Asia

One of the biggest false narratives pitched by the mainstream to mitigate concerns about a global recession, is that even as China's massively overlevered manufacturing sector is careening into a hard landing, China's "strong" consumer base will keep the country's economy afloat (a narrative shared with the U.S.), even though as reported over the past weekend retail sales soundly disappointed expectations, while the latest proxy of China's consumer strenth, namely "record" box office receipts, was recently uncovered to have been - like everything else in China - mostly fabricated.

Today Janet Yellen and the FOMC will go back to square one and try to reset global expectations unleashed by the ill-fated December rate "policy mistake" hike, when at 2pm the Fed will announce assessment of the economy (even if not rate hike is expected today) followed by Yellen press conference half an hour later.

Last night we reported that the PBoC is now considering a Tobin tax on FX transactions.

The follows reports that a series of big name money managers - or, as China calls them, “speculators,” “predators,” and “crocodiles” - have placed outsized bets against the yuan.

Was that it for the great February/March bear market rally?

Despite Goldman Sachs "short gold" recommendation - which came within pennies of being stopped out last week - traders, investors, and safe-haven seekers continue to push into the precious metals.