Business

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Sometimes you have to marvel at the absurdity of the financial universe in which we live.

On one side of the Atlantic, we have the United States of America, which triggered yet another debt ceiling disaster last Thursday when the US government’s maximum allowable debt reset to just over $20 trillion.

Of course, the US national debt is pretty much already at $20 trillion.

(That’s roughly $166,000 per taxpayer in the Land of the Free.)

By Nick Kounis of ABN Amro

Euro Rates Watch – Will the TLTRO spark carry trades?

Authored by Altay Atli via The Strategic Culture Foundation blog,

As the diplomatic squabble between Turkey and the Netherlands continues to fester, concerns are raised about whether — and to what extent — the tensions will harm bilateral relations, particularly in economics where the two countries have robust trade and investment connections.

During the so-called Chinese Banking Liquidity Crisis of 2013, the relative cost of funds for non-bank institutions spiked to 100bps. So, the fact that the 'shadow banking' liquidity premium has exploded to almost 250 points - by far a record - in the last few days should indicate just how stressed Chinese money markets are.

Authored by Wolf Richter via WolfStreet.com,

Not quite, not yet, but it’s not good either.

Let’s hope that the problems piling up in the used vehicle market - and their impact on new vehicle sales, automakers, $1.1 trillion in auto loans, and auto lenders - is just a blip, something caused by what has been getting blamed by just about everyone now: the delayed tax refunds.