B+

"If you’re rich you get a bailout. If you’re poor you get a handout. And if you’re middle class you get left out." That's not a sustainable way to run the system, exclaims investment strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald. A cancer at the core of our current economy is the magical thinking, "no pain, all gain" philosophy, pursued by those running it. They are doing all they can to remove the consequences of failure from the system -- blind to failure's essential 'waste-clearing' function in a healthy free market. Without the discipline of Darwinism, the individual actors in the system make all sorts of malinvestments that would never make sense in an efficient marketplace. But since the losses from these inane pursuits are socialized, there's no incentive to stop making them. At least, up until the point where the class whose back is burdened with paying for the socialized messes finally breaks.

If you haven’t heard yet, the committee which is drafting the platform for next week’s US Republican National Convention has announced that they are including a proposal to return to the gold standard. Big news. Remember, a gold standard is a monetary system in which individual currency units are fixed to an amount of gold held by the government; under a gold standard, the paper money supply cannot be expanded without also increasing the amount of gold on hand. At present, the market value of the federal government’s gold holdings only amounts to about $250 billion which constitutes a mere 2.5% of US money supply. Clearly one of the key risks in this scenario is that the US government would need to acquire as much gold as they can get their hands on, likely through Roosewellian-style gold confiscation, and if so - the safest place for your gold is going to be a snug safety deposit box in a place like Hong Kong or Singapore.

Bloomberg has run a story, citing two anonymous central bank officials, stating the ECB may not be ready to finalise its plan to buy government bonds at the September 6th meeting. JPMorgan's European economists note that the story cites two reasons for this: (a) The Governing Council wish to wait until they have seen the German constitutional court ruling on September 12th before proceeding; and (b) The programme is still being worked on staff may not be able to finalize it by then. Critically, JPM, like us, regard (a) as something of a smokescreen. The idea that work “is not complete” may also be a euphemism for the fact agreement on the contours of the policy is proving elusive - which in turn contributes to the sense that opinion on the Governing Council is deeply divided, and hence its commitment to any policy intervening in markets will not run deep. That could undermine the effectiveness of policy interventions themselves - and no matter how many rumors you hear, you should focus on what you DO know - that a decision is delayed - and everything else is as useful as a personal guarantee from Samaras.

There is a frequent tendency to over state the importance of the Fed and its policies and ignore the primary fundamentals driving the gold market which are what we have long termed the ‘MSGM’ fundamentals. As long as the MSGM fundamentals remain sound than there is little risk of gold and silver’s bull markets ending. What we term MSGM stands for macroeconomic, systemic, geopolitical and monetary risks. The precious metals medium and long term fundamentals remain bullish due to still significant macroeconomic, systemic, monetary and geopolitical risks. We caution that gold could see another sharp selloff and again test the support at €1,200/oz and $1,550/oz. If we get a sharp selloff in stock markets in the traditionally weak ‘Fall’ period, gold could also fall in the short term as speculators, hedge funds etc . liquidate positions en masse. To conclude, always keep an eye on the MSGM and fade the day to day noise in the markets.

Volume? Check. Spanish Spreads wider? Check. Maria B Saying "Wall-of-Worry"? Check. Sure enough, all the pieces were there for a sell-off today as the S&P saw its largest drop in a month as volumes have resurged in the last three days (of fading markets) and average trade size has gradually fallen from its peak (at the multi-year highs on Tuesday). Cross-asset-class correlations picked up notably and equities caught down to risk-assets (after yesterday's 'rally'). VIX rose once again - back above 16% - with the biggest 3-day rise in a month. Gold has rallied 1% per day for the last three days (something we haven't seen since OCT11) up near $1675. 10Y Treasury yields have now dropped 5 days in a row (something we haven't seen since APR12), down over 20bps from their highs/200DMA. Oil stumbled on the day, now down 0.3% on the week, even as Silver is up almost 9% on the week (and Gold 3.3%) - even as the USD is down 1.4% on the week (leaking lower still on the day after its gap overnight). Materials underperformed by the most today (which smells like QE-off) and was followed by Energy and Financials. Stocks underperformed (though HYG was modestly bid - we suspect on convergence trades) as stocks caught down to credit once again.

• Australian minister says resources boom is over (Reuters)
• China dismisses reports of lost gold reserves (China Daily) - so China really did lose 80 tons of gold.
• Inconceivable: Former JPM CEO and Chairman William B Harrison Jr come out "In Defense Of Big Banks"
• Qantas Cancels 787 Order After Posting Annual Net Loss (Bloomberg)
• EU Official Says Crisis is Eroding Influence (WSJ)
• Greece Faces New Pressure on Cuts (WSJ)
• Philippines' black market is China's golden connection (Reuters)
• Hollande government responds to criticism (FT)
• LG Display Starts Touch Screens Output Before New IPhone (Bloomberg)
• Greek Crisis Evasion to Fore as Merkel Hosts Hollande in Berlin (Bloomberg)
• Stakes rise as US warned of double-dip (FT)
• Brazil’s Richest Woman Unmasked With $13 Billion Fortune (Bloomberg)

European viceroy of various neo-colonial territories Jean-Claude Juncker, best known for being a self-professed pathological liar, just concluded a press conference in which he did what he does best: lie. Here is a sampling of the soundbites along with our commentary:

• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS TRUTH IS GREECE SUFFERS CREDIBILITY CRISIS - coming from a pathological liar, this one is our favorite
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS CONVINCED GOVERNMENT WILL TAKE ALL MEASURES. "all measures" = "all gold"
• EU'S JUNCKER: FULLY CONFIDENT GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ALL EFFORTS "all efforts" = "all gold"
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS GREECE MUST OPEN UP CLOSED PROFESSIONS.  Chimneysweep? Bootblack? Telegraph Operator? Tax Collector? Prosecutor? Uncorrupted muppet?
  
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS BALL IS IN GREEK COURT; IS LAST CHANCE. The ball will be repoed to the ECB shortly
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS NOT SAYING THERE WON'T EVER BE A 3RD PROGRAM or 33rd program
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS GREEK EURO EXIT WOULD BE RISK TO EURO AREA and Obama's reelections
• EU'S JUNCKER SAYS BALL IS IN GREEK COURT; not for long: ball will soon be repoed to the ECB

And much more propaganda. Here is the truth. According to Greek Thema, in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece, so far in 2012, an unprecedented 1,250 companies have shut down. This means no jobs, no tax revenues, no money in circulation. A complete and total economic collapse.

• Merkel's Dilemma: Risk Euro Zone or Her Government (WSJ)... as first suggest by ZH 2 months ago, with only one resolution: referendum
• Russia warns West over Syria after Obama threats (Reuters)
• Consider keeping Bernanke, Romney adviser Glenn Hubbard says (Reuters)... Glenn Hubbard is the star of the movie Inside Job
• Spain Deficit Goals at Risk as Cuts Consensus Fades (Bloomberg)
• Czech Austerity Revolt Threatens Cabinet as Slump Bites (Bloomberg)
• Greek cuts to be deeper than trailed (FT)
• Akin rebuffs Romney, Republican calls to quit Senate race (Reuters)
• Obama Leads Romney in Poll Showing Disdain for Congress (Bloomberg)
• Greece needs more time to reform, PM Samaras tells paper (Reuters)
• UK banks face scandal over toxic insurance products (Reuters)
• Iceland Shelves Monetary Tightening as Krona Seen Appreciating (Bloomberg)
• India Considers $35 Billion Debt Revamp After Biggest Blackout (Bloomberg)

Every now and again the coincidences (or some might call them conspiracies) become too much to bear. We have noted the incessant deep-pocketed use of volatility as a levered way to manage equities up (or down we suppose should the need arise from a centrally-planned banking institution that does not feel the incumbent is in his court). Today was a great example of the desperate interaction of the world's most over-owned (and biggest) company and selling pressure over-whelming the VWAP algos. As the chart below shows, the early selling pressure in AAPL smashed prices down to yesterday's close and closing VWAP; volumes surged as algos piled institutions out but they soon got overhwhelmed as the price fell through their VWAP level (which means the costs start to pile up to the market-maker's algo which promised VWAP execution). Immediately Plan B comes into play - Sell Vol Hard!

Maybe this is a naive question, but as Goldman clients get skinned again and again and again and again and again by Goldman’s failed calls — while Goldman itself continues to rack up prop trading profits — I keep wondering just why anyone would take investment advice from a trading firm? And beyond that, why is it even legal for trading firms to advise clients? Isn’t this the biggest conflict of interest possible? We know firms including Goldman have advised clients to buy junk that the trading arm wants to get off its books.

Non Hui Fortasse Posterus - Not now, maybe later

It was not enough that the Fed's Richard Fisher was 'allowed' on CNBC this afternoon to expropriate himself and his merry-Fed-men from his 'fanatical' colleague nemesis Rosengren; but Maria B., for one glorious moment, asked a question so sensible it was stunning: "Is The Fed Bailing Out The White House?" The notably business-man-background Fisher was wonderfully heretical in explaining that additional stimulus would have little impact, that the Fed's action would indeed 'look political', and that "US lawmakers need to get their fiscal act together." While he doesn't see a high likelihood of a recession in 2013, he comprehends clearly the wait-and-see 'defensive crouch' that businesses are in given the huge uncertainty. On a slow day, with so much print-and-it's-all-fixed hope, the clarifying vision of at least one man on the FOMC is perhaps worth holding onto.

Dedicated to Charles Hugh Smith, Cog Dis, Banzai and All of the Other ZH Writers Fighting to Make the World a Tad Wiser ...

Traditional legal principles are seemingly pretty clear and straightforward on how a good faith acquisition of stolen goods is to be treated: the buyer, even though he is not criminally liable, can not acquire title to stolen property. The failed futures brokerage Sentinel Management Group lost the money of its clients in when it went into bankruptcy in 2007. According to the SEC, the firm misappropriated the funds belonging to its clients. Since then, creditors of the company have been fighting over who has title to certain assets. On the one side are the customers of Sentinel, whose funds and accounts were supposed to have been segregated from the company's assets. On the other side there is New York Mellon Bank, which lent Sentinel $312 million that were secured with collateral mainly consisting of said – allegedly 'segregated' – customer funds. The result: 'Banks that received what were essentially misappropriated goods as collateral do not have to return them to their original owners as long as they are deemed to have acted in good faith'. Legal questions aside, one thing is already certain: customers of futures brokerages can no longer have faith that their assets are in any way segregated or protected. This is yet another chink in the 'confidence armor' that has propped up the financial system to date.

Muppets only complain when the prop jobs and skimming fail to deliver fat gains to their accounts. But being a muppet is being a mark: it's the muppets who are being milked and skimmed. Being a participant in a hopelessly compromised, rigged market makes us marks because we're ultimately providing liquidity and capital for the players to skim. When the officially sanctioned intervention finally fails and the market leaks 40% of its current value, the muppets will finally understand the "outsized returns" were just a con used to entice them into playing digital 3-card monte. The game is rigged, but the greed of the player overrides his skepticism and caution. The same can be said for pension funds and all the other institutional players. Desperate for yield, they've foolishly ponied up hundreds of billions of dollars to play 3-card monte with crooked dealers and a crooked house.