Unknown Charleston, SC, after bombardment. Ruins of Cathedral of St John and St Finbar 1865 After 6+ (BIG +) years of deepening poverty and rising stock markets, of creative accounting, of QE and ultralow interest rates, of extend and pretend and outright propaganda and of what have you, all of which have led us to where we are today, facing yet more rounds of stumbling from crisis into multiple crises, it would seem clear that the model, if not the
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DPC The steamer Cincinnati off Manhattan 1900 • IMF Lowers Global Growth Forecast by Most in Three Years (Bloomberg) • Chinese Growth at 7.4% Is the Slowest Since 1990 (Bloomberg) • China’s $20 Trillion Headache Underscored by Stock Swings (Bloomberg) • Warning! Volatility May Await If ECB Launches QE (CNBC) • Draghi Weighs QE Compromise Showcasing Unity Shortfall (Bloomberg) • Endgame for Central Bankers (Steen Jakobsen) • Denmark Strikes Back at Speculators and Burnishes Peg Defenses (Bloomberg) • Denmark Should
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DPC The Arcade, Cleveland 1901 • 1% Own More Wealth Than The Other 99% (Guardian) • Shanghai Rally Faces Stress Test After 7.7% Market Tumble (FT) • Will China Be The Next Forex Peg To Break? (MarketWatch) • China Brokers Fall as Regulator Curbs New Margin Accounts (Bloomberg) • China Brokers Face Double-Whammy on 3-Month Margin Finance Ban (Bloomberg) • China December New Home Prices Slip, Somber Omen For 2014 GDP (Reuters) • Kaisa on Brink of Dollar Default Spooks
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DPC Longacre Square, soon to be Times Square 1904 I’ve said before, and quite a while ago too, – more than once-, that the world of investing as we’ve come to know it is over. It’s still as true as it was then, and I can only hope that more people today understand why it is true, and why I said it in the past. The basic underlying argument then and now is that financial markets have been distorted to
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DPC Main Street north from Sixth, Little Rock, Arkansas 1911 • How The US Dollar Stacks Up Against Major World Currencies (AP) • This Is The Case For A ‘Large, Sharp Correction’ (CNBC) • Copper’s Rout May Be A Red Flag (MarketWatch) • Swiss Central Bank’s Shock Therapy Leaves Policy Vacuum (Reuters) • Swiss Franc Trade Is Said to Wipe Out Everest’s Main Fund (Bloomberg) • Making Sense Of The Swiss Shock (Project Syndicate) • Beware Of Politicians Bearing Household
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Russell Lee Bike rack in Idaho Falls, Idaho Aug 1942 The narrative continues: “The U.S economic underlying momentum is really very good,” Williams said. • Low Inflation No Bar To Rate Rise, Fed Officials Say (Reuters) The Federal Reserve is still on track for a potential mid-year interest-rate increase, a top Fed official said on Friday, citing strong U.S. economic momentum and a falling unemployment rate. “There is no need to rush to raise rates; at the same time we
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Unknown Gurley-Lord service station, San Francisco 1929 The Swiss have unleashed a pretty wild storm in financial markets. All sorts of companies and people today are licking their wounds, and quite a few will simply have to fold. It’s no exception to be so leveraged in foreign exchange wagers that a move of a few percent can wipe you out, let alone one of 30%. Leverage makes sure that right off the bat a whole bunch of foreign exchange brokers,
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Earl Theisen Walt Disney oiling scale model locomotive at home in LA Sep 1951 • Swiss Mess Could Make Oil Plunge Seem Like Minor Hiccup (MarketWatch) • World Deflationary Forces Have Swept Away Switzerland’s Defences (AEP) • Switzerland Shows The Era Of Central Bank Omnipotence Is Over (Krasting) • Swiss Franc Move Cripples, Wipes Out Currency Brokers (WSJ) • Wall Street Is Bracing For Shock Waves From Swiss Franc Move (MarketWatch) • Franc’s Surge Ranks Among Largest Ever in Foreign
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DPC Broadway at night from Times Square 1911 Jeff Cox at CNCB wrote a reasonable piece yesterday, but chose a 180º wrong headline for it. And that matters for understanding the topic he addresses: what is happening in the financial markets. Cox claims that “Market Madness Started With End Of Fed’s QE”, but it’s the other way around. We’ve had six years+ of madness precisely because of QE, and during that whole time people had ever less idea what anything
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Unknown Marin-Dell dairy truck, San Francisco Mar 1 1945 • US Retail Sales Down Sharply, Likely Cuts to Growth Forecasts Ahead (Bloomberg) • US Retail Sales Drop Most Since June 2012 – It’s Not Gas Prices (Zero Hedge) • The December Retail Report: “Disappointing” Isn’t The Half Of It (Stockman) • Swiss Franc Jumps 30% As Central Bank Abandons Ceiling Versus Euro (Reuters) • What, Us Worry? Economists Stay Upbeat as Markets See Trouble (Bloomberg) • Here’s Why Wall Street
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