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Precious metals news
Mar 20, 2023 - 12:50:54 PDT
THE London Metal Exchange (LME) has discovered bags of stones instead of the nickel that underpinned a handful of its contracts at a warehouse in Rotterdam, in a revelation that will deliver another blow to confidence in the embattled exchange.
\Inflation of more than 100% in Argentina is erasing the advantage the country’s top companies used to have by booking revenue in US dollars.
"The reason this is infuriating is that we are being told that taxpayers should be willing to double down, to reimburse even-more-careless depositors for their negligent inattention to risk." ~ Michael C. Munger
"It is not clear that some sort of enhanced stockholder liability has yet returned to the Overton Window, but it is possible that Americans will point out the hypocrisy of the Biden administration’s raising taxes on the rich with one hand while bailing them out with the other." ~ Robert E. Wright
Time is Running Out. The UN is out with another fearmongering report on climate change. It's labeled the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
Four decades of rising markets punctuated by crisis-induced crashes seems to have fostered an unspoken belief that no one should ever get hurt in markets or the economy. Everything "should" always get better for everyone, without any messy loss or pain. Not only is this not realistic, it overlooks the role business-cycle recessions play in restoring the vibrancy of economies and markets distorted by excesses.
"Powell's Volcker Moment": Whatever The Fed Does On Wednesday Will Be A MistakeMar 20, 2023 - 12:31:34 PDT
A little over a week ago, when realizing the severity of the banking crisis spreading across the regional bank system (and which was about to jump the Atlantic and destroy one of the world's largest banks in a matter of hours), we said that "Powell is trapped: more hikes and CRE leads to tens of billions of incr. losses across banking system (AFS+HTM); small banks now reserve constrained guaranteeing something "breaks." Meanwhile inflation still hot."
There’s absolutely no doubt that our financial system is in flux right now. We’re watching a storm approach, and it’s about to envelop the entire nation in chaotic conditions. If you think things are crazy now, just hang on to your halo…it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
Banks have been ordered to use the country’s domestic financial messaging systems for transactions...
Fed Liquidity Boost Is Bad for the Dollar, Deutsche Bank’s Ruskin Says: BloombergMar 20, 2023 - 11:20:13 PDT
The rush to add liquidity into the monetary system is “the most overt sign” of financial stress and a clear negative for the dollar, according to Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at Deutsche Bank AG.
First Republic Bank Shares Crash To New Record Low, JPM's Dimon Reportedly Leading Another Rescue EffortMar 20, 2023 - 11:18:13 PDT
Having dumped $30 billion of deposits into First Republic Bank last week, and the bank then being rumored to be pushing for a capital raise, The Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is leading discussions with the chief executives of other big banks about fresh efforts to stabilize the troubled regional.
Mar 20, 2023 - 11:17:16 PDT
Every time there is a banking crisis some scratch their heads and wonder; how could this happen? Surely it must be greed, bad risk management or lack of regulation. More intervention should solve it. However, all those excuses miss the most critical point: The U.S. banking system was destroyed by design, and the big banks played along with it.
This past weekend saw extraordinary actions by the Fed to address the meltdown of Silicon Valley Bank. Did the central bank break the law by effectively authorizing unsecured loans to banks based on the face value—rather than significantly lower market value—of those banks' Treasury holdings?
“There’s an old saying: Whenever the Fed hits the brakes, someone goes through the windshield,” said Michael Feroli, chief economist at J.P. Morgan. “You just never know who it’s going to be.” (The New York Times, March 16, 2023)
Mar 20, 2023 - 08:21:17 PDT
During a recent appearance on Chicago's Morning Answer, Christopher Whalen, an investment banker, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors LLC, and editor for The Institutional Risk Analyst, discussed the present state of the banking industry.
In March 2014 the world’s oldest central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), did every advocate of sound money a big but unintentional favor by publishing an official introduction to and an official detailed account of unsound money.
There are many excuses often used to explain inflation. However, the fact is that there is no such thing as “cost push inflation” or “commodity inflation.” Inflation is not an increase in prices, it is the destruction of the purchasing power of the currency.
How should Congress assess the Federal Reserve’s track record as an investor in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS)? Regardless of Fed spin, it merits a failing grade. The Fed’s COVID-era intervention in the mortgage markets fueled the second real estate bubble of the 21st century.
Mar 20, 2023 - 08:15:43 PDT
Undun. The Fed’s balance sheet, that is. For all the focus on whether the Federal Reserve is about to pause its interest-rate hikes, there’s another critical policy decision sure to…
Putin Tells Xi He's "Open To Negotiating Process" On Ukraine As US Says Ceasefire "Unacceptable"Mar 20, 2023 - 08:14:33 PDT
Update(1017ET): What's being described as an initial, informal meeting between Presidents Xi and Putin is underway at the Kremlin. While the expected cordialities and expressions of closer relations were exchange, among the most notable early statements came from Putin, who said he's "open" to peace talks with Ukraine and China's mediation efforts.