In yesterday’s “fatal flaw,” we wrote of the imminent currency war between Japan and China, as the “final currency war” turns nuclear. In fact, we specifically stated…
…it’s only a matter of time before the aforementioned full-scale currency war goes global; and when we say a ‘matter of time,’ we mean NOW; possibly, starting with this month’s APEC, BRICS, and G-20 meetings.
Apparently, NOW couldn’t have come sooner – as just after we published that comment, Shinzo Abe addressed last week’s Bank of Japan “kamikaze attack” on the Yen by lying to the entire world. To wit, when questioned at the aforementioned APEC or Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, he claimed “Japan abides by the agreement of G7 and G20 nations that currency rates ought to be determined by markets.”
In other words, Abenomics and its new-born twin brother, “Abenomics II” are not targeting yen depreciation, despite countless comments to the contrary; including his own in December 2012 – just after being elected Prime Minister, and four months prior to Abenomics implementation…
Central banks around the world are printing money, supporting their economies and increasing exports. America is the primary example.
If it goes on like this, the yen will inevitably strengthen. It’s vital to resist this.
–The Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2012
Well, I guess “resisting upward movement” isn’t the same as “targeting downward movement,” but only if one’s a semantics lawyer – and the F. Lee Bailey of semantics lawyers at that. To that end, I wonder what good old F. Lee would have to say about the Abenomics policy goals described by Wikipedia; i.e., “correction of the excessive yen appreciation.” Or, for that matter, the Yen’s 35% collapse since Abenomics was proposed two years ago.
In other words, politicians are achieving new lows in the transparency of lies, insulting even the intelligence of populations dumbed down by years of propaganda and “bread and circuses.” To that end, the blatancy of such lies is matched only by the accompanying market manipulations which have become as ubiquitous as Kim Kardashian iPhone apps. Day and day out, new “settlements” of profound, broadly destructive criminality by “TBTF” banks – with no admission of guilt but a “slap on the wrist” fines to give the veneer of regulation. Watching the culprits describe the endless fines – not to mention, the astronomic legal costs incurred to defend themselves – as “non-recurring” is outright insulting. And frankly, even I was appalled to see both Bank of America and Citibank restate their last quarter’s earnings due to “unanticipated legal fees and penalties.”
Last year, ten such banks were fined $3.6 billion for manipulating the $350 trillion LIBOR market for nearly a decade. And today, UBS, Citibank, HSBC, JP Morgan and RBS were fined $3.4 billion for manipulating the $1.3 quadrillion foreign exchange market for gosh knows how long. Even the Bank of England’s Head Foreign Exchange trader was fired for his role in the latter scandal, although it should hardly be surprising as Central banks have become official customers of commodity exchanges like the COMEX. Or, for that matter, that Central bankers have been well aware of such criminality for years, since it surfaced that former New York Fed President – and later, Treasury Secretary – Tim Geithner traded memos with Bank of England Chairman Mervyn King in 2008, discussing potential methods of “fixing” the LIBOR process.
In other words, manipulation has not only become common practice amongst both politicians and bankers, but the recognition of such is no longer disputed – particularly in precious metals, as Bill Holter discussed yesterday. Not only that the blatant patronization of the masses being destroyed by such criminality is on full display; for example, Swiss regulator FINMA following last week’s statement that it found a “clear attempt to manipulate precious metals” with instructions that UBS’s precious metal traders receive bonuses of no more than 200% of salary for the next two years!
This is why the top “0.1%” are now wealthier than the bottom ‘90%” combined; and subsequently, why public calls to action are exploding – starting with September’s nearly successful Scottish secession referendum, and Sunday’s decidedly successful “Catalon-astrophe.” And thus, to the hundreds of thousands of “CIGAs” or Comrades in Gold Arms of the Miles Franklin Blog community, we hope you to take heart – as indeed, the people are speaking. Case in point, and extremely ominous for the future of TPTB, was the response to this morning’s comments from Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan, who claimed a “yes” vote in the upcoming “Save our Swiss Gold” would be a “fatal error of judgment.” How did the market respond to this propaganda, you ask? By immediately causing the Swiss Franc to surge to nearly the 1.2 peg rate against the Euro. In other words, a consensus is building that “yes” will prevail, yielding the end of the infamous Euro/Franc peg – and unprecedented open market Central bank gold purchases.
Why did we start today’s article with myriad references to money printing, market manipulation and propaganda? Because they has created an unprecedented “chasm of destruction” between the reality of a collapsing global economy and the lie that is the financial markets. Not that we haven’t discussed this topic ad nauseum; but when reading this fantastic article of “WTF charts,” said chasm couldn’t be clearer – particularly in the United States of Market Rigging with its unparalleled manipulation arsenal. Yesterday’s comical, 11th straight “dead ringer” algorithm in the “Dow Jones Propaganda Average,” replete with last second “hail mary” rescue; coupled with a 2:00 PM EST “Crybaby Attack” on the surging PMs, following failed raids at the key attack times of “2:15 AM,” 8:20 AM and the 12:00 PM “cap of last resort” was just par for the course.
Throw in a 12th U.S. equity saving surge this morning; whilst European markets plunged (especially Greece) and U.S. Treasury yields continued to free fall – as PMs are capped by “Cartel Herald” algos at 2:15 AM and 8:20 AM – and you can see how terrified TPTB are of the inevitable end of their world-destroying status quo.
And by the way, this morning’s “news” items – you know, the catalysts for U.S. stocks outperforming the entire planet – were 1) an 11% weekly plunge in home refinancing applications 2) a massive “unexpected” decline in retail bellwether Macys’ 3Q sales and full year earnings outlook 3) weak wholesale sales data and 4) the below, self-explanatory headline of the state of American retail.
However, just as the foreign exchange market is “calling” the SNB’s lies, the physical PM markets are, too. To wit, the most backwardation gold market conditions in 15 years expanded significantly yesterday, and the U.S. Mint’s announcement that on November 17th, it will have just one million Silver Eagles to sell – compared to the two-plus million sold in 2½ hours on November 5th alone – depicts just how little physical supply exists. And this, as the mining industry sits on the cusp of an historic production collapse with silver sentiment sitting at lows last seen in 2001, when prices were barely $4/oz.!
In other words, the “record depths” the proverbial “beach ball” had been sitting at have been pushed that much deeper – as the “chasm” TPTB have created between economic reality and rigged financial markets exits the stratosphere. It shouldn’t be long before something “lights the fuse”; and when it does, if you haven’t already protected yourself, it will be too late.