On Valentine’s Day, one of India’s biggest banks disclosed an almost $2 billion fraud allegedly by one of the country’s richest men, who deals in pearls and diamonds.
Global stocks, bond yields and commodities all jumped higher on Thursday while the dollar plunge continued, as investors suddenly seemed to forget the inflation fears blamed for a brutal market sell-off in recent weeks.
"At this point Russia’s biggest enemies exist not in the United States where the ham-fisted machinations of Cold War simpletons like John McCain and Bill Kristol still dominate policy think tanks, it’s the fifth columnists within Russia herself."
“Of course, Wells Fargo had incentive systems that were too strong in the wrong direction... but practically everyone makes those mistakes... it’s time for regulators to let up..."
"Yet another Fed-inspired financial Ponzi scheme now looks set to collapse into the deflationary dust. But the post-mortem will identify President Trump’s ludicrously timed fiscal stimulus as a key trigger for the collapse." - Albert Edwards
"This is the unwinding of the consensus trade that was premised on the continuity of low inflation and the market’s "three low" environment of low interest rates, low spreads, and low volatility."
"Although I understand some of the reasons why Bridgewater and the other European equity bears might be betting against the Eurostoxx, I respectfully am willing to fade their pessimism..."
Deutsche takes a look at how assets performed in the period when inflation was generally stuck between 1-2% in the first half of the 1960s, versus the second half, when inflation spiked to around 6% by the end of the decade.
Only one number matters for the markets this week, and it will be released at 8:30am this morning, when the BLS unveils the January CPI print, with every trader, both carbon and semiconductor based, focusing only on whether core CPI will come in at 0.2% as expected, or higher...
"If authorities do not act pre-emptively, cryptocurrencies could become more interconnected with the main financial system and become a threat... Private digital tokens masquerading as currencies must not subvert this trust."
VersaBank, a tech-based, all-digital Canadian chartered bank, is developing a n ultra high-tech “Blockchain-based digital safety deposit box” for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
"Cynical bubbles are based on a belief that one can get out before everyone else. Obviously, this is simply impossible.... I prefer to leave the party early, in the knowledge that I can walk away with ease."
"If you were going to look for what’s the possible real crack in the financial architecture for the next crisis, rather than looking in the rearview mirror, pension funds would be on our list."
Here's some irony: just days after Renaissance Technologies, arguably the world's most profitable hedge funds, warned clients of a “significant risk” of a correction, the correction arrived but RenTec was not ready, and the fund lost a whopping 5.4% as markets tumbled.
