Volkswagen

Since the economic downturn of 2008, the critics of capitalism have redoubled their efforts to persuade the American people and many others around the world that the system of individual freedom and free enterprise has failed. These critics have insisted that it is unbridled capitalism, set loose on the world, which is the source of all of our personal and society misfortunes. The political and economic crises through which the world suffers is not the crisis or failure of the free market. No, it is the crisis and failure of the interventionist-welfare state, and its anti-free market capitalist ideology.

• Central Bankers Urge Fed to Get On With Interest-Rate Increase (WSJ)
• Bond Market Casualties Leading Biggest S&P 500 Revival Since '11 (BBG)... on hopes of more easing
• U.S. Patrols to Test China’s Pledge on South China Sea Islands (WSJ)
• Merkel Under Fire: German Conservatives Deeply Split over Refugees (Spiegel)
• Assault Weapons Ban Before U.S. Supreme Court (NBC)
• Hedge Funds Are Playing 'Dangerous Game' With Copper (BBG)

There has been no such upside to QE in any of the channels and pathways that economists were absolutely sure would result. Instead, without any gains, there has only been engineered a massive economic hole that is “unexpectedly” widening and deepening again. Apparently the “slippery slope” of economic denial is likewise as universal as the aligned direction of economic progression across the world. All economist-created roads lead to "more global stimulus," and fittingly, we are almost all Japanese now...

Investors should hope for the best while making preparations for less benign scenarios. This can be achieved by reducing leverage and speculation and having a healthy allocation to physical precious metals in the safest vaults in the world.

• Global stocks eye biggest rally in four years on Fed relief (Reuters)
• FOMC Minutes Sap Confidence in Fed's 2015 Rate Hike Resolve (BBG)
• Glencore to cut annual zinc production by a third (FT)
• Tea Party wave that lifted Republicans threatens to engulf them (Reuters)
• Why Kevin McCarthy Came to Quit Speaker Race (WSJ)
• A U.S. Recession Just Got a Little More Likely (BBG)

What may be the worst month in Volkswagen's corporate history is about to get a cherry on top, when the CEO of Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn is set undergo the Kangaroo Court treatment, when he testifies before a House Energy and Commerce  subcommittee investigating last month's admission the company had installed on-board computer software designed to cheat on government emissions tests in nearly 500,000 of its four-cylinder "clean diesel" cars starting with the 2009 model year.

• Congress probing U.S. spy agencies' possible lapses on Russia (Reuters)
• Defense Ministers From NATO Hit Out at Russian Action in Syria (WSJ)
• U.S. Rules Out Cooperation With Russia as Moscow Launches First Naval Strikes on Syria (WSJ)
• Man Who Called China's Boom and Bust Says Use This Rally to Sell (BBG)
• For Volkswagen, New Questions Arise on U.S. Injury Reporting (BBG)
• Deutsche Bank May Swell $14 Billion Selloff in China Bank Stakes (BBG)
• Emerging market slowdown hits German exports (FT)

It was supposed to be the day China's triumphantly returned to the markets from its Golden Holiday week off, and with global stocks soaring over 5% in the past 7 days, hopes were that the Shanghai Composite would close at least that much higher and then some, especially with the "National Team" cheerleading on the side and arresting any sellers. Sure enough, in early trading Chinese futures did seem willing to go with the script, and then everything fell apart when a weak Shanghai Composite open tried to stage a feeble rebound into mid-session, and then closed near the day lows even as the PBOC injected another CNY120 bn via reverse repo earlier.

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• How Iranian general plotted out Syrian assault in Moscow (Reuters)
• China FX reserves post record quarterly fall as cenbank steps up yuan support (Reuters)
• MSF calls for independent inquiry into U.S. attack on Afghan hospital (Reuters)
• Yen Advances as Bank of Japan Refrains From Adding to Stimulus (Reuters)
• Abu Dhabi Said to Explore Asset Sales After Slump in Oil Price (BBG)
• U.S. Oil Approaching $50 Boosts Stocks as Emerging Markets Surge (BBG)

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"Suddenly, good news is busting out all over, and we can't not talk about them. I have been bearish for a while now, but if the facts change, I have to change with them," the "Mad Money" host said.

• Asian shares rise on fading Fed rate views (Reuters)
• U.S. Equity Futures Fall, Risking S&P 500 Rally as Copper Slides (BBG)
• More biotech pain, this time from the WSJ: For Prescription Drug Makers, Price Increases Drive Revenue (WSJ)
• VW Will Delay or Cancel Non-Essential Investments Due to Scandal (BBG)
• Russia Rejects No-Fly Zone Over Syria as Clerics Urge Reprisals (BBG)
• Historic Pacific trade deal faces skeptics in U.S. Congress (Reuters)
• German Factory Orders Unexpectedly Fall Amid Economic Risks (BBG)

The best headline to summarize what happened in the early part of the overnight session was the following from Bloomberg: "Asian stocks extend global rally on stimulus bets." And following the abysmal data releases from the past three days confirming that the latest centrally-planned attempt to kickstart the global economy has failed, overnight we got even more bad data, first in the form of Australia's trade deficit, and then Germany's factory orders which bombed, and which as Goldman said "seems to reflect genuine weakness in China and emerging markets in general and this will weigh on the German manufacturing sector."

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