Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
So let's look at currency flows, reserves and debt.
The demise of the U.S. dollar has been a staple of the financial media for decades. The latest buzzword making the rounds is de-dollarization, which describes the move away from USD in global payments.
S&P futures retreated along with European and Asian shares with tech, and Apple supplier shares leading the drop while safe havens such as gold and the yen rose, as the war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un escalated and North Korea threatened to launch a hydrogen bomb, leading to a prompt return of geopolitical concerns. Trade focus now turns to a planned speech by Theresa May on Brexit (full preview here).
From Bill Blain of Mint Partners
Blain's Morning Porridge - How to catch rabies in the Junk Bond Market
I’m sure everyone has been following the Toy R Us meltdown in the bond market. Alongside chapter 11 bankruptcy, its bonds have crashed from 96 to 18% through the month. Have we seen this before? Of course you have. Happens all the time. But, Blain’s Market Mantra No 3 reminds us: “Markets have no Memory. Buyers have even less.”
There are a number of things that worry me.
The price of shares in The Swiss National Bank is up 11 days in a row, soaring 150% in the last two months.
That sounds like a 'tulip' bubble-like 'fraud'...
The SNB is up over 120% in Q3 so far - more than double 'bubble' Bitcoin...
Let's check with the markets ultimate arbiter of what's fraud and what's real - JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon:
As we warned over the weekend, when we first learned of Beijing's new sex doll rental business, China's sharing economy may have just jumped the shark.
Now, just 4 days later, after its business model elicited a flood of complaints and criticism, Chinese company Ta Qu – or “Touch” in English – has announced that it will close its week-old sex-doll rental business, inspiring budget-focused silicon slammers in the world’s second-largest economy to issue a collective groan.