Overnight strength in the USDollar has begun to rollover, most notably against the Yen, and that is sparking a bid in commodities - industrial and precious metals. Canada headlines (and Libya) along with dismal US jobs data have also piled on, sending WTI Crude to test $46 (and copper is rallying) as Gold and Silver surge...
As The USD rolls over...
Crude is spiking...
And Precious metals are bid...
The paradoxical divergence between the government's data on initial jobless claims, which in just over half an hour is expected to print at or close to another multi-decade low, and the actual number of layoff announcements by employers as tracked by Challenger Gray, and which continues to soar is puzzling to say the least.
Europe has banned the use of €500 bills.
The reason?
They claim these bills are used in money laundering and for drugs. And if you believe that is the concern, you probably believe the earth is flat.
The fact of the matter is that Europe is now the center for misguided Central Planning for monetary policy. ECB President Mario Draghi has cut interest rates not once, not twice, not even thrice, but FOUR times into NIRP.
The end result has been two items:
While UBS agreed to pay $1.5 billion to quickly settle charges that the bank manipulated LIBOR, trader Tom "Libor is too high, 'cos I've kept it artificially high" Hayes wasn't so lucky however. Alas, Hayes' pockets weren't that deep and he was the scapegoat UBS chose to offer up to the masses in the wake of the scandal, eventually being found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in jail (later reduced to 11 years).