Google

"Do not play with the feelings of the Catalans" is the totally unveiled threat after Catalonia's beggars-can-be-choosers demand for an unconditional bailout fell on deaf ears. The traditionally separatist-minded province has decided, according to ANSAmed, has decided to pull a Greece - and escalate with a move to secession. A resolution, on the right of the Catalan people to cut off ties with the Spanish state, will be voted on Thursday by the regional parliament. This statement of "the will of Catalan people to vote on the bond with the State of Spain" opens the way for forthcoming elections on November 25 to become a referendum on the sovereignty of Catalonia. The Spanish military are not taking this lying down with the counter-threat that these 'separatists' and their 'inappropriate and unacceptable' threat to break-up Spain shall be, according to El Economista, charged with high treason. We are sure Draghi has a 'grand plan' for this.

As I anticipated, the iPhone 5 looks to mark the Zenith in Apple's acsent to smartphone dominance...

The Constitution, Magna Carta and Democracy Itself Are Based on the Idea that – Without Checks and Balances – Those In Power Will Take Advantage of Us

• Europe’s crisis will be followed by a more devastating one, likely beginning in Japan. (Simon Johnson)
• Porsche, Daimler Indicate Europe’s Car Crisis Spreading (Bloomberg)
• No progress in Catalonia-Madrid talks (FT)
• Hilsenrath speaks: Fed's Kocherlakota Shifts on Unemployment (WSJ) - luckily QEternity made both obsolete
• Lenders Reportedly Consider New Greek Haircut (Spiegel)
• Fed Officials Highlight Benefits of Bond-Buying (WSJ)
• ESM to Launch without Leverage Vehicle Options (WSJ)
• Japanese companies report China delays (FT)
• Borg Says Swedish Taxes Can’t Go Into Ill-Managed European Banks (Bloomberg)
• Greek Leaders Struggle With Spending Reductions (Bloomberg)
• Asian Stocks Rise as iPhone 5 Debut Boosts Tech Shares (Bloomberg)
• China government's hand seen in anti-Japan protests (LA Times)

It appears it is after all not Scott Sumner who 'saved the US economy' by urging the helicopter pilot to create even more money ex nihilo than hitherto. What will save us instead is Apple, or rather, its latest product, the iPhone 5. Who needs Bernanke when this wondrous device stands ready to pull the economy up by its bootstraps? A story has made the rounds lately – propagated by 'economist' (we should use the term loosely…) Michael Feroli at JP Morgan, that sales of the iPhone "could potentially add from one-quarter to one-half of a percentage point to the growth rate of U.S. gross domestic product in the final quarter of the year”. If we were to assume that he is correct, then what this would mainly tell us is how useless a statistic GDP actually is. However, what really takes the cake is a small posting of Krugman's on the same topic entitled “Broken Windows and the iPhone 5”. This view is erroneous – economic laws are not dependent on economic conditions. This is akin to arguing that the laws of nature will cease to be operational on Wednesdays. In Krugman's capable hands, a fallacy becomes a 'theory'.

• Obama, Romney tiptoe around housing morass as they woo voters (Reuters) ... just as ZH expected
• Poll Finds Obama in Better Shape Than Any Nominee Since Clinton (Bloomberg)
• Romney on Offense, Says Obama Can’t Help Middle Class (Bloomberg)
• Fed’s Fisher Says U.S. Inflation Expectations Rising (Bloomberg)
• Citigroup Warns Irish Investors to Plan for Losses (Bloomberg)
• Central Banks Flex Muscles (WSJ)
• China says U.S. auto trade complaint driven by election race (Reuters)
• Brussels sidesteps China trade dispute (FT)
• How misstep over trading fractions wounded ICAP's EBS (Reuters)
• Ex-CME programmer pleads guilty to trade secret theft (Reuters)
• Income squeeze will persist, says BoE (FT)
• South African miners return to work, unrest rumbles on (Reuters)

Between the anti-Japanese tensions and the converging dominance of the Japanese with the Chinese to our fiscal status quo, it seems the Chinese are increasingly pushing the US hand to supporting the Japanese. Via Ai Weiwei, contemporary Chinese artist, the US Embassy in Beijing is under protest by the Chinese marchers demanding (Google Translated) "Pay Back The Money" and "Down with US Imperialism". Some embassy cars were attacked - apparently on the back of the US role in the China-Japan tensions. The question now is what happens to China's Treasury holdings? They already threatened Japan with economic sanctions and now the populist view is turning anti-American at a time of new leadership. We assume they will continue to sell down their USD-based Treasury holdings and convert to Gold as they have been for the past year. With 2 months until the election, this will be an interesting distraction of global importance as the US is forced to support Japan or throw them under the bus.

My latest thoughts on the banks & from Max Keiser and Stacey Herbert, a question I've pondered many times - Why do the oil-rich sheiks takes such abuse from American bankers?

Kimmel 1 - the Borg 0

Liar, Liar, Fed on Fire!!! Why no one else has called this thinly vieled bailout out is truly beyond me. Well, the retail and consumer discretionary sector will feel the heat if everyone believes Bernanke and I end up being right... again!

The middle won't disappear, but might wildly transform its appearance.

A war of images...

Who in their right mind would buy any government bonds today?

Much has been said about Apple's recent victory over its key component supplier, Samsung, in a recent US court decision the direct result of which has been the halt of sales of several Samsung products which are already obsolete in cell phone year terms. The paradox here is that AAPL's victory is quite pyrrhic: if and when Samsung feels sufficiently threatened, it can just pull a Gazprom and halt the supply of mission critical components to the world's biggest publicly traded company. Alternatively the Chinese politburo can one day decide to pull FoxConn's operational license, in the process bankrupting AAPL overnight. But these are of course M.A.D. scenarios which in rational, non-centrally planned market would never take place, and so we have no reason to worry about them. That said, it is increasingly becoming clear that patent warfare fought in partial domestic judicial systems, will be the next form of protectionism as pertains to that most faddy of technology: the ubiqutous smartphone. And while Apple may have won the first battle, the outcome of the war is still very much unclear: in fact, the return salvo after Samsung's big defeat on US soil may come quite soon, this time courtesy of another Chinese Apple "clone", HTC Corp, which if it goes against the Cupertino company, could have a large impact on revenues.

Fundamentals rule the day at the MSM today...