Business

The world let out a collective gasp of shock last night when the PBOC announced that in January, China had created an absolutely gargantuan CNY3.4 trillion in new total debt (Total Social Financing) - or about $520 billion - more than 50% higher than expected, of which CNY2.1 trillion was in the form of new loans.

The breakdown of that massive number is shown in the table below:

What happened? Here is Goldman's explanation:

• Oil eases off highs after output freeze agreement (Reuters)
• Saudis and Russia agree to oil output freeze, Iran still an obstacle (Reuters)
• China Loses Control of the Economic Story Line (WSJ)
• Obama starts work to pick Supreme Court justice amid political 'bluster' (Reuters)
• The Never-Ending Story: Europe’s Banks Face a Frightening Future (BBG)
• Apollo Global to buy security services company ADT for $7 billion (Reuters)
• Anglo Hastens Retreat From Coal, Iron Ore as Losses Double (BBG)
• Markets Putting Faith in QE4 (WSJ)

One day after markets saw a violent return of optimism, which sent stocks around the globe and US equity futures soaring (the US was closed for President's Day) driven by terrible Japanese and Chinese economic data which in turn hinted at more central bank easing, animal spirits have cooled off despite some truly unprecedented Chinese credit numbers.

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The Mystery of the One Bank: its Owners? 

Written by Jeff Nielson (CLICK FOR ORIGINAL)

Last night when previewing today's main event, the "secret" meeting between the Saudi and Russian oil ministers, we explicitly said this deal would not "lead to a cut in production", and sure enough just two hours ago the meeting between the two oil superpowers concluded and as expected the two failed to agree to any production cut; instead what they did agree on was to "freeze" production at January's already record levels, and furthermore make the agreement contingent on other OPEC members complying, something Iran has al