Overnight a historic event took place when China, the world's top gold consumer, launched a yuan-denominated gold benchmark as had been previewed here previously, in what Reuters dubbed "an ambitious step to exert more control over the pricing of the metal and boost its influence in the global bullion market." Considering the now officially-confirmed rigging of the gold and silver fix courtesy of last week's Deutsche Bank settlement, this is hardly bad news and may finally lead to some rigging cartel and central bank-free price discovery.

"Low oil price is a function of excessive supply+true demand realization" - Reggie Middleton

ISIS militants are using drone warfare more widely in Iraq and Syria as the group comes under increasing military pressure from all sides. The Iraqi army in western Anbar has shot down its second ISIS unmanned aerial vehicle during the past 24 hours, according to a senior commander.  Abna24 reports: The commander of Anbar Operations Command, General Ismail al-Mahalawi, said in a press statement that the Iraqi soldiers shot down an ISIL UAV by medium and light weapons over al-Ameriyat, 23 km South of Fallujah.

Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,

Every day there is more confirmation that the casino is an exceedingly dangerous place and that exposure to the stock, bond and related markets is to be avoided at all hazards. In essence the whole shebang is based on institutionalized lying, meaning that prouncements of central bankers, Wall Street brokers and big company executives are a tissue of misdirection, obfuscation and outright deceit.

Sweden’s minister for housing and IT has announced he is stepping down following a week of controversies including the emergence of footage where he compared the treatment of Palestinians by Israel to that of the Jews by the Nazis. Mehmet Güner Kaplan recently come under fire for his alleged ties to Islamic organisations and Turkish ultranationalists. The pressure increased over the weekend when Swedish media published seven-year-old footage of him comparing Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians to the Nazis persecution of the Jews.