat as principally financial. Financials are but a symptom of the rampant fraud and corruption that has us by the nutsack. They can outlaw any transactions in gold. They control our access to information, our sources of water and fuel. They have a military that can successfully intimidate the vast majority into submission with the mere suggestion of use of force.
I'm not sure how this all plays out but I do not think ultimately the answer is one dependent upon investment strategy, beyond those absolute essentials for survival. What gold or bitcoin will buy in that environment is not clear to me.
If anything, I think anyone who successfully avoids the worst of a collapse will likely become the new target. We individually are a much more desirable target than our government. Its not who is to blame but who is the easiest to blame and take vengeance on.
Good stuff oldwood. Time has shown that civilizations come and go and I believe ours too has an expiration date. Outside of a cataclysmic extinction-level type event, I think we're on the long, slow slide toward the end of ours.
But exponentially less-slow.
Then POOF... very quickly.
things you actually need are cheap right now, can you buy a lot and store it? if a time comes and stuff is hard to get, it will go up in price and so you can look at this as an investment by buying and storing what you will indeed use. consider expiration dates, and buy ahead. now while it is still cheap and available.
Yeah if your buying it to make your next car payment. I figure it is,for my kids,or grand kids to dig up some day when I'm long gone.
This seems to be what the trolls and proles do not understand - the difference between a speculative investment and a store of value.
It isn't even "speculative investment" versus "store of value". It is more like "speculate on ponzi scam" versus "store of value". To call anything based on fiat, fake, fraud, fiction, fantasy, fractional-reservitude an "investment" is much too kind... to the point of being wrong.
if u r still attempting to VALUE in debt coupon dollars that which has been the only 2 TRUE FORMS OF MONEY for 5000 years U R LOST!
Pure insanity is following in the footsteps of the CB's while also thinking you are a 'free' soul. Conformity and mediocracy have been wedded since birth. You go, fool.....
Pure comedy!
Tell tale. EU storm on the horizon.
There are not many central banks, but in reality, ONE REALLY BIG Central bank that has millions of employees who speak in different languages.
Only one - money. The dictionary was written by Goldman Sucks.
You are almost there, shizzmoney.
Go another step further and ask:
What is a bank?
Are they facilitating the investment of money or are they facilitating the stealing of money?
No 50/50, no ask the audience of half-wits, no phone the NSA. It's stealing.
If the institution is facilitating stealing then it is not a bank.
Filling up their coffers with easy money and depositing it at zero risk is not investing or facilitating others' investments.
Bank robber has a whole new meaning.
The purpose of a bank should be apparent by now: it is a business enterprise for the purpose of transferring money from the Many to the Few.
When you say, "should be apparent by now" you mean empirically over the last 100 years we have undeniable evidence of how congress's 3rd institutionalization of a "bank" operates.
Factually, the 3rd national "bank" (the Federal Reserve) is not a bank at all. De facto, its structure, operation, and the ends that their means obtain are those of a criminal racket and not a bank.
Factually, fractional reserve banking does not exist because it is a contradiction in terms.
The correct identification is what is mistakenly referred to as modern banking is instead counterfeiting.
Maybe millions of employees in total but the top three layers come from a set of related banking mafia families imo. That's why the head of the ECB and the Russian CB look like brother and sister and Yellen looks like their aunt. They're the financial version of mafia families with their roots in counterfeiting.
BIS is the MOTHER located conveniently in Switzerland as well.
They can screw with us for a while longer but the information is out there and in the end, fewer and fewer people will pay any attention to them and refocus their lives and efforts into a life where these motherfuckers have less influence.
Bartering is cool and so is exchanging goods and services for gold or silver. Tax free too.
Why do you think do they want to control and ban cash???
Don't forget about crypto :-)
http://www.thebitcoinchannel.com/
They own that too.
They don't own mine ;-)
This is great news.. to borrow from Tepper - balls to the wall long!
Please, what part of this is NO market don't you fuckers get?
FREE AND GENUINE MARKETS BITHCHES!!!!!
not this part
that for the most part ZH is a cluster of articles about the global markets, wiht some politics and foreign policy tossed in.
no recipes for kale or quinoa (yet)
Much safer than gold
/sarc
So, can you still short the market when you are not only fighting the Fed, but every freakimg central bank on the globe ?
Sure, as long as you can make 1000 trades in a millisecond.
Or you're a guy in his bedroom with a laptop. Yeeeeaaaah, right.
It is not your job to fight this.
You have a chance, however, to protect yourself in the aftermath.
Do NOT PARTICIPATE IN FRAUD NOR FRAUDULENT SCHEMES...i.e....the Markets.
Buy Gold and Silver to hedge against the oncoming collapse. Other than stockpiling some food and water, as prices for that will increase, that is the next best activity to take.
