LIBOR

Let's take a look at the amount of settlements/fines from various banks and financial institutions around the world since the crisis.

• Argentine holdout NML says government "choosing" to default (Reuters)
• Crunch time for Gaza truce talks as death toll passes 800 (Reuters)
• Don’t Tell Anybody About This Story on HFT Power Jump Trading (BBG)
• U.S. Accuses Russia of Shelling Eastern Ukraine (BBG)
• France’s Wheat Exports in Question as Rain Spoils Quality (BBG)
• Tapering in action: Lower printer sales hurt Xerox's revenue (Reuters)
• No liquidity? No Problem, there's an ETF for that: Bond ETFs Swelling in Europe as Trading Debt Gets Tougher (BBG)
• Herbalife hires ex-Biden chief to fend off regulators (NYPost)
• GM recalls far from calamity for some dealers who find new customers, business (Reuters)
• Bad weather likely cause of fatal Air Algerie crash: French officials (Reuters)

• EU Works to Punish Russia as MH17 Bodies Leave Rebel Area (BBG)
• Bodies From Malaysia Airlines Flight Begin Long Trip to Netherlands (WSJ)
• Israel pounds Gaza as Kerry arrives (Reuters)
• U.S. judge dismisses Republican lawsuit over Obamacare subsidy for Congress (Reuters)
• Israel Soldier Missing Amid Assault on Hamas in Gaza (WSJ)
• Detroit Retirees Vote in Favor of Pension Cuts (WSJ)
• Russia Axes 1st Bond Sale in 3 Months as Ukraine Drives Up Yield  (BBG)
• Wall Street Cut From Guest List for Jackson Hole Fed Meeting (BBG)
• Credit Suisse to Exit Commodities, Posts Big Quarter Loss (BBG)
• Draghi Cedes Euro Control to Yellen on Fed Rate Wagers (BBG)

Since we first exposed to the world that yet another market (foreign exchange) was manipulated by nefarious traders over a year ago, the grand total of prosecutions for market rigging is... zero. As Bloomberg notes, however, more than 25 FX traders have been fired, suspended, or put on leave in that same period. While regulators appear incapable of discovering the truth, the market manipulation probes just got serious..."The [UK] Serious Fraud Office has today opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market."

• BRICS set up bank to counter Western hold on global finances (Reuters)
• Fed's Yellen Hedges Her View on Rates (Hilsenrath)
• China GDP Grows 7.5% in Second Quarter (WSJ)
• Get More Acquainted With Your Knees as Boeing Reworks 737 (BBG)
• Israel Warns Gazans of New Attack After Hamas Rejects Truce (WSJ)
• Israel poised for Gaza incursions after truce collapses (Reuters)
• China Housing Sales Fall in First Half of 2014 (WSJ)
• IBM to offer iPads and iPhones for business users (Reuters)
• Fed's George says strengthening economy warrants quick rate rise (Reuters)

In another indication that the ongoing FX probe is picking up steam, or at least preparing for primetime public PR consumption, the FT reports that US prosecutors are offering immunity deals to junior traders in London. The quo for this quid: rat our the senior staff involved in what has previously been reported to be years of currency manipulation (recall "How Wall Street Manipulates Everything: The Infographics"). And continuing the tradition of the DOJ only focusing on European banks, because apparently nobody in the US ever engaged in manipulation of anything, ever, the "US Department of Justice staff have flown to the UK in recent weeks to interview foreign exchange traders, who have been offered partial immunity in exchange for volunteering information about superiors, people familiar with the situation said."

2014 has not been kind to Barclays: first, the UK bank proved countless goldbugs right when it was first caught rigging the gold market (the first documented case, not the last) and a few short weeks later, the New York Attorney General crucified the bank for misleading its Dark Pool clients, and letting their order flow be, quite lucratively, front run by "aggressive" predatory algos - something it explicitly had stated it won't allow. So with one after another revenue stream crashing before its eyes, what is the Chairman of the scrambling bank to do? Why beg to at least keep the FX manipulation going. What follows is not from The Onion.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the German campaign to repatriate German gold from the U.S. has ended. The leader of the German gold repatriation movement, “Repatriate our Gold,” Peter Boehringer immediately refuted the article and posted in the comment section at the bottom of the article … The campaign to achieve a free market in gold and silver prices will continue.

We already know that Wall Street manipulates everything (not conspiracy theory, but now open conspiracy fact), but Reuters' Jamie McGeever exposes the ugly chatroom realities of just how FX traders shared orders, split trades, front-ran clients in million of electronic messages providing fresh evidence of collusion among top currency traders. Traders pooled order details and discussed the 'spread' they would offer, "I don't like this guy...I'd show 6 to good guys but guys like that I'm going to show 7 in future," the trader added. Unrigged?

This week brings some key events and releases in DMs, including US FOMC (Goldman expects $10bn tapering, in line with consensus), IP, CPI, and Philly Fed (expect 13.5), EA final May CPI (expect 0.50%), and MP decisions in Norway and Switzerland (expect no change in either).

Promises, promises! We’ve heard it all before. ‘We’re gonna get you, guys’. We know the song it’s just the words that get changed from time to time, but anyone can hum along to it these days. The bankers, those banksters are gonna get their comeuppance. Trouble is: they never do. It’s just getting boring now.

New All time highs almost every single day, yet market volumes have literally collapsed. On any given day, you would see an average of 2M eminis (S&P Futures, spoos) trade, and now we are seeing barely 1M trade, sometimes even lower. This has left everyone, including big banks, who are now being forced to lay off traders amid the slowdown, asking the same question: WTF is going on?

• World Bank Cuts Global Growth Forecast After ‘Bumpy’ 2014 Start (BBG)
• Al-Qaeda Offshoot Threatens Iraq Oil Site After Taking Mosul (BBG)
• Fed Prepares to Keep Record Balance Sheet for Years to Come (BBG)
• EU investigates tax rulings on Apple, Starbucks, Fiat unit (Reuters)
• Cantor Loss Shocks Republicans, Dims Immigration Changes (BBG)
• More surveillance: Google to Buy Satellite-Imaging Startup for $500 Million (WSJ)
• Tea Party activist who defeated Cantor focused on budget, immigration (Reuters)
• Airbus Suffers Worst Order Loss as Emirates Deal Scrapped (BBG)
• Amazon.com plans local services marketplace this year (Reuters)
• Amazon Stops Taking Advance Orders for ‘Lego’ and Other Warner Videos (NYT)

Bail-ins or deposit confiscation can now be used in the UK, EU, U.S. and G20 countries. Investors and savers best get prepared for the coming bail-in era. After Cyprus, which country will be the next to suffer bail-ins?

Two weeks ago when news broke about the first confirmed instance of gold price manipulation (because despite all the "skeptics" claims to the contrary, namely that every other asset class may be routinely manipulated but not gold, never gold, it turned out that yes gold too was rigged) we said that this is merely the first of many comparable (as well as vastly different) instances of gold manipulation presented to the public. Today, via the FT, we get just a hint of what is coming down the pipeline with "Trading to influence gold price fix was ‘routine’." We approve of the editorial oversight to pick the word "influence" over "manipulate" - it sound so much more... clinical.