Bank of Japan

We have joked about it in the past: with equities around the globe all correlating tick for tick with the price of oil (supposedly "lower oil is good for the economy", just don't tell that to the stock market), instead of doing piecemeal interventions and monetizing stocks, something which as even Citigroup has noted no longer works, what central banks should do instead is monetize the source of all market problems: oil itself.

We first joked last January that the ECB should do it...

Following The Bank of Japan's voyage into NIRP never-never-land, the market has sent a clear signal of its displeasure and now a growing number of Japanese officials (and former officials) are questioning Kuroda and Abe's Peter-Pan-ic dream that 'they' can fly. Having called for sub-zero rates more than two decades ago, Takeshi Fujimaki, the Japanese banker turned opposition lawmaker, warns "The BOJ is trapped," now that QQE efforts have flattened the yield curve, since "if the curve is steep, banks can make profits even at negative rates.

Authored by Mark St.Cyr,

There are times you try to connect the dots. There are others where those connections warrant adorning your trusted tin-foiled cap of choice; for you just can’t get there unless you do. This I believe is one of those times. And if correct? What at first might appear apocryphal, may in fact, be down right apocalyptic. And besides, what good is a tin-foil capped conspiracy theory anyhow if it doesn’t have the potential for doom, correct?

One look at Japan's bond yields, which moments ago hit a fresh record low for the 20Y maturity as the curve slowly but surely inverts...

.... and one would think Haruhiko Kuroda would be delighted.

After all, when he launched NIRP three weeks ago, a world in which negative rates are now a reality, it should have been clear to everyone even children, that yields would collapse as the scramble for any positive yield was unleashed.

We just cannot wait for the next time either Abe or Kuroda utter the following string of words "[stimulus - insert any combination of equity buying, bond buying, money printing, and NIRP] is having the desired effect." For the sixth time in the last 6 years, GDP growth has once again turned negative and while the BoJ balance sheet continues to balloon, so the nation's economy (as measure by GDP) is now shrinking as Peter Pan policy is officially dead.