Withdraw from the systems as much as you can.
The Banksters all know that this is a fraudulent game. They are not that fucking stupid. They are betting, however, that YOU ARE that fucking stupid.. Unfortunately when considering the vast majority, what they disdainfully call the muppets, they are that fucking stupid.
The problem is that the muppets are bankrupt and insolvent themselves.
So, with that, sooner or later, and my bet is on sooner, they will lose confidence in one another. They will begin to attempt to be parasites upon one another. But they are clever enough to understand their own schemes.
Thus when they lose confidence and trust in one another, as they begin to stab each other in the back...well...that is when the system implodes.
Remember that there is no honor amongst thieves. That is what the banksters are...THIEVES.
+1 to a voice of sanity
The fed, occupied sovreigns, corporations and now "independent" countries...never a shortage of buyers...
Don't they have the largest gold "filling" reserves?
Godwin's Law says they do.
"...record outflows from US equities?"
Are those 'outflows' selling by Hedge Funds who've been doing so badly, by consumers who were tapped out years ago, by Fund managers who have to keep stock allocations above a certain threshold or is by other CBs?
What's to stop the Fed from printing money out of thin air and handing it to the Swiss National Bank so they can buy stocks??
That's rhetorical, right? And the FED need not print anything, it can just use Bitcoins to effect international trqnsfers.
Really, Janet - with an effectively negative interest rate and bullshit unemployment and inflation and unfunded entitlement liability figures, coupled with Trillions in new fiat filtered through the large commercial banks - stocks are priced a little high?
Apple is poised to make sig inroads into China and from there, central asia.
that's why.
Sell iPhones in Kazakhstan?
HA! HA! HA!
For make benefit glorious nation...?
World central banks printing cash have been the other side of the market for a very long time whether its stocks or bonds. Oh and btw you cant audit them because that would be too political. /sarc
Fair play to Tyler & Co for pursuing this story, because no other "news" organisation is bothered with reporting these fluctuations, never mind trying to find out the reason why these fluctuations are happening in the first place.
Hat tip to ZH!
Amen! I'm sure many of us appreciate what we've learned here over time.
The only thing bad I can say is this is kinda turning me into a pessimist. Not a defeatist, mind you... just a pessimist.
It has been going on for a while now...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-15/cluster-central-banks-have-secr...
Fair dues.
This sort of manipulation mightn't be news to some folk here.
People like me who are plebs among the great unwashed hadn't a clue that this type of manipulation, and this level of manipulation, was being orchestrated.
How else could you explain the most-hated BULL market in history? The public is bankrupt, governments are bankrupt, minimum wage is a pipe dream for millions, everything you own was made by a kid in Asia for 20c/hour, but the markets keep on breaking all-time highs. Something is afoot.
Nice summary.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
Yet still so many shills try to say otherwise.
Someone pinch me, I'm in a Salvador Dali painting.
Every day here is an educational experience ...I too was stunned by how little I really knew or thought I knew four years ago. Wise heads here at the Hedge have wisened me up, cleared the fog and washed my brain cells out. ; )
Just wait until you get to the part where your brain melts and runs out your ears because you finally realize that everything you ever "knew" (as taught by the state) is pretty much wrong or at the very least misleading. Everything. That doesn't mean you'll suddenly understand everything. You'll just understand that you have no idea what is true anymore. It is sort of like being a fully functional adult with the historical knowledge of an infant. Reset.
And to think, you haven't even gone a few feet down that rabbit hole!
Add NASA, evolution, and heliocentrism to that list and you'll get a little boost on your way.
P.S. Don't forget the whole nuke hoax thingy :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sULjMjK5lCI
Ahh, the merger of govt and private banks. This happened before in Europe during the 1930's. As the sayin' goes, history may not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme. The last time it ended in 1945 with V Day Celebrations around the world. I wonder how it ends this time?
It will end with several countries turned into radioactive wastelands inhabited by a handful of mutants.
SUI portfolio looks like the Dow 30. So central banks are pumping and dumping, Who knew? Who is going to be the sucker when the SUI want to unload?
The CBs are all in this together. Why would they want to unload when they are getting so close to owning everything?
The Swiss used to be the real money capitol of the world,,, now just a bunch of counterfeiters like the rest.
The morality bar has dropped so low now that it cannot be seen at the bottom of the septic tank.
The money cockroachs
and there's a queue of bankers willing to swim to the bottom of the tank and push the bar even lower... with their forked tongues.
The Tribe seems to be getting bigger and bigger
Its no secret that the bank of international settlements that co-ordinates the Troika of CBs : US/EU/Japan, as well BOE, is in Basel.
Money and Swiss banks are like gruyere cheese and fondue savoyarde.
ZH - I like your articles. But you are showing extreme amounts of paranoia.
First, algorithms do NOT respond to Fed statements. Algo's are pieces of software. They trade based on code. They do not care what Janet Yellen said. NEVER! If someone sold after the Fed made a statement, then that was a human decision. Possibly by fund managers with 401K funds. It's not an algo response.
Second, it should be obvious that "safe money" is fleeing Europe. Europe is the likely site for the next crisis. Of course money is fleeing. So it's hardly surprising if someone there piles into US stocks, EVEN when this is a TERRIBLE time to buy stocks!!
WHAT you article shows, beyond all reasonable doubt is this:
1. There is SERIOUS fear inside Europe. Because nobody would be buying this way, under normal circumstances!!
2. People working at central banks apparently have a terrible judgment for the markets. The buyers at the Swiss Central Bank SHOULD KNOW BETTER. Sad, sad, sad!!
Not disagreeing but computers can be programmed to respond to words in reported statements. They also respond to market movements, which are partly due to human reactions. They also respond to human inputs, and those humans can be privvy to a FED's statement before the wider public..
And then, you have the real world:
MACHINE-READABLE NEWS AS A SOURCE OF ALPHA
AlphaFlash: The fastest machine-readable economic news
BUY SILVER, ALPHAFLASH! BUY SILVER!
:)
HS, Tyler. "Advanced semantic technology"? Next up, pupil dilation scanners to detect serum levels of epinephirine to tell when they are lying.
Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.
Your viewpoint re. algorithms doesn't seem to align with this understanding re. how algorithms can be created to respond very quickly to headline news:
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/when-the-algos-hit-the-sell-key-lo...
excerpt:
"So algorithmic trading – for example, an instant burst of computer-generated buy orders based on a headline that hit a fraction of a millisecond earlier – can have a big impact on the market overall."
And seeing as how news (and headlines) are increasingly machine generated (google it if you don't believe me) then we have machines writing the news that other machines read and act upon.
Skynet?
You haven't been keeping up on current events
I say " Nay Nay " ......
Bracketing, IF -THEN- DO- THIS routines coupled with millisecond feedback is a simplistic version of how AI can "be engineered" to work.
HUMAN = 10 executions per hour, max (EPH).
Ronnie Robot= 10,000 EPH, limited only by today's designs.
Skynet will improve our lives, increase our happiness and advance our evolution...MOAR BETTER.
If there was a process:
Banking mafia buy stocks.
Central bank buys those stocks from the banking mafia at a higher price.
Banking mafia buy stocks.
Central bank buys those stocks from the banking mafia at a higher price.
Banking mafia buy stocks.
Central bank buys those stocks from the banking mafia at a higher price.
then you'd have a process for stealing money from the public and giving it to the banks.
Would you agree that the DAX is one of the bigger exchanges in the world? Ok, get this. Only 5.8% of German savings are invested in the DAX. And yet, DAX is at or near all time highs. That's right. Germans aren't buying stocks. They're still in cash and cash equivalents for the most part. Germans by and large "missed out" on this DAX boom. Boys in Frankfurt made money and some of it is trickling down into the economy but the vast majority of the population is fucked with a worthless Euro and prices going higher and higher for just about everything.
How many Americans own knowingly stocks that are not part of a pension scheme or part of their 401ks?
ORDINARY PEOPLE, THE WORKING STIFF ... DON'T UNDERSTAND STOCKS AND ARE NOT TOUCHING STOCKS WITH A 10 FOOT BARGE POLE SINCE 2008/2009 ESPECIALLY
SO WHO THE FUCK IS BUYING STOCKS OTHER THAN CENTRAL BANKERS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS?
Oh, by the way.. good luck to the insurance industry in this "mark to fantasy" market! Lower and lower yields ...
TICK TOCK MOTHERFUCKERS
Fallacious bullshit.
Do you honestly expect rational people to agree with your opening statements by appealing to an audience via repetition of the contrary and established consensus?
Either you're a fool or you believe ZH readers are.
You're not on CNBC now you shill prick.
It's OK though... after 2 weeks and 1 day since you opened this particular spoof account how else would your dumbass know otherwise?
Did the FED send them a personal check or a postal money order?
AMEN !!!
With the BIS wanting to keep the system rolling for as long as possible, this seems logical. Problem is diluting CHF and Euro etc with additional psuedo-QE can only end one way.
a stock use to go up when it was declared to be included in the S&P 500 - today that is passe - the real status - to move the stock - is to be a mainstay of CB portfolios
So many funds and banks have staked their number one portfolio entry as APPL, it's no wonder silver is manipulated, which is used in its manufacturing of products. Not significant??? Then let the mining industry have its profits, too. But the sociopaths want it all.
Bless their hearts...
It's much easier to spot the patsy at the poker table though, it's ALL of them.
idiots
Even the Swiss QE U.S. stocks. Go figure.