Business

One month ago, Citi's credit team laid out its outlook for the coming year in what - in our opinion - was one of the gloomiest reports for the coming year, and included the following fascinating revelation according to which central bankers appears to have lost control: "That seems to be a growing fear among a number of central bankers that we have spoken to recently. In our experience, they too are somewhat baffled by the lack of volatility and concerned about the lack of response to negative headlines....

After bouncing aggressively yesterday, cryptocurrencies are sliding again today with Bitcoin testing back below $13,000, Bitcoin Cash below $3,000, and Ethereum under $700 once again.

image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

Back down...

Bitcoin is back below $13000...though downside volume is notably lower than on Friday...

From Thursday's close, cryptos are now down 15 to 20%...

There is still no obvious catalyst for the moves aside from a growing anxiety that HODLers may be losing faith...

Japan’s Softbank Group is coming to the rescue of yet another embattled Silicon Valley “unicorn”. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Fortress Capital, the publicly traded private-equity firm that agreed to sell itself to the Japanese conglomerate earlier this year, has extended a $100 million loan to Theranos, which is still facing multiple lawsuits and investigations for misleading investors, business partners and clients about the efficacy of its core technology.

It's not the first time (and it won't be the last), but a recent nationwide audit found some local governments inflated revenue levels and raised debt illegally, once again crushing China's credibility on the global stage when it comes to economic performance.

As Bloomberg reports, ten cities, counties or districts in the Yunnan, Hunan and Jilin provinces, as well as the southwestern city of Chongqing, inflated fiscal revenues by 1.55 billion yuan ($234 million), the National Audit Office said in a statement on its website dated Dec. 8.

Authored by Valentin Schmid via The Epoch Times,

Seven was the line in the sand.

But the Chinese yuan never crossed that line vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar. It only crept up to 6.96 yuan per dollar on Dec. 16, 2016, before starting an impressive comeback, down to 6.5 in the middle of this year.

Last year was a bad one for the Chinese economy. Growth was slow, and the world was worried China would finally land the hard way, as many have been predicting for years